Desmond Morton (historian): Difference between revisions

| spouse = {{ubl | {{marriage|Janet Smith|1967|1990|end=died}} | {{marriage|Gael Eakin|1999}}}}

'''Desmond Dillon Paul Morton''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|CD|FRSC}} (September 10, 1937<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=phIQbS5U-TkC&q=Desmond+Morton+September+10,++1937&dq=Desmond+Morton+September+10,++1937&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7-pGKgbvkAhVO-qQKHYqpBo4Q6AEIJjAA]</ref> – September 4, 20191937–2019) was a Canadian [[historian]] and political advisor who specialized in the history of the [[Canadian military]], as well as the history of Canadian political and industrial relations.

Born on September 10, 1937,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phIQbS5U-TkC&q=Desmond+Morton+September+10,++1937|title=Contemporary Authors|isbn=9780810300354|last1=Evory|first1=Ann|date=April 1978}}</ref> in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], Morton was the son of a Brigadier General, and the grandson of General [[William Dillon Otter|Sir William Dillon Otter]]. HeA [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholar]] at [[Keble College, Oxford]], Morton was a graduate of the [[Collège militaire royal de St-Jean]], the [[Royal Military College of Canada]], a [[Rhodes Scholar]], [[Keble College, Oxford]], and the [[London School of Economics]].<ref name="MISC Bio">{{cite web|year=2011|title=MISC Instructors: Desmond Morton |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/misc/undergraduate/cans/lecturers/ |workurl-status=McGill Institute for the Study of Canada dead|publisher=McGill University |accessdate=2011archive-10-30 |archiveurlurl=https://archive.today/20111031013824/http://www.mcgill.ca/misc/undergraduate/cans/lecturers/ |archivedatearchive-date=2011-10-31 |locationaccess-date=Montreal 2011-10-30|yearwork=2011McGill Institute for the Study of Canada|deadurlpublisher=yesMcGill University|dflocation= Montreal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Preston |first=Richard A. |year=1991 |title=To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College Since the Second World War |location=Oxford |publisher=University of Ottawa Press |pageyear=65 1991|isbn=978-0-7766-0327-8|location=Oxford|page=65}}</ref> He received his doctorate from the [[University of London]].<ref name="McGill Bio">{{cite web|year=2011|title=Desmond Morton|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/staff/retired/morton|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814232405/http://www.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/staff/retired/morton|archive-date=2014-08-14|access-date=2011-10-30|work=History and Classical Studies|publisher=McGill University|location=Montreal}}</ref> He spent ten years in the [[Canadian Army]] (1954&ndash;1964 retiring as a Captain) prior to beginning his teaching career.<ref name="MISC Bio" /> He was named [[Colonel (Canada)#Honorary_ranks_and_appointments|Honorary Colonel]] of 8 Wing of the Canadian Air Force at [[CFB Trenton]] in 2002. He received the [[Canadian Forces' Decoration]] in 2004 for 12 years total military service.<ref name="MISC Bio" />

Morton was the [[Hiram Mills]] Professor of History at [[McGill University]], as well as the pastfounding director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, established in 1994, in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]].<ref name="McGill Bio">{{cite web|title=Desmond Morton |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/staff/retired/morton |work=History and Classical Studies |publisher=McGill University |accessdate=2011-10-30 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814232405/http://www.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/staff/retired/morton |archivedate=2014-08-14 |location=Montreal |year=2011 |deadurl=yes |df= }}</ref> Following his retirement, he continued to serve at McGill as a [[professor emeritus]].<ref name="McGill Bio" /> Prior to that, he was Principal of [[University of Toronto Mississauga|Erindale College]], [[University of Toronto]], from 1986 to 1994. WhileHe heserved wasas Erindalepresident Principal, Morton scabbed onof the striking[[Canadian cleanersHistorical of [[CUPEAssociation]] Localfrom 32611978-1979.<ref name="Medium II">{{citeCite web|title=EridaleCHA PrincipalPresidents Desmond Morton does his part to keep the campusand cleanPresidential Addresses|url=https://ia800403cha-shc.us.archive.orgca/BookReaderenglish/BookReaderImagesabout-the-cha/cha-presidential-addresses.php?zip=/26/items/mediumii17n19erin/mediumii17n19erin_ html|workaccess-date=Medium II, Eridale College paper 2020-07-24|publisherwebsite=Erindale Student Council cha-shc.ca|accessdatelanguage=2019-08-03 en}}</ref>

Before beginning his teaching career, Morton served as an advisor to [[Tommy Douglas]] of the [[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]]. From 1964 to 1966, he served as assistant secretary of the [[Ontario New Democratic Party]]. After the success of the famous 1964 NDP [[Riverdale, Toronto##Provincial politics|Riverdale by-election]], Morton wrote and published ''The Riverdale Story'', which detailed how the party's organizing and canvassing changed the way campaigns in Canada are run. In the 1970s he worked with [[David Lewis (Canadian politician)|David Lewis]], [[Stephen Lewis]], and other party leaders to oppose [[The Waffle]], a left-wing faction within the NDP.<ref name="Unity">

Morton received his doctorate from the [[University of London]].<ref name="McGill Bio"/> He was the author of over thirty-five books on Canada, including the popular ''A Short History of Canada''. In 1994 he won the [[C.P. Stacey Prize]] for his history of Canadian soldiers during the [[First World War]], ''When Your Number's Up''. He wrote prolifically about the First World War, considering it of great importance in Canadian history. He once wrote: "For Canadians, [[Vimy Ridge]] was a nation-building experience. For some, then and later, it symbolized the fact that the Great War was also Canada's war of independence".<ref>Desmond Morton, ''A Military History of Canada: From Champlain to Kosovo'', Canada, McClelland and Stewart, 1999 (1985), p.145.</ref>

Morton's widow Gael Eakin, to whom he was married for 20 years, announced that he died on September 4, 2019, sevensix days short of his 82nd birthday.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/desmond-morton-historian-1.5271672 Desmond Morton, historian and McGill University professor, dead at 81]</ref>

* ''Who Speaks for Canada?'', {{ISBN|0-7710-6502-7}}, (1998) ''(2nd Ed. 2001)'' (with [[Morton Weinfeld]])

* ''Bloody Victory : Canadians Andand Thethe D-Day Campaign 1944'', {{ISBN|1-895555-56-6}}, (2002)

* "Is History Another Word for Experience?: Morton’sMorton's Confessions," ''The Canadian Historical Review'' Volume 92, Number 4, December 2011 [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/canadian_historical_review/v092/92.4.morton.html in Project MUSE]

[[Category:20th-century Canadian historians]]

[[Category:Academic staff of McGill University faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto faculty]]