Desmond Morton (historian): Difference between revisions

'''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, 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 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 |publisher=McGill University |accessdate=2011-10-30 dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20111031013824/http://www.mcgill.ca/misc/undergraduate/cans/lecturers/ |archivedate=2011-10-31 |locationaccessdate=Montreal 2011-10-30|yearwork=2011McGill Institute for the Study of Canada|url-statuspublisher=deadMcGill University|location=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|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814232405/http://www.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/staff/retired/morton|archivedate=2014-08-14|accessdate=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 [[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 |url-status=dead }}</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. While he was Erindale Principal, Morton scabbed on the striking cleaners of [[CUPE]] Local 3261.<ref name="Medium II">{{cite web|title=Eridale Principal Desmond Morton does his part to keep the campus clean |url=https://ia800403.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/26/items/mediumii17n19erin/mediumii17n19erin_ |accessdate=2019-08-03|work=Medium II, Eridale College paper |publisher=Erindale Student Council}}</ref> He served as President of the [[Canadian Historical Association]] from 1978-1979.<ref>{{Cite web|accessdatetitle=2019CHA Presidents and Presidential Addresses|url=https://cha-08shc.ca/english/about-03 the-cha/cha-presidential-addresses.html|access-date=2020-07-24|website=cha-shc.ca|language=en}}</ref>

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 First World War history, ''When Your Number's Up''.