Little Mosie from the Margaree: A Biography of Moses Michael Coady

by Michael R. Welton

From the early to late 1930s, a movement for a people's economy, named the "Antigonish Movement", caught the imagination of the world. It leader was Rev. Moses Coady, Nova Scotia's native son from the Margaree Valley. Journalists, liberal-minded religious leaders, papal authorities, eastern seaboard intellectuals, professors, theologians, social reformers, wild-eyed dreamers, co-operative leaders and innocent youth came from far and wide to witness the "miracle of Antigonish." Hard minds and doubting hearts simply melted as tourists of the co-operative miracle witnessed rustic lobster factories, credit unions and co-op stores spring up in communities with previously unremarkable histories. Antigonish, a small town in Nova Scotia, was transformed into an imaginative space into which people could project their social fantasies. Many people of Christian persuasion, spiritually dislocated and bewildered by the scale and scope of change in the post-World War I era, desperately wanted their leader, Moses Michael Coady, to be their modern Moses who could fashion a non-violent alternative to fascism and communism. They wanted someone to lead them out of oppression into the promised land of co-operation. Throughout his tumultuous mature life, from his mid 40s to his late 70s, Moses Coady thundered against the "vested interests" that kept the common people enchained. In this comprehensive biography, Michael Welton describes and evaluates "Little Mosie from the Margaree," his times, and the movement he created.

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2000

Reviews

[Gemington]

What can we learn from the Antigonish movement and its leader, Moses Coady, the Catholic priest and professor at St FX that first lead the Extension department throughout the Depression and past WWII?

People need inspiration and to believe that they can do and have more. They need to value education and also have a stake and control over what they are learning and when. Adult education starts to fail when it is directed from above. It also needs dedicated funding, and this funding will ultimately determine its direction even more than the will of the people receiving the education.

There is power in collectivity, collective ownership, and collective action. However, it is difficult to convince folks to feel confidence in cooperation the the face of capitalist control. Unions and co-ops may be models we need to return to and invest in to foster democracy, with many caveats.

This book was more a historic account of the movement than of the man himself. The account is thorough, quoting from many primary resources. It is highly critical of its subject and of prior accounts. Though there is value in searching for accuracy, some of the romance and hope associated with grandeur is lost in this more sobering account.