156:, Moses was the eldest boy in a family of twelve. As a youth he was very concerned at the scale of outmigration from the valley: young men and women leaving for the steel mills and coal mines, or taking up jobs as domestics in the "Boston States". He determined he would get a good education so he could help people make their farms more profitable and give them a reason to stay on the land.
250:
interests and provided timely technical support in the formation of the United
Maritime Fishermen. UMF was a trade association for the region's fishing co-ops "with a strong adult education component". It promoted canneries and provided cooperative marketing services to fishermen to help them capture a greater share of the profit from their catch.
468:
shows in the case of
British Columbia (another very successful province), enduring success results from multi-faceted roots – which in that case included active participation by an active agricultural cooperative system, urban unions, farmers organizations, the Catholic Church, private welfare groups
444:
And while acknowledging their debt to Coady and to the study club approach, Acadians felt like outsiders in the New
Brunswick Credit Union League. This led to the emergence of a parallel Acadian federation in New Brunswick in 1946. Today, the credit union system in this officially bilingual province
186:
After his ordination in Rome in 1910, Coady began teaching at St. FX. He put on special classes for students at risk of failing, and prided himself on being able to teach maths to anyone. He honed his considerable oratorical skills and developed a talent for making complex concepts easily understood.
245:
Study clubs gave ordinary
Maritimers an opportunity to critically analyze the dynamics keeping them poor and to study possible solutions. The clubs helped people to plan and then successfully launch co-operatives in many fields: agricultural marketing, fish canning, dairy, retail sales and housing.
211:
The report of the MacLean
Commission was catalytic: in late 1928 St. FX organized an Extension Department to carry adult education to the people of the province, appointing Coady as its first director. The Canadian Department of Fisheries asked Coady to help the government "organize the fishermen".
485:
in Coady's honour less than six months after his death. The institute has played a dynamic role in the emergence of credit unions throughout the world, especially in Africa. Since then, over 6,000 community development practitioners from over 130 countries have studied at the campus in
Antigonish,
190:
Emigration from Nova Scotia continued, and Coady fought against a kind of "weird pessimism (that) so benumbed everybody that nothing has been attempted to break the spell." In 1921 he helped organize the province's school teachers. Typically earning about $ 35 a month, four out of five were young
452:
In Nova Scotia the dynamism of the movement did not survive Coady's generation. Of 60,000 credit union members in Nova Scotia at the time of Coady's death in 1959, nearly half joined the movement during the period 1932–39, when Coady was spending most of his time in the villages. By contrast, the
377:
In his dying days, Coady told his bishop that he was at peace with God and that "If I die, I die happy in the thought that my blueprint is being realized much more surely than I ever had a right to expect." On his death at age 77, two fishermen, two farmers, a miner and a steelworker carried his
409:
mindset to that of contemporaries Hitler and Stalin. He writes that although Coady tried to mask his feelings behind a veneer of faith in democracy and ordinary people, the veneer wore thin later in his life, and Coady's faith in others was replaced by a sense of betrayal and a tendency towards
249:
Coady also invested considerable energy in catalyzing and strengthening wholesale co-operatives around the
Maritimes: including the United Maritime Fishermen, the United Fruit Companies of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Livestock Co-operatives (Maritimes). For example, he brokered conflicting
202:
The defining moment in Coady's career came when he testified before a
Canadian government commission in 1927. Drawing on his own experience and that of other Movement leaders like Jimmy Tompkins and Hugh MacPherson (an early co-operative pioneer) he maintained that the local economy could be
558:
maintaining a far-flung network of study clubs and cooperatives, who had a "keen and penetrating mind, always ahead of the people yet practical enough to keep within the range of what was possible. He was radical enough in other words to be progressive, and, conservative enough to be sane."
557:
in 1955. (1893-1952), the
Assistant Director of the Extension Department under Coady, rose to national leadership in the Union in 1945, from whence he led an increasing international engagement on behalf of Canadians. Coady described MacDonald as a brilliant man, capable of organizing and
271:
The leaders of the movement saw themselves as developing the full potential economic, social and cultural potential within the people of the region. "But perhaps the most important reason why the
Antigonish movement was able to have a significant, lasting impact was its promotion of
324:
While results were not uniform, many of Coady's initiatives proved successful. By 1944 United Maritime Fishermen represented 70 member fishing co-ops around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. That year it sold $ 1.4 million in product, including $ 400,000 in lobsters into New England.
373:
After suffering a major heart attack, Coady stepped down as Director of the Extension Department on February 5, 1952. He was 70, and would continue to work nationally and internationally as Director Emeritus of the Extension Department, now with 25 staff, until his death.
28:
241:
with co-operative business ventures in the distinctive blend that became known as the Antigonish Movement. The immediate priorities of the Extension Department were the formation of ‘study clubs’, the emergence of new co-operatives and a school for leaders.
336:
By the end of World War II credit unions and other co-operatives dotted the Maritimes, transforming the lives of thousands of people. Coady was honoured within the co-operative movement and beyond. He was featured on a national radio program of the
525:
movement. However, the main successes in microcredit have been confined to urban or very densely populated rural areas. In recent years there has been a revival of interest in village-based and participatory approaches, such as the
360:, while others had sold out their community's resources to vested interests. Some fishermen sold their fish for "half a cent less" to the very middlemen whose monopolistic behavior their co-ops had been formed to discipline.
227:(two New York-based charities), and the local Scottish Catholic Society. Coady's own staff resources were supplemented by collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, and later by widespread volunteerism in the villages.
116:. Credited with introducing "an entirely new organizational technique: that of action based on preliminary study" to the co-operative movement in Canada, his work sparked a wave of co-operative development across the
497:
in the 1980s and 1990s. Because study clubs increased the willingness and ability of poorer people to participate, they were one of the most significant innovations in credit unions since the first were formed by
425:
in his home province. "Coady’s belief in the power of ideas to change the hearts and actions of men and women came up against … the petty, patronage-ridden political system in Nova Scotia in the 1930s."
389:, was published by Alexander Laidlaw in 1971. Numerous books have been written about both the man and the movement he led. During his life Coady received three honorary degrees (Boston, Ottawa, Ohio).
280:. The farmers, fishers and miners who formed the backbone of the movement had little access to credit before the Great Depression, and lost what little they had as the downturn started to bite.
203:
revitalized if the right type of learning was cultivated in ordinary people: especially critical thinking, scientific methods of planning and production, and co-operative entrepreneurship.
353:. He argued that environmental problems stemmed from ignorance of science, concentration of rural land ownership in the hands of a few, and exploitation of land primarily for profit.
363:
As the co-ops gradually became larger and more professional, many ordinary members lost their connection, and reverted to the ‘weird pessimism’ that had bothered Coady in his youth.
482:
178:
Moses Coady lived in Havre Boucher during the early 1900s and served as the communities Parish Priest for 8 years. He is accounted for on the 1903 Census as Moses Codie.
356:
In spite of the success and public recognition, Coady's optimism and faith in people were tested in the later years of his life. Some co-operative leaders had committed
464:
In the words of Coady's protégé Alexander Laidlaw "if co-operatives are to be a true people’s movement, they must generate their own power from within." As historian
246:
Once the co-operatives were launched, the school for leaders kept their managers and directors continually stimulated with new and fresh ideas and business methods.
159:
Coady would draw on an unusual combination of gifts, having ‘the soul of a poet’ and ‘the mind of a mathematician’. After graduating top of his class at ‘St. FX’ (
264:
The period from 1929 until World War II marked the high tide of the Antigonish Movement. For a discussion of the ideas and techniques of the movement, see the
922:
405:. No one can be certain how Coady deceived himself into thinking that he had a divine mission to liberate the peoples of the world." Welton compares this
234:. Mines closed and thousands of miners were thrown out of work. Out-migration slowed, but for all the wrong reasons. Many jobless emigrants returned home.
195:
that year he urged action and was elected secretary-treasurer. He spent much of the next 3 years expanding support for the union and founding/editing the
937:
291:
had founded the first credit union movement in North America three decades earlier. Instead, it looked across the border to the United States – to
385:, was an expression of the philosophy of the movement. Still in print, it has been translated into seven languages. A volume of his speeches,
542:
521:
in the developing world, this movement lost its momentum in the 1970s, to be replaced by the more centralized approach characteristic of the
952:
446:
132:. The influence of the movement he led spread across Canada in the 1930s and by the 1940s and 1950s, to the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
927:
917:
545:
spread both the philosophy and the tools of the Antigonish Movement widely across Canada. Led by co-operative entrepreneurs like
283:
When the Antigonish movement looked for external allies in credit union development, it did not seek them from the movement in
303:
445:
has over twice the market penetration of the system in Nova Scotia. Its performance is largely driven by the 200,000 member
947:
470:
661:
942:
538:
510:
454:
338:
296:
288:
125:
932:
550:
506:
299:. Bergengren drafted a credit union law for Nova Scotia that was ratified by the provincial legislature in 1932.
756:
Building and Protecting the Co-operative Movement: A Brief History of the Co-operative Union of Canada, 1909-84
853:
Welton, Michael. A new and disturbing presence: Father Moses Michael Coady and the United Maritime Fishermen.
417:, 2005) criticizes Coady for precisely the opposite flaw: his unwillingness or perhaps inability to confront
494:
328:
By 1945 there were over 400 credit unions in the Maritimes, with 70,000 members and $ 4.2 million in assets.
160:
85:
401:, 2001) depicts Coady as a flawed man. "Coady’s agonal last few years reflect, I think, a profound state of
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48:
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co-operative movement. For example, the Rev. Alexandre Boudreau, a co-operative leader from the region of
567:
751:
465:
877:
729:. Agricultural Development Paper #74, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Rome, 1962, p. 27.
527:
461:
whose leadership and innovation continued to drive the Quebec movement from one success to the next.
367:
434:
191:
women who lost their jobs as soon as they married. At a meeting of the teachers’ fragile union in
168:
164:
66:
882:
727:
Training and extension in the co-operative movement: a guide for fieldmen and extension workers
224:
768:
912:
907:
458:
418:
220:
124:
development across English Canada. Due to his role and influence, he is often compared to
8:
772:
366:
During the 1940s and 1950s the Extension Department increasingly turned its attention to
265:
259:
216:
113:
534:
movement in Africa to address the problem of financial services for poor rural farmers.
441:
claimed that Coady kept Acadians out of important positions in the Antigonish Movement.
820:
The Man From Margaree: Writings & Speeches of M.M. Coady, Educator/Reformer/Priest
438:
192:
149:
857:. Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 2000.
740:
Co-operation, Conflict and Consensus: BC Central and Credit Union Movement to 1994
489:
Study clubs have been used widely in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia in rural
318:
231:
834:
Each for All: A History of the Co-operative Movement in English Canada, 1900-1945
549:, adult education became a priority in western Canada with the foundation of the
238:
306:, where they helped the residents form the first credit union in the Maritimes.
802:
292:
145:
105:
230:
The chronic decline in the fisheries gained new urgency with the onset of the
901:
672:
273:
546:
518:
514:
422:
321:, where his speeches and ideas helped ignite local credit union movements.
314:
277:
141:
121:
109:
522:
406:
302:
That year Coady, MacDonald and Bergengren visited the fishing village of
153:
481:
The Board of Governors of St. Francis Xavier University established the
813:
By Their Own Hands: A Fieldworker’s Account of the Antigonish Movement
892:
554:
346:
117:
797:
The Antigonish Movement: Moses Coady and Adult Education Today, 1997
129:
841:
Little Mosie from the Margaree: A Biography of Moses Michael Coady
399:
Little Mosie from the Margaree: A Biography of Moses Michael Coady
342:
429:
Lotz also documents the difficult relations between Coady and the
867:
490:
430:
310:
309:
By 1936 Coady was increasingly traveling beyond the Maritimes to
402:
350:
284:
873:
Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University
848:
Beyond Coady: Adult Education and the End of Utopian Modernism
27:
531:
493:, and their method and approach anticipated the emergence of
357:
872:
716:
Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes official website
827:
The Humble Giant: Moses Coady, Canada's Rural Revolutionary
415:
The Humble Giant: Moses Coady, Canada's Rural Revolutionary
172:
758:. Co-operative Union of Canada, Ottawa, 1984, pp. 112-21.
181:
112:
entrepreneur best known for his instrumental role in the
517:. Due to the poor performance of many community-based
378:body to a grave on a hill overlooking Antigonish.
836:. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto, 1979.
351:Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
171:to enter the priesthood. He followed Tompkins to
167:in 1905, Coady was persuaded by his first cousin
899:
694:
692:
742:. Credit Union Central of BC, Vancouver, 1995.
513:was part of a global movement in co-operative
923:20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests
769:"Angus Bernard (A.B.) MacDonald (1893-1952)"
689:
612:Welton. A new and disturbing presence, p. 97
175:, where he studied theology and philosophy.
893:Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes
808:. Southern Publishers Inc., New York, 1940.
457:was inherited by very able successors like
447:Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes
878:Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
822:. McClelland & Steward, Toronto, 1971.
253:
219:, financial support came from St. FX, the
26:
938:People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia
349:. In 1949 Coady was asked to address the
237:Through the new department, Coady linked
868:Web resources on the Antigonish Movement
843:. Thompson Educational Publishing, 2001.
855:Canadian Co-operatives in the Year 2000
206:
104:(3 January 1882 – 28 July 1959) was a
900:
341:on co-operatives in 1940. In 1946 the
413:Another recent biographer, Jim Lotz (
815:. Lancelot Press, Nova Scotia, 1985.
471:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
13:
953:Pontifical Urban University alumni
14:
964:
861:
339:Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
144:Catholic family on a farm in the
928:Canadian people of Irish descent
850:. Proceedings of the AERC, 2000.
297:Credit Union National of America
918:Canadian cooperative organizers
761:
745:
732:
719:
710:
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654:
642:
633:
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197:Nova Scotia Teachers’ Bulletin
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95:Priest; co-operative organiser
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495:participatory rural appraisal
483:Coady International Institute
392:
161:St. Francis Xavier University
86:St. Francis Xavier University
664:Masters of Their Own Destiny
551:Western Co-operative College
539:Co-operative Union of Canada
500:Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen
383:Masters of Their Own Destiny
182:Fighting a "weird pessimism"
77:St. Ninian's Parish Cemetery
49:Margaree Valley, Nova Scotia
7:
948:Rural community development
568:Rural community development
561:
397:Biographer Michael Welton (
108:priest, adult educator and
10:
969:
818:Laidlaw, Alexander (ed.).
806:Credit Union North America
530:movement in India and the
502:in rural Germany in 1864.
257:
887:The Canadian Encyclopedia
507:Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch
476:
368:international development
215:Through the years of the
91:
81:
73:
55:
34:
25:
18:
943:Roman Catholic activists
829:. Novalis, Ottawa, 2005.
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541:under the leadership of
505:Coady, like Raiffeisen,
933:Development specialists
254:High tide in Antigonish
67:Antigonish, Nova Scotia
225:Rockefeller Foundation
387:The Man from Margaree
459:Cyrille Vaillancourt
419:political corruption
221:Carnegie Corporation
207:Launching a movement
795:Alexander, Anne M.
773:Antigonish Movement
725:Alexander Laidlaw.
639:MacPherson, p. 201.
511:Alphonse Desjardins
455:Alphonse Desjardins
381:Coady's only book,
289:Alphonse Desjardins
266:Antigonish Movement
260:Antigonish Movement
217:Antigonish Movement
126:Alphonse Desjardins
114:Antigonish Movement
102:Moses Michael Coady
803:Bergengren, Roy F.
630:MacPherson, p. 132
585:Bergengren, p. 248
276:" which delivered
140:Born into a large
846:Welton, Michael.
839:Welton, Michael.
832:MacPherson, Ian.
99:
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960:
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738:Ian MacPherson.
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671:. Archived from
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594:Lotz, pp. 14-16
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239:adult education
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146:Margaree Valley
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82:Alma mater
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40:
38:
21:
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862:External links
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811:Delaney, Ida.
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466:Ian MacPherson
410:manipulation.
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293:Roy Bergengren
258:Main article:
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169:Jimmy Tompkins
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63:(aged 77)
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45:3 January 1882
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883:"Moses Coady"
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698:Welton, 2000.
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776:. Retrieved
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680:. Retrieved
673:the original
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650:Beyond Coady
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599:
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581:
547:Jake Siemens
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515:microfinance
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423:rent seeking
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122:credit union
110:co-operative
101:
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61:(1959-07-28)
59:28 July 1959
913:1957 deaths
908:1882 births
825:Lotz, Jim.
778:November 8,
707:Lotz, p. 85
621:Lotz, p. 51
603:Lotz, p. 34
543:George Keen
523:microcredit
439:Cape Breton
407:millenarian
345:made him a
332:Later years
154:Nova Scotia
150:Cape Breton
136:Early years
20:Moses Coady
902:Categories
790:References
682:2013-11-07
453:mantle of
393:Criticisms
304:Broad Cove
165:Antigonish
41:1882-01-03
555:Saskatoon
435:Chéticamp
347:Monsignor
118:Maritimes
662:"Coady,
648:Welton.
562:See also
491:villages
469:and the
287:, where
223:and the
431:Acadian
343:Vatican
311:Ontario
477:Legacy
403:hubris
285:Quebec
130:Québec
676:(PDF)
669:(PDF)
574:Notes
358:fraud
193:Truro
163:) in
142:Irish
780:2011
537:The
532:ASCA
509:and
421:and
317:and
295:and
173:Rome
120:and
56:Died
35:Born
553:in
528:SHG
437:in
148:of
128:in
904::
885:.
771:.
754:.
691:^
473:.
449:.
370:.
313:,
268:.
199:.
152:,
889:.
799:.
782:.
685:.
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43:)
39:(
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