Hilda Neatby | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hilda Ada Marion Neatby (1904-02-19)February 19, 1904 Sutton, England, UK |
| Died | May 14, 1975(1975-05-14) (aged 71) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Saskatchewan University of Minnesota University of Paris |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Saskatchewan |
Hilda Marion Ada NeatbyCC (February 19, 1904 – May 14, 1975) was a Canadian historian and educator.
Hilda Marion Ada Neatby[1] was born on February 19, 1904, inSutton (then inSurrey),[2][3] to Andrew Neatby and Ada Fisher.[4] The family moved to Saskatchewan when Hilda was 2.[3] She received a BA and MA from theUniversity of Saskatchewan and a PhD from theUniversity of Minnesota. She taught history at the University of Saskatchewan and was head of the history department from 1958 to 1969. Fluent in French, she studied at theSorbonne inParis.
In 1966, she publishedQuebec, The Revolutionary Age 1760–1791, part ofThe Canadian Centenary Series. The book examined the transitional events between 1760 and 1791 in theprovince of Quebec following victory byBritish forces over theFrench Army and the decision made byLouis XV of France to hand over Quebec to the British in the 1763Treaty of Paris that ended theSeven Years' War.[5][6]
From 1949 to 1951 she was the only female member of theRoyal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, which recommended the establishment of theCanada Council.
Her bookSo Little for the Mind (1953) criticized contemporary reforms in the Canadian educational system that were based onJohn Dewey’s philosophical ideas.[7][8]
In 1969, the Board of Trustees atQueen's University in Kingston, Ontario, commissioned Neatby to write the history of that institution.[9]Queen's University, Volume I, 1841-1917: And Not to Yield was published in 1978, after her death.[9][10]
Neatby died inSaskatoon on May 14, 1975.[2][11]
In 1967, Neatby was made a companion of theOrder of Canada.[12] In 1953, she received an honorary degree from theUniversity of Toronto.[13] Since 1982, theCanadian Historical Association has awarded the Hilda Neatby Prize for works on women's history.[14] In 2000,Canada Post issued a stamp in her honour.[15][16] In 2005, the former Place Riel Theatre (a former cinema, later converted into a lecture theatre) at the University of Saskatchewan was renamed the Neatby-Timlin Theatre, in honour of her and former economics professorMabel Timlin.[17]
