Collection search - John King Gordon fonds [multiple media]

Record information – Brief
1
John King Gordon fonds [multiple media]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1834-1989.

Reference:

R2409-0-2-E, MG30-C241

Type of material:

Textual material, Sound recordings, Photographs, Art, Stamps and stamp products

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

105693

Context of this record:

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John King Gordon fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

24 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1834-1989.

Place of creation:

Canada

Extent:

18.6 m of textual records.
842 photographs: b&w and col.
1 v. of graphic material (12 drawings) sketch book, pencil).
232 postal covers.
10 audio reels (34 h, 56 min).
4 audio discs (14 min, 35 s).

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds contains textual records consisting of correspondence, memoranda, notes, diaries, speeches, sermons, lectures, articles, and other writings by Gordon; clippings, minutes, reports, print matter and reference materials; and other material relating to all phases of Gordon's life and career including his early life, family and personal matters, academic studies, tenure as a minister and professor, time as a travelling secretary, non-fiction editor and managing editor, CBC representative at the United Nations and UN career, and activities with various non-governmental organizations. Annotated file folders have been photocopied and the copy placed in the related files.

Fonds contains sound recordings of comments, descriptions and recollections of J. King Gordon about international relations, the United Nations, the Middle East, UN operations in the Congo and his career, 1947-1962.

Fonds also includes a sketchbook with 12 pencil drawings, 1934, by John King Gordon, executed during a visit of ministers to Russia, which depict scenes of Russia; unidentified individuals.

Fonds contains photographs depicting the activities, life, and career of John King Gordon, his years as a student at Oxford University, as a Presbyterian student minister, United Nations correspondent for the C.B.C., and Director of the United Nations Information Centre, Cairo, Egypt. Included are photographs depicting his family and family activities, portraits of Gordon, and photographs of other individuals.

Fonds also includes three postal covers that are American Air Mail Society salute to CAPEX 78 souvenir covers issued on the occassion of the Society's convention (16-18 June 1978 : Toronto, Ontario). 229 postally used covers, 1912-1984, bearing cancelled Canadian postage stamps, were addressed to J. King Gordon, at both Canadian and foreign addresses.

Provenance:

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Gordon, John King, 1900-1989

Additional name(s):

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Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

Biography/Administrative history:

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Gordon, John King, 1900-1989 : John King Gordon, minister, social activist, internationalist, was born and raised in Winnipeg by his parents, C.W. Gordon (the novelist Ralph Connor) and Helen (King) Gordon. After graduating from the University of Manitoba, King Gordon studied at Oxford as Rhodes Scholar (1921-1924). He then served as a Presbyterian/United Church minister in Giscome, B.C. (1924-1925), and in Pine Falls, Man. (1926-1929), and studied theology at Manitoba College, Winnipeg. After leaving Pine Falls he studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York and served concurrently as a Presbyterian minister in Bloomfield, New Jersey (1929-1931).

In 1931 Gordon was engaged as a professor of Christian ethics by United Theological College, Montreal. He helped found the Committee on Social and Economic Research of the United Church's Montreal Presbytery and was active in the League for Social Reconstruction and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He was a co-author of Social Planning for Canada (1935), attended the CCF's founding convention, helped draft the Regina Manifesto, and served on the CCF's national executive until 1938. After his 1934 dismissal from UTC, Gordon was hired as travelling secretary of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order. He unsuccessfully contested the federal riding of Victoria, B.C., for the CCF in the 1935 general election and in by-elections in 1936 and 1937.

In 1938 Gordon moved to New York after accepting an editorial position with Farrar and Rinehart, the publisher of his father's posthumous autobiography. He was a commissioner of the Canadian government's Royal Commission on the Steel Industry (1942-1943). In 1944, Gordon became managing editor of an American newsmagazine, The Nation. Laid off in 1947, he served as the CBC's representative at the United Nations until 1950, when he was hired to do information work in the UN's Division of Human Rights. Gordon's UN career took him from New York when he accepted positions with the Korean Reconstruction Agency (1954-1956), the Information Centre for the Middle East/Emergency Force (Cairo, 1956-1959), and the emergency force in the Congo (1960-1962). He also served with the Technical Assistance Administration (New York, 1959-1960).

After his 1962 retirement from the UN, Gordon taught International Relations at the Universities of Alberta (1962-1967) and Ottawa (1967-1975), where he was also assistant director of the Centre for International Co-operation. During 1973-1980 he was senior advisor on university relations for the federal government's International Development Research Centre. Other activities included organizing the Banff Conferences on World Affairs and the presidency of the Canadian University Service Overseas (1963-1969) and of the United Nations Association in Canada (1974-1977). During the 1970s and 1980s Gordon was also active in the International Ocean Institute/Pacem in Maribus and a peace organization, the Group of 78.

Honours received by Gordon included the Pearson Peace Medal, the Order of Canada, and several honorary degrees.

Finding aid:

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Textual records (Electronic) Finding Aid MSS1822 is a file list, with an index and more detailed biographical information on King Gordon. Finding aid described content in volumes 1 to 95. MSS1822 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000404.pdf

Additional information:

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General note:

Material received in 1976 from J. King Gordon and in 1989 from Ruth A. Gordon.
Autobiographical statement by John King Gordon available in art accession file.

Arrangement note:

The fonds is largely organized into series that broadly follow the chronological sequence of King Gordon's life and career, although there is some overlap. The final series of personal and family material cover Gordon's whole life and are the exception to the broadly chronological pattern.
Subject heading:

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Canoes and canoeing, [1905-1921] Reverend James Robertson, [1834-1856]

Church work - Canada, [1922-1929, 1950, [198-]] Presbyterian Women's Missionary Society, [before 1925]

Giscome (B.C.) - Clergy, 1924-1925 Helen (King) Gordon, [1908-1974]

Pine Falls (Man.) - Clergy, 1926-1929 Jim Dombrowski, [1923-1989]

Theology - Study and teaching, [19-] Reinhold Niebuhr, [1923-1989]

Pine Falls (Man.) - Social conditions, [1916-1931] Graham Spry, [1923-1989]

Pine Falls (Man.) - Industrial conditions, [1916-1931] Frank H. Underhill, [1923-1989]

Soviet Union - Description and travel, 1932, 1934 Frank Scott, [1923-1989]

Editors - New York, n.d., 1936-1945 Canadian International Development Agency, [1923-1989]

Egypt - History - Intervention, 1956 Banff Conference on World Development/Affairs, [1923-1989]

Suez Crisis, 1956 Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada's International Development Office, [1923-1989]

Universities and colleges - Faculty, [1962-1975] Joe Clark, [1981-1988]

University of Alberta - Faculty, [1962-1967] Group of '78, n.d., 1981-1988

University of Ottawa - Faculty, [1967-1975] Pacem in Maribus (Organization), [1968-1987]

Lectures and lecturing - Canada, [1962-1975] Elisabeth Man Borgess, [1968-1987]

Cruise missiles, [1981-1988] Canadian University Service Overseas, 1960-1977

Socialist movement in Canada, [193-] Ottawa University (Ottawa, Ont.). Centre for International Co-operation, [1967-1975]

Gordon family, [1899-1983] John Humphrey, [1944-1988]

Peace - Societies, etc., [1981-1988] Lester B. Pearson, [1944-1988]

United Nations, n.d., 1942, 1944-1988

"The Nations," n.d., 1939-1949

Royal Commission on the Steel Industry, n.d., 1930-1943

Farrar and Rinehart (New York), n.d., 1936-1945, [198-]

Social Planning for Canada, [1931-1938]

Pegi Nicol (MacLeod), n.d

League for Social Reconstruction, [1931-1938]

Fellowship for a Christian Social Order, [1931-1938]

Committee on Social and Economic Research of the Montreal Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, [1931-1938]

United Theological College (Montreal, Québec), [1931-1938]

Union Waterfront Project, [1916-1931]

Union Theological Seminary (New Jersey, n.d., 1916-1931

League of Nations Union, [1918-1932, 1986-1987]

Oxford International Assembly, [1918-1932, 1986-1987]

Turnov Conference on European Student Relief, [1918-1932, 1986-1987]

United Church of Canada
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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1989-590 DAP
1989/0213 MSS
1990-101 DAP
1993-051 DAP
383-89
90-039
90-355

Former archival reference no.:

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MG30-C241

Other accession no.:

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1990-101 DAP
1993-051 DAP
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Access restriction document

http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/r000000399.pdf

Textual records

[Consultation96 Restrictions vary]

Finding aid box [FA 1822] 137

[Consultation 10 Closed]

Sound recordings

[Consultation90 Open]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Box [GORDON, JOHN KING 1990-101] RV3 122

[Consultation 90 Open]

Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]

Box [1989-590]

[Consultation 90 Open]

BK-032 Item no. assigned by LAC 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Philatelic records

[Consultation90 Open]

Box [1993-051] C111

[Consultation 90 Open]

Box [1990-101] C53

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Sketchbook (12 pencil drawings), 1934; 384 photographs, some in albums, 1921-1956 (all: accession 1989-590 DAP): No donor restrictions. Copyright: Estate of John King Gordon. Credit: Name of photographer / National Archives of Canada / Copy negative no.
Three postal covers, 1978 (accession 1990-101 DAP): No donor restrictions. Copyright: American Air Mail Society. Credit: National Archives of Canada. 229 postal covers, 1912-1984 (accession 1993-051 DAP): Copyright: unknown. Credit: National Archives of Canada.
458 photographs, ca. 1885-1988, predominant 1954-1962 (accession 1990-101 DAP): No donor restrictions. Various copyrights on items less than 50 years old. Copyright expired on items more than 50 years old. Credit: Name of photographer / National Archives of Canada / Copy negative no.
229 postal covers, 1912-1984 (1993-051 DAP): No donor restrictions. Copyright: unknown. Credit: National Archives of Canada.
Sound recordings: Reproduction and use in any form requires the written permission of the copyright holders and in some cases of the donor; please consult item level descriptions for details.
Textual records: The recipient of photocopies is responsible for determining if the material is protected by copyright and whether its use constitutes an infringement of the Canadian Copyright Act. The National Archives provides copies only for purposes of research and private study.

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