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Main entry |
Beattie, Jessie Louise |
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Birth place |
"Willow Bank" homestead, Blair, Waterloo, Ontario |
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Birth date |
2 October 1896 |
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Death place |
Dundas, Hamilton, Ontario |
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Death date |
5 October 1985 |
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BRS document number |
000000225 |
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Identifier |
0161 |
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Birth name |
Jessie Louise Beattie |
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Alternate names |
Rainbow Bright |
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Married name |
Gaffin |
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Marital status |
married |
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Religious affiliation |
Presbyterian |
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Degree and date |
BSW, University of Toronto, 1943 |
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Paid work |
librarian; lecturer; social worker; director of recreation, Community Welfare Council of Ontario; journalist; teacher (school) |
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Biography |
The long writing career of Jessie Louise Beattie (1896-1985) began when she composed poetry at the age of five. Invalided by gallstones throughout her childhood, and undiagnosed until she was 27, she published her first poem, at the age of fifteen, in honour of her physician. Although plagued by poor health, she managed to attend school in Blair and Galt, after which she briefly worked in libraries in Kitchener, Buffalo, and Hamilton, and studied editorial work at the University of Buffalo in New York for a year. In 1928, Jessie returned home to care for her aging parents, a decision that would lead her to take up teaching privately in her hometown. During this period, she publish her first books and plays. Her work establishing a girls' literature club, called "The Cruisers" earned her provincial recognition and eventually led her across Ontario teaching play production skills in towns struck hard by the Depression. She then accepted work as a House Mother at the Ontario Training School for Girls in Galt, where she encouraged addressing the needs of students with disabilities. During the Second World War, she found herself working on the West Coast as a columnist for the Vancouver Province and, once again, as a librarian, this time at the Vancouver Public Library. She received a BSW from the University of Toronto in 1943. That same year she entered into a short-lived marriage to David Gaffin, and settled in Hamilton. When her sight began to fail in 1967, Jessie dictated to tape recorder, so that she could still author books. She divided her energies between writing and education, the common thread being a commitment to the betterment of other people's lives. A pioneer in the education of learning disabled children, she worked to establish the Big Sisters' Association in Toronto. She organized community dramatics and lectured on cultural development. In 1976, she won the first Hamilton Arts Award for excellence in the arts and contribution to the national cultural scene. She left a bequest to Wilfrid Laurier University to establish a lecture series on Canadian literature. In all, she published some twenty books in a variety of genres, the last five of which were dictated. She died in 1985 and was buried at Blair Cemetery. |
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Travel |
Buffalo, New York, 1925 |
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Honours and awards |
Nominated for Governor-General's award (1939) |
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Residences |
Blair, Ontario (1896); Waterloo, Ontario (1901, 1911); Hamilton, Ontario |
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Geographic regions |
Southern Ontario |
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Primary genres |
fiction; non-fiction; life-writing; poetry; journalism; drama |
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Books |
BLOWN LEAVES (1929); SHIFTING SAILS (1931); HILL-TOP: A TALE OF RURAL ONTARIO LIFE (1935); THREE MEASURES (1938); WHITE WINGS AROUND THE WORLD (1953); ALONG THE ROAD (1954); JOHN CHRISTIE HOLLAND (1956); BLACK MOSES (1958); THE SPLIT IN THE SKY (1960); HASTEN THE DAY (1961); STRENGTH FOR THE BRIDGE: A CHRONICLE OF JAPANESE IMMIGRATION (1966); A SEASON PAST (1968); THE LOG LINE (1972); A ROPE IN THE HAND (1973); A WALK THROUGH YESTERDAY (1975); WINTER NIGHT AND OTHER POEMS (1975); WILLIAM ARTHUR DEACON: MEMOIRS OF A LITERARY FRIENDSHIP (1978); A SKYLARK'S EMPTY NEST (1979); BLACK SHEEP THEY WERE NOT (1981); GOOFY WILLIE NYE (1983) |
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Periodicals |
THE ADVOCATE; CANADIAN BOOKMAN; CANADIAN MAGAZINE; CANADIAN POETRY; CHATELAINE; DAILY MAIL AND EMPIRE; FARMER'S MAGAZINE; GALT REPORTER; THE GLOBE; KITCHENER RECORD; ONTARIO FARMER; ONTARIO LIBRARY REVIEW; SATURDAY NIGHT; WOMAN'S MAGAZINE |
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Organizations |
Canadian Authors Association, Canadian Women's Press Club, Trefoil Literary Society, American Penwoman's Association |
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Other arts |
music (piano), composed music for three act operetta, THE CALL OF THE CARAVAN; wrote play, THE FOUR-LEAFED CLOVER |
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Father's name |
Francis Walker Beattie |
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Life dates of father |
18 January 1850, Puslinch Township, Wellington, Ontario - 29 March 1933, Blair, Wellington, Ontario |
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Father's note |
farmer |
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Mother's name |
Janet ("Jessie") Fleming |
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Life dates of mother |
13 December 1854, Puslinch Township, Wellington, Ontario - 23 August 1945, Ontario; m 1875 |
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Spouse 1 |
David V. Gaffin |
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Marriage 1 date |
13 May 1943 |
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Biographical references |
Beattie, A WALK THROUGH YESTERDAY (1976); "Jessie Louise Beattie" on HALL OF FAME MEMBERS, City of Cambridge (Web); 1901 Census of Canada; 1911 Census of Canada; Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956 |
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Bibliographic references |
Watters, CHECKLIST OF CANADIAN LITERATURE...1620-1960 (1970), pp. 14, 243, 463; CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS volume 17 |
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Research references |
complete |
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Archival references |
Jessie Louise Beattie papers, 12 m., Hamilton Public Library; correspondence, MacMillan papers, McMaster; letters to W. A. Deacon, Deacon papers, Fisher Library, University of Toronto; letters to Robert Weaver, Weaver fonds, National Archives of Canada; letters to John Grey, National Archives of Canada |
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Image credits |
Line drawing by Una Vernelli (Vancouver, British Columbia). |
