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LITERARY LOCATION: The Felix Apartments, 610 Jervis Street (Jervis and Pender)
Little-known today, A.M. Stephen resided here, in Suite 41, as possibly the most progressive of all Vancouver authors. Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," Stephen's Child Welfare Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation. "Woman has rebelled," he wrote, "and rightly so, at the double standard that she has been subjected to."
Stephen successfully implemented numerous educational reforms. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child." One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League. Stephen also corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China, wrote for the leftist newspaper, The Western Tribune and published two significant novels, The Kingdom of the Sun (1927) and The Gleaming Archway (1929), as well as books of poetry and plays.
QUICK REFERENCE ENTRY:
Few authors have contributed more to British Columbia society than Alexander Maitland (A.M.) Stephen, one of the first B.C. authors to prominently double as a social reformer.
Born in Ontario in 1882, but raised in Victoria, "A.M.," as he was later known, abandoned law after one year to prospect for gold in the Klondike. He punched cattle in Alberta, worked as a guide in the Rockies and taught school at Rock Creek, B.C. in 1906. He studied architecture at the University of Chicago until 1913 when he went to England and enlisted in 1914. Injured in France, he returned to Vancouver with a shattered right wrist, virtually penniless, and opened a structural engineering firm in 1918.
Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," Stephen's Child Welfare Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation. "Woman has rebelled," he wrote, "and rightly so, at the double standard, that she has been subjected to." Turning to teaching, Stephen agitated for numerous reforms, some of which were implemented after his dismissal for insubordination. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child."
One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League. He criticized the "ignorance and inertia of those... still living in the dark ages of medieval priestcraft and superstition."
In the Twenties, Stephen worked for the Western Tribune, a leftist weekly, and gained his reputation in poetry as "the Canadian Carl Sandburg." He also wrote an historical romance, Kingdom of the Sun (1927), about a gentleman adventurer named Richard Anson who sailed aboard Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, only to be cast away amongst the Haida. Anson's love interest is a golden-haired princess, Auria, who must choose between her mystical duties and her earthly affection. The novel is drawn from evidence that fair-haired, blue-eyed Haida were encountered by explorers in the late 18th century.
In The Gleaming Archway (1929), A.M. Stephen's fictional prototype is journalist Craig Maitland, a dreamer in the twin realms of love and politics: Maitland takes his holidays in the rough 'n tumble of the Squamish Valley amongst "reds," Indigenous people and expatriate English eccentrics. He befriends a Marxist publisher, a Russian revolutionary and a beautiful Englishwoman, who is married. He returns to Vancouver to work for The Beacon, a socialist weekly headquartered on Pender Street. He forms a sentimental friendship with emancipated colleague, Madge, atop Grouse Mountain and in Capilano Canyon, but impulsively marries Shannon, a painted lady with a heart of gold whom he meets in a Chinatown gambling house. The gleaming archways of Craig Maitland's idealistic spirit come crashing down to earth until he accepts an invitation to leave on a treasure hunting expedition in the South Seas, unaware that friends have arranged for him to be reunited with his first true love, Jocelyn, whose husband has conveniently died.
Stephen launched the B.C. branch of the League Against War and Fascism and was narrowly defeated as a CCF candidate in the Alberni-Nanaimo riding. He was later expelled from the CCF for advocating a popular front with the Communists. He corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China and wrote numerous pamphlets analyzing global politics. Stephen's radicalism was tempered by violent RCMP actions in Regina during the great trek of the unemployed to Ottawa in 1935. His second son, Leslie, born in 1914, was helping at his cousin's ranch for the summer in Saskatchewan. In Regina to buy grain for seeding, Leslie Stephen was caught in the riot and so brutally beaten on the head by police that he became a lifelong invalid. A.M. Stephen succumbed to pneumonia in 1942. Wreaths were sent by such diverse groups as the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union.
FULL ENTRY:
A.M. Stephen, the greatest humanitarian of all Vancouver writers, led an exemplary life and his writings have been under-valued and under-recognized by the city.
Alexander Maitland Stephen, the social activist and author, known to his friends as A.M., was born in Hanover, Ontario in 1882. His parents were both of aristocratic Scottish ancestry. They moved to Victoria, B.C. in 1898 where their son articled with his uncle's law firm at age sixteen. Disenchanted with the majesty of the law and possessed with a socialist impatience, Stephen abandoned a career in law after one year in order to prospect for gold in the Klondike. He punched cattle in Alberta, worked as a guide in the Rockies and taught school at Rock Creek, B.C. in 1906. Never greatly attracted to money, he reputedly turned down a promotion in Victoria selling life insurance for $300 a month in order to take a $1-a-day cow-punching job. He worked briefly as a logger in Oregon in 1910. His studies in architecture at the University of Chicago until 1913 took him overseas to England where he enlisted in 1914. He was injured in France and returned to Vancouver with a shattered right wrist, virtually penniless, in 1918, to open a structural engineering firm.
A.M. Stephen's crusading spirit for social reform led him to form the Child Welfare Association. Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," his Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation ("Woman has rebelled, and rightly so, at the double standard, that she has been subjected to.")
Turning to teaching, Stephen agitated for numerous reforms, most of which were implemented after his dismissal for insubordination. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child." One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. As a founder of the Canadian birth control movement, he criticized the "ignorance and inertia of those... still living in the dark ages of medieval priestcraft and superstition. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League.
He turned to his pen for his living, becoming associate editor of the Western Tribune, a leftist weekly. His popularity as a public speaker reputedly caused him to move from Dundarave in West Vancouver to Vancouver. In 1924 he lived in suite 27 in the Manhattan Apartments at 784 Thurlow.
A great admirer of Swinburne, Stephen published his first successful book of poetry, The Rosary of Pan, in 1923. After editing two school anthologies, The Voice of Canada (1926), and The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse (1927), and issuing a second acclaimed poetry collection, The Land of the Singing Water (1927), Stephen's literary reputation was established across Canada. A.M. Stephen's first novel, the Kingdom of the Sun (Dent, 1927), is an historical romance about a gentleman adventurer named Richard Anson who sailed aboard Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, only to be cast away amongst the Haida. Anson's love interest is a golden-haired princess, Auria, reared by the Haida to serve as an ethereal princess. Auria must choose between earthly affection and mystical duties. The novel is drawn from evidence that fair-haired, blue-eyed Haida were encountered by explorers as early as Juan Perez in 1774.
In The Gleaming Archway (Dent, 1929), one of the first of numerous novels from British Columbia to feature disaffected male journalists, Vancouver is referred to as the Mystical City and the City Beautiful. A.M. Stephen, himself a Vancouver newspaperman, has a fictional prototype in the novel, Craig Maitland, who is a dreamer in the twin realms of love and politics: "To Craig Maitland, standing upon the edge of Grouse Mountain plateau, it seemed that he had paused for a moment upon the brink of some dream world which was built of the aerie substance of imagination--a perishable palace of beauty wrought of star-dust and moonbeams... Only when one looked towards the city, which lay like an aeroplane map unrolled to southward, did one realise Man, the microcosm, had entered and had changed this universe of the Titans and had placed these puny structures in contrast with nature." As a moderate socialist, Maitland takes a respite from the restrictions of a journalism career and holidays in the rough 'n tumble Squamish Valley amongst radical "reds," Indigenous people and expatriate English eccentrics. He befriends a Marxist publisher, a Russian revolutionary and a beautiful Englishwoman. He also meets a brutish, volatile leftist named Bud Powers, who proves to be his nemesis as the symbolic representation of the primitive elements of man's nature that invariably scuttle social progress. Unlucky in love (Jocelyn, the Englishwoman, is married), Maitland returns to Vancouver to ardently assist in the publication of the Beacon, a socialist weekly headquartered on Pender Street. He forms a sentimental friendship with emancipated colleague, Madge, atop Grouse Mountain and in Capilano Canyon, but impulsively marries Shannon, a painted lady with a heart of gold whom he meets in a Chinatown gambling house. Eventually, the gleaming archways of Craig Maitland's idealistic spirit come crashing down to earth and he accepts an invitation to leave on a treasure hunting expedition in the South Seas, unaware that his friends have arranged for him to be reunited with his first true love, Jocelyn, whose husband has since conveniently died.
Stephen believed that "authentic poetry, in whatever genre it happens to be, is always better than the best prose." As an active member of the Vancouver Poetry Society, he eventually formed a Vancouver chapter of the League of Western Writers in 1931. A reviewer in the Vancouver Sun wrote, "I think that A.M. Stephen is the Canadian Carl Sandburg, the logical successor to Bliss Carman as the poet of the country. I think he's a genius."
His much anthologized poem of tribute, "Vancouver," was printed in the Sunday Province on October 1, 1934, and can be found in Brown Earth & Bunch Grass (1931), which contains another poem called "Kitsilano" -- "Where the miles of fragrant cedar/And the dark firs whisper low/To the curving line of silver/Where the moonlit waters flow,/There are ghostly echoes surging/In the sea wind borne afar/From the hidden lands that slumber/Out beyond the western star..."
In 1935, he published an epic lyric titled Verendrye (1935).
He had close personal ties with Bliss Carman and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. Stephen the activist used his literary stature to promote his social concerns after the demise of the Western Tribune in 1929 because of the Depression. As a member of the Progressive Film Association, the Vancouver Art Gallery, president of the Vancouver Lodge of the Theosophical Society and a highly respected critic of his times, Stephen successfully launched the B.C. branch of the League Against War and Fascism. He stood as a candidate for the CCF (predecessor of today's NDP) in the Alberni-Nanaimo riding and was narrowly defeated. He was later expelled from the CCF for advocating a popular front with the Communists. He corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China and wrote numerous pamphlets analyzing global politics from a leftist perspective. Possibly Stephen's radicalism was tempered by the violent RCMP actions in Regina during the great trek of the unemployed to Ottawa in 1935. His second son, Leslie (born in 1914), was helping at his cousin's ranch for the summer in Saskatchewan. In Regina to buy grain for seeding, Leslie Stephen was caught in the riot and so brutally beaten on the head by police that he was made an invalid for life.
A.M. Stephen succumbed to pneumonia complications at St. Paul's Hospital on Dominion Day, 1942. Wreaths were sent by such diverse groups as the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union. His wife arranged for a collection of posthumous poetry, Songs for a New Nation (1963).
BOOKS:
Poetry
The Rosary of Pan
The Land of Singing Waters
Brown Earth and Bunch Grass (Vancouver: Wrigley Printing, 1931). Self-published.
Verendrye--A Poem of the New World, An Epic of V Episodes
Songs for a New Nation
Novels
The Kingdom of the Sun (J.M. Dent & Sons, 1937)
The Gleaming Archway (J.M. Dent & Sons, 1929)
Anthologies
The Voice of Canada, editor
The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse, editor
Canadian Voices and Others, editor
Plays
Canadian Drama for Little Folk (aka Classroom Plays from Canadian History)
Editor of two anthologies, The Voice of Canada and The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse.
[Alan Twigg / BCBW 2010] "Fiction" "Poetry" "Classic" "Politics" "1900-1950" "First Nations"
ALSO AN INVENTORY OF A.M. STEPHEN AT UBC SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Alexander Maitland Stephen, 1882-1942
In Inventory of His Papers in The University of British Columbia Library
Special Collection Division
Prepared
by
George Brandak
August, 1975 - January, 1985
TABLE OF CONTENT S
Introduction
Inventory: series
ttsCripte : Poetry 1
Manuscripts : Prose 2
Printed Material 2
Photographs 5
Letters: Incoming 6
Letters: ether 10
Covers: 10
Addenda: Scrapbook 11
Addendum #i 14
INTRODUCTION
Alexander Maitland Stephen (1882-1942), poet and novelist, was born near
Hanover, Ontario and obtained part of his educational training at Walkerton Collegiate Institute.
A short story, Fortunes of War, written at age ten, illustrated his early interest in the literary world. As a young man Stephen went West and pursued various occupations, including cattle ranching, logging , and mining. On his return from Europe after serving in World War I Stephen settled in Vancouver and followed the profession of teaching. Also, he took an active part in the literary, social and political life of Vancouver.
Some of the organizations to which he belonged included the Vancouver Poetry Society, Canadian Authors' Association, League of Western Writers, Julian Lodge of the Theosophy Society, Child Welfare Association of British Columbia, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the League Against War and Fascism, and the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy.
Well-known nationally for his literary work, Stephen was the author of two novels, four volumes of verse, two volumes of plays, and edited two anthologies of Canadian verse during his lifetime.
For further biographical information on A.M. Stephen, see Canadian who' s
who, 1936-37, Who's who among North American authors, vol. 5, Draper, S . (ed. )
Preliminary Inventory ; Additional Manuscripts . No . 2A Vancouver, City of Vancouver Archives, 1974, pp . 6-7, and clippings relating to his death in the A .M . Stephen papers.
The A.M. Stephen papers consisted of manuscript material in typescript
form pertaining to his literary work and two scrapbooks, arranged by Mrs. W .I. Stephen, containing letters, clippings, photographs, and related material that reflected Stephen's literary career and various other interests. Printed material and photographs within the scrapbooks have been listed. Letters have been taken from envelopes in the scrapbook and placed in folders. A detailed list has not been made for clippings pertaining to his literary works, social and political activities, as well as his life.
Another scrapbook relating to A .M. Stephen was donated by his wife to
the City of Vancouver Archives, December, 1942.
MANUSCRIPTS
Typescripts were fastened together into folders. Although they have been unfastened, the original order has been kept. Any item that is not a manuscript will be described in the order in which it was fastened. All
manuscripts are typescripts with the exception of the item in box 1, folder no. 7 . Plays in dramatic form have been listed as poetry.
Manuscripts : Poetry
Atlantis: A Lyric Drama
A foreword added.
n.d. 34p.
1-2
1-3
1-4
Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem n.d . 25 p.
Hymns to Dionysus n.d . 5 p.
Kanikilak, The Wanderer. A Mystery Play of the n.d. 50 p.
Pacific Coast Indians by "Tole Wahna."
A foreword and directions for costumes are added.
Kanikilak, The Wanderer. A Mystery Play of the n.d. 50 p.
Pacific Coast Indians.
A foreword and directions for costumes are added. A letter was written by Stephen stating the advantages of staging this play at the Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park, Vancouver, together with a prospectus for an Indian Passion Play, n.d., 5 p. of the Coast Indians n.d. 7 p.
An essay written by Stephen.
A Proposal for Pageant Depicting Development of n.d. 2 p.
Sea Commerce and City of Vancouver.
1-5 The Argonaut and Other Plays
The Argonaut
The Amazons
The Hands of the Virgin
A Night in Old Provence
[1930]
10 p.
18 p.
13 p.
8 p.
1-6 Questionaire n.d. 1 p.
Answers only to an unknown questionaire relating to his literary career.
Atlantis, A Reminiscence in Dramatic Form n.d. 21.
A foreword is included.
The Argonaut n.d. 14p.
The Troubadour n.d. 8 p.
Manuscripts : Prose Fortunes of War 1892 20 p.
A handwritten short story placed in a scrapbook by his wife. Also, the scrapbook contains a critique of A .M . Stephen by his wife and clippings
taken from the San Francisco Chronicle relating to drug addiction and world affairs, February, 1967.
The Relation of Poetry to Life 1923 4 P.
Poetry and the New Age nod. 10 p.
The Essential Value of Beauty 1928 8 p.
Parnassus in Pink n.d. 16 p.
Puritan and Pagan. [1926 or 21 p.
A Critique of Bliss Carman's Poetry 1927]
The Relation of Poetry to Life 1923 4 p.
The Essential Value of Beauty 1928 14 p.
The Open Road to Freedom n .d. 15 p.
Puritan and Pagan. n.d. 22 p.
A Critique of Bliss Carman's Poetry
Poetry and the New Age n.d. 10 p.
Contemporary Poetry n.d. 5 p.
Canada's Birthday Greetings to the United States July 4, 11 p.
Transcript of a speech by Leonard W . Brockington 1941
PRINTED MATERIAL
1—10 Stephen, A .M . "The Major Note in. Canadian Poetry, "
Dalhousie Review, Vol . IX, no. 1, April, 1929 ,
pp. 54-67.
Stephen, A .M. "The Fifth Column in Poetry, An
Interlude," Dalhousie Review, Vol . XX, no . 4,
Jan., 1941, pp . 471—479 .
Stephen, A .M. "Dr. Samuel Johnson Views Our Poets, "
Dalhousie Review, n.d., pp. 493—506 .
1—7
1—8
1—9
Stephen, A.M . "This Is the Hour," 1939.
Poem printed in a Christmas card sent to his friends .
Stephen, A .M. "My Canada," 1941 .
Poem printed in a Christmas cards sent to his friends .
Roberts, (Sir) Charles C .B . "Frances Sherman," The Dalhousie,
Review, Jan., 1935, pp. 419-427 .
Smith, K. Ellwood. "The Lunatic, The Lover, and The Poet, "
The Shakespeare Association Bulletin, Vol. XVI, no . 2,
April, 1941, pp. 77-88.
ICirkconnell, Watson. "Ta Gr ta," Dalhousie Review, Vol. XII
no . 2, July, 1932, pp. 169-179 .
Pratt, Harry Noyes . "Atlantis," University of California
,Chroni4e, October, 1926, pp . 354-361 .
Pratt, Harry Noyes . "The Eucalyptus, n .d . (Copyright 1924)
2-1 Scrapbook 1918-1939 58 p.
Printed material has been glued into both scrapbooks .
The pages have been numbered and the numbers below refer t o
page numbers in the scrapbooks .
(p. 2) [Stephen, A .N .] Child Conservation, Vancouver, The Social Service s
League, m.d. 4 p.
(p. 5) Program of First Annual Convention of the Child Welfare Association
of British Columbia .
(p. 6) Program for a Concert sponsored by the Child Welfare Association o f
British Columbia, [1919]
(p. 8)
School of Pharmacy and Science, m .d.
(p. 18) Brochure advertising A .N. Stephen as C .C .F. candidate for Nanaimo-
Alberni in the provincial election of 1937 .
(p. 19) The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation earner•-Labor-S o
a description of the inception,objects and plans of the new
Canadian political movement launched at Calgary Alberta,,
August 1st, 1932, 4 p.
A reprint from the August [1932] issue of the United Farmer s
of Alberta,.
(p . 19) The League for Social Reconstruction in Canada, Vancouver, League for
Social Reconstruction, Vancouver Branch [1932, 8 p .
Brochure advertisi4,s a practical course in authorship at the B .C .
(p. 20) Statement of Committee ., n.d., 4 p.
A statement signed by various C .C.F. members regretting the
political direction of the party and supporting the reinstate -
ment of A .M . Stephen, who was suspended from the party owing
to his activities on behalf of the League Against War and.
Facism.
(p. 20) Program for J .S . Woodsworth Memorial Service, March 29, 1942.
(p. 21) "Veritas," The GreatBetrayal, [Vancouver] The Canadian League
for Peace and Democracy, n .d ., 4 p .
(p. 21) Stephen, A .M. Hitlerism in Canada, Vancouver, The League Against
War and Fascism, 24 p .
(p . 22) Broad sheet, Japanese Agents Control Deal Radio Stations? ?
n.d . See : Box 1, folder 11 .
(p. 22) Stephen, A .M. War in China. . . What it means to Canada ,
Vancouver, China aid Council and the National Salvation
League, n .d . Foreword by Foon Sien qong .
(p . 22) Report of the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference . held at,
Vancouver . B .C . . April22 & 23 . 1939,, 23 p .
(p. 23) Stephen, A .M. He Died for China on Our Far Eastern Front . n.d. ,
7 p.
(p. 25) Spain, New York, American Friends of Spanish Democracy, n .d., 24 p.
(p. 26) Caricatures pertaining to German domination of Europe, 1938, 4 p .
(p. 27) British Columbia"Job-Seekers"Journal,, Vol. I, no . 1 [1938] 4 p.
(p. 28) Post Office "Sitdowner's" Gazette, Vol . I, no. 1-3 [1938]
(p. 28) Victoria Jobless Journal, Vol . I, no . 1 [1938]
Journal is a continuation of the Post Office "Sitdowner's"
Gazette.
(p. 28) Tourist Guide,, n.d., 2 p.
A sheet with satirical comments on the beauty of Vancouver .
(p. 29) A greeting card welcoming the League of Western Writers to
Vancouver. Card includes an excerpt from Stephen's poem .
"Vancouver. "
(p. 56) Stephen, A .M. In Memory of John Reid, Died April 28th, 1899 .
Poem written in memory of a personal friend .
2-2 Scrapbook
Printed material has been glued into both scrapbooks . The page s
have been numbered and the number below refer to page number s
in the scrapbooks .
The following brochures were advertisements for Stephen's publications :
(p . 3) The Rosary of Pan, n.d., 4 p.
4) Poetry of the Canadian West ,, n.d., 4 p.
(p. 14) The Voice of Canada
(p . 18) The Lands of Singing ;paters
(p. 32) The Kingdom of the Sun
(p. 34) den Treasury of Verse,
(p. 37) The Gleaming Archway,
(p. 40) Brown Earth and Bunch Grass
(p. 51) Verendrve,
(p. 61) Little Folk . Book I . Class Room Plays from Canadian History
LittleFolk.BookII . ClassRoomPlays from Canadian Industry ,.
(p. 12) Program of a recital by Stephen presented by the Vancouver Poetry
Society.
(p . 63) Stephen, A .M . Lord of their poems of the present war . Vancouver ,
The Author [1940
(p. 67) Full Tide, vol. 7, no . 1, October, 1942 .
(p• 31 {► 63, Christmas cards sent by Stephen to his friends and including poems ,
64, 691 [1928] 1939, 1940 and 1941 0
PHOTOGRAPHS
Although there are many pictures taken from newspapers and periodicals ,
only prints are included in this list .
2-1 Scrapbook
(p. 21) Balantine Pier during a strike in Vancouver, 1935 0
(p0 21-24) Chinese-Japanese War, 1938-1939
Prints relate to medical care and Japanese activities 13 prints
during the war .
(p. 23) Dr. Norman Bethune and Chow Tsang Ching, leader of 1 print
8th Route Army *
(p. 67) Family of A.I. Stephen, 1942 & 1964.
2-2 Scrapbook
(p* 12) Ruohgar, ,.
5 prints
1 print
LETTERS : INCOMING
The letters were taken from envelopes that were glued into the
scrapbooks and placed into folders, An asterisk indicates tha t
the letter was glued into a scrapbook and has been left on the
designated page number . Page numbers indicate where items were
kept in the scrapbook .
Scrapbook (box 2, folder ) Date
Toon, Ben M .
Letter pertains to the 1937 provincial election campaign [1937
and Toon's political philosophy .
(p. 18) Pearson, G .S.
Letter pertaining to Pearson's re-election .
(p. 25) Marshall, Albert
A letter from Spain commenting on the Spanish Civil War.
1-12 Scrapbook (box 2, folder 2)
(p. 8)* Aberdeen School, Division IV Jan., 1924
Letter thanks Stephen for a copy of The Rosary of Pan .
[Nerum, R] The Rectory, Oberbrook, Pa. Apr ., 1924
Letter referring to The Rosary of Pan.
Smith, Mary Dec., 1923
Letter pertaining to poetry and sponsorship of his tour .
(p. 12) Ruohgar, A .
Letter pertaining to his activities as an actor in passion
plays.
(p. l3)* Cheyney, Ralph n.d.
Letter referring to Stephen's poetry and style .
(p . 14) Carman, Bliss
Letter referring to his forthcoming activities and Nov., 1926
Stephen's Voice of Canada .
(p. 17)
1937
Aug., 1937
(p. 14) Deacon, W .A . (Saturday Night )
Letter referring to Voiceof Canada and other poems.
Excerpts from letters on TheVoiceof Canada are
attached . 1 p .
(p. 15) Anstey, A .
Writing on behalf of the Provincial Normal School ,
Vancouver, B .C ., he comments on The Voice of Canada.
MacDonald, Wilson Nov., 1926
Permission granted to use his work in The Voice of Canada .
(p . 16) Roberts, Lloyd Sept ., 1926
Letter pertaining to The Voice of Canada, .
(p. 17) Brown, Audrey Alexandra Dec ., 1928
Comments on her poetry, Stephen's criticism of her poetry ,
poetry in general, The Voice of Canada, and Canadian
nationalism .
(p. 23) Davidson, True
Request for an autographed copy of The Land of Singing
Waters.
(p . 27) Macdonald, L .N . Montgomery
Comments on The Land of Sii;r Fate
(p. 28) C'Iiagan, Thomas [Feb ., 1926]
Comments on Stephen's poetic future .
Garvin, John W. (editor, R disson Society of Canada) Aug., 1927
Letter refers to The Land of Su ring Wa e. and Canadian
poets in general .
Stevenson, Lionel
Comments on ,The Land of Sinai nsr Waters, and his opinion
about reviews on Annraisals of Canadian Literature .
Roberts, (Sir) Charles G .D .
Comments on The Land of Singing Waters, and Wilson
MacDonald's poetry as well as remarks on Roberts '
state of health and his forthcoming year at th e
University of British Columbia .
(p. 29) Willis, S .J .
Letter asks for the name of Stephen's new antholog y
as it will be placed on the Grade IX reading list
and acknowledges copy of The Land of Singing Waters .
Willis was Superintendent of Education, Victoria, B .C .
Sanger, Margaret
Letter refers to the formation of a branch of the
League of Western Writers in Vancouver .
Aug., 1926
Sept., 1926
July, 1927
[1927 ]
Aug., 1927
Sept ., 1927
n.d.
[1923]
1926
was
King, F .B .
Comments on "The Land of Singing Waters .
principal of a Vancouver high schoo l
Carman, Bliss [1923] 01923)
A Christmas greeting including the poem - "In Bxoelsis . "
Carman, Bliss
Letter reviews Carman s activities and acknowledges a
poem and article sent by Stephen .
(p. 30} Carman, Blis s
A Christmas greeting card including a poem - "The Dreamer . "
Carman, Blis s
Comments on poetry published in WesternTribune, edited
by Stephen, and the future of Canadian poetry .
O'Nagan, Thomas
Comments on Stephen's poems, "Canada," and "Vancouver . "
Macdonald, L .N. Montgomery
Comments on The Kingdom of the Sun .
Crawford, Margaret E .A.
Comments on The Voice of Canada, The Land of Singing.
Waters, ,The GoldenTreasury of CanadianVerse, and
poetry in general . Crawford was a member of the
Women's University Club of Seattle .
(p. 38) Sahu, L.T.
Letter asking for a copy of The Gleaming Archway for
review purposes in a journal for The Servants of Indi a
Society.
Morehouse, B. (Editorial Department, VancouverSum) Sept., 1930
Comments on Stephen's poetry .
(p. 41)* Clay, Charles (Literary Department, Tinninea Free Press) Mar ., 1932
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch Grass .
(p. 42) Bruun, Geoffrey
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch ,Grass and Brunn' s
visit to Vancouver in the summer of 1928 .
Murphy, Emily F .
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch Grass ,.
(p . 51) Quebec. Department de L'Iustruction Publiqu e
Letter from superintendent referring to Verendrve .
Scott, Duncan Campbell
Comment on Verendrve .
( p. 34 )
p. 36)
Sept . 1925
1926
June, 1929
Jan ., 1926
Dec ., 1927
Dec., 1927
Aug., 1929
Oct ., 1931
Nov ., 1931
Sept ., 1935
Sept., 1935
(p . 51) Roberts, (Sir) Charles G .D . Sept., 1935
Comments on Verendrye. Roberts suggests other poetry
that Stephen should read .
(p. 5) Phelps, Wm . Lyon Sept ., 1935 &
Letter stating that he will be pleased to read Verendrye, Nov., 1935
and another one enclosing his review ofthe epic poem .
(p. 53)* Dougall, John (Advertising Manager of World Wide) Oct ., 1936
Letter asking whether Stephen wishes to advertise hi s
works in the forthcoming issue .
Tweedmuir, John Buchan, Governor-General of Canada Jan., 1936
Letter referring to 'erendrve .
54)* Deacon, William Arthur
Letter commenting on the Native Sons, John Mitchel l
(Paddy Slater), and Stephen's remarks about "y Vision. "
Deacon, William Arthur
Letter referring to the ability of The Globe to print
more literary reviews the TheMail and The Globe's review
of Verendrve,.
(p. 58) Moore, Irene (Regina Leader-Post )
Comments on Verendrye.
Roy, Camille (Laval University) Sept ., 1935
Comments on Verendrye,.
Murray, (Father) Athol (Notre Dame College, Wilcox, Sask. )
Comments on ,Verendrye and suggestions for future books .
(p . 59) Calder, I .N. (Canadian Red Cross Society, Nanaimo Branch) n.d .
Letter congratulating Stephen on the publication o f
Verendrye .
Dalton, A.C . Sept ., 1930
Comments on the poem, "Vancouver . "
Rackwood, H. (Corporation of the City of Nanaimo) Aug ., 1935
Letter offering congratulations to Stephen on th e
publication of Verendrye .
Maclnnis, Tom
Comments on the poem, "Vancouver . "
, R .P .
Comments on his attitude toward poetry and life in general .
Brown, Gilmore (Pasadena Community Playhouse Association )
Letter stating the inability of the Association to produc e
the play, Ranikilak, The Wanderer .
Aug., 1935
Jan ., 1936
Aug., 1935
Sept ., 1930
Dec ., 1938
Oct ., 1927
10 -
(p . 59) Gassner, John W . (American Playreader) Nov., 1932
Letter stating the impossibility of The Theatre Guild ,
York to produce Kanikilak, The Wanderer .
Dorgan-Powell, S . (Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Montreal Daily Sept., 1935 1 )
Acknowledgement of a copy of Verendrve .
Trent, Lucia Sept ., 1935
Comments on Verendrve . Letter refers to Stephen's figh t
against Fascism and the "social vision" poetry of Ralph
Cheney.
LETTERS : OTHER
1-13
Scrapbook (box 2, folder 1 )
(P. 7)* Truesdale, Ater E. (Greater Vancouver Peace Celebration) Aug., 1919
to E.W . Stevens .
Letter refers to assistance given during the celebration.
Scrapbook (box 2, folder 2 )
(p. 66) Matthews, J .S. Dec., 1942
Letter to hrs . Stephen acknowledge the donation of a
scrapbook to the Vancouver City Archives.
COVERS
2-3 Manuscripts in 1-4, 1-6, 1-8 and 1-9 were fastened into these covers .
Folde No. Dates No . of i '
2–4 00t;. 1928–1963 86
This Scrapbook wae initially included 7i th e Pound pe n
It was felt that since the Scrapboon o Steph n eceeele d
by him, and after death, by his -en- . ehould be
included with r_ . to en rapers . The Sara peook covers e ime from
1928, wh en E phen his much publicized tears of `P etern Canada ,
to 1963, ne 3te last edition of poems ' coepile . his wife )
was pub' iehed . The book includes newspaper articles, book reviews ,
letters mainly to , hen and other assorted memorabilia .
(Robert
(p. i) Portrait of A .M .S . photographic reproduction) .
xramfora recital featuring A .M .Stephen reading his poems ,
Vancouver, ere': 13, 1928 and accompanying n.e s paper article) .
(pgs .
2–3 " of Siwash Rock " by A . .ate hen. . Willieoae
Septeiber 1927, pgs .
(pgs .
4–35) hews caper Clipe ri concerning h . n : His recital to i n
Western Canada, hit o-try reading neouver, _ 1 . views o neeian
. . Literatere, his boks( bok reviews ),ect
(p . 33) Copy of A .M.Stephen's entry in Canadian Who o, [1937] .
r
(p . 36) Letter from Charles G .D .Roberts to A .M .Stephen, March 1942 ; letter
accompanied by two poems : " A hon , Victory Delay " and " Th e
Sweet C' The Year . "
(p. 36) Copy of letter from to CharlesG .D .Roberts, March 1942 .
(p . 36) Photograph of A.M.h C .G.D .Roberts, and Elsie Pomeroy
outside the C . , Victoria, 1931 .
(p . 37) Letters Irro : Rod rick .Kentedy, March, 1942 .
All eie thTebruary, 1942 .
ark ;T 1942.
sel 17, 1942 .
E .j.Pratt, 1'eeruary, 1942 .
(p . 37) Copy of letter from A .M. : to E .J .Pratt 2ebruary, 1942 .
(p. 37) Letters of eepathy to ,phen on A .M . te~,' :en's death
from : Elsie Toneroy
F . Gaekell
Canadian Daughters' League : Past President's Clu b
(p. 38)
(pgs .
38–43) =ewspaper Clippings concern k .M.Ote:een'e in Benin -
Jettle, and Tacoma with accee anying progree :
e
(p. 1)
oe - by John Lamb(booklet of -bees) .
-12-
cont'd 2-4
(p . 43) Newspaper Clipping concerning Scottish Pageant in Fayetteville, N .C . ;
letter to the editor( Vancouver Province by A .M.Stephen stating that h e
is not a communist.
(P. 44) Brochure from A .M .Stephens 1 School of ,xpre lion . "
(p . 45) Handwritten manuscript " 3hetch of Alexander de Soto and his work "
by A . hen, 1898,
Letters of sympes to Mrs . Stephen on A .M.Stephen's death from :
(p . 46) Mrs, C .L.Kuo(uniess otherwise stated the letters are dated July, 1942 )
(p . 47) Aiwyne Buckley, Joan, and Elsie .
(p . 48) cards of
(p . 49) Cheri ...obe ts
p . 52) Wine
(p. 53 )
(p. 54) carf of sympathy
(p. 55) Dsree Scott
Lionel Stevenso n
cards of sympathy
(p. 56) Telegrams from : Charles G .D .Robert s
Lorne pierce
Ida
TorL s.0) s n
e-ee s
thy
- from various people.
Baecess
cards o .,
(p . 57 )
(p. 58) aids of sympath y
(p. 59) Review of . ephen's Brown Earth and Bunch Grass by Lionel Stevenson ,
ecke n, October 1'31 .
59-6 Mie eI laneoue newspaper clippings co :nee end
dianLiterature ; various printed , sms Chrictme s
'1 Scott .
cont'd 2- 4
(p . 64) Totes for The Canadian Author and -13 concerning Vancouver Branch
Mee n .d .
(p . 66) Letter of ympathy from Eric F . C eMel Neel - Secretary ,
Authors' sscciation, July, 1942 .
(p . 67) " Canadian Literature as a Nation Builder, " ire article by A .M .
Stephen, , unidentified, n .d ., 5pgs .
(p . 68) Printed by Chanlee G .D .Roberts .
(p . 69) Printed pt) by Cha n .D .Roberts ; photo of C .G .D .R .
(p. 70) Photo of Bli an.
(p . 71) Printed roe,-, " by Bliss ,l;or . of Bliss Carman .
( P - .
72--3 )
(p. 74 )
(p. 75 )
( pgs .
76-77) Book jacket for Sorl's For A Bey Nation by A .M .Stephen.
(p. 78) Letter to Mrs . ei,hen from Lionel Stevenson, February, 1963 .
( pgs .
78-79) Printed poem by Lionel Stevenson ; biographical information on Robert
Louis Stevenson and Lionel Stevenson .
(p . 65) Review of k . . . Singing Waters by Lionel Stevenson ,
(pgs . 80-
81 83) ee epaper clip" ;ncerning A .M .Stephen on his death) .
(p . 81) Lon s of e ir; Poems of the Prase by A .M .Stephen, 16 pgs .
(p . 82) Book review and announcements of Son 2= ie *Stephen' s
last poetry compiled and edited by h , e wife in 1963 .
(p . 84) Newspaper clipping concerning W .Gordon Stephen(on his death) and progrann e
for funeral service .
(pi's .
84-85). Printed poems by A.M. Stephen ; other information concerning Stephen ;
biographical information on Norman Whittaker .
(p. 86) Memorial cardboard plaque with pe lea fathEn• a
induction eer e - t M .Stephen ; of -egazine article
on A . : .Jtepyen, November 41942 .
—t4
cont'd 2—4
(P . ii) Baptismal record for Alexander Stephen(A .M.Stephen's father) and his wife .
ADDENDUM # 1
Manuscripts : Poetry,
3-1 The Amazone . A Play in One Act . n.d. 18 p .
see 1-5
Atlantis, A Lyric Drama . n .d . 34 p.
A foreword is added . see 1-1
The Bride of the Wind, A Phantasy n .d. 14 p.
3-2 Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem
An argument is added . see 1-2
n.d. 17 p.
Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem 1927 27 p.
A foreword and a letter to Mr . Button
is added. see 1-2
3-3 The Hands of the Virgin . A Play in One Act n .d . 11 p.
see 1-5
Kilikilak, the Wanderer . A Mystery Play of 1926 50 p.
the Pacific Coast Indians .
Aforeword and directions for costume s
are added. see 1-3
The Troubadour . A Play in One Act n .d . 8 p .
see 1-6
3-4 Canadian Festival Plays n.d.
An introduction is added, stipulating
the plays in this book form the third
collection in Stephen's series "Canadian
Dramas for Little Folk" .
A Masque for New Year's Day 8 p.
Red and White 14 p.
A Pageant for Labour Day 6 p.
Near Bethlehem 6 p.
The Piper of Dreams 10 p.
Famous Mothers 7 p.
Empire Day 8 p .
St . Valentine's Day 5 p.
St . Valentine's Day 6 p.
Snowdrop and the Ghosts 7 p.
When the Sun Turns Northward 4 p .
A Play for Armistice Day or Peace Day 5 p .
Harvest Moon 5 p.
A Little Son of the Raven 8 p.
Wolfe at Quebec 4 p .
Folder No . Date Nos . of Pages,
3-(5-6) Canadian Voices and Others . Poems Selected for
the Class Room by A.M. Stephen. 2 copies .
A table of contents, notes on poems and
biographical notes are added . The firs t
copy has a bibliography .
3-7 Anchored off Tomorrow
A table of contents is added .
3—8 42 Poems, Carbons and Later Typed Copies .
(Unpublished poetry)
3-9 Poems(Unpublished )
Manuscripts : Prose
4-1 Canadian Poets and the War . 1942 9 p.
Canadian Poets and the War . n .d. 12 p.
A foreword is added
Poetry and the New Age n.d. 10 p.
The Indian Passion Play . Prospectus n .d . 4 p.
Expressionism in Modern Drama n.d. 8 p.
Public Health Past and Present n .d . 80 p.
A foreword and a glossary are added
Letter: Outgoing
4-2 Letter to Gordon Stephen August 191 6
Printed Material
4-2 Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, April 1926, pp. 171-172
Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, June 1926, pp . 262-263
Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, August 1926, pp . 364-366
Stephen, A .M. When You Come Back To Me .
Song with Pianoforte accompaniment .
Music by Edith Stuart . Words by A .M .
Stephen . Seattle; Craig Music Press, 1928
Stephen, A .M. "Dr . Samuel Johnson Views Our
Poets ." Dalhousie Review, (n.d.) pp. 494-506
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
cont'd 4-2 Review of A .M. Stephen's Verendrye by
Julia W . Henshaw . September, 1935
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Lionel Stevenson, British
Columbia Monthly, (n .d .), pp. 7-8
2 copies
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Canadienne, Tranquillian,
October 1927 . 2 copies
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Canadienne, The Winnipeg
Tribune, October 8, 192 7
Review of A .M. Stephen's The Kingdom of the
Sun by Canadienne, Canadian Bookman ,
October 1927, pp . 308-309
Review of A .M. Stephen's The Rosary of Pan ,
Western Woman's Weekly, December 8,
1923, p.1 2
A .M.Stephen by W. Gordon Stephen, Educational
Record, n.d ., pp. 148-153
Manuscripts : Miscellaneous
4-3 The Theatre Guild Inc .
Two letters to A .M. Stephen on same
page n.d.
Coleman, Bromley
Poem to A .M. Stephen n.d. 1 p.
Bruun, Geoffrey
Sonnet addressed to A .M. Stephen
after reading his poem "Vancouver" n.d . 1 p .
Meeting of Vancouver Poetry Society held
at Mr. & Mrs . Dalton's home, Saturday
April 3, 1926 2 p.
Unidentified poem called "Canada" 1 p.
Articles typed out of newspapers 1924-25 2 p.
A .M. Stephen . . .Private Mailing List n.d . 5 p.
Mailing List . . .Personal Friends or
Acquaintances n.d. 1 p .
Mailing List Resulting from Tour n.d. 10 p .
League of Western Writers Inc . n.d. 6 p.
-17
cont'd 4-3 Literary Agents(list of addresses) n .d . 6 p.
Brown Earth and Bunch Grass . ., n .d . 4 p.
Canadian Daughters' League (list
of addresses
Chapter Officers League of Western
Writers(list of addresses)
n.d. 13 p.
Northwest Writers of the States of n.d . 11 p.
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Orego n
and Washington(list of addresses )
List of Prospects for Recital Tickets n.d. 5 p.
Addresses from Junior Art League n .d . 1 p.
Shakespeare Society(List of addresses) n .d. 2 p.
Mailing List n .d . 35 p.
Lords of the Air . Copies for Review to . . . n .d. 1 p.
Fifth Column N Poetry sent to . . . n.d . I p .
Temporary for Verendrye n.d. 3 p .
List of People to Whom Circular About n.d. 19 p.
Christmas Books should be sen t
Photographs
4-4 Four photographs plus one litho reproduction
A .M . STEPHEN COLLECTION
ADDENDUM # 2
Brochures, newspaper article and photographs :
5-1 Brochure for a Recital Tour given by A .M . Stephen
5-2 Portrait of A.M . Stephen from brochure, enclosed in
vinyl case
5-3 Newspaper article in Vancouver Daily Province
containing portrait of A .M . Stephen with other
writers .
Photographs :
These are filed under B .C . Historical Photographs accession
no : B.C. 1843/1-2 oversize .
BCI843/1 Group picture of the Western League of Writers, 5t h
Annual Convention, Vancouver B .C . 1931
BC1843/2 "Poets of the Pacific Coast" assembled at Western
League of Writers 5th Annual Convention, Aug 7/1931
Little-known today, A.M. Stephen resided here, in Suite 41, as possibly the most progressive of all Vancouver authors. Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," Stephen's Child Welfare Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation. "Woman has rebelled," he wrote, "and rightly so, at the double standard that she has been subjected to."
Stephen successfully implemented numerous educational reforms. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child." One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League. Stephen also corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China, wrote for the leftist newspaper, The Western Tribune and published two significant novels, The Kingdom of the Sun (1927) and The Gleaming Archway (1929), as well as books of poetry and plays.
QUICK REFERENCE ENTRY:
Few authors have contributed more to British Columbia society than Alexander Maitland (A.M.) Stephen, one of the first B.C. authors to prominently double as a social reformer.
Born in Ontario in 1882, but raised in Victoria, "A.M.," as he was later known, abandoned law after one year to prospect for gold in the Klondike. He punched cattle in Alberta, worked as a guide in the Rockies and taught school at Rock Creek, B.C. in 1906. He studied architecture at the University of Chicago until 1913 when he went to England and enlisted in 1914. Injured in France, he returned to Vancouver with a shattered right wrist, virtually penniless, and opened a structural engineering firm in 1918.
Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," Stephen's Child Welfare Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation. "Woman has rebelled," he wrote, "and rightly so, at the double standard, that she has been subjected to." Turning to teaching, Stephen agitated for numerous reforms, some of which were implemented after his dismissal for insubordination. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child."
One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League. He criticized the "ignorance and inertia of those... still living in the dark ages of medieval priestcraft and superstition."
In the Twenties, Stephen worked for the Western Tribune, a leftist weekly, and gained his reputation in poetry as "the Canadian Carl Sandburg." He also wrote an historical romance, Kingdom of the Sun (1927), about a gentleman adventurer named Richard Anson who sailed aboard Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, only to be cast away amongst the Haida. Anson's love interest is a golden-haired princess, Auria, who must choose between her mystical duties and her earthly affection. The novel is drawn from evidence that fair-haired, blue-eyed Haida were encountered by explorers in the late 18th century.
In The Gleaming Archway (1929), A.M. Stephen's fictional prototype is journalist Craig Maitland, a dreamer in the twin realms of love and politics: Maitland takes his holidays in the rough 'n tumble of the Squamish Valley amongst "reds," Indigenous people and expatriate English eccentrics. He befriends a Marxist publisher, a Russian revolutionary and a beautiful Englishwoman, who is married. He returns to Vancouver to work for The Beacon, a socialist weekly headquartered on Pender Street. He forms a sentimental friendship with emancipated colleague, Madge, atop Grouse Mountain and in Capilano Canyon, but impulsively marries Shannon, a painted lady with a heart of gold whom he meets in a Chinatown gambling house. The gleaming archways of Craig Maitland's idealistic spirit come crashing down to earth until he accepts an invitation to leave on a treasure hunting expedition in the South Seas, unaware that friends have arranged for him to be reunited with his first true love, Jocelyn, whose husband has conveniently died.
Stephen launched the B.C. branch of the League Against War and Fascism and was narrowly defeated as a CCF candidate in the Alberni-Nanaimo riding. He was later expelled from the CCF for advocating a popular front with the Communists. He corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China and wrote numerous pamphlets analyzing global politics. Stephen's radicalism was tempered by violent RCMP actions in Regina during the great trek of the unemployed to Ottawa in 1935. His second son, Leslie, born in 1914, was helping at his cousin's ranch for the summer in Saskatchewan. In Regina to buy grain for seeding, Leslie Stephen was caught in the riot and so brutally beaten on the head by police that he became a lifelong invalid. A.M. Stephen succumbed to pneumonia in 1942. Wreaths were sent by such diverse groups as the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union.
FULL ENTRY:
A.M. Stephen, the greatest humanitarian of all Vancouver writers, led an exemplary life and his writings have been under-valued and under-recognized by the city.
Alexander Maitland Stephen, the social activist and author, known to his friends as A.M., was born in Hanover, Ontario in 1882. His parents were both of aristocratic Scottish ancestry. They moved to Victoria, B.C. in 1898 where their son articled with his uncle's law firm at age sixteen. Disenchanted with the majesty of the law and possessed with a socialist impatience, Stephen abandoned a career in law after one year in order to prospect for gold in the Klondike. He punched cattle in Alberta, worked as a guide in the Rockies and taught school at Rock Creek, B.C. in 1906. Never greatly attracted to money, he reputedly turned down a promotion in Victoria selling life insurance for $300 a month in order to take a $1-a-day cow-punching job. He worked briefly as a logger in Oregon in 1910. His studies in architecture at the University of Chicago until 1913 took him overseas to England where he enlisted in 1914. He was injured in France and returned to Vancouver with a shattered right wrist, virtually penniless, in 1918, to open a structural engineering firm.
A.M. Stephen's crusading spirit for social reform led him to form the Child Welfare Association. Convinced that "in child welfare lay the welfare of all the world," his Association was instrumental in establishing the Mother's Pension Act, the Minimum Wage Act, divorce law amendments and improved social services for destitute female emancipation ("Woman has rebelled, and rightly so, at the double standard, that she has been subjected to.")
Turning to teaching, Stephen agitated for numerous reforms, most of which were implemented after his dismissal for insubordination. "The central principle of our graded system," he claimed, "is that the child must fit the school and not the school must fit the child." One of Stephen's radical beliefs was that sex education should form part of the school curriculum. As a founder of the Canadian birth control movement, he criticized the "ignorance and inertia of those... still living in the dark ages of medieval priestcraft and superstition. In 1923, Stephen led the way for the creation of the Birth Control League of Canada, the first such organization in Canada, in keeping with the aims of Margaret Sanger's American Birth Control League.
He turned to his pen for his living, becoming associate editor of the Western Tribune, a leftist weekly. His popularity as a public speaker reputedly caused him to move from Dundarave in West Vancouver to Vancouver. In 1924 he lived in suite 27 in the Manhattan Apartments at 784 Thurlow.
A great admirer of Swinburne, Stephen published his first successful book of poetry, The Rosary of Pan, in 1923. After editing two school anthologies, The Voice of Canada (1926), and The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse (1927), and issuing a second acclaimed poetry collection, The Land of the Singing Water (1927), Stephen's literary reputation was established across Canada. A.M. Stephen's first novel, the Kingdom of the Sun (Dent, 1927), is an historical romance about a gentleman adventurer named Richard Anson who sailed aboard Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, only to be cast away amongst the Haida. Anson's love interest is a golden-haired princess, Auria, reared by the Haida to serve as an ethereal princess. Auria must choose between earthly affection and mystical duties. The novel is drawn from evidence that fair-haired, blue-eyed Haida were encountered by explorers as early as Juan Perez in 1774.
In The Gleaming Archway (Dent, 1929), one of the first of numerous novels from British Columbia to feature disaffected male journalists, Vancouver is referred to as the Mystical City and the City Beautiful. A.M. Stephen, himself a Vancouver newspaperman, has a fictional prototype in the novel, Craig Maitland, who is a dreamer in the twin realms of love and politics: "To Craig Maitland, standing upon the edge of Grouse Mountain plateau, it seemed that he had paused for a moment upon the brink of some dream world which was built of the aerie substance of imagination--a perishable palace of beauty wrought of star-dust and moonbeams... Only when one looked towards the city, which lay like an aeroplane map unrolled to southward, did one realise Man, the microcosm, had entered and had changed this universe of the Titans and had placed these puny structures in contrast with nature." As a moderate socialist, Maitland takes a respite from the restrictions of a journalism career and holidays in the rough 'n tumble Squamish Valley amongst radical "reds," Indigenous people and expatriate English eccentrics. He befriends a Marxist publisher, a Russian revolutionary and a beautiful Englishwoman. He also meets a brutish, volatile leftist named Bud Powers, who proves to be his nemesis as the symbolic representation of the primitive elements of man's nature that invariably scuttle social progress. Unlucky in love (Jocelyn, the Englishwoman, is married), Maitland returns to Vancouver to ardently assist in the publication of the Beacon, a socialist weekly headquartered on Pender Street. He forms a sentimental friendship with emancipated colleague, Madge, atop Grouse Mountain and in Capilano Canyon, but impulsively marries Shannon, a painted lady with a heart of gold whom he meets in a Chinatown gambling house. Eventually, the gleaming archways of Craig Maitland's idealistic spirit come crashing down to earth and he accepts an invitation to leave on a treasure hunting expedition in the South Seas, unaware that his friends have arranged for him to be reunited with his first true love, Jocelyn, whose husband has since conveniently died.
Stephen believed that "authentic poetry, in whatever genre it happens to be, is always better than the best prose." As an active member of the Vancouver Poetry Society, he eventually formed a Vancouver chapter of the League of Western Writers in 1931. A reviewer in the Vancouver Sun wrote, "I think that A.M. Stephen is the Canadian Carl Sandburg, the logical successor to Bliss Carman as the poet of the country. I think he's a genius."
His much anthologized poem of tribute, "Vancouver," was printed in the Sunday Province on October 1, 1934, and can be found in Brown Earth & Bunch Grass (1931), which contains another poem called "Kitsilano" -- "Where the miles of fragrant cedar/And the dark firs whisper low/To the curving line of silver/Where the moonlit waters flow,/There are ghostly echoes surging/In the sea wind borne afar/From the hidden lands that slumber/Out beyond the western star..."
In 1935, he published an epic lyric titled Verendrye (1935).
He had close personal ties with Bliss Carman and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. Stephen the activist used his literary stature to promote his social concerns after the demise of the Western Tribune in 1929 because of the Depression. As a member of the Progressive Film Association, the Vancouver Art Gallery, president of the Vancouver Lodge of the Theosophical Society and a highly respected critic of his times, Stephen successfully launched the B.C. branch of the League Against War and Fascism. He stood as a candidate for the CCF (predecessor of today's NDP) in the Alberni-Nanaimo riding and was narrowly defeated. He was later expelled from the CCF for advocating a popular front with the Communists. He corresponded with Norman Bethune, raised funds for China and wrote numerous pamphlets analyzing global politics from a leftist perspective. Possibly Stephen's radicalism was tempered by the violent RCMP actions in Regina during the great trek of the unemployed to Ottawa in 1935. His second son, Leslie (born in 1914), was helping at his cousin's ranch for the summer in Saskatchewan. In Regina to buy grain for seeding, Leslie Stephen was caught in the riot and so brutally beaten on the head by police that he was made an invalid for life.
A.M. Stephen succumbed to pneumonia complications at St. Paul's Hospital on Dominion Day, 1942. Wreaths were sent by such diverse groups as the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union. His wife arranged for a collection of posthumous poetry, Songs for a New Nation (1963).
BOOKS:
Poetry
The Rosary of Pan
The Land of Singing Waters
Brown Earth and Bunch Grass (Vancouver: Wrigley Printing, 1931). Self-published.
Verendrye--A Poem of the New World, An Epic of V Episodes
Songs for a New Nation
Novels
The Kingdom of the Sun (J.M. Dent & Sons, 1937)
The Gleaming Archway (J.M. Dent & Sons, 1929)
Anthologies
The Voice of Canada, editor
The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse, editor
Canadian Voices and Others, editor
Plays
Canadian Drama for Little Folk (aka Classroom Plays from Canadian History)
Editor of two anthologies, The Voice of Canada and The Golden Treasury of Canadian Verse.
[Alan Twigg / BCBW 2010] "Fiction" "Poetry" "Classic" "Politics" "1900-1950" "First Nations"
ALSO AN INVENTORY OF A.M. STEPHEN AT UBC SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Alexander Maitland Stephen, 1882-1942
In Inventory of His Papers in The University of British Columbia Library
Special Collection Division
Prepared
by
George Brandak
August, 1975 - January, 1985
TABLE OF CONTENT S
Introduction
Inventory: series
ttsCripte : Poetry 1
Manuscripts : Prose 2
Printed Material 2
Photographs 5
Letters: Incoming 6
Letters: ether 10
Covers: 10
Addenda: Scrapbook 11
Addendum #i 14
INTRODUCTION
Alexander Maitland Stephen (1882-1942), poet and novelist, was born near
Hanover, Ontario and obtained part of his educational training at Walkerton Collegiate Institute.
A short story, Fortunes of War, written at age ten, illustrated his early interest in the literary world. As a young man Stephen went West and pursued various occupations, including cattle ranching, logging , and mining. On his return from Europe after serving in World War I Stephen settled in Vancouver and followed the profession of teaching. Also, he took an active part in the literary, social and political life of Vancouver.
Some of the organizations to which he belonged included the Vancouver Poetry Society, Canadian Authors' Association, League of Western Writers, Julian Lodge of the Theosophy Society, Child Welfare Association of British Columbia, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the League Against War and Fascism, and the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy.
Well-known nationally for his literary work, Stephen was the author of two novels, four volumes of verse, two volumes of plays, and edited two anthologies of Canadian verse during his lifetime.
For further biographical information on A.M. Stephen, see Canadian who' s
who, 1936-37, Who's who among North American authors, vol. 5, Draper, S . (ed. )
Preliminary Inventory ; Additional Manuscripts . No . 2A Vancouver, City of Vancouver Archives, 1974, pp . 6-7, and clippings relating to his death in the A .M . Stephen papers.
The A.M. Stephen papers consisted of manuscript material in typescript
form pertaining to his literary work and two scrapbooks, arranged by Mrs. W .I. Stephen, containing letters, clippings, photographs, and related material that reflected Stephen's literary career and various other interests. Printed material and photographs within the scrapbooks have been listed. Letters have been taken from envelopes in the scrapbook and placed in folders. A detailed list has not been made for clippings pertaining to his literary works, social and political activities, as well as his life.
Another scrapbook relating to A .M. Stephen was donated by his wife to
the City of Vancouver Archives, December, 1942.
MANUSCRIPTS
Typescripts were fastened together into folders. Although they have been unfastened, the original order has been kept. Any item that is not a manuscript will be described in the order in which it was fastened. All
manuscripts are typescripts with the exception of the item in box 1, folder no. 7 . Plays in dramatic form have been listed as poetry.
Manuscripts : Poetry
Atlantis: A Lyric Drama
A foreword added.
n.d. 34p.
1-2
1-3
1-4
Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem n.d . 25 p.
Hymns to Dionysus n.d . 5 p.
Kanikilak, The Wanderer. A Mystery Play of the n.d. 50 p.
Pacific Coast Indians by "Tole Wahna."
A foreword and directions for costumes are added.
Kanikilak, The Wanderer. A Mystery Play of the n.d. 50 p.
Pacific Coast Indians.
A foreword and directions for costumes are added. A letter was written by Stephen stating the advantages of staging this play at the Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park, Vancouver, together with a prospectus for an Indian Passion Play, n.d., 5 p. of the Coast Indians n.d. 7 p.
An essay written by Stephen.
A Proposal for Pageant Depicting Development of n.d. 2 p.
Sea Commerce and City of Vancouver.
1-5 The Argonaut and Other Plays
The Argonaut
The Amazons
The Hands of the Virgin
A Night in Old Provence
[1930]
10 p.
18 p.
13 p.
8 p.
1-6 Questionaire n.d. 1 p.
Answers only to an unknown questionaire relating to his literary career.
Atlantis, A Reminiscence in Dramatic Form n.d. 21.
A foreword is included.
The Argonaut n.d. 14p.
The Troubadour n.d. 8 p.
Manuscripts : Prose Fortunes of War 1892 20 p.
A handwritten short story placed in a scrapbook by his wife. Also, the scrapbook contains a critique of A .M . Stephen by his wife and clippings
taken from the San Francisco Chronicle relating to drug addiction and world affairs, February, 1967.
The Relation of Poetry to Life 1923 4 P.
Poetry and the New Age nod. 10 p.
The Essential Value of Beauty 1928 8 p.
Parnassus in Pink n.d. 16 p.
Puritan and Pagan. [1926 or 21 p.
A Critique of Bliss Carman's Poetry 1927]
The Relation of Poetry to Life 1923 4 p.
The Essential Value of Beauty 1928 14 p.
The Open Road to Freedom n .d. 15 p.
Puritan and Pagan. n.d. 22 p.
A Critique of Bliss Carman's Poetry
Poetry and the New Age n.d. 10 p.
Contemporary Poetry n.d. 5 p.
Canada's Birthday Greetings to the United States July 4, 11 p.
Transcript of a speech by Leonard W . Brockington 1941
PRINTED MATERIAL
1—10 Stephen, A .M . "The Major Note in. Canadian Poetry, "
Dalhousie Review, Vol . IX, no. 1, April, 1929 ,
pp. 54-67.
Stephen, A .M. "The Fifth Column in Poetry, An
Interlude," Dalhousie Review, Vol . XX, no . 4,
Jan., 1941, pp . 471—479 .
Stephen, A .M. "Dr. Samuel Johnson Views Our Poets, "
Dalhousie Review, n.d., pp. 493—506 .
1—7
1—8
1—9
Stephen, A.M . "This Is the Hour," 1939.
Poem printed in a Christmas card sent to his friends .
Stephen, A .M. "My Canada," 1941 .
Poem printed in a Christmas cards sent to his friends .
Roberts, (Sir) Charles C .B . "Frances Sherman," The Dalhousie,
Review, Jan., 1935, pp. 419-427 .
Smith, K. Ellwood. "The Lunatic, The Lover, and The Poet, "
The Shakespeare Association Bulletin, Vol. XVI, no . 2,
April, 1941, pp. 77-88.
ICirkconnell, Watson. "Ta Gr ta," Dalhousie Review, Vol. XII
no . 2, July, 1932, pp. 169-179 .
Pratt, Harry Noyes . "Atlantis," University of California
,Chroni4e, October, 1926, pp . 354-361 .
Pratt, Harry Noyes . "The Eucalyptus, n .d . (Copyright 1924)
2-1 Scrapbook 1918-1939 58 p.
Printed material has been glued into both scrapbooks .
The pages have been numbered and the numbers below refer t o
page numbers in the scrapbooks .
(p. 2) [Stephen, A .N .] Child Conservation, Vancouver, The Social Service s
League, m.d. 4 p.
(p. 5) Program of First Annual Convention of the Child Welfare Association
of British Columbia .
(p. 6) Program for a Concert sponsored by the Child Welfare Association o f
British Columbia, [1919]
(p. 8)
School of Pharmacy and Science, m .d.
(p. 18) Brochure advertising A .N. Stephen as C .C .F. candidate for Nanaimo-
Alberni in the provincial election of 1937 .
(p. 19) The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation earner•-Labor-S o
a description of the inception,objects and plans of the new
Canadian political movement launched at Calgary Alberta,,
August 1st, 1932, 4 p.
A reprint from the August [1932] issue of the United Farmer s
of Alberta,.
(p . 19) The League for Social Reconstruction in Canada, Vancouver, League for
Social Reconstruction, Vancouver Branch [1932, 8 p .
Brochure advertisi4,s a practical course in authorship at the B .C .
(p. 20) Statement of Committee ., n.d., 4 p.
A statement signed by various C .C.F. members regretting the
political direction of the party and supporting the reinstate -
ment of A .M . Stephen, who was suspended from the party owing
to his activities on behalf of the League Against War and.
Facism.
(p. 20) Program for J .S . Woodsworth Memorial Service, March 29, 1942.
(p. 21) "Veritas," The GreatBetrayal, [Vancouver] The Canadian League
for Peace and Democracy, n .d ., 4 p .
(p. 21) Stephen, A .M. Hitlerism in Canada, Vancouver, The League Against
War and Fascism, 24 p .
(p . 22) Broad sheet, Japanese Agents Control Deal Radio Stations? ?
n.d . See : Box 1, folder 11 .
(p. 22) Stephen, A .M. War in China. . . What it means to Canada ,
Vancouver, China aid Council and the National Salvation
League, n .d . Foreword by Foon Sien qong .
(p . 22) Report of the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference . held at,
Vancouver . B .C . . April22 & 23 . 1939,, 23 p .
(p. 23) Stephen, A .M. He Died for China on Our Far Eastern Front . n.d. ,
7 p.
(p. 25) Spain, New York, American Friends of Spanish Democracy, n .d., 24 p.
(p. 26) Caricatures pertaining to German domination of Europe, 1938, 4 p .
(p. 27) British Columbia"Job-Seekers"Journal,, Vol. I, no . 1 [1938] 4 p.
(p. 28) Post Office "Sitdowner's" Gazette, Vol . I, no. 1-3 [1938]
(p. 28) Victoria Jobless Journal, Vol . I, no . 1 [1938]
Journal is a continuation of the Post Office "Sitdowner's"
Gazette.
(p. 28) Tourist Guide,, n.d., 2 p.
A sheet with satirical comments on the beauty of Vancouver .
(p. 29) A greeting card welcoming the League of Western Writers to
Vancouver. Card includes an excerpt from Stephen's poem .
"Vancouver. "
(p. 56) Stephen, A .M. In Memory of John Reid, Died April 28th, 1899 .
Poem written in memory of a personal friend .
2-2 Scrapbook
Printed material has been glued into both scrapbooks . The page s
have been numbered and the number below refer to page number s
in the scrapbooks .
The following brochures were advertisements for Stephen's publications :
(p . 3) The Rosary of Pan, n.d., 4 p.
4) Poetry of the Canadian West ,, n.d., 4 p.
(p. 14) The Voice of Canada
(p . 18) The Lands of Singing ;paters
(p. 32) The Kingdom of the Sun
(p. 34) den Treasury of Verse,
(p. 37) The Gleaming Archway,
(p. 40) Brown Earth and Bunch Grass
(p. 51) Verendrve,
(p. 61) Little Folk . Book I . Class Room Plays from Canadian History
LittleFolk.BookII . ClassRoomPlays from Canadian Industry ,.
(p. 12) Program of a recital by Stephen presented by the Vancouver Poetry
Society.
(p . 63) Stephen, A .M . Lord of their poems of the present war . Vancouver ,
The Author [1940
(p. 67) Full Tide, vol. 7, no . 1, October, 1942 .
(p• 31 {► 63, Christmas cards sent by Stephen to his friends and including poems ,
64, 691 [1928] 1939, 1940 and 1941 0
PHOTOGRAPHS
Although there are many pictures taken from newspapers and periodicals ,
only prints are included in this list .
2-1 Scrapbook
(p. 21) Balantine Pier during a strike in Vancouver, 1935 0
(p0 21-24) Chinese-Japanese War, 1938-1939
Prints relate to medical care and Japanese activities 13 prints
during the war .
(p. 23) Dr. Norman Bethune and Chow Tsang Ching, leader of 1 print
8th Route Army *
(p. 67) Family of A.I. Stephen, 1942 & 1964.
2-2 Scrapbook
(p* 12) Ruohgar, ,.
5 prints
1 print
LETTERS : INCOMING
The letters were taken from envelopes that were glued into the
scrapbooks and placed into folders, An asterisk indicates tha t
the letter was glued into a scrapbook and has been left on the
designated page number . Page numbers indicate where items were
kept in the scrapbook .
Scrapbook (box 2, folder ) Date
Toon, Ben M .
Letter pertains to the 1937 provincial election campaign [1937
and Toon's political philosophy .
(p. 18) Pearson, G .S.
Letter pertaining to Pearson's re-election .
(p. 25) Marshall, Albert
A letter from Spain commenting on the Spanish Civil War.
1-12 Scrapbook (box 2, folder 2)
(p. 8)* Aberdeen School, Division IV Jan., 1924
Letter thanks Stephen for a copy of The Rosary of Pan .
[Nerum, R] The Rectory, Oberbrook, Pa. Apr ., 1924
Letter referring to The Rosary of Pan.
Smith, Mary Dec., 1923
Letter pertaining to poetry and sponsorship of his tour .
(p. 12) Ruohgar, A .
Letter pertaining to his activities as an actor in passion
plays.
(p. l3)* Cheyney, Ralph n.d.
Letter referring to Stephen's poetry and style .
(p . 14) Carman, Bliss
Letter referring to his forthcoming activities and Nov., 1926
Stephen's Voice of Canada .
(p. 17)
1937
Aug., 1937
(p. 14) Deacon, W .A . (Saturday Night )
Letter referring to Voiceof Canada and other poems.
Excerpts from letters on TheVoiceof Canada are
attached . 1 p .
(p. 15) Anstey, A .
Writing on behalf of the Provincial Normal School ,
Vancouver, B .C ., he comments on The Voice of Canada.
MacDonald, Wilson Nov., 1926
Permission granted to use his work in The Voice of Canada .
(p . 16) Roberts, Lloyd Sept ., 1926
Letter pertaining to The Voice of Canada, .
(p. 17) Brown, Audrey Alexandra Dec ., 1928
Comments on her poetry, Stephen's criticism of her poetry ,
poetry in general, The Voice of Canada, and Canadian
nationalism .
(p. 23) Davidson, True
Request for an autographed copy of The Land of Singing
Waters.
(p . 27) Macdonald, L .N . Montgomery
Comments on The Land of Sii;r Fate
(p. 28) C'Iiagan, Thomas [Feb ., 1926]
Comments on Stephen's poetic future .
Garvin, John W. (editor, R disson Society of Canada) Aug., 1927
Letter refers to The Land of Su ring Wa e. and Canadian
poets in general .
Stevenson, Lionel
Comments on ,The Land of Sinai nsr Waters, and his opinion
about reviews on Annraisals of Canadian Literature .
Roberts, (Sir) Charles G .D .
Comments on The Land of Singing Waters, and Wilson
MacDonald's poetry as well as remarks on Roberts '
state of health and his forthcoming year at th e
University of British Columbia .
(p. 29) Willis, S .J .
Letter asks for the name of Stephen's new antholog y
as it will be placed on the Grade IX reading list
and acknowledges copy of The Land of Singing Waters .
Willis was Superintendent of Education, Victoria, B .C .
Sanger, Margaret
Letter refers to the formation of a branch of the
League of Western Writers in Vancouver .
Aug., 1926
Sept., 1926
July, 1927
[1927 ]
Aug., 1927
Sept ., 1927
n.d.
[1923]
1926
was
King, F .B .
Comments on "The Land of Singing Waters .
principal of a Vancouver high schoo l
Carman, Bliss [1923] 01923)
A Christmas greeting including the poem - "In Bxoelsis . "
Carman, Bliss
Letter reviews Carman s activities and acknowledges a
poem and article sent by Stephen .
(p. 30} Carman, Blis s
A Christmas greeting card including a poem - "The Dreamer . "
Carman, Blis s
Comments on poetry published in WesternTribune, edited
by Stephen, and the future of Canadian poetry .
O'Nagan, Thomas
Comments on Stephen's poems, "Canada," and "Vancouver . "
Macdonald, L .N. Montgomery
Comments on The Kingdom of the Sun .
Crawford, Margaret E .A.
Comments on The Voice of Canada, The Land of Singing.
Waters, ,The GoldenTreasury of CanadianVerse, and
poetry in general . Crawford was a member of the
Women's University Club of Seattle .
(p. 38) Sahu, L.T.
Letter asking for a copy of The Gleaming Archway for
review purposes in a journal for The Servants of Indi a
Society.
Morehouse, B. (Editorial Department, VancouverSum) Sept., 1930
Comments on Stephen's poetry .
(p. 41)* Clay, Charles (Literary Department, Tinninea Free Press) Mar ., 1932
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch Grass .
(p. 42) Bruun, Geoffrey
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch ,Grass and Brunn' s
visit to Vancouver in the summer of 1928 .
Murphy, Emily F .
Comments on Brown Earth and Bunch Grass ,.
(p . 51) Quebec. Department de L'Iustruction Publiqu e
Letter from superintendent referring to Verendrve .
Scott, Duncan Campbell
Comment on Verendrve .
( p. 34 )
p. 36)
Sept . 1925
1926
June, 1929
Jan ., 1926
Dec ., 1927
Dec., 1927
Aug., 1929
Oct ., 1931
Nov ., 1931
Sept ., 1935
Sept., 1935
(p . 51) Roberts, (Sir) Charles G .D . Sept., 1935
Comments on Verendrye. Roberts suggests other poetry
that Stephen should read .
(p. 5) Phelps, Wm . Lyon Sept ., 1935 &
Letter stating that he will be pleased to read Verendrye, Nov., 1935
and another one enclosing his review ofthe epic poem .
(p. 53)* Dougall, John (Advertising Manager of World Wide) Oct ., 1936
Letter asking whether Stephen wishes to advertise hi s
works in the forthcoming issue .
Tweedmuir, John Buchan, Governor-General of Canada Jan., 1936
Letter referring to 'erendrve .
54)* Deacon, William Arthur
Letter commenting on the Native Sons, John Mitchel l
(Paddy Slater), and Stephen's remarks about "y Vision. "
Deacon, William Arthur
Letter referring to the ability of The Globe to print
more literary reviews the TheMail and The Globe's review
of Verendrve,.
(p. 58) Moore, Irene (Regina Leader-Post )
Comments on Verendrye.
Roy, Camille (Laval University) Sept ., 1935
Comments on Verendrye,.
Murray, (Father) Athol (Notre Dame College, Wilcox, Sask. )
Comments on ,Verendrye and suggestions for future books .
(p . 59) Calder, I .N. (Canadian Red Cross Society, Nanaimo Branch) n.d .
Letter congratulating Stephen on the publication o f
Verendrye .
Dalton, A.C . Sept ., 1930
Comments on the poem, "Vancouver . "
Rackwood, H. (Corporation of the City of Nanaimo) Aug ., 1935
Letter offering congratulations to Stephen on th e
publication of Verendrye .
Maclnnis, Tom
Comments on the poem, "Vancouver . "
, R .P .
Comments on his attitude toward poetry and life in general .
Brown, Gilmore (Pasadena Community Playhouse Association )
Letter stating the inability of the Association to produc e
the play, Ranikilak, The Wanderer .
Aug., 1935
Jan ., 1936
Aug., 1935
Sept ., 1930
Dec ., 1938
Oct ., 1927
10 -
(p . 59) Gassner, John W . (American Playreader) Nov., 1932
Letter stating the impossibility of The Theatre Guild ,
York to produce Kanikilak, The Wanderer .
Dorgan-Powell, S . (Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Montreal Daily Sept., 1935 1 )
Acknowledgement of a copy of Verendrve .
Trent, Lucia Sept ., 1935
Comments on Verendrve . Letter refers to Stephen's figh t
against Fascism and the "social vision" poetry of Ralph
Cheney.
LETTERS : OTHER
1-13
Scrapbook (box 2, folder 1 )
(P. 7)* Truesdale, Ater E. (Greater Vancouver Peace Celebration) Aug., 1919
to E.W . Stevens .
Letter refers to assistance given during the celebration.
Scrapbook (box 2, folder 2 )
(p. 66) Matthews, J .S. Dec., 1942
Letter to hrs . Stephen acknowledge the donation of a
scrapbook to the Vancouver City Archives.
COVERS
2-3 Manuscripts in 1-4, 1-6, 1-8 and 1-9 were fastened into these covers .
Folde No. Dates No . of i '
2–4 00t;. 1928–1963 86
This Scrapbook wae initially included 7i th e Pound pe n
It was felt that since the Scrapboon o Steph n eceeele d
by him, and after death, by his -en- . ehould be
included with r_ . to en rapers . The Sara peook covers e ime from
1928, wh en E phen his much publicized tears of `P etern Canada ,
to 1963, ne 3te last edition of poems ' coepile . his wife )
was pub' iehed . The book includes newspaper articles, book reviews ,
letters mainly to , hen and other assorted memorabilia .
(Robert
(p. i) Portrait of A .M .S . photographic reproduction) .
xramfora recital featuring A .M .Stephen reading his poems ,
Vancouver, ere': 13, 1928 and accompanying n.e s paper article) .
(pgs .
2–3 " of Siwash Rock " by A . .ate hen. . Willieoae
Septeiber 1927, pgs .
(pgs .
4–35) hews caper Clipe ri concerning h . n : His recital to i n
Western Canada, hit o-try reading neouver, _ 1 . views o neeian
. . Literatere, his boks( bok reviews ),ect
(p . 33) Copy of A .M.Stephen's entry in Canadian Who o, [1937] .
r
(p . 36) Letter from Charles G .D .Roberts to A .M .Stephen, March 1942 ; letter
accompanied by two poems : " A hon , Victory Delay " and " Th e
Sweet C' The Year . "
(p. 36) Copy of letter from to CharlesG .D .Roberts, March 1942 .
(p . 36) Photograph of A.M.h C .G.D .Roberts, and Elsie Pomeroy
outside the C . , Victoria, 1931 .
(p . 37) Letters Irro : Rod rick .Kentedy, March, 1942 .
All eie thTebruary, 1942 .
ark ;T 1942.
sel 17, 1942 .
E .j.Pratt, 1'eeruary, 1942 .
(p . 37) Copy of letter from A .M. : to E .J .Pratt 2ebruary, 1942 .
(p. 37) Letters of eepathy to ,phen on A .M . te~,' :en's death
from : Elsie Toneroy
F . Gaekell
Canadian Daughters' League : Past President's Clu b
(p. 38)
(pgs .
38–43) =ewspaper Clippings concern k .M.Ote:een'e in Benin -
Jettle, and Tacoma with accee anying progree :
e
(p. 1)
oe - by John Lamb(booklet of -bees) .
-12-
cont'd 2-4
(p . 43) Newspaper Clipping concerning Scottish Pageant in Fayetteville, N .C . ;
letter to the editor( Vancouver Province by A .M.Stephen stating that h e
is not a communist.
(P. 44) Brochure from A .M .Stephens 1 School of ,xpre lion . "
(p . 45) Handwritten manuscript " 3hetch of Alexander de Soto and his work "
by A . hen, 1898,
Letters of sympes to Mrs . Stephen on A .M.Stephen's death from :
(p . 46) Mrs, C .L.Kuo(uniess otherwise stated the letters are dated July, 1942 )
(p . 47) Aiwyne Buckley, Joan, and Elsie .
(p . 48) cards of
(p . 49) Cheri ...obe ts
p . 52) Wine
(p. 53 )
(p. 54) carf of sympathy
(p. 55) Dsree Scott
Lionel Stevenso n
cards of sympathy
(p. 56) Telegrams from : Charles G .D .Robert s
Lorne pierce
Ida
TorL s.0) s n
e-ee s
thy
- from various people.
Baecess
cards o .,
(p . 57 )
(p. 58) aids of sympath y
(p. 59) Review of . ephen's Brown Earth and Bunch Grass by Lionel Stevenson ,
ecke n, October 1'31 .
59-6 Mie eI laneoue newspaper clippings co :nee end
dianLiterature ; various printed , sms Chrictme s
'1 Scott .
cont'd 2- 4
(p . 64) Totes for The Canadian Author and -13 concerning Vancouver Branch
Mee n .d .
(p . 66) Letter of ympathy from Eric F . C eMel Neel - Secretary ,
Authors' sscciation, July, 1942 .
(p . 67) " Canadian Literature as a Nation Builder, " ire article by A .M .
Stephen, , unidentified, n .d ., 5pgs .
(p . 68) Printed by Chanlee G .D .Roberts .
(p . 69) Printed pt) by Cha n .D .Roberts ; photo of C .G .D .R .
(p. 70) Photo of Bli an.
(p . 71) Printed roe,-, " by Bliss ,l;or . of Bliss Carman .
( P - .
72--3 )
(p. 74 )
(p. 75 )
( pgs .
76-77) Book jacket for Sorl's For A Bey Nation by A .M .Stephen.
(p. 78) Letter to Mrs . ei,hen from Lionel Stevenson, February, 1963 .
( pgs .
78-79) Printed poem by Lionel Stevenson ; biographical information on Robert
Louis Stevenson and Lionel Stevenson .
(p . 65) Review of k . . . Singing Waters by Lionel Stevenson ,
(pgs . 80-
81 83) ee epaper clip" ;ncerning A .M .Stephen on his death) .
(p . 81) Lon s of e ir; Poems of the Prase by A .M .Stephen, 16 pgs .
(p . 82) Book review and announcements of Son 2= ie *Stephen' s
last poetry compiled and edited by h , e wife in 1963 .
(p . 84) Newspaper clipping concerning W .Gordon Stephen(on his death) and progrann e
for funeral service .
(pi's .
84-85). Printed poems by A.M. Stephen ; other information concerning Stephen ;
biographical information on Norman Whittaker .
(p. 86) Memorial cardboard plaque with pe lea fathEn• a
induction eer e - t M .Stephen ; of -egazine article
on A . : .Jtepyen, November 41942 .
—t4
cont'd 2—4
(P . ii) Baptismal record for Alexander Stephen(A .M.Stephen's father) and his wife .
ADDENDUM # 1
Manuscripts : Poetry,
3-1 The Amazone . A Play in One Act . n.d. 18 p .
see 1-5
Atlantis, A Lyric Drama . n .d . 34 p.
A foreword is added . see 1-1
The Bride of the Wind, A Phantasy n .d. 14 p.
3-2 Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem
An argument is added . see 1-2
n.d. 17 p.
Dionysus, A Dramatic Poem 1927 27 p.
A foreword and a letter to Mr . Button
is added. see 1-2
3-3 The Hands of the Virgin . A Play in One Act n .d . 11 p.
see 1-5
Kilikilak, the Wanderer . A Mystery Play of 1926 50 p.
the Pacific Coast Indians .
Aforeword and directions for costume s
are added. see 1-3
The Troubadour . A Play in One Act n .d . 8 p .
see 1-6
3-4 Canadian Festival Plays n.d.
An introduction is added, stipulating
the plays in this book form the third
collection in Stephen's series "Canadian
Dramas for Little Folk" .
A Masque for New Year's Day 8 p.
Red and White 14 p.
A Pageant for Labour Day 6 p.
Near Bethlehem 6 p.
The Piper of Dreams 10 p.
Famous Mothers 7 p.
Empire Day 8 p .
St . Valentine's Day 5 p.
St . Valentine's Day 6 p.
Snowdrop and the Ghosts 7 p.
When the Sun Turns Northward 4 p .
A Play for Armistice Day or Peace Day 5 p .
Harvest Moon 5 p.
A Little Son of the Raven 8 p.
Wolfe at Quebec 4 p .
Folder No . Date Nos . of Pages,
3-(5-6) Canadian Voices and Others . Poems Selected for
the Class Room by A.M. Stephen. 2 copies .
A table of contents, notes on poems and
biographical notes are added . The firs t
copy has a bibliography .
3-7 Anchored off Tomorrow
A table of contents is added .
3—8 42 Poems, Carbons and Later Typed Copies .
(Unpublished poetry)
3-9 Poems(Unpublished )
Manuscripts : Prose
4-1 Canadian Poets and the War . 1942 9 p.
Canadian Poets and the War . n .d. 12 p.
A foreword is added
Poetry and the New Age n.d. 10 p.
The Indian Passion Play . Prospectus n .d . 4 p.
Expressionism in Modern Drama n.d. 8 p.
Public Health Past and Present n .d . 80 p.
A foreword and a glossary are added
Letter: Outgoing
4-2 Letter to Gordon Stephen August 191 6
Printed Material
4-2 Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, April 1926, pp. 171-172
Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, June 1926, pp . 262-263
Stephen, A .M . "From the Canadian West . "
The Lariat, August 1926, pp . 364-366
Stephen, A .M. When You Come Back To Me .
Song with Pianoforte accompaniment .
Music by Edith Stuart . Words by A .M .
Stephen . Seattle; Craig Music Press, 1928
Stephen, A .M. "Dr . Samuel Johnson Views Our
Poets ." Dalhousie Review, (n.d.) pp. 494-506
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
cont'd 4-2 Review of A .M. Stephen's Verendrye by
Julia W . Henshaw . September, 1935
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Lionel Stevenson, British
Columbia Monthly, (n .d .), pp. 7-8
2 copies
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Canadienne, Tranquillian,
October 1927 . 2 copies
Review of A .M . Stephen's The Land of Singing
Waters by Canadienne, The Winnipeg
Tribune, October 8, 192 7
Review of A .M. Stephen's The Kingdom of the
Sun by Canadienne, Canadian Bookman ,
October 1927, pp . 308-309
Review of A .M. Stephen's The Rosary of Pan ,
Western Woman's Weekly, December 8,
1923, p.1 2
A .M.Stephen by W. Gordon Stephen, Educational
Record, n.d ., pp. 148-153
Manuscripts : Miscellaneous
4-3 The Theatre Guild Inc .
Two letters to A .M. Stephen on same
page n.d.
Coleman, Bromley
Poem to A .M. Stephen n.d. 1 p.
Bruun, Geoffrey
Sonnet addressed to A .M. Stephen
after reading his poem "Vancouver" n.d . 1 p .
Meeting of Vancouver Poetry Society held
at Mr. & Mrs . Dalton's home, Saturday
April 3, 1926 2 p.
Unidentified poem called "Canada" 1 p.
Articles typed out of newspapers 1924-25 2 p.
A .M. Stephen . . .Private Mailing List n.d . 5 p.
Mailing List . . .Personal Friends or
Acquaintances n.d. 1 p .
Mailing List Resulting from Tour n.d. 10 p .
League of Western Writers Inc . n.d. 6 p.
-17
cont'd 4-3 Literary Agents(list of addresses) n .d . 6 p.
Brown Earth and Bunch Grass . ., n .d . 4 p.
Canadian Daughters' League (list
of addresses
Chapter Officers League of Western
Writers(list of addresses)
n.d. 13 p.
Northwest Writers of the States of n.d . 11 p.
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Orego n
and Washington(list of addresses )
List of Prospects for Recital Tickets n.d. 5 p.
Addresses from Junior Art League n .d . 1 p.
Shakespeare Society(List of addresses) n .d. 2 p.
Mailing List n .d . 35 p.
Lords of the Air . Copies for Review to . . . n .d. 1 p.
Fifth Column N Poetry sent to . . . n.d . I p .
Temporary for Verendrye n.d. 3 p .
List of People to Whom Circular About n.d. 19 p.
Christmas Books should be sen t
Photographs
4-4 Four photographs plus one litho reproduction
A .M . STEPHEN COLLECTION
ADDENDUM # 2
Brochures, newspaper article and photographs :
5-1 Brochure for a Recital Tour given by A .M . Stephen
5-2 Portrait of A.M . Stephen from brochure, enclosed in
vinyl case
5-3 Newspaper article in Vancouver Daily Province
containing portrait of A .M . Stephen with other
writers .
Photographs :
These are filed under B .C . Historical Photographs accession
no : B.C. 1843/1-2 oversize .
BCI843/1 Group picture of the Western League of Writers, 5t h
Annual Convention, Vancouver B .C . 1931
BC1843/2 "Poets of the Pacific Coast" assembled at Western
League of Writers 5th Annual Convention, Aug 7/1931
