COADY, MOSES MICHAEL

Educator; b. East Margaree, Nova Scotia, Canada, Jan. 3, 1882; d. Antigonish, Nova Scotia, July 28, 1959. He was the son of Michael J. and Sara Jane (Tompkins) Coady. After studying at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, where he received his B.A. in 1905, he went to Rome and began studies for the priesthood at the Urban College there, later receiving the Ph.D. (1907) and D.D. (1910) degrees. He was ordained in Rome (1910); on returning to Canada, he taught in St. Francis Xavier High School and University (1910–25) and was professor of education at St. Francis Xavier University (1925–28). He later studied education at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and in 1928 became the first director of St. Francis Xavier University's extension department. In 1927 he was appointed by the federal government to organize maritime shore fishermen into cooperatives. In his capacity as director of the extension department, he launched a highly successful program of adult education among the fishermen and promoted cooperatives and credit unions, all of which improved the economic conditions of the fishermen of the Maritime Provinces. In recognition of his work in the Antigonish movement, he was the recipient of numerous awards and was raised to the dignity of domestic prelate (1946) by Pius XII. He served as president of the Canadian Association for Adult Education from 1949 to 1951. His book, Masters of Their Own Destiny (New York 1939), is an account of the Antigonish Movement through economic cooperation. It had three editions and was translated into French (Gardenville, Quebec, 1948).

[j. t. flynn]