Parliamentarian and Methodist minister, James Shaver Woodsworth, was born at Etobicoke, Ontario and raised at Portage la Prairie and Brandon. He was educated at Wesley College and the universities of Toronto and Oxford. Ordained in 1900, Woodsworth served his church in southwestern Manitoba mission and in Winnipeg. In 1907 he became the Superintendent of Winnipeg’s All Peoples’ Mission, where he worked on behalf of the immigrant poor until 1913.
Woodsworth was an exponent of the social gospel and pacifism, and championed trade union rights and democratic socialism. He was arrested for his participation in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. The Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North Centre, 1921 to 1942, he was a founder and the first leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Woodsworth lived at this location from time to time between 1909 and 1942.
The present-day structure at 60 Maryland Street, now the Centre for Christian Studies, is a 1985-1986 reconstruction of the original 1907 home that burned to the ground in 1984. A plaque from the Manitoba Heritage Council was erected in front of it in 1987.
Woodsworth House (2010)
Source: City of Winnipeg
Woodsworth House (December 2020)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Commemorative plaque at Woodsworth House (December 2020)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88048, W97.16118
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: James Shaver Woodsworth (1874-1942)
Memorable Manitobans: James Woodsworth (1843-1917)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Woodsworth House (464 Stella Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Plaques for Persons, Events and Sites of National Historic Significance
Information for this page was provided by The City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development Department, which acknowledges the contribution of the Government of Manitoba through its Heritage Grants Program.
We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 24 July 2021
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