Underhill and law professor Frank R. Scott who later formed the League for Social Reconstruction. The League was a major influence on the founding of the C.C.F. and played a large role in the writing of its declaration of principles, “The Regina Manifesto.” The philosophy of their magazine, described as “avowedly nationalist and progressive, and usually on the left of the spectrum on political and cultural issues”13 was familiar to True since it mirrored the “social gospel” ideals popular in the Methodist church of her childhood and which formed much of the philosophy behind the C.G.I.T. which had influenced her teenage years. The social gospel “sought to apply Christianity to the collective ills of an industrializing society...and held an optimistic view of human nature and entertained high prospects for social reform. By W.W. I it had become a principal informing principle of social reform.”14. The movement had particularly strong support in western Canada, where it was led by charasmatic leaders like James Shaver Woodsworth.
In 1930, True reached the pinnacle of her publishing career when she was sent to England, on behalf of the Canadian office, “to negotiate financial arrangements and expedite the preparation of various text books.”15 She resigned her position with the company almost immediately afterwards, leading to speculation as to what happened during that business trip to London that caused her to leave what had been, thus far, an exceptionally successful career.
Clara Thomas felt that True was “always very restless...things never really did satisfy her. She was always going on, looking ahead.” It does seem that True was never satisfied with any position for very long and certainly not with one where she couldn’t reach the top. But her decision was prompted by more than restlessness. In her 1930 resume she listed as her “Reasons for Wishing to Leave—[the] Impossibility of specialization in so small a firm, and thus impossibility of any further development whatsoever, except that of succeeding Mr. Button, remote by 20 years, and unlikely even then in view of my sex and the conservative feeling of our London principals.”16 This final phrase provides some idea of what was likely said to her at the London head office. Dents would not have been unique in their resistance to the idea of a woman advancing to become a managing director. After all, the Supreme Court (then still in Britain) had only recently ruled that “women were persons under the law” and thus eligible for appointment to the Canadian Senate.
However discouraged True may have become about her chances in the publishing field, she remained confident enough to state clearly what were then considered decidedly feminist demands. Describing the “Type of Position Desired” she wrote “something which will use all my energy...in which having the strength, perseverance and courage of a man, I shall be permitted to go as far as a man of parallel ability.”17
3
A STRUGGLING WRITER
1930–1931
True couldn’t have chosen a worse time to leave a secure position; just as the Canadian economy slid into the decade-long “Great Depression”. All began well. She was hired almost immediately by the Canadian Federation of University Women as the Managing Director of their Vocational Bureau to “help university girls find their niche in business life.”1 The Bureau supported itself from the fees that it collected for filling a position, but, at a time when thousands of experienced men were unable to find work, the Bureau soon found it impossible to earn enough fees to continue and was closed in July 1931.
Her reference letter from the Convenor of the Vocational Committee responsible for the Bureau noted that True had “carried on the work in a splendid manner. She has the qualities of insight, understanding, and objectiveness necessary for vocational guidance, as well as those of initiative and executive ability which must be part of a successful director.”2 A less formal letter sent to True by all of the members of the Vocational Committee, thanked her for her work and noted that “With very little renumeration, and no immediate prospect of any, you have cheerfully and successfully carried on through a time of unprecedented business and economic depression. We feel that this has been a particularly fine and unselfish achievement.”3 I suspect from this that in her work at the Bureau, True had found, at least briefly, the calling she constantly sought. Many years later she quoted Dr. Robert McClure as saying that you don’t need money, “but you do need to be useful.”4
The pain of losing her position at the Vocational Bureau was moderated by the thrill of winning the first prize in the annual contest of Canadian writers of the Women’s Canadian Club. In April 1931 she was awarded its $100 prize in a ceremony in the concert hall of the King Edward Hotel. This was a major award. It was only the second time in eleven years that the Club had offered its prize for poetry and True defeated 190 other contestants from as far away as Siam to win. Stories about her win appeared in all of the major Toronto papers.
The poem, “Muses of the Modern Day” was, she said, “designed to meet the contention of many that modern subject matter did not lend itself to poetry.”5 According to a newspaper account she said “with much modesty” that winning the prize “had given her the most thrilling moment of her life.” The same article also noted that “she had written poetry since she was five years old, but it was not until a little over a year ago that she submitted any for publication” and quoted her as saying “It was not until after I left the publishing company that I had courage to submit my poetry for publication. I had been subdued by the horror of being one of those awful persons whose perpetrations editors dread.”6 True continued to regard herself as being first and foremost a writer for the rest of her life. Charlotte Maher told me that True always “saw herself as a researcher and writer. What she was, was one terrific politician, but that wasn’t part of her image of herself.” Doris Tucker remembered a time when all the municipal candidates had to list their occupation. True first wrote down “Mayor” but, when Doris told her she couldn’t do that, changed it to writer. In a column written after her retirement from politics, True talked about how after leaving public life she had moved “into the field of study and writing, where I [have] always felt I really belonged.”7
Encouraged by the win, True succeeded in having several poems published that year. She wrote a number for articles for various publications, including The Canadian Forum, The New Outlook, and The Globe and Mail. Her first magazine story, “Help Wanted,” was published in the September 1931 issue of Chatelaine. It is difficult to determine how many of her poems, stories and plays were published since only a few of her manuscripts have also been kept in printed form among her papers. She also submitted manuscripts under many pseudonyms including the names Susan Finnie, Margaret Danelaw, Bard Pentecost, E.S.B. Finnie, Peggy Dane, Maple Wilder, and, believe it or not, Flower LeStrange!
J.M. Dent & Sons published a book of her poetry, called Muses of the Modern Day and Other Days, that same year which received excellent reviews. A.M. Stephen wrote in The Vancouver Province that:
Miss Davidson...will challenge comparison with any of the women who are given prominence among Canadian poets....Her best lines and many of her poems ring with sincerity and carry conviction....Strength is seldom an outstanding characteristic of the artistic work of women. Yet, if we are to have poetry expressive of this modern age, it will have to be more than decorative or reminiscent of the modes of a bygone day....She is alive to the fact that this is the age of machinery, of psychology, of intellectual unrest and disillusion. This author can think. Her work is valuable because it mirrors the reactions of a sensitive woman who has faced life shoulder to shoulder with men and who has bravely taken the bitter with the sweet in the struggle for existence. Her poetry reflects life rather than the “the realms of gold” in which the sheltered woman takes refuge from reality.8
E.J. Pratt’s review in The Canadian Student noted that “this little book of poems...is marked by a distinct individuality and by a light lyrical movement which never gives the impression of mere facility ...there is no trace of immaturity
