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John King Gordon

John King Gordon, CM, Christian minister, author, academic, human rights advocate (born 6 December 1900 in  Winnipeg, MB; died 24 February 1989 in Ottawa, ON). Gordon was an advocate for social reform, humanitarian causes and internationalism. During his eclectic career, he served as clergyman, activist, journalist, editor, professor and United Nations official.

Early Years and Education

John King Gordon was the eldest of seven children of minister and novelist Charles William Gordon (pen name Ralph Connor) and Helen Skinner King. Gordon was educated at the Winnipeg Model School and Kelvin High School in Winnipeg; he graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1920. From 1921 to 1924, he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University in England.

Gordon decided to become a minister and studied theology from 1925 to 1927 at Manitoba College in Winnipeg. (The Presbyterian college merged with Wesley College in 1938 to become United College, forerunner of the University of Winnipeg.) In 1929–31, Gordon studied theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.  

Cleric and Professor

From 1924 to 1929, John King Gordon served as a minister at Presbyterian and United churches in British Columbia and Manitoba. While studying in New York (1929-31), he was minister at a Presbyterian church in New Jersey.  In 1931, Gordon was appointed  professor of Christian ethics at United Theological College in Montreal. He was dismissed  from the college in 1934, however, because of his socialist views, provoking a notable debate on academic freedom.

Social Activist

In the 1930s, John King Gordon became a founding member of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order, the League for Social Reconstruction and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). He was one of the authors of the Regina Manifesto (1933). Gordon ran for election as a CCF candidate in 1935, 1936 and 1937 but was unsuccessful.

Editor and United Nations Official

John King Gordon moved to New York in the late 1930s to become non-fiction editor with the publishing company of Farrar and Rinehart. He was managing editor of The Nation from 1944 to 1947, and then United Nations correspondent for the CBC from 1947 to 1950.

In 1950, Gordon joined the staff of the UN as human rights and information officer. He served with the Korean Reconstruction Committee (1954–56), the Information Centre for the Middle East/Emergency Force (1956–59) and the emergency force in the Congo (1960–62). (See also Korean War; Canada and Peacekeeping.)

Later Career

After retiring from United Nations work in 1962, John King Gordon taught international relations at the University of Alberta and University of Ottawa. He also served as chairman of Canadian University Service Overseas, president of the United Nations Association in Canada and adviser to the International Development Research Centre.

Publications

Gordon was author of The UN in the Congo: A Quest for Peace (1962) and The New International Economic Order (1976). His papers are held by Library and Archives Canada.

Family

John King Gordon and his wife, Ruth Anderson, had two children: journalist Charles Gordon and journalist and novelist Alison Gordon.

Honours and Awards

Honorary LL.D., Brandon University (1974)
Honorary LL.D., Carleton University (1977)
Honorary LL.D., University of Winnipeg (1979)
Honorary LL.D., University of Manitoba (1981)
Order of Canada (1977)
Pearson Peace Medal (1980)

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Further Reading

  • Keith Fleming, The World is Our Parish: John King Gordon, 1900-1989: An Intellectual Biography (2015)

  • Eileen R. Janzen, Growing to One World: The Life of J. King Gordon (2013)

External Links

Associated Collections