“To Be and Build the Glorious World” – Watson Thomson

Generations before the Internet brought us information at the click of a button, adult educators used public discussions to provide communities with access to information and the means to affect social and economic change.

Watson Thomson was committed to the development of co-operative enterprise and to the reconciliation of humankind. Arriving from England in 1937, he brought hundreds of thousands of Canadians to political conferences and “coffee talks” via National Film Board documentaries.

In 1944, he became director of Saskatchewan’s Adult Education Division, charged with developing the “biggest adult education program in the country.” The following panels illustrate some of his initiatives.