People Archives | Page 6 of 7 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

Teamwork was key

Working 30 hours on the co-op site per week, over and above their regular jobs, the builders focused first on grunt work. Eventually, they took on some of […]

Sweat equity begins with land clearing

The men were so anxious to begin the building phase, they cleared the land themselves. Later, they would mix their own concrete, haul and lay bricks for basements […]

Social gathering in 1954

They would soon embark on the project of a lifetime – building homes together. Although people of all ages participated, many were young and newly married, some with […]

Bob Walsh

Bob Walsh would become one of co-operative housing’s greatest advocates. On a visit to a co-op build site near Ottawa, he burned with the ideals of co-operation. Known […]

Father O’Brien and Father Sherlock

O’Brien and Sherlock had been introduced to co-operative methods a few years earlier, as students at St. Augustine’s Seminary, when Father Marrocco had come to lecture. After the […]

Father Francis Marrocco

Father Marrocco would become a key figure in the Institute of Social Action (ISA) in 1949, inspiring and challenging his students. He was well prepared. He had travelled […]

Mary Arnold with co-op builders in Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia

Arnold, a Quaker and an American activist in housing co-operatives, went to study the work being done at St. Francis Xavier University’s Extension Department in 1937. She remained […]

Father Moses Coady

Father Moses Coady was a cousin of Tompkins. Like Tompkins, he was relentless in spreading the message that, through education and co-operation, people could better their lives and […]

Co-operative fisheries, Pictou, Nova Scotia

It took a few years, but eventually Father Tompkins encouraged the fishermen to work together. They needed to understand what was causing their poor circumstances and learn how […]

Co-operative fisheries, Caribou, Nova Scotia

It took a few years, but eventually Father Tompkins encouraged the fishermen to work together to understand their financial situation and to learn how to improve it. Economic […]

Father Jimmy Tompkins

This is a portrait of Father Jimmy Tompkins taken in Canso, Nova Scotia circa 1923, where he was posted and lived for 12 years. His Parish included 3 […]

Charlie and Patricia

Charlie and Pat met in Ireland, emigrated with friends to Canada and settled in Hamilton in the early 1950s. Charlie had worked with friend Jim Burns at Co-op […]