Julia Grace WalesCanada's Early Women WritersLinnea McNallyCanada's Early Women WritersCanadian Writing Research CollaboratoryBorn digital object, initially housed by the Simon Fraser University libraryEnglishBorn digitalLife writingBiographyBibliographyJulia Grace Wales (1881-1957)Image courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON (PA-182512).
Julia Grace Wales was better known for her work as a peace activist and a Shakespeare scholar than for her small output of poetry.
14 July 1881, Bury, QC15 July 1957, St. Andrews East, QCName at birth: Julia GraceWales
Entry revised by Linnea McNally
Julia Grace Wales (1881-1957)
Julia Grace Wales, usually called Grace, was born in 1881 in Bury, QC, to Dr. Benjamin Nathaniel Wales (1851-1938) and Emma Theodosia Osgood (1851-1940). As her mother suffered from ill health, young Julia tended to her family’s household, finally enrolling at Bury Model School at age eleven. She completed her schooling at Cookshire Academy, after which she immediately entered McGill University in Montreal. (5)While at McGill, from which she earned her BA in 1903, she was greatly involved in campus life both academically and politically. She graduated with first-rank honours in English literature, won the Shakespeare Gold Medal, and earned scholarships, which she applied to further studies at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, from which she earned her MA in 1904. According to biographer Mary Jean Woodard Bean, she moved in 1909 to Madison, WI, where she took up employment in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin, becoming a Fellow in 1912.
Julia’s interest in social and political issues, for which she is now best known, directed her toward international travel by the start of the First World War. Having drafted a plan for the cessation of war through neutral mediation, and having gained support in Wisconsin, Julia went in 1915 to The Hague, where she and other members at the International Congress of Women discussed various peace strategies. After touring northern Europe and meeting with various diplomats, she returned to the US, only to receive—and accept—an invitation from Henry Ford to accompany his Peace Expedition through Europe. By 1917, Julia was again in North America; although the ideas originally proposed in her
Continuous Mediation without Armistice had not produced the desired results, she maintained an interest in peace advocacy as she continued her academic career.
In 1920, Julia began her doctoral work with a period of research at the University of London; while there, she also was granted a teaching fellowship, the first offered to a woman from North America. She earned her PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1926 and recommenced her work there, this time as Assistant Professor. A Shakespearean specialist, Julia also wrote poetry; her verse appeared in magazines, and in
Argenteuil Lyrics (1935), a collection of poetry co-authored with her younger sister, Anna Letitia Wales (b. 1887), and their mother, Emma Theodosia Osgood (1851-1940).
Julia remained as faculty at Wisconsin until 1947, when she retired to Quebec where she lived with her sisters. She died a decade later, in 1957. Julia has since been credited by political analysts and literary theorists with providing a foundation for ideas used in the League of Nations, United Nations, and peace plans for the Vietnam War.
Published TextsNon-fictionContinuous Mediation without Armistice (Chicago, IL: Women's Peace Party, 1915)Character and Action in Shakespeare: A Consideration of Some Skeptical Views (Madison, WI: n.p., [1923])Democracy Needs Education (Toronto: Macmillan, c.1942)PoetryArgenteuil Lyrics (Lachute, QC: Watchman,1935)—with Anna Letitia Wales and Emma Theodosia WalesPeriodical ContributionsThe Advocate of Peace (New York)Alberta Poetry Yearbook (Edmonton, AB)Canadian Author and Bookman (Montreal, QC)Canadian Poetry (Toronto)Montreal Daily WitnessTransactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters (Madison, WI)Youth's Companion (Boston, MA)Other PublicationsFamily and RelationshipsFather: Dr. Benjamin Nathaniel Wales(30 April 1851 – 26 June 1938)
Benjamin Nathaniel Wales was born in 1851 in St. Andrews, Argenteuil, QC, to merchant Charles Wales (1811-1877) and Letitia Platt Treadwell (1809-1904).
Benjamin, whose paternal grandfather was the founder of Canada’s first paper mill, graduated from McGill Medical College in 1874. In 1877, he moved to Sawyerville, QC, residing there only a year before settling in Robinson, Bury, QC, where he set up his medical practice. He married Emma Theodosia Osgood (1851-1940) in 1878, and thereafter had five children.
Benjamin was the first president of the Historical Society of Argenteuil County. In addition to publishing historical pieces in the Watchman and Montreal Gazette, he authored a
Canadian Herbarium and Memories of old St. Andrews and Historical Sketches of the Seigniory of Argenteuil (Lachute, QC: Watchman, 1934). He retired from his medical practice in 1906 and died in 1938.Mother: Emma Theodosia Osgood(21 June 1851 – 26 October 1940)
Emma Theodosia Osgood was born in 1851 in Sawyerville, QC, to farmer Wellington Osgood (1816-1878) and Lucretia Sawyer (b. c1818).
Emma married Dr. Benjamin Nathaniel Wales (1851-1938) in 1878. Together, they had five children, four of whom survived infancy. Emma, who suffered ill health while raising her children, was widowed in 1938 and died two years later in 1940 in St. Andrews, Argenteuil, QC.
SiblingsCharles Wellington Wales(15 August 1879 – 15 August 1880)
Information about Charles comes only from family narratives.
Henry “Osgood” Wales(13 July 1884 – 8 July 1907)Anna “Letitia” Wales(1 September 1887 – after 1974)
Letitia co-authored
Argenteuil Lyrics (1935) with her sister Julia and their mother.
Margaret “Evelyn” Wales(13 April 1890 – 29 August 1973)
Evelyn was possibly a Registered Nurse.
ReligionPresbyterianResidences
Bury, QC(1881-1901)
Europe(c1915-1917)
London, England(1920)
Madison, WI(c1912-1915)(1920)(1931-1947)
Montreal, QC(c1903)
St. Andrews, QC(1906)(1909-1921)(1947-1957)
Education
Bury Model School, QC, (1892-1896)
Cookshire Academy(1897-1898)
McGill University, Montreal, QC(BA 1903)
Radcliffe-Harvard, (MA 1904)
University of London, (1920)
Oxford University, Oxford, England
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI(PhD 1926)
Awards
Shakespeare Gold Medal (McGill University)
Employment and Volunteer ActivitiesEmployment
Assistant instructor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI(1909-1914), (1919-1920)
Assistant Professor of English, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI(1926-c1947)
Teaching staff, Girton and Newnham, Cambridge University
Teaching staff, Westfield College, University of London
Trafalgar School for Girls, Montreal, QC(1904-1908)
Schoolteacher
Unpaid and volunteer work
Co-founder, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Memberships
Canadian Authors Association
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Archival HoldingsArthur Bourinot Papers, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON (2 letters to A.S. Bourinot [1957])Julia Grace Wales Collection, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ONJulia Grace Wales Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WIWomen's Peace Party Records, Swathmore College Peace Collection, Swathmore, PAPublished Resources1891 Census of Canada.1901 Census of Canada.3 Wisconsin Congressmen Ask Thant to Name Viet Peace Panel.The Milwaukee Sentinel (24 November 1966): 2.Bean, Mary Jean Woodard. Julia Grace Wales: Canada’s Hidden Heroine and the Quest for Peace 1914-1918 (Ottawa, ON: Borealis, 2005).Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956.Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.Dagg, Anne Innis. The Feminine Gaze: A Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and Their Books, 1836-1945 (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier UP): 303-04.History of Compton County and Sketches of the Eastern Townships, District of St. Francis, and Sherbrooke County Comp. L.S. Channell. (Cookshire, QC: Channell, 1896): 251. McLean, Lorna R. 'The Necessity of Going’: Julia Grace Wales’s Transnational Life as a Peace Activist and a Scholar.Feminist History in Canada: New Essays on Women, Gender, Work, and Nation Ed. Catherine Carstairs and Nancy Janovicek (Vancouver, BC: U British Columbia P, 2013): 77-96.Michigan Passenger and Crew Lists, 1903-1965.New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.Obituaries: Julia Grace Wales Was CPM & CA & B Contributor.Canadian Author & Bookman 33 (Summer 1957): 19.Peck, Edward. EdwardPeck.com. Web. 15 April 2015.Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967.UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960. Watters, R.E. Checklist of Canadian Literature and Background Materials, 1620-1960 (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972): 203.