The Write Stuff

Thirty-three-year-old Douglas MacKay took over as editor in 1933. Almost immediately, the former PR director for the HBC’s Canadian Committee gave the publication a new subhead — “A Magazine of the North” — and expanded its page size from digest size to a standard magazine format. A former journalist for the Canadian Press in Ottawa, MacKay was no slouch as a writer, either. He spent his evenings writing The Honourable Company: A History of the Hudson’s Bay Company (1936).

His access to the HBC’s London, England-based archives gave him an edge over others who had tried to write about the notoriously secretive firm. While his prose flattered the company, the HBC’s board of directors was not amused. “The board sent the Canadian Committee ‘an expression of surprise and disappointment that the Committee should have permitted a history of the Company to be written and published in the United States of America by a member of the Company’s staff without the knowledge of the Board,’” wrote Deirdre Simmons in Keepers of the Record: The History of the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives.

After MacKay’s departure, Clifford Parnell Wilson became the editor. Wilson had written a number of popular-history articles for The Beaver and had reorganized the HBC’s historical exhibit in its Winnipeg store. He became the longest-serving editor to date — eighteen years.

Under his steady hand, The Beaver built on the MacKays’ work of focusing on northern and fur-trading history. Wilson attracted high-profile contributors, including anthropologist Margaret Mead, thereby sealing the magazine’s reputation as a serious publication. He transferred company news to a new in-house newsletter called the Moccasin Telegraph. Wilson also took on the MacKays’ Hollywood duties. Among other things, he watched Cecil B. DeMille shoot scenes for the 1940 historical drama North West Mounted Police. Wilson retired in 1957.

Taking his place was Malvina Bolus, who had previously been with the Canadian Geographical Journal in Ottawa. Born in the Falkland Islands, she came with an impressive resumé. Bolus had served as personal secretary to Agnes Macphail, Canada’s first female MP, as personal assistant to Canada’s top wartime generals at the Canadian Military Headquarters in London, England, and as private secretary to Vannevar Bush, the American government’s top science administrator.

She had a particular interest in Inuit art, language, and folklore. “Under her editorship The Beaver became one of North America’s foremost historical publications,” adds the online Dictionary of Falklands Biography. By the time Bolus retired in 1972, she had received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Medal of Service of the Order of Canada.

Helen Burgess was hired by Bolus in 1970 as assistant editor and replaced her two years later.

“Throughout her tenure, Helen Burgess preserved and enriched the traditions of The Beaver: she broadened its subject range, placing a greater emphasis on social history,” wrote A. Rolph Huband, the HBC’s vice-president and secretary, upon her retirement in 1985.

Christopher Dafoe, grandson of journalist John Wesley Dafoe, arrived in 1985.

Dafoe, an actor, author, scriptwriter, and journalist, refined the magazine’s historical focus, changing the subhead to “Exploring Canada’s History.” The magazine also increased the number of issues to six per year from four.

Dafoe was the first of the magazine’s editors to write his own regular column, entitled “Explorations.” Dafoe left in 1997.

Shirlee Anne Smith, the first Keeper of the HBC Archives in Canada and head of The Beaver’s editorial committee, served as interim editor for a few months until the hiring of Annalee Greenberg late in 1997.

Greenberg, an editor, freelance journalist, and contract publisher, held the position until 2006.

During her tenure the magazine underwent significant design changes and adopted the subhead “Canada’s History Magazine.”

Former Winnipeg Free Press publisher Murdoch Davis and mystery novelist Doug Whiteway served brief terms as editors until the arrival in 2007 of Mark Collin Reid, a journalist, editor, and author from Nova Scotia.

Under Reid’s tenure, the magazine’s name changed in 2010 to Canada’s History.

Reid expanded the magazine’s online presence at CanadasHistory.ca and also spearheaded a move into book publishing, producing three national bestsellers, 100 Photos that Changed Canada (2009), 100 Days that Changed Canada (2011), and Canada’s Great War Album (2014).

Since 2007, the magazine has received dozens of national and regional awards and nominations, including a nomination for Magazine of the Year at the National Magazine Awards.

As Canada’s History enters its second century of publishing, its editorial team is focused on increasing the diversity of its stories and storytellers while embracing new media platforms and technologies.