Jean Morrison
- Date of Birth: 8 December, 1926
- Date of Death: 22 September, 2014
- Accomplishments: Notable and accomplished historian of Northwestern Ontario history.
Jean Morrison was an accomplished historian of Northwestern Ontario’s history whose impact on our understanding of this region's storied past is still felt to this day.
Born Jean Case in Sault Ste. Marie, Jean lived in various places across Ontario in her early life before moving to Thunder Bay in 1966. She married Ken Morrison in 1948, shortly after graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
In 1974 Jean became the first woman to receive a Master of Arts degree in History from Lakehead University, with a thesis focusing on the history of the industrial working class at the Lakehead in the early 20th century.
For much of her career, she served as the research historian at Fort William Historical Park, from 1975 until her retirement in 1990, after which the library there was named in her honour as “The Jean Morrison Canadian Fur Trade Library”. During her tenure this resource became one of the largest repositories of material related to the North American fur trade and the North West Company. This important research serves as the foundation for interpretive presentations and educational programs that continue to impress thousands of visitors to Fort William Historical Park today.
Among her notable publications are Superior Rendezvous Place: Fort William in the Canadian Fur Trade (2001), Lake Superior to Rainy Lake: Three Centuries of Fur Trade History (2003) and Labour Pains: Thunder Bay’s Working Class in Canada’s Wheat Boom Era (2009). For the latter, she was awarded the Ontario Historical Society’s J.J. Talman Award, which honours the best book on Ontario’s social, economic, political, or cultural history. She has also twice received the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Elizabeth Arthur Award for full-length scholarly works.
The Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society's archives (A107) contain a collection of Jean’s personal records relating to her life and career.
Submitted jointly by the Thunder Bay Museum and Fort William Historical Park
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