DEO, LEGI, REGI, GREGI: UNIVERSITY OF KING'S COLLEGE, 1920-1945

Abstract

The period from 1920 to 1945 was critical in the University of King’s College’s history. During this quarter century, the university was destroyed by fire, moved from Windsor to Halifax, federated with Dalhousie University, experienced a worldwide economic depression, and had its buildings requisitioned during the Second World War. Yet the university’s immediate postwar years saw record enrolments, academic innovation, and bright prospects. How was this possible? This thesis argues that the University of King’s College survived largely because of its cultural portability, which stemmed from the ability of university members to adapt to changes without losing their collective identity. This identity, which centered around traditions of Englishness and Anglicanism adapted to a Canadian setting, functioned as a protective mythos for the university: drawing inspiration from the school’s history, staff and students at the University of King’s College placed trials within an existing framework of struggle and survival.