Edward JR Jackman Service Award

Created in 2020 and named for the long-serving Secretary-General of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association, the Edward JR Jackman Service Award, recognizes those individuals who have dedicated themselves to the CCHA through acts of service and fellowship. The award is available to any member of the CCHA.

The first recipient of the award is Fred McEvoy who, in addition to being a past Book Review Editor of Historical Studies, a contributor to the journal, was also a regular organizer and attendee of CCHA events and conferences, and an ambassador for the CCHA for many years.

G.E. Clerk Award

George Edward Clerk (1815-1875) was a prominent Montreal Catholic and editor of that City’s True Witness and Catholic Chronicle. A Scottish Canadian who had a bright and inquisitive mind, Clerk accepted Bishop Bourget’s challenge to launch an English-speaking Catholic newspaper which would deal with the anti-Catholic aspersions of the Montreal Witness. Clerk’s warm heart and sharp mind gained his newspaper much respect. His service of the written word lives on as the Canadian Catholic Historical Association presents the George Edward Clerk Award to outstanding Canadian historians for their contributions to Catholic history.

The Canadian Catholic Historical Association commissioned William McElcheran in 1973 to design a mold to cast the original ten commemorative medallions in memory of G. E. Clerk. Some of McElcheran’s life-size sculptures stand on the campus of St Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. A second series of medallions were cast in 2001 through the courtesy of the Kinsman Robinson Galleries of Yorkville.

The CCHA awards medallions to scholars who have distinguished themselves in Catholic studies, publishing, teaching, archival work, or administration. The past recipients of the award include:

Paul A. Bator Memorial Award

The CCHA established the Paul A. Bator Memorial Award in 2001 to honour the memory of Paul Bator, a young scholar who edited Historical Studies from 1993 to 1995. It is awarded biennially to the author of the article judged to be the best published by Historical Studies in the previous two years. Articles are judged “on their originality and depth of research, importance to the historiography, and prose excellence.” Prize winners receive a book and scroll.

Past Recipients of the Award include

•  2019 – Mark McGowan “Uncomfortable Pews: The Catholic Bishops and the Making of Confederation, CCHA Historical Studies Vol. 84 (2018)
• 2015 – Kevin Anderson “‘I am…the very essence of a Protestant’: Arthur Lower, Anti-Catholicism and Liberal Nationalism, 1939-1959″ HS. vol. 81 (2015)
• 2013 – Michael Wilcox “‘To meet more perfectly the wants of our people here:’ The Christian Brothers and the Process of Anglicization in Ontario, 1850-1925” HS, vol. 79 (2013)
• 2011- Dr. Peter Meehan ” ‘Purified Socialism’ and the Church in Saskatchewan: Tommy Douglas, Philip Pocock and Hospitalization, 1944-1948″ HS, vol. 77 (2011)
• 2009 – David Webster “Canadian Catholics and the East Timor Struggle, 1975-99” HS, vol. 75 (2009)
• 2007 – Myrslaw Tataryn “Harvesting Heritage Seeds: The Role of the Ukrainskyi holes in the Formation of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada” HS, vol. 71 (2005)
• 2005 – Mark McGowan “The Maritime Region and the Building of a Canadian Church: The Case of the Diocese of Antgonish after Confederation” HS, vol. 70 (2004)
• 2003 – Mark McGowan “What did Michael Power Really Want?” Questions Regarding the Origins of Catholic Separate Schools in Canada West” HS, vol. 68 (2002)
• 2001 – Patricia McConnell Killen “Writing the Pacific Northwest into Canadian and US Catholic History,” HS, vol. 66 (2000)