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Colour photo of Esther Clark Wright, smiling, wearing a sleeveless tea-length light blue gingham dress. In her left arm are some books. A white purse hangs from the same arm. A white corsage adorns her dress near her left collarbone.

Dr. Esther Clark Wright​ (1895-1990)

Author, Historian, and Scholar

Dr. Esther Clark Wright was born Esther Isabell Clark in Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1895. Her father was Mayor of Fredericton and, later, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.

 

Esther graduated from Fredericton High School in 1912, and went on to Acadia University, graduating with an Honours Economics Degree in 1916. She studied further at the University of Toronto, Oxford, and Stanford, graduating finally from Radcliffe/Harvard in 1931 with a PhD in economics. She was also given honourary degrees from Acadia University, Dalhousie University, and the University of New Brunswick.

 

Aside from being an accomplished scholar, Esther was also an acclaimed historian and author. Her many books and articles include:

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  • "Public Opinion" (1916)

  • "The Challenge to Canadian Womanhood" (1918)

  • Alexander Clark, Loyalist (1940)

  • The Petitcodiac (1943)

  • The Miramichi (1945)

  • The Saint John River (1949)

  • The Loyalists of New Brunswick (1955)

  • The Regimental Hammer (a Loyalist play)

  • Blomidon Rose (1957)

  • Samphire Greens (1961)

  • The Steeves Descendents (1965)

  • The Saint John River and its Tributaries (1966)

  • Grandmother's Child (1973)

  • People and Places (1973)

  • The Ships of St. Martin's (1974)

  • Saint John Ships and their Builders (1976)

  • Planters and Pioneers: Nova Scotia 1749-1775 (1978, revised 1982)

  • Back A Long Way (1986)

 

Dr. Wright was also active in many organizations, including the Wolfville School Board, New England Planters, New Brunswick Association of Consumers, National Council of Women of Canada, Royal Canadian Geographic Society, Royal Commonwealth Society, and Canadian Federation of University Women. She was made an Honourary Citizen of Moncton; a lifetime member of the Steeves Family Inc., New Brunswick Genealogical Society, Canadian Historical Association, and Canadian Authors Association; and received many awards, including the Award of Merit of the American Association for State and Local History (1968), the Silver Jubilee Medal (1978), and the Order of Canada (1990).



[Harriet Hannah Richardson (5), Hannah Gross (4), Mary (3), Matthias (2), Heinrich (1)]

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