Northway, Mary Louise

Dr. Mary Louise Northway, born in 1909, was the daughter of A. Garfield Northway and Mary McKellar and the granddaughter of John Northway, founder of the Northway Company Limited and John Northway and Son Limited.

Mary was educated in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto, (B.A. 1933, M.A. 1934, and Ph.D. 1938). Mary did her graduate work at Cambridge University in England. Dr. Northway taught psychology at the University of Toronto from 1934 to 1968, and the last fifteen years of her tenure were as Supervisor of Research at the Institute of Child Study. She also earned international recognition as a pioneer in the field of Sociometry. From 1950 to 1963, she was the president of the Northway Company Limited.

Among the many honours bestowed upon Dr. Northway were: Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, Honorary Life Member of the Ontario Camping Association, and an Honorary Degree from Trent University in 1979. Throughout her life, Mary was involved in camping and she believed in the value of Canadian summer camping and tripping. She was the program director of Glen Bernard Camp from 1930 to 1939 and, with Flora Morrison, was co-director of a girls' camp called Windy Pine Point, from 1941 to 1950.

Dr. Mary L. Northway died in 1987. In her will she left to Trent University its largest private benefaction to be known as the Northway Bequest in memory of her father, Garfield Northway. This bequest provided permanent support towards a number of areas: Trent University Archives, Bata Library, and the Canadian Studies Department.

Information taken from a plaque commemorating the dedication of the Northway Reading Room which was written by the Trent University Archivist, Bernadine Dodge.