Sammy the Prince: The Story of One of Canada's Pioneering Sociologists

Franзois Boudreau is a professor of sociology at Laurentian University
in Sudbury.

This work is a well-documented, well-written biography of S.H. Prince,
an Anglican Minister who, in the first half of this century, devoted his
life to the well-being of his parishioners and of Maritimers in general.

The book contains 16 chapters. The first nine are of biographical
interest, exploring the context in which Prince’s life evolved. The
Halifax Explosion of 1917 is emphasized; Hatfield says that “it blew
Halifax in the twentieth century” because “in the midst of the great
darkness shone out two stars: the courage of the people and the
limitless generosity of all the others the world over.”

The last seven chapters are more political. Chapters 10 and 12 are
particularly so, and both show his Durkheimian influence. They deal with
his Ph.D. dissertation (“conservatism will go only if there is some
sharp jolt such as a disaster, and if that happens, there is a state of
fluidity opening the way to social change”) and with the Diocesan
Council for Social Service (“the Church’s task is not so much the
administration of philanthropy and the running of institutions and
social enterprises, but rather in intelligent cooperation with community
organizations equipped with trained social personnel”). Prince’s
involvement was crucial in setting up numerous social organizations and
agencies in the Maritimes, particularly regarding housing, prison
reform, and mental health.

This book is filled with enlightening ecclesiastic and social extracts
from Prince’s speeches, showing clearly how sectors of the Protestant
Church are closely linked with the development of the social welfare
system: “The Church should ever keep its eyes on the far horizon of
goals and objectives, sounding the evangel of a new society emancipated
from social and economic wrongs and heralding the coming of a humaner
social order. . . .”

Beyond the strong religious message it carries—the author being a
retired bishop and his subject a minister—this book could be useful in
classrooms, if only for its strong social and historical content.