Call Me True: A Biography of True Davidson

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University, the
author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable Kingdom,
and the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste. Marie.

This biography of True Davidson, the woman who served first as Reeve,
then as Mayor, of East York, tells little of the history of her
community. It therefore falls under the category of women’s history,
not urban history. But that is not a criticism, for Call Me True is a
significant contribution to women’s history.

True (a nickname for “Gertrude”) Davidson (1901–1978) certainly
merited a biography. The daughter of a Methodist minister, she was a
faithful United Church member from Church Union in 1925 until her death.
She was also one of the first women to earn an MA at Victoria College, a
pioneer in the publishing industry at J.M. Dent & Sons, the first woman
to serve as chair of the East York Board of Education, and the first
woman to become reeve of East York.

Drawing on materials from the York University Archives and from the
media, Darke describes Davidson’s experiences as an editor, a writer,
and a businesswoman; as an unsuccessful candidate for the CCF and,
decades later, for the Liberals; as an activist with the East York Board
of Education; and as a municipal politician in East York. Pictures of
Davidson in action as well as poems that she wrote enliven the account.

Eleanor Darke clearly admires her subject, and readers will find
themselves doing so as well.