Abstract
The narrative of the St. Francis Xavier University Extension Department has long been styled as an exchange between “saints and sinners.” Beginning in the 1930s, journalists, writers, and historians wrote of the leading saint, Fr. James J. Tompkins, and his struggle against the foremost sinner, Archbishop James Morrison, which resulted in the priest’s exile to Canso in 1922 and ultimate redemption as the spiritual father of Antigonish Movement. Exploring aspects of the Extension story, this article examines the “saints and sinners” myth and illustrates the effect that it has had on the history of the movement.Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the author(s), with Acadiensis being granted a non-exclusive licence to each and every right in the work throughout the world. After publication of the work, the author(s) shall have the right to self-archive the work and to reprint the work in whole or in part in books authored by or edited by the author(s) without the payment of any fee. In these other formats, however, the author or authors are required to acknowledge the original publication of the work in the pages of the journal. In the case of any requests to reprint the work, Acadiensis will require a standard permission fee -- to be divided equally between the journal and the author. In the event that such requests are received by the author(s), the author(s) shall direct such requests to the journal.