J. Frank Moodie: The Man and the Mine‪.‬

At the beginning of the twentieth century, coal mining was inherently dirty and dangerous work. However, it was an essential service for the heating of homes and businesses and the running of industry. Alberta had vast amounts of coal and, at its peak, hundreds of mines were operating throughout the province.(1) But, wages did not reflect the hazards of the work and the mines themselves provided living conditions that were appalling. Onto this stage stepped James Francis Melville Moodie, known to his friends as J.F. or Frank, and to his enemies simply as Moodie. He was born near Chesterville, Ontario, in 1878, his parents and siblings having recently moved from Quebec where his father and two of his uncles had operated an import/export business. Both parents were Canadian born but of Scottish heritage, staunch Presbyterians, and strong believers in education. Frank started at the local country school but in time was sent to the Moody School for Boys in Massachusetts and later to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he qualified as a watchmaker and jeweller.