James Tompkins | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:James_Tompkins_1949-07-14.jpg) Tompkins (centre), 14 July 1949 | |
| Born | 7 September 1870 |
| Died | 5 May 1953 (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic priest |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Ordained | 24 May 1902 |
Congregations served | Stella Maris Church, Canso (1923-1934) St. Joseph's Church, Reserve Mines (1935-1948) |
James John "Jimmy" Tompkins (7 September 1870 – 5 May 1953) was a Roman Catholic priest who founded the Antigonish Movement, a progressive effort that incorporated adult education, cooperatives and rural community development to aid the fishing and mining communities of northern and eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. The Antigonish Movement later evolved into the Extension Department (now the Coady International Center) of St. Francis Xavier University.
Father Tompkins believed in the emancipating power of education and sought to improve economic conditions through study groups and co-operative action. "It is not enough to have ideas, we have to put legs on them", he often said. He started the first regional library in Nova Scotia along with the first credit union and a cooperative housing association in Reserve Mines that was dubbed "Tompkinsville". Father Tompkins was the Spiritual founder of the Antigonish Movement.