Celebrating the Contributions of Dr. Dorothy Emma Moore

Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard writes: As a lifelong advocate for human rights and social justice, Dr Dorothy Moore was one of the first forces in the school of social work to identify the need for systemic changes in the school if true system changes were to be made. She led the efforts to create pathways to change for Mi’kmaq, Acadian and Black Nova Scotians.  She also became a strong ally with many of the informal leaders from each of those communities, and lifelong friendships were formed.  Her advocacy and allyship were critical to my professional growth and development as a social worker and later as a social work educator.  From her leadership in creating Affirmative Action in Admissions, to building a more critical and culturally responsive pedagogy, Dr Moore was a person who led the changes she wanted to see.

It was Dr Dorothy Moore who invited me to co-present a paper with her and Lydia Lucas- White at the first national conference for social work educators that I attended.  We later published two versions of that presentation as articles, on the theme of the intersection of gender and race oppression. She was also instrumental in having both Lydia and I teach as Sessional Instructors at the school of social work for the first time, in the summer of 1987.   Two years later, Dorothy encouraged me to apply for the full-time faculty position that was open at the School.  The position was established as a designated hiring which was open to the three groups who were included in the School’s AA policy, as noted above.  I was the successful candidate and joined the Faculty in January 1990. Dorothy’s support for my career continued when she became my on-site supervisor when I started at the joint location PhD program at the University of Sheffield, in Sheffield England, in September 1992.  There are numerous examples of Dorothy’s influence in changing social work in Atlantic Canada and beyond, but I would suggest that many of the social justice work initiatives that we engage in today, in the social work field, have their roots in the courageous, unassuming leadership of Dr. Dorothy Moore. The Honourable Wanda Thomas Bernard, PhD, Independent Senator for Nova Scotia, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the School of Social Work, Dalhousie University.