Louis Arthur Cunningham

1900-1954

Louis Arthur Cunningham born on 28 September 1900 in Saint John, NB, and died following a seizure at his home on the Hammond River on 13 June 1954.  Cunningham attended the St. Vincent’s High School for Boys. Following his graduation in 1918, Cunningham enrolled at St. Joseph’s University in Memramcook. While at St. Joseph’s (now the Université de Moncton), he studied English, Latin, history, mathematics, science, and philosophy. Cunningham received his BA in 1922, and returned the following year to complete his Master’s degree. Following his graduation in 1923, he accepted a Knights of Columbus fellowship to study and teach English, French, and Latin at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. The following year he accepted a similar position at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Cunningham returned to Saint John in 1925. That same year he had a story (“A Highland Romance”) accepted by Western Home Monthly based in Winnipeg. In 1927, he published his first novel, Yvon Tremblay. He married Hortense Marie Mooney on 10 July 1929 and the couple moved to East Riverside, just outside of Saint John. They bought a cottage that they called Land’s End. The Toronto Star Weekly was the first publication to popularize Cunningham’s work in the serial genre. One of these stories, The Princess of Gratzen (1942), was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation to be made into a feature film before the disruption of the Second World War.  In 1939 the Cunninghams moved to a seven-acre estate called Kirk Hill overlooking the Hammond River in southern New Brunswick. In 1942, his novel The Forest Gate was published by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Cunningham had several stories listed in the O. Henry Memorial Awards for best short story, and twenty-one of his short stories made the “List of Distinction” in the annual American volume The Best Short Stories of the Year.  After Cunningham’s death in 1954, Hortense moved back to Saint John, where she continued to try to find publishers for her husband’s work. She was successful in finding publishers for six of his novels: The Lily Pool (1955), Meg Shannon (1956), Stars Over Seven Oaks (1957), You Are the Dream (1957), Whisper to the Stars (1958), and A Sunlit Grove (1959).

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Saint John, Hammond River

Archival Material

• Louis Arthur Cunningham fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  MG L 13

  Date Range of Material

  1900-1964, predominant 1927-1954

  Extent

  2.56 m textual records
  5 photographs

  Scope and Content Note

  This fonds, which consists largely of holographs and typescripts of manuscripts in various genre, documents Louis Arthur Cunningham's long and successful career as a popular writer. The fonds also includes print copies of many of his works, especially the short stories. There is supporting documentation for his literary activities such as correspondence with publishers, legal agreements, and notebooks documenting dates and prices paid as manuscripts were sent to publishers. After his death, there are similar records kept by his widow as she continued to try to sell his work. There are a few personal and biographical items such as newspaper clippings about Louis Arthur Cunningham, a few photographs and personal documents such as birth and marriage certificates and university diplomas.