Jean Morrison, Ruth McKenzie, Harriet Rouillard, Isabel Wilson, and Clare Clark were among the many intellectual women contributing to the birth and growth of the Canadian Association for Adult Education, which was transformative for literacy in the nation.

This book provides an in-depth look at the Canadian Association for Adult Education (CAAE), a mid-twentieth century voluntary association that promoted active citizenship through their co-sponsorship of CBC radio programs National Farm Radio Forum and Citizens' Forum. Focusing on the Association in its heyday (1935-1965), Adult Education scholar, Leona M. English highlights the CAAE's staff of well-educated women who produced and distributed books and journals and led efforts such as the Indian-Eskimo Association, the first non-native organization to focus on native rights, and the Joint Planning Commission, a one-hundred member voluntary association that shared resources and cooperated with government, business and the non-profit sector for national improvements in education, arts and culture.

These women edited the Food for Thought journal, which reached thousands of military personnel during World War II, wrote study club materials for the CBC radio programs, and actively promoted the work of the CAAE. English depicts how through them, the CAAE was able to focus on developing socially minded citizens and contribute to nation building in the mid-twentieth century. Citizens, Scholars, and Friends introduces these gifted contributors to Canadian history.