Carol Coates was born in 1906 in Japan, where her parents were missionaries. She received her early education in Japan and later attended the University of British Columbia. Her future husband, Eugene Cassidy, and Roy Daniells became close friends, sharing a love of literature. The Cassidys were married in 1930 and returned to Japan, where they remained for some years. The correspondence with Daniells is romantic, savouring of spiritual and poetic inspiration and unrequited love (she called him "Dante" and signed herself "Beatrice"). After returning from Japan, Coates taught in Toronto and was connected with Steiner education in New York, England and Edinburgh. She published two books of poetry, Fancy Free and Invitation to Mood.
Eugene Cassidy was also born in Japan to missionary parents, was educated in Japan, and attended British Columbia University. He returned to Japan in 1930, where he taught school and became intensely interested in photography. He and his family came to Canada in 1938, and Cassidy began work as a photographer in Toronto. He and Coates later separated, and Cassidy went to New York to become a successful contract photographer for Conde Nash. His photography, particularly his Japanese landscape work, has received considerable recognition, and in 1981 there was a retrospective of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario. However, because of his frequent moves, many of his Japanese photographs have disappeared, and it is probable that some of the small prints in this collection are unique.
The sous-fonds consist of letters, hand-made poetry books, photographs, a photograph album, and an album of Japanese "shugibukuso," envelopes the Japanese use to present money. The correspondence dates from 1930 to 1953, the majority of the letters being written in the 1930s from Japan.
The materials in this group of papers were segregated from the main series primarily because they were fragile and easy to use. The correspondence was initially been in chronological order by year with other correspondence. The photographs and small poetry booklets, however, had been kept separately. A large portion of the correspondence between Daniells and Coates was returned to Carol Coates in 1942 and subsequently destroyed.