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My goal was to have at least one name
for each day of the year! Believe it or not, it took 20 years. But hey, I
made it!
Want to know who was born the same year as you?
Check out the
Famous
Canadian Women's Historical Timeline!
Want to find out about other Canadian women of achievement?
"On-The-Job". Has over 3100 mini profiles of Canadian Women
Use your mouse pointer to touch a
date on the calendar below
to see which Famous Canadian Woman has a birthday on
that date.
Copyright © 1998-2025 Dawn E. Monroe. All rights reserved |
ISBN: 0-9736246-0-4 |
March 1 |
Anne
Kahane - Langstadt.
Born March 1, 1926, Vienna,
Austria. Died September 29, 2023, Montreal,
Quebec. Anne immigrated to Montreal with her
parents when she was five years old. It was at
the Montreal Ecole des beaux arts that she took
her early formal art lessons. This sculptor
emigrated from Austria with her parents in 1925.
During the mid 1940's Anne studied at Cooper
Union School, New York City, U.S.A. In 1953 she
was the only Canadian winning international
prizes for her three-dimensional figures carved
in wood, works. Her woodcarvings are the
decorative panels for the Winnipeg airport,
Winnipeg General Hospital, and Montreal’s Place
des Arts. She married artist Robert Langstadt.
Her work has been shown nationally
and internationally, representing Canada at the
Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the
Canadian Pavilion at the Worlds Fair, Brussels,
and at Expo 67 in Montreal Abandoning
wood in the late 1970's she began to work with
sheets of aluminum with her first showing of
this new medium at McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario in 1980-1982.
(2023) |
March 2 |
Evelyn 'Lynne' Beatrice Blyth
Marvin Tyrrell.
née Marvin. Born March 2, 1920, London, England.
Died May 25, 2013, Toronto, Ontario. Lynne Began
her working career as a
Stenographer during World War ll (1939-1945.
Around 1944 she married Ron Tyrrell and the
couple settled in Brighton, England,
running a guest house and a clothing consignment
shop. In 1947 the family moved to Jamaica to run
an hotel. By 1950 they were in
Toronto where their fourth child was born. Lynn
apprenticed with a Toronto couturier, Rodolphe
Liska. Opening her own shop called
Baroness, she sketched her own designs. The shop
was eventually located on Scollard St. in the
hippie Yorkville area of Toronto. The
Baroness dressed brides, wedding parties and
Miss Canada contestants. Trans Canada Airlines
asked her to design their uniforms.
The shop closed in the 1980's.
(2022) |
March 3 |
Marie-Madelaine Jarret de Verchères.
Born
March 3, 1678, Verchères. Quebec. Died August 8,
1747, Sainte-Anne –de-La Pérade, New France. She and her family lived in a “fort”
which had been built as protection against
marauding bands of Iroquois. Her mother had
“held the fort” successfully fending off attacks
in 1690. On October 22, 1692, while her parents
were away in Montreal, she was in charge of her
home. She was 14 years old
when she, with only a handful of helpers, would
successfully defend the family fort against
attack. She was outside the
walls of the fort when the attackers approached
causing her to scramble and ran for the
fortifications and safety. There was only one
soldier at home at the time and Madelaine donned
a soldiers hat and made motions of being in
charge of a larger group of defenders. She had
the cannon fired as a warning not only to the
attackers but to other “forts” along the river
that there was danger. By the time help arrived
from Montreal the attackers had fled. There are
various written reports about the successful
defence that day. No doubt recalled in the
aftermath of the events and in later years the
reports may have exaggerated or did they? Her
exploits have been written up in several books,
plays, and even movies, extolling the young
Madelaine as one of Canada's first youth
heroines.
Even though it was not unusual for girls to be
married in their early teens, Madeleine married
only on September 1706 to Pierre Thomas Tarieu
de La Pérade (1677-1757). The
couple would have Five children. It seems that she
summoned her courage again in 1722 saving her
husband from attack of two Indians. In turn her
son, Charles-Francois, who was ten at the time,
fended off four native women who came to help out
the male attackers. It seems that both Madeleine
and her husband were not held in high esteem as
landlords. They were involved in numerous law
suit concerning land ownership and Madeleine
even sailed to France in attempts to have courts
solve the disputes. In 1923 the Canadian
Government designated Madeleine as a Person of
National Historic Significance. Source: André
Vachon, “JARRET DE VERCHÈRES, MARIE-MADELEINE,”
in D C B
vol. 3( accessed July 27, 2014), |
March 4 |
Nellie J. Cournoyea.
Born March 4, 1940, Aklavik, Northwest
Territories. Nellie grew up traveling and
hunting in the traditional manner of her people.
She married a Canadian Forces officer and the
couple were posted in Halifax and Ottawa prior
to heading back to the Northwest Territories
with their 2 children. Shortly after the couple
divorced. In the 1960’s she worked as an
announcer for the CBC radio. In 1969 she
co-founded with Agnes Semmler a political
association to help the people of Inuvialuit
which gave her an active role in the 1984 land
claim. In 1979 she
was elected to the Legislature of the Northwest
Territories and served on various cabinet
positions prior to becoming the 1st
native woman to lead a provincial territorial
government in Canada. She
served as Premier of the Northwest Territories
from November 14, 1991 to November 2, 1995.
Nellie was awarded the Woman of the Year for NWT
in 1982 and in 1986 she received the Wallace
Goose Award. She was recognized with the
National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1994.
In 2004 she received the Energy Person of the
Year from the Energy Council of Canada. In
2008 the Governor General of Canada awarded
Nellie Cournoyea the Northern Medal in
recognition for her significant contributions to
the evolution and reaffirmation of the Canadian
North as part of our national identity. She
volunteers as Director of the Ingamo Hall
Friendship Center in Inuvik and is a founding
member of the Northern Games Society. She is
also a volunteer in Inuvialuit historical and
cultural activities. In 2008 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada and the
Aboriginal Businee Hall of Fame. In 2016 she
received the Order of the Northwest Territories. Sources: The
Canadian Encyclopedia Online (accessed
2006); Nellie J. Cournoyea, Collections
Canada. National Library of Canada, (accessed
2006). |
March 5 |
Phyllis
Dewar-Lowrey.
Born
March 5, 1916, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Died
April 8, 1961, Toronto, Ontario. As a young
swimmer she earned the nickname 'Moose Jaw
Mermaid'. In 1934 & 1935 she held every single
Canadian freestyle swimming record from 100
yards to one mile! She set records and won a 4
gold medals at the 1934 British Empire Games in
London, England. That same year she won the
Velma Springstead Trophy as Canadian female
athlete of the year,. She returned to the
British Empire Games in Australia 1938 for
another gold medal in the 4 X 110 yard freestyle
relay. She married Murray Lowery and the couple
have 4 children. In 1967 she was inducted into
the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and in 1971
she was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall
of Fame followed in 1972 with a membership in
the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Sources: Who’s
who in Canadian Sport by Bob Ferguson,
(Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1977; Phyllis Dewar
(1916-1961), The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan,
Online, (accessed March 2016) |
March 6 |
Mary Tkachuk.
née Janishewski.
Born March 6, 1912, Mundare, Alberta. Died April
23, 2003, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After
graduating high school in Edmonton, Alberta Mary
attended Normal School (teachers' college). In
1935, she and her husband Paul Tkachuk
(1903-1976), settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
where they established a well known music store.
Mary soon became active in the Ukrainian Women's
Association of Canada and was a founding member
of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. In 1964 she
helped found the Saskatoon Fold Arts Council and
later became Saskatchewan's director for the
National Fold Arts Council. She also served as
the first president of the National Ukrainian
Self-Reliance League from 1990 through 1996. As
you may realize Mary had an interest encouraging
music in her community. She was conductor of
adult and children's choirs over six decades.
She received the Saskatoon Century Award, the
Ukrainian Canadian Congress Centennial Medal,
the American Association for State and Local
History Award of Merit.
Source: Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
online (accessed 2022); Find a grave Canada
(accessed 2022) |
March 7 |
Ada Maud Boyer McAnn Flemming.
née McAnn.
Born March 7, 1896. Died January 25, 1994. Aida
changed the spelling of her name after the Verdi
opera Aida. Her mother died just a few
months old. The family lived in British Columbia
until the death of her father when she was just
eleven. Aida returned to New Brunswick to live
with her uncle. Aida earned her Bachelor of Arts
from Mount Allison, University, and then earned
her Certificate in Education at the University
of Toronto. She would later earn her Master' of
Arts from Columbia University, New York City,
New York, U.S.A. She
taught at Mount Allison University and then at a
private secondary school in New York City. She
then worked as a freelance writer of advertising
copy in New York before she returned home to New
Brunswick to work as a writer for the Department
of Tourism. In 1938 she published The New
Brunswick Cookbook. She also directed
a cooking program on local radio. By 1944 she
was working as a reporter for the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick. On August 20 1946 she
married Hugh John Flemming (1899-1982), a
business man and future premier of New Brunswick
and future Member of Canadian Parliament. After
her marriage Aida became active volunteering for
the local Red Cross and helped establish the
local school library. In Fredericton from
1952-1960 as the wife of the Premier, she
continued to support libraries serving as the
patron of Young Canada Book Week in 1953 and
helping to establish the Fredericton Public
Library. She served on the Library Board from
1955-1958. She was appointed to the Board of the
Beaverbrook Art Gallery and was also on the
board of the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (S P C A) and the Children's
Aid. In 1959 she founded the Kindness Club to
teach children to love and be kind to animals.
The Kindness club would grow with chapters
throughout North America and England. In 1962
and again in 1976 the Fredericton Chamber of
Commerce named her as their Atlantic Woman of
the Year. In 1964 she the Humane Society of the
United States named her Humanitarian of the
Year. By 1978 she had been made a member of the
Order of Canada. In her will she left property
near Woodstock, New Brunswick to create a
wildlife sanctuary. (2020) |
March 8 |
Charlotte
Elizabeth Hazeltyne
Whitton.
Born
March 8, 1896, Renfrew, Ontario. Died January 25,
1975, Ottawa, Ontario. Charlotte attended Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario, where she enjoyed playing
hockey and was editor of the Queen's Journal in
1917 as the 1st female editor of this newspaper
while she earned a Master’s of Art degree. This
social worker, politician, and feminist was a
colourful, energetic, outspoken, and flamboyant
individual. In the 1920’s she was a relentless
crusader for professional standard s
of juvenile immigrants and neglected children.
She was the spark that ignited the Canadian
Council on Child Welfare. She was in demand
across North America as a lecturer on social
programs. In 1934 she was named a Commander of
the British Empire. In 1943 she published two
books, The Dawn of Ampler Life and A
Hundred Years A-fellin;1842-1942, a History of
Logging. When she became mayor of
Ottawa in
1951 she was the 1st woman in Canada to be a
mayor of a major metropolitan area.
In November 1950, Whitton entered Ottawa City
politics when she won a seat on what was then
called the board of control. When the elected
mayor died in office the next year she
succeeded him as mayor. She was elected mayor in
1952, 1954, and 1960 serving until 1964. In 1964 she
was named by the Toronto B'nai Brith as Woman of
the Year. Later she served as an alderman until
1972. As mayor she pioneered communications with
the electorate by hosting her own TV show and
her own newspaper column. In 1967 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada. Charlotte
never married but lived for 32 years with her
companion, Margaret Grier (1892-1947), a friend
from her university days.
She did not have a life without
controversy and there are accusations of
anti-Semitism and that she was a racist
preferring only British immigration to Canada.
In 2011 her name was kept off the new Archives
building in Ottawa due to her life
controversies. Numerous biographies about
Charlotte have been published over the years.
(2022) |
March 9 |
Flavia
Elliott Redelmeier. née Elliott. Born
March 9, 1926. Flavia received her BA in 1948
from the University of Toronto, on the same day
as her mother received her degree. On December
29, 1950 she married Ernest Redelmeier and the
couple had two sons. Her wedding dress
was the adapted gown from her grandmother's
wedding in 1897. By 1951 she had graduated with
a Masters degree. This volunteer has donated
her life time to such organizations as the Girl
Guides of Canada where she was an executive
member and camping commissioner for Canada. She
has served on hospital and museum boards
including as a board member at the Canadian
Museum of Nature. May 8, 2013 Flavia was
honoured by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with
the Distinguished Service Award tor the
incredible impact and support for the ROM. |
March 10 |
Julia
Catherine Hart.
née Beckwith. Born March 10, 1796,
Fredericton, New Brunswick. Died November 28,
1867, New Brunswick. She
wrote the 1st work of fiction by a native born
Canadian to be published in Canada. Her novel
was called:: St Ursula’s Convent or The Nun of
Canada, Containing Scenes from Real Life”
published in 1824. It
took her 10 years to find this publisher and
only 165 copies were made. Almost all original
copies have been lost. She wrote this book when
she was only 17 years old! In 1820 shortly after
her father's death she relocated to Kingston,
Upper Canada (Now Ontario) to live with family.
Here she met and married George Henry Hart and
established a boarding school for girls. She
would continue publishing with two additional
novels while she raised a family of six
children! It was not until the turn of the
century in 1900 that she was recognized.
(2017) |
|
Avril 'Kim' Phaedra Campbell.
Born
March 10, 1947, Port Alberni, British Columbia.
Known as “Kim” since a teen, she attended the
University of British Columbia and went on
to
earn a PhD at the London School of Economics,
London England. Entering politics as a member of
the Vancouver School Board from 1980-4. She
moved to the British Columbia Provincial
Legislature, 1986-88 and was elected to the
Canadian House of Commons in 1988. In 1989 she
was appointed Minister of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development. The 1st woman to serve as
Minister of Justice, February 1990, by January
1993, she also became the 1st woman Minister of
Defense of a NATO country. In June 1993 she
became the 1st woman elected leader of the
Progressive Conservative Party and the 1st woman
Prime Minister of Canada. She resigned after
election defeat in, November 1993. Appointed
Consul General to Los Angeles, California from
1996-2000, she was also chair, 1999 – 2003, for
the Council of Women World Leaders. Working with
a group of national leaders to strengthen
democracy in the world, she was founder and
acting President of the Club de Madrid, and was
appointed Secretary General in 2004. A lecturer
of public policy at Harvard, she currently
describes herself as a teacher and recovering
politician. Sources: Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(accessed 2004); Canadian Who's Who.
Photograph © Famous Canadian
Women |
March 11 |
Eva Von Gencsy.
Born March 11,1924, Hungary. Died April 11,
2013, Montreal, Quebec. She studied ballet at
the Trognoff Russian Ballet Academy as a young
girl. She won a scholarship to study at the
University Mozartium Saltzberg in 1924. The next
year she made her solo debut. In 1948 as she
entered Canada a customs officer, seeing she was
a dancer, suggested she move to Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Working as a domestic servant to
fulfill the requirement of working for a year in
order to stay in Canada she studied with the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 1954 when the RWB was
destroyed by fire she moved to Montreal to
continue dancing. She worked in Banff and taught
jazz dance for 13 years. Often summers vacations
were spent in New York City taking ballet and
jazz classes. She specifically loved jazz-ballet
as a celebration of the soul. In Montreal she
formed a jazz ballet group Les Jazz-Ballet
Contemporaines but left in 1978 after a
disruptive collision of ideas with others in the
group. She spent the next 35 years as a
freelance teacher. In 2003 Mireille Dansereau
completed a documentary feature EVA about the
talented dancer. She had married at one time but
did not relish the role of homemaker and
definitely loved dance more than married life
which also carried the treat of motherhood. She
had a love of learning often taking courses at
local institutions. At 80 years of age she
discovered and embraced life with a computer.
Source: Her legacy is all that
bale-jazz by Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail,
April 30, 2013. |
March 12 |
Mary Dyma.
née Sawchak,
Born March 12, 1899, Ukraine. Died October 12,
1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba. By the end of World
War l (1914-1918) Mary was an orphan and in 1920
she immigrated to Canada to live with her aunt,
Joanna Westlake, in Winnipeg. To learn English
she attended St. Mary's Academy. By 1923 she had
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from
the University of Manitoba (U of M). After
graduating from U of M she taught school and in
1924 she became principal at Ethelbert School.
In 1925 she married Dr. Bronislaw Dyma
(1897-1966) and the couple had two sons. In 1928
she organized the Ukrainian Handicraft Guild.
In 1932 through 1935 she was a trustee with the
Winnipeg School Division. She served as
president of the League of Women Voters and in
1936 she ran as a Liberal-Progressive in the
Provincial election but was defeated. In 1945
she was a founding member and first national
president of the Ukrainian Canadian Women's
Committee. In 1950 the Ukrainian Canadian
chapter of the Imperial Order of Daughters of
the Empire (I O D E) was established in her
honor. In 1953 after attending the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth ll in England she visited
Ukrainian families in displaced persons camps.
In 1967 she was awarded a Canada Centennial
Medal. In 2001 Mary Dyma was listed as a
Manitoba Woman Trailblazer by the Nellie McClung
Foundation. Source:
Memorable Manitobans online (accessed 2022);
Find a Grave Canada (2022) |
March 13 |
Helen Callahan.
Born
March 13, 1923, Vancouver,
British Columbia. Died
December 8, 1992, Santa Barbara,
California, U.S.A. Coming from an avid and
supportive sports loving family she left home to
join the All American Girls Professional
Baseball League (AAGPBL). Within a few months
her concerned father sent her older sister
Margaret to join the league and look after the
younger Helen. The girls played successfully in
the league for several years from 1944. The left
handed out fielder did not play in 1947 due to
illness but returned after a marriage and the
birth of a child to play in 1948 retiring in
1949. The original “boys of summer” had left the
playing fields to join the fighting in World War
ll were now coming home and reclaiming the
baseball fans back to the all male games. The
sisters never spoke of their life on the road
with the league with family. However when son
Kelly found his aunt’s old scrapbook he used it
to produce a Public Broadcasting Service
documentary on the girls. Hollywood director
Penny Marshall was taken with the documentary
and the well-known movie A League of Their Own
was released in 1992. In 1998 all 64 Canadian
Women who had played in the AALGBL were inducted
into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Helen’s
Grandson Casey Candaele has played for the
Montreal Expos, the Houston Astros, and the
Cleveland Indians. |
March 14 |
Abigail Becker
Rohrer.
née
Jackson. Born March 14, 1830. Died 1905. At
eight she married a widower who was a trapper by
profession and lived at Long Point Island, Lake
Erie. In November 1854 she became a heroine when
she was instrumental in saving the lives of the
master and the six crew members of the schooner,
Conductor, which was wrecked off of Long Point
Island. The story of her heroism was reported
in the Atlantic Monthly in 1869
and in 1899 a book entitled The story of
Abigail Becker was published. Since the turn of the 20th century her story
seems to have been forgotten by most. (2017) |
March 15 |
Rita Joe.
née Bernard. Born March 15, 1932, Whycocamagh,
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Died March 20,
2007, Sydney, Nova Scotia. Her mother died when
she was only five years old and she began to
live in various foster homes. When she was ten
her father died and she left Cape Breton to
attend Shubenacadie Residential School. Here she
was told that she was no good. Years later she
would publish a book on her life at the school.
After school she returned to live on the
Eskasoni First Nations Reserve. In 1954 she
married Frank Joe and the couple would raise 8
children and two adopted sons. In 1978 her 1st
book of poetry was published. She would continue
to produce books of poetry and stories and her
works were included in anthologies. Her writings
earned her the unofficial title of Poet Laureate
of the Mi’kmaq people. In 1989 she became a
Member of the Order of Canada. In 1992 she was
called to the Queen’s Privy Council, one of the
few non-politicians to be appointed. In 1993 she
was the subject of a National Film Board
Documentary “Song of Eskasoni”. In 1996 she
wrote her autobiography. In 1997 she was
presented with the National Aboriginal
Achievement Award.
Source:
The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(accessed January 2014) (2020) |
March 16 |
Patricia Irene Rideout-Rosenberg.
March 16, 1931, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died
September 8, 2006, Cambridge, Ontario. Patricia
studied piano in the early 1940's and then voice
from 1946 through 1948. She also enjoyed
performing in theatricals in Saint John. In 1949
she earned a scholarship to the Royal
Conservatory of Music in Toronto and went on to
the Royal Conservatory Opera School at the
University of Toronto from in 52 to 1955. In
1950 she performed as a singer and dancer at the
Red Barn Theatre at Jackson's Point, Ontario. In
1954 she taught at University Settlement,
Toronto and appeared as soloist in opera at the
Banff School of Fine Arts, Alberta. first
important operatic role was Madame Flora in a
1955 Royal Conservatory Opera School production
of Menotti's
The Medium at Hart House, University of
Toronto. That same year she has a role in an
Opera Festival Association (now Canadian Opera
Company, C O C). As well as her career stage
work which took her throughout North America and
Europe she was popular with opera fans on CBC-TV
throughout the decades. In the 1980's she taught
voice at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
and the late 1980's at the University of
Toronto. (2019) |
March 17 |
Clara Morrison.
née
La Montagne. Born March 17, 1848, (sometimes recorded as 1846)
Toronto, Ontario. Died November 20, 1925, New
Canaan Connecticut, U.S.A. As a youth
Clara studied ballet moving to Cincinnati, Ohio
and finally settling in New York, U.S.A. in 1870
to play in the Fifth-avenue Theatre. It was hear
that her stage career took off. Her stage name
was Clara Morris also known as the “Queen of the
Melodrama”. She is said to have had the ability
to bring a whole audience to tears with her
acting. From 1885 through 1910 she devoted her
talents to writing, publishing some 12 books.
She wrote actively after retiring from the stage
contributing articles on acting to various
magazines and wrote a daily newspaper column for
ten years. She became blind in 1910 and after
her home was sold she moved to Long Island, New
York, U.S.A. She would later write her life
story in three volumes of memoirs. |
|
Pat Messner.
Born
March 17, 1954, Hamilton, Ontario. This former
Girl Guide was the first Canadian woman to win a
world championship in waterskiing in 1979. She
is also the first Canadian woman to win an
Olympic medal in her sport. Pat won a bronze
Olympic medal in the 1972 Olympic Games in
Munich, Germany. She holds 19 Canadian titles
and 20 national records. She is also the first
Canadian woman to have won the United States
Master’s waterskiing title. She is the founder
of the Water Ski and Wakeboard Canadian Hall of
Fame. In her spare time she has a career as a
high school teacher, musician and paramedic. She
was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1980,
the youngest Canadian woman to ever receive this
honour.
Photograph
© Famous Canadian Women |
March 18 |
Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott.
née
Babin. Born March 18, 1869, St. André Est,
Quebec. Died September 2, 1940, Montreal,
Quebec. Her father abandoned Maude after the
death of her mother and the child was legally
adopted and raised by her maternal grandmother,
Mrs. William Abbott. Maude was one of the 1st
women to receive a BA from McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec in 1890.Four years later she
earned Medical Degree with honours from Bishop's
University, Lennoxville, Quebec as the only
woman in her class. She opened her own medical
practice in Montreal where she also worked with
the Royal Victoria Hospital and was elected as
the 1st woman to be a member of the Montreal
Medico-Chirugical Society. She went on to post
graduate medical studies in Vienna, Austria. In
1906 she co-founded the International
Association of Medical Museums with fellow
Canadian, Dr. William Osler. In 1907 she served
as the secretary and spent years editing the
institution's articles. This doctor wrote a
successful medical paper on heart murmurs, but a
male friend had to present her paper since women
were not admitted to the hall where the paper
was presented! In 1910 she became a lecturer in
pathology at McGill University even though the
university did not accept female students.
Leaving McGill she worked at the Women's Medical
College of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. in 1923. In 1924
she founded the Federation of Medical Women of
Canada. By 1925 she was once again at McGill
working as an Assistant professor. Later she
would specialize on heart disease and eventually
published the “Atlas of Congenital Cardiac
Disease" in 1936 for which she gained a good
deal of respect. She also wrote a history of
nursing, a basic text for Canadian nursing
schools. She was even made an honorary member of
the all-male Osler Society. In 1958 the
International Academy of Pathology created the
Maude Abbott Lecture. In 1993 she was declared a
f National Historic Person of Canada and the
following year she was inducted into the
Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. In
2000, a bronze plaque was erected in her honour
on the McIntyre Medical Building at McGill
University. In the same year, Canada
Post issued a forty-six cent postage
stamp entitled The Heart of the Matter in her
honour. |
March 19 |
Marie Morin.
Born
March 19, 1649, Quebec City, New France. . Buried
April 8,1730, Montreal, New France (Now Quebec).
At the age of 13 she became an novitiate of a
convent in Montreal. She took her vows as a nun
with the Religious Hospitallers of Ville, Marie,
Montreal. on October
27, 1671. She was the 1st Canadian born woman to
become a religious sister. She
would become bursar and superior of the
Hospitalièrs of Montreal. In
1693 through 1698 she was the 1st Canadian born
superior of the Hôtel-Dieu
de Montréal. Sister
Morin oversaw the rebuilding of the Hotel Dieu
beginning in 1689 and again when the new
structure burned on February 24 1695. She served
a second time as superior of her order from 1708
to 1711. She was also one of the 1st women
writers in New France. She wrote the annals of
the Hotel Dieu (1697-1725) and her own memoirs.
She was a heroic woman, a true product of the
early days of New France. (2017) |
March 20 |
Caroline
Brunet.
Born
March 20,1969, Quebec City, Quebec. In March
1998, Caroline became the recipient of the Velma
Springstead Award to become Canada's Outstanding
Female Athlete of the Year. Her recognition
began in 1995 when she won a gold and 2 silver
medals at the World Championships. In Atlanta's
Olympic Games in 1997 she claimed the silver
medal. She swept the World Sprint Canoe
Championships in 1997 when she won three gold
medals which represented "a best ever" Canadian
Kayak team performance. She gold medal
also represented a first for a Canadian woman in
a singles event. She also won a Bronze medal in
the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece before
taking her retirement. In 2009 she was inducted
into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. |
March 21 |
Jehane
Benoit.
née
Patenaude. Born March 21,1904. Died November 24,
1987. She is best remembered as Madame
Benoit. This food consultant turned to TV as a
medium to explain Canadian cuisine to her home
and native land. She also published some 30
books to generate interest in her field. She
studied at the Cordon Bleu and held a degree as
a food chemist from the Sorbonne in France. She
opened her own cooking school in Montreal,
Fumet de la Vieille France. She also opened one
of the 1st Canadian vegetarian restaurants, the
Salad Bar in 1935. She became a proponent of
microware cooking and was hired as salesperson
for Panasonic microwaves. In 1973 she became an
Officer of the Order of Canada. |
March 22 |
Jane Mackenzie.
née
Sym. Born March 22,1825. Died March 30, 1893.
On June 17, 1853 Jane would become the second
wife of Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892), second
Prime Minister of Canada married June 17, 1853.
She had no children but was stepmother to her
husband's daughter from his prior marriage. The
Toronto Globe newspaper described her as
"the best-known woman of Canada... and one of
the most admired and respected." It was a role
she did not really enjoy but she supported her
husband and entertained all of Ottawa's politicians. (2019) |
March 23 |
Amanda Michael Plummer.
Born
March 23, 1957, New York, New York, U.S.A. Amanda
is the daughter of Canadian actor Christopher
Plummer. Amanda attended Middlebury College and
as a young adult she studied acting at the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in
New York City. Following her fathers love for
acting she won a Tony in 1982 in Agnes of God.
She has starred in such films as The Fisher
King, The World According to Garp, Pulp
Fiction, Dallmake, The Last Angel, and Triggerman. In
1996 she won a Cable Ace Award for The Right
to Remain Silent and an Emmy Award for her
guest appearance on The Outer Limits TV
show. With movies and TV she has had some
9 appearances in 2002 alone! In 2005 she was
awarded a second Emmy for her appearance on in Miss
Rose White, a Hallmark made for television
film. She has also had success on
Broadway and off Broadway stage performances. |
March 24 |
Agnes Campbell
Macphail.
Born
March 24, 1890, Preston Township, Grey County,
Ontario. Died February 13, 1954, Toronto,
Ontario. Like many young women of her era she
attended Normal School (Teacher’s College) after
high school. She taught in numerous schools in
Ontario and Alberta. She
was the 1st and only woman elected to
the Canadian parliament in 1921 when women
finally had the right to vote. A
pacifist she was a member of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom and
in 1929 she became the
1st woman nominated to the Canadian
delegation to the League of Nations (forerunner
to the United Nations). As
the 1st woman to inspect Kingston Penitentiary, it left
her a lifelong advocate for better conditions of
women in prison. In 1935 the Royal Commission to
Investigate the Penal System in Canada and the
1939 Penitentiary Bill with 88 recommendations
for change were no doubt influenced by her
efforts. She became a founding member of the
C.C.F., Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(forerunner of the National Democratic Party).
Losing her federal seat in the 1940 election,
she toured giving lectures and wrote for the
Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper before
turning her attention to provincial politics. In
1943 she was 1 of 2 women elected to the Ontario
Legislative Assemble where
she continued to support farmers, industrial
workers, prison inmates and women’s rights. In
1951 she saw the passage of the 1st equal
pay legislation in the province. She
was also the founder of the Elizabeth Fry
Society of Canada which even today works to give
help to women in need. She died just prior to
have been offered a seat in the Canadian
senate. Sources: The
Canadian Encyclopedia Online Accessed
2001); Agnes Macphail website Online
(accessed 2003) |
March 25 |
Ethel Dorothy Blondwin-Andrews.
Born
March 25, 1951, Tulita, Northwest Territories.
Ethel attended various schools including
residential school and Grandin College
Leadership Program at Fort Smith. She followed
this with a teacher certificate from Arctic
College prior to earning her Bachelor of
Education from the University of Alberta in
1974. She was one of the 1st accredited
Aboriginal teachers in the North, teaching in
Tuktoyaktuk, Délįnę, Fort Providence, and
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. From
1984-1986, she served as a Senior Public Servant
with the Public Service Commission in Ottawa and
before returning to the north to join the
Government of the Northwest Territories as
Assistant Deputy Minister for Culture from 1986
to 1988 where she served on the Arctic Institute
of North America for two terms as well as the
Assembly of First Nations Language Committee and
worked on the Special Committee on Education for
the Government of the Northwest Territories. In
1988, Ethel was elected as a Liberal from the
District of the Western Arctic to the Canadian
Parliament, the 1st aboriginal woman
elected to the House of Commons. She went on to
win the next four federal elections in 1993,
1997, 2000, and 2004. Under Prime Ministers Jean
Chrètien and Paul Martin she would be appointed
to the Cabinet as Secretary of State, then
Minister of State for Children and Youth. She
returned to the North to work as Chairperson for
Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated the organization
created by the Sahtu region’s seven land
corporations to ensure the Sahtu land claim
(signed in 1994) is properly implemented. Sources:
Ethel Blondwin-Andrews. Canadian House of
Commons. Online (Accessed 2004) ; Ethel
Blondwin-Andrews, Biography. Sahtu Secretariat
INC. Online (accessed July 2015) |
March 26 |
Marie Catherine Pélissier
Sales Laterière.
née
Delezenne. Born March 26, 1755, Quebec. Died
1831. As a young woman she was forced to marry a
man more than twice her age, Christophe
Pélissier, in 1775. During her arranged marriage
she continued her affair with the man she really
loved, Sale de Laterière. The lovers eventually
signed a marriage contract for which she was
excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In 1779
Laterière was imprisoned for treason. Marie
visited him in prison until his release in 1782.
They became legally married in 1799 with the
death of Pélissier. She is perhaps a true symbol
of one who fought for the rights of
individuals. |
March 27 |
Elizabeth Muriel Elsie Gregory MacGill.
Born
March 27, 1905, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died
November 4, 1980, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
U.S.A. She became Canada’s 1st
woman graduate
to hold a degree in electrical engineering. She
also held a master’s degree in aeronautical
engineering from the U.S. During WW II her
primary responsibility was the production of the
Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. Her staff of
4,500 people produced more than 2000
aircraft. In 1937 she was the 1st woman to be
admitted corporate membership in the Engineering
Institute of Canada. In the 1940 an American
comic book featured Elsie by her nickname Queen
of the Hurricanes referring to her role in the
production of the Hawker Hurricane fighter
aircraft. In 1943 she married an aviation
project works manager E. J. 'Bill' Souls and the
couple opened an aeronautical consulting
business. In 1946 she became the 1st woman
serving as a Technical Advisor for the
International Civil Aviation Organization. The
following year she became the 1st woman to chair
a United Nations Committee becoming chairman of
the UN Stress Analysis Committee. In 1953
she was one of only 50 people, and the only
woman, to have her picture in the Gervaert
Gallery of Canadian executives honour her
contributions and influence. That same year she
published the biography of her mother: My
Mother the Judge: A Biography of Judge
Helen Gregory MacGill. She became an
honourary member of the American Society of
Women Engineers and was named Woman Engineer of
the Year becoming the 1st woman out of the
United States to earn this award. In 1967 she
received the Canadian Centennial Medal and in
1971 she received the Order of Canada. for her
accomplishments as an engineer and for being a
member of the Royal Commission on the Status of
Women, the National Action Committee on the
Status of Women and the Ontario Status of Women
Committee. . She is a member of Canada’s
Aviation Hall of Fame and in 1992 she was among
the 1st to be listed in the Canadian Science
and Engineering Hall of Fame. |
March 28 |
Frances Ramsey Simpson.
née
Simpson. Born March 28, 1812, London, England.
Died March 21, 1853. (Lady Simpson) She
married her cousin, George Simpson, February 24
1830. His career a Governor with the Hudson Bay
Company would bring her to Canada. She and her
companion, Catherine Turner, wife of another HBC
employee, were the first white women to travel
to remote Hudson Bay Company areas. After a
visit to Rainey Lake ( in modern Ontario) the
settlement was named Fort Frances in her
honour. Living in Red River she became homesick
and lonely and remained semi invalided after the
birth and death of her first child. Eventually
the family settled permanently in Lachine Quebec
in 1845 and raised their five Canadian born
children.
photograph Public domain |
March 29 |
Amelia
Yeomans.
née
Le Sueur. Born March 29,1842. Died April 11,
1913. In 1878, after the death of her medical
doctor husband, Amelia and her daughter Lillian
decided to study medicine. Since there were no
schools in Canada accepting women as students
the two women studied in the U.S. Both
specialized in midwifery (birth of children) and
diseases affecting women and children in the
Canadian Midwest. Soon they were joined by
another daughter Charlotte who was a nurse. The
medical trio became champions of woman's
suffrage ( votes for women), temperance
(stopping excess drinking of alcohol) and
crusaded against prostitution and the diseases
of prostitution. Amelia had a great speaking
presence and lectured successfully for social
equality and improvement of life. Modern
Canadian women owe a lot to these social
pioneering women. |
March 30 |
Céline
Dion.
Born
March 30, 1968, Charlemagne, Quebec. Céline is
an internationally known recording artist and
superstar. She began performing with her family
when she was only five years old! Her first
song composed when she was 12 caught the eye of
manager René Angelil who financed the recording.
Her career advanced with the Gold Medal at the
Yamaha World Song Festival in 1982. There was
no looking back. She became the first Canadian
to receive a Gold Record in France. She recorded
the sound track for Disney's Beauty and the
Beast which would win and Academy Award and
a Grammy. Other movie hit songs have been in Sleepless
in Seattle and Titanic. She married
her manager and has chosen to slow her career to
have private time devoted to her family. She
returned to the stage to do her own show in Las
Vegas. She is a member of the Order of Canada. photograph
© Famous Canadian women |
March 31 |
Ethel
Blanche Ridley.
Born March 31, 1874,
Belleville, Ontario. Died July 18, 1949,
Belleville, Ontario. Ethel graduated from St.
Hilda's College, University of Toronto with a
Bachelor of Arts in 1895. She followed this in
1899 by graduating from the New York Training
School for Nurses in the U.S.A. She served in
the Philippines during the Spanish American War
with the United States Army. Later she served as
a Medical Missionary in China. Returning to the
United States she worked at the Hospital for
Ruptured and Crippled in New York. September 16,
1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served
as Matron for the No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, and was posted to Le Touquet, France.
Returning to England she served in Granville,
Ramsgate and Buxton. In 1918 she was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire C B
E. After the war she worked as Directress of
Nursing at the Vancouver General Hospital,
British Columbia but soon left the position due
to ill health. Relocating to the United States
she worked at the New York Orthopaedic Hospital
as Director of Nurses until she retired in 1942
when she settled in Belleville, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online
(accessed 2021) |
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