| June
1 |
Alanis
Morissette. Born Ottawa, Ontario 1974. As a child in Ottawa she liked to sing, dance, and
act. She took dance lessons at 7, began writing songs at 9, and played in a TV
series on Canadian TV (“You Can’t Do That
on Television”) at 11. Her first album is “Alanis” released in 1991. She has won awards and produced “Jagged
Little Pill” before moving to Brentwood California. |
| June
2 |
June
Callwood.
Born Chatham, Ontario. 1924. A prominent magazine writer in the 1950's. In the 1960's she became
an activist for such social causes as homeless youth and drug addicts. She became an Officer in the Order of Canada in 1986.
|
| |
Carol
Ann Shields.
Born Oak Park Illinois, U.S.A. 1935. Died July 16, 2003. A writer and professor she is also Chancellor at the University of
Manitoba. The busy mother of 5 children,
this writer won the National Book Critics Circle Award, Governor General’s Award for Literature,
The Booker Award and the Pulitzer Prize for
her novels. Along with writing novels and biographies, she has also
written 5 plays. |
| June
3 |
Flora
Isabel MacDonald. Born Sydney, Nova Scotia 1926. After
having worked several years behind the scenes of the Progressive Conservative
Party she was elected Member of Parliament
for Kingston and the islands in 1972. In the Clark Government 1979-1980 she became
the first woman to hold a major cabinet post as secretary of State for External
Affairs. She would later serve in
the Mulroney Cabinet as Minister of Employment and Immigration. |
| June
4 |
Sandra
Post.
Born Oakville, Ontario 1948. She became Canada’s first woman professional golfer in 1968 and won the
Ladies Professional Golf Association Championship at Sutton Massachusetts that
same year. In 1979 she was Canada’s Athlete of the Year. |
| |
Marie
(Mary)-Rose-Anne Travers.
Born Newport, Gaspèsie, Quebec 1894. Died
February 20, 1941.
She is best
known as LA BULDUC. She would become Canada's premier chansonère
(singer), composing
and singing songs of ordinary daily life of Quebec. She is
a legend in her home province. Canada Post issued
a stamp in her honour in 1994.
There is a museum exhibit in her home town of Newport. |
©CanadaPostCorporation |
| June
5 |
Margaret
Hollingsworth. Born London,
England 1939. She
emigrated from England to Canada in 1968 where she attended a University
in Ontario before moving to British Columbia for post graduate studies. She is
a notable playwright. Five of her plays were collected and published in 1985 in
the book Willful Acts. |
| June
6 |
Anne-Claire
Poirier.
Born St-Hyacinthe, Quebec 1932. A film director and producer, she joined the National Film Board in
1960. Her efforts allowed female
film producers their first organized platform for expression. |
| |
Joy
Nozomi Kogawa. Born Vancouver,
British Columbia 1935. This busy mother
of two had previously worked as a writer in the Prime Minister's Office. She is
known for her novels, children's books, poetry and essays, which have been published
in Canada and in Japan. She is also an activist. She was instrumental in influencing
the Canadian government in their settlement with Japanese Canadians for loss of
liberty and property in Canada during World War ll. She is a member of the
Order of Canada. |
| June
7 |
Margaret
Anchoretta Ormsby.
Born Quesnel, British Columbia 1909. She did her university studies in both Canada and the United States.
She returned to teach history at the University of British Columbia where she
was appointed head of the history department from 1965 to 1974. She produced several
works which enlighten readers on the history of British Columbia. She was a major
contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. She would also serve
as President of the Canadian Historical Association. She is a member of
the Royal Society of Canada, a member of the Order of British Columbia and the
Order of Canada. |
| June
8 |
Cathy
Townsend.
Born 1937. In 1975 she was the first
Canadian woman to win the Bowling Cup. During her trip to these world games her
equipment and clothing were lost in transit and she had to obtain a new bowling
ball and special shoes required for a left handed bowler!
She is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. |
| June
9 |
Louise
Maheux-Forcier.
Born 1929. In 1963 her first
novel was awarded the Prix du Cercle du livre de France.
She wrote of the then critical theme of lesbianism. She continued to write
novels and branched out to short stories and scripts for films for TV.
|
| June
10 |
Françoise
Sullivan
(Married name Ewan) Born Montreal, Quebec 1925. This artist was part of the famous
Automatists
group of Montreal. As well as her art, she pursued a career in dance after
studying in New York City. After her marriage in 1949 she started a family
and found it more difficult to keep up her successful dance career. She
turned her artistic talents to welded metal sculptures. She created a monumental
sculpture for Expo 67 in Montreal. Plexiglas was her next medium of choice. By
1980 she returned to expressing her artistic talents in her painting. |
| June
11 |
Mary Leslie.
Born Leslie's Corners, Upper Canada (Ontario)
June 11, 1842. Died March 1, 1920. Like many of the well to do pre-
Confederation well to do families in Canada, her family sent her to
Europe to tour. While she was in Holland she continued her studies
in art. However it is her writings that would remain her legacy. She
would publish some three books including Historical Sketches of
Scotland (Toronto, 1905) |
| June
12 |
Camilla
Scott. Born Toronto, Ontario 1962. A childhood dream of becoming a dancer helped propel
this native Torontonian to fame as an actress, singer and noted talk show host. She worked on soap operas in Los
Angeles, then returned home and kept busy acting in a variety of guest spots on
television shows and a couple of movies. However, it is her own talk show. Her
role in Due South has all of her career
attention now. |
| June
13 |
Jean
Adair. Born Hamilton, Ontario 1873.
Died May 11, 1953. This
actress appeared in numerous films in the 1940’s but perhaps she is best remembered
as one of the sweet, but murderous aunts in “Arsenic
and Old Lace”. |
| |
Jean
Jay Macpherson.
Born London, England 1931. A teacher of English
at Victoria College at the University of Toronto she began publishing poetry in
1949. Her 2nd book in
1958 won the Governor General’s Award for Poetry.
She reached out to young readers through a published classical mythology
for secondary schools. |
| |
Barbara
G. Stymiest. Born 1956 This businesswoman
held the Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Nesbit Burns Inc.
from 1992 to 1999. It was during this time that she was the first woman to be
Governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1999 she became President of the Toronto
Stock Exchange! In 2000 she was on the top 10 list of Canadian businesswomen presented
by the National Post. |
| June
14 |
Rena
Maude McLean. Born Souris, Prince Edward Island 1879.
Died June 27, 1918. Her
nickname was Bird. She graduated Halifax Ladies College and then studied nursing
in the U.S. She enlisted in the Canadian medical Corps in 1914.
She died in service at sea in 1918. The FIVE SISTERS window in York Minister
England, is dedicated to the 3,000 women of the Empire who sacrificed their lives
in WW I. Her name is included.
|
| |
Olga
Alexandrova Kulikovsky (née Romanof)
Born 1882. Died November 24, 1960.Grand Duchess of Russia and sister to Czar Nicholas.
She was saved from being executed with the rest of the Russian Royal family in
1917 because she had decided to become a nurse and was working with the wounded.
She and her husband narrowly escaped, first living in exile in Denmark, England
and finally in 1948 they immigrated to Canada. Here she was a farmer's wife leading
a very ordinary life compared to the lavish upbringing she had a young
girl. She enjoyed painting and actually had a showing in of her art works in Toronto
in the 1950's. |
| June
15 |
Lola
Lemire Tostevin.
Born 1937. This bilingual author has produced books
in both of Canada's official languages. Her command of her second language,
English, can be seen in her poetic publications. Her poems and novels express
feelings of life experiences such as pregnancy and birth as well as loss of immediate
family members in death. |
| June
16 |
Sarah
Margaret Armor Robertson.
Born Montreal, Quebec 1891. Died December 6, 1948. This artist became a member of a group of women painters
of Montreal who would study with the top Canadian painters of the day. She
would be a colleague of the members of the famous Group of Seven but her approach
to art was different and individualistic. |
| June
17 |
Anna
Marion Hilliard.
Born 1902.Died July 15, 1958. In 1947 this medical doctor helped develop a simplified Pap
test, which is used to detect cancer in adult women.
She specialized in a commonsense approach to childbirth problems and authored
a book “A Woman Doctor Looks at Love and Life”. (1957) After her death a second
book “Women and Fatique” was published.
|
| |
Geraldine
Sherman. This Canadian journalist
and short story writer has had her works published in Saturday Night magazine,
Toronto Life magazine and the Globe and Mail and Ottawa
Citizen newspapers. She has had a career as a radio producer for the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation and as a town planner. She first had dreams about
visiting Japan when she was 14. It took thirty years before her dream would come
true. She has written about her experience in Japan Diaries : A travel memoir
(McAuthur & Co. 1999. ) |
| June
18 |
Ester
Evalyn Sera Owen Bowen.
Born 1911. Died 1999. She left
her native Wales to go to theatre in London and later, while working in a touring
theatre, she would be introduced to Canada. She immigrated to Canada in
1956 and found work in Montreal acting and writing. It would however be Nova Scotia
that she chose to live. In 1967 she was appointed Artistic Advisor for the Nova
Scotia Centennial celebration. She organized and directed the first all
Negro drama group in Canada. She wrote plays, directed and taught drama to the
youth of her chosen home province. To learn more about this talented woman read
Great Dames, edited by Elspeth Cameron and Janice Dickin, [Toronto, University
of Toronto Press, 1997]. |
| |
Hon.
Rose-Marie Losier-Cool. Born 1937. A teacher by profession,
she entered into politics by serving on several provincial and federal committees
including the Committee on the Status of Women. She was Teacher of the Year in
New Brunswick and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1995. |
| |
Shirley
Cheechoo. (Stage name Cactus Rose).
Born 1952. She is an artist, actor, writer, director, singer and a producer who
has been successful in reaching back to her native roots for inspiration. She
has participated in several exhibitions of her art work of acrylic, oils and mixed
medium on canvas and stained glass. Her works have been used for Christmas cards
by both UNICEF and Amnesty International. She has appeared in film, TV, radio
and theater productions. In 1995 Laurentian University gave her an Honorary Doctorate. |
| June
19 |
Helen
Chan. Born 1947. This physician
has been a main stay as pediatric oncologist at the Hospital for Sick Children
in Toronto from 1979. She also serves as a professor of pediatrics at the University
of Toronto. |
| |
Renée
Elaine Elio. Born 1955. A graduate
of Yale University, she earned her Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University in 1981.
She is an Associate professor of Computing Science at the University of Alberta.
She is the author and co-author of numerous articles in the fields of cognitive
psychology, cognitive science and artificial intelligence. |
| |
Anna
Van Der Kamp. Born Abbotsford,
British Columbia 1972. This young athlete competed for Canada in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in rowing
where she earned a silver medal. She gained prominence in her sport in 1993 when
she was Female Crew of the Year. |
| June
20 |
Elizabeth
Pauline MacCallum.
Born 1895. Died June 12, 1985. She joined the
Department of External Affairs in 1942 and was an advisor in 1945 and the founding
of the United Nations. In 1954 she was chargé d’affairs in Beirut, the first woman
to head a Canadian foreign mission. Upon
retirement she began to write on the Middle East. |
| |
Anne
Murray. Born Springhill, Nova Scotia 1945. She has sung
her way into the hearts of fans all over the world. She has record sale of over 25,000,000, 4 Grammies, 32 Juno
Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All of these things make her
the most successful female recording artist in the history of Canadian entertainment.
She has been inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame, and is a Companion of
the Order of Canada. She is the mother of 2 children.
I wonder if their mother sang them to sleep when they were little?
|
| June
21 |
Jeannette
Vivian Lavell (née Corbiere)
Born Wikwemikong, Ontario 1942. A person "dedicated to the causes of native women for more than
a quarter of a century, ...she is a courageous woman who fought to improve their
plight and proved that one person's voice can make a difference" You can
read about her fight for native women to retain their birth right of legal Native
Status on the web site "Celebrating Women's Achievements" from the National
Library of Canada.
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/digiproj/women/women99/lavell-e.htm . She
is currently a teacher, living on Manatoulin Island, Ontario
|
| June
22 |
Denyse
Julien. Born 1960. Her
passion is badminton. She has been enthusiastic about her sport since she was
12 years old. She represented Canada on the Olympic team in 1992 and 1996.
She was National singles Champion in 1993, Badminton's Athlete of the year in
1995 when she won 3 gold medals in the Pan American games. She has held
several Canadian National title over the years but feels her biggest accomplishment
is still being enthusiastic about her sport. |
| June
23 |
Norah Urquhart
Born June 23, 1918
Died Pickering, Ontario March 13, 2009. Norah married Dr. Fred Urquhart in 1945
and the couple moved to Highland Creek in Scarborough, Ontario where Son Doug
was born. A zoologist with the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of
Toronto, Fred had an avocation for the Monarch Butterfly. With very little
support the couple began a tagging program from their home to learn where the
Monarch butterfly’s of Ontario went each winter. Eventually joined volunteers,
it was Norah who answered all enquiries and posted a newsletter to all involved.
She attended to public relations including writing an article for a Mexican
newspaper in 1972. The article was read by a future volunteer and by 1975 the
first Mexican valley of the Monarch’s was located. The couple’s work is
considered the entomological discovery of the 20th Century. These
pioneers had their work recognized with investiture into the Order of Canada in
1998. Sources: The Star.com “couples home was butterfly ground zero”
(accessed June 2009); Inside Toronto.ca “Norah Urquhart, a pioneer in Monarch
Butterfly research”. (accessed June 2009) ; Information was also supplied by
Donald Davis, Toronto, Ontario; also personal knowledge. |
| June
24 |
Barbara
Ann Underhill.
Born Pembroke, Ontario 1963. With her skating partner, Paul Martini she would win five consecutive
Canadian Pairs Championships. In 1984 they won the World Championships on home
ice in Ottawa. They turned professional and worked with Ice Capades after their
amateur successes. They are both members of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. |
| June
25 |
Celia
Franca
(real name Celia Franks). Born London, England 1921.
Died February 19, 2007. This
founding artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada is a strong willed
and determined ballet dancer. These are traits needed over the 23 years she helped
the young ballet company to succeed. She
was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1967. |
| |
Patricia
Bates
(née Martin). Born Saint John, New Brunswick 1927. A highly innovative artist, she brought imagination to
her artistic prints. Some of her works are two sided! She limits her colours to
black, white, and silver and is inspired by the art of the Islamic Middle East
and Zen Buddhists. |
| June
26 |
Marian
Mildred Dale Scott.
Born Montreal, Quebec 1906. Died November 28, 1993. A painter of landscapes she also painted the people of Montreal in
the depression era. Her works showed people up against machines and hard times.
|
| |
Marion
Margaret Cuming. Born 1936. She
would do her post graduate studies in teaching but chose to study art in France,
Mexico and Italy before returning to Canada. She has used her artistic talents
to help emotionally disturbed children and has worked with Canadian street kids.
She has worked closely with UNESCO related activities. For her personal
artistic expression she enjoys drawing Canadian heritage subjects. |
| June
27 |
May
Irwin.
(Real name Georgina May Campbell)
Born Whitby, Ontario 1862. Died October 22, 1938. As early as 1872 she and her sister Flora were singing on stage. Once
the sister act split up, May would go on and become a well known Broadway performer.
Her movie career was short but historically significant. Thomas Edison, the famous
inventor, placed May in the staring role in his pioneering one minute moving picture
called The Kiss. It was was considered scandalous by early movie audiences
and the clergy! It is considered to be the first moving picture to ever be shown
in Canada! May would make only one other movie Mrs. Black is Back before
she retired to live with her husband and two children. She is also
credited with having named the famous Thousand Island Salad Dressing. She and
her family owned a vacation home in the 1000 islands. |
© Public Domain |
| June
28 |
Marie-Joseph-Angélique.
Born circa 1710 Baptized June 28, 1730. She was a black slave who had the misfortune
to fall in love with a white man, Claude Thibault. They fled from Canada
to New England. To mask their escape she set fire to her master's house. The fire
burnt out of control and 46 homes were destroyed along with the famous Hotel Dieu.
She was captured and sentenced to have her hand cut off and be burned alive. The
sentence was changed to handing before her body was burned. Her ashes were scattered
to the wind. |
| |
Shelagh
Dawn Grant. Born 1938. She completed
her studies at the University of Western Ontario, and Trent University. A mother
of three children she is a professor of History and Canadian Studies at Trent
University in Peterborough, Ontario. She has written numerous articles for various
scholastic journals and reviews and a couple of books on the modern history of
government policy. She has been editor of various reviews and co-editor for Federalism
in Canada and Australia published in 1989. |
| June
29 |
Thelma
Finlayson. Born 1914. She has been
Professor Emeritus for the Department of Biological Science at Simon Fraser University
since 1979. The Thelma Finlayson Society at the University is named for her. She
received an honourary L.L.D. from her university as well. She has written approximately
40 research papers, and several books in entomology.. She has severed as director
of the International Organization of Biologists. |
| |
Janice
G. Rennie. Born 1957. She describes
herself as a self employed financial consultant. She won numerous scholarships
and awards for her university studies. She won the Commerce Cup from her peers
and in 1980 she won the Provincial gold medal and the national silver medal from
the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. She is also giving of her time
and talents to her community having worked with the YMCA and the United Way campaigns.
She is married and mother of two children. |
| June
30 |
Joyce
Wieland.
Born Toronto, Ontario 1931. Died
June 27, 1998. This artist had
her first exhibition in 1960. She went to New York City with her husband and experimented
with films. She took her inspiration
from Canadian history, politics and ecology.
Her artistic works covered a multitude of media from canvas, quilting,
and embroidery to film. |
| |
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