|
|
|
Mary Eileen Abbott
Community Volunteer
|
née Bulman. Born July 5, 1896, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died
August 9, 1980, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mary attended the
University of Manitoba earning both a Bachelor of Arts and a
Bachelor of Science at Columbia University, New York City,
U.S.A. She served as the President of the University of
Manitoba Students Association (precursor of the modern
Students Union) from 1918 to 1919. On 2 January 1925, she
was married to A. C. Abbott. Mary was an active member of
the Winnipeg Winter Club, the Canadian Figure Skating
Association, and President (1972) of Women’s Canadian Club
of Winnipeg. Source: Manitoba
Historical Society.
Memorable Manitobans . by Gordon Goldsborough online.
(accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Anne Abrametz |
née Beck. Born December 22, 1916, Wroxton,
Saskatchewan. Died January 10, 2015, Saltcoats, Saskatchewan.
Anne remembers family life on the farm during the depression
years with fondness. The family of 14 children did not go
hungry what with a home garden and a milk cow. At 15 in 1921
she went to work as a nurse’s aide at the Queen Victoria
Hospital,
Yorkton, Saskatchewan, where she earned her room and board and
$12.00 a month in pay. In 1939 she left her job to marry a
farmer, Stephen Abrametz (d 1984). The couple raised six
children. Anne held positions on the Yorkton Housing
Authority and the Yorkton Arts Council and was deeply
involved with the Ukrainian community. She organized
Ukrainian kindergarten and adult language classes. She also
loved to paint in watercolours and oils. Some of her works
were exhibited in the province and at the Ukrainian Museum
of Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1975 the Ukrainian
Canadian Committee elected her as Woman of the Year. The
Saskatchewan division of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress
gave her an award recognizing her volunteer work and
cultural contributions. Source: Lives Lived, Anne
Abrametz,
Globe and Mail
June 18, 2015. (2020) |
|
Eva Abremovich
|
née Finkelstein. Born June 10,1877,
Radishevka, Volhynia Province, Russia. Died December
18, 1953, Sarnia, Ontario. Eva arrived in Canada in 1883 with
her mother and sister to join their father who had
immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba the year before. Eva
attended Carlton and Victoria schools then, in
1897 she graduated from Manitoba College,
the 1st Jewish person to do so. In 1902 she
married Manuel Hirsch Abremovich (1875-1958), an electrical
engineer, in Winnipeg. They resided in New York City, U.S.A.
for a few years before returning to Winnipeg where she was a
member of the
University Women's Club and the Women’s Canadian Club.
During each of the world wars, Eva worked for the Canadian Red Cross.
In 1948, she and her husband retired Vancouver, British
Columbia. Source: Manitoba Historical Society. Memorable
Manitobans . by Gordon Goldsborough online.
(accessed December 2011) : City woman dies on visit to
Sarnia”, Winnipeg Free Press, December 19, 1953. (2020) |
|
Zanana Loraine Akande
Black Activist |
Born 1937, Toronto, Ontario. Zanana holds a
B.A. and Master's in Education from the University of Toronto. In the 1960’s
at an early teaching position she was asked by colleagues to
eat her lunch in the basement, away from regular staff.
Although her complaint to the school board on racism was
heard and adjustments made she never had lunch on site at
the school again, preferring to eat off school grounds. She
was co-founder of the Tiger Lily, a newspaper for
visible minorities. In 1990
she ran and was elected for provincial
parliament in the riding of St. Andrew/St. Patrick, Toronto.
She was appointed Minister
of Community and Social Services, the 1st Black woman to
hold a cabinet position in a provincial government in
Canada. She resigned amidst political
controversy concerning property holdings in 1991. At this
time she was also mourning the death of her husband Isaac
Akande who had died that year. She became assistant to Ontario Premier Bob Rae and
established the Jobs Ontario Youth Programme that ran from
1991 through 1994. A disillusioned politician she retired
from politics, even resigning from her New Democratic Party.
After leaving politics she designed and coordinated programs
for students with special needs, including gifted children
and immigrant children. Many community based endeavors also
gained from her services including the Urban Alliance, The
United Way of Greater Toronto, the Elizabeth Fry Society, and
the Toronto Child Abuse Center. Among the many recognitions
for her work is the African Canadian Achievement Award for
Education, and the Award of Distinction from the Congress of
Black Women. Sources: Zanana Akande, first Black
woman in Ontario Legislature. Section15.ca accessed
2009.
Sway
online September
17, 2010 accessed June 2011. (2020) |
|
Bertha Allen
Aboriginal Activist |
née Moses. Born 1934, Old Crow, Yukon
Territory. Died May 7, 2010. Bertha was raised in the
traditional life style of her peoples. She married Victor
Allen and together they raised a family of six children
in both traditional and modern cultures. She was
president of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women of
the Northwest Territories and was founding president of Native
Women’s Association of the NWT. She became president of the
Native Women’s Association of Canada working for the
improved health in her area through the Territorial Hospital
Insurance Services Boards and the Inuvik Medical Transient
Centre. In 2001 she was appointed to the Council of
Grandmothers. She was the only woman of the Commission for
Constitutional Development, and the Northwest Territories
Judicial Appointment Committee. She also served on the
National Aboriginal Committee to advise the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. In 2007 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada. Source: “Bertha Allen” by Denise M. Kurszewski in
Arctic Vol. 63. No. 4 December 2010 page 4078. (2020) |
|
Leanne Allison
Environmentalist & Filmmaker |
Born 1969. At ten Leanne was named “Camper of the week” and
she was hooked. As a teen she became a camp
councilor. Learning of the outdoor pursuits program at the
University of Calgary, Alberta, she participated in
mountaineering, back packing, skiing, and paddling. In 1993
she was part of a four woman team, the 1st all woman team, to
reach the east summit of Mount Logan. She met like minded
Kaisten Heuer who was studying the urban and tourist
encroachment on wildlife of the Bow Valley in Banff National
Park and soon the couple found themselves on a trip along
the spine of the Rocky Mountains. In 2003 the young couple
endured following the migration of the Caribou across the
Arctic’s remote tundra to study the effect of oil
and gas development on the migration. Out of their escapade
came the film Being Caribou. In 2009 they packed up the
family dog and their two year old son to follow the
wilderness treks of Farley Mowat and met the famous author
at his home in Nova Scotia. The film of the family escapade
was called Finding Farley. Allison has also created a 3D
film in The Arctic. In 2012 she followed bear 71
producing a documentary and the following year she filmed
Highway Wilding. Sources: Various online sites
accessed 2014 (2020) |
|
Virnetta Anderson
Black Activist |
née Nelson. Born October 29, 1920, Monticello, Arkansas, U.S.A. Died
February 11, 2006 Calgary, Alberta. After high school
Virnetta attended M and N College, Pine Bluff, Arkansas and
Metropolitan School of Business, Los Angeles, California,
U.S.A. In 1952 Virnetta relocated to Calgary, Alberta. It
was here that she met and and married one of the city's
football stars, Ezzrett 'Sugarfoot' Anderson. The couple had
four children. Virnetta was deeply involved in her church
and city wide community services. She was on the executive
of the Alberta United Church Women and a lay commissioner of
the United Church of Canada Council. She served as president
of the Calgary Meals on Wheels and served on a multitude of
boards such as the City Core Citizen Centre, Trinity Lodge,
the Calgary Metropolitan Foundation, the Calgary Tourist and
Convention Association, the Calgary Centre for the
Performing Arts and as well she served on school boards and
on the Calgary Public Library Board. From
1974-1977 she was
elected to the Calgary City Council serving as the
1st Black
Albertan elected to a major public position. In 1988 she was
named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Calgary Rotary Club and in
1995 they presented her an Integrity Award. She set the
standard high as an example for Black youth in the province
of Alberta. (2020) |
|
Margaret Grant Andrew |
Born March 19, 1912, Kingston, Ontario.
Died July 30, 1982. Margaret earned her B.A. in economics and
political Science from McGill University, Montreal,
Quebec, in 1933. When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC) began in 1936 she joined the
staff. Settling in Vancouver she was active on the civic
scene. She was a Vancouver School Board trustee, 1975-76
and chair of the Board from 1977-1979. A popular figure in
the artistic and academic community, she was active in The British Columbia
Arts in Education Council, she served at the Vanier
Institute of the Family, The Vancouver Art Gallery, The
Family Service Association, and the University Women’s Club. (2020) |
|
Anna Mae Aquash
Aboriginal Activist |
née Pictou. Born March 27, 1945,
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Found dead February 24,1976, South
Dakota, U.S.A. Anna Mae grew up in severe poverty living with
her family in an abandoned army house without electricity or
running water. When her parents left the family the children
went to live with their older sister but there were too many
mouths to feed. Anna Mae dropped out of school in grade nine
and joined the annual job hunting migration from Canada to
the state of Maine in the United States. She picked berries,
and harvested potatoes before finding a promotion to factory
work in Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A.. The mother of two children by the time she
was twenty she married and settled to Boston suburban life.
Divorce allowed her to consider herself and the meaning of
her life and she began to have a deepened interest in her
native culture. She wanted to help her people. She organized
the Boston Indian Council and began to help aboriginal
peoples find meaningful employment. In 1973 she joined in
the now famous protest at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, U.S.A. She
became more involved in AIM (American Indian Movement) and
represented the group at functions across North America. She
organized fundraising benefits with stars like Kris
Kristofferson and Buffy Saint Marie. In 1974 she was at the
occupation of Anicinabe Park, Kenora, Ontario. The tortured
body of this courageous Canadian activist was found in
February 1976. (2020) |
|
Edith Jessie Archibald
Social activist and
author |
née Archibald. Born April 15, 1854, St
John's, Newfoundland. Died May 11, 1936. Halifax, Nova
Scotia. As a young woman
Edith was educated in London, England and New York, U.S.A. She married Charles
Archibald, vice-president of the Bank of Nova Scotia, and
they had a family of four children. She would use her social
position to advantage and become an influential leader in
the Canadian Women's movement. She worked with various
organizations at the local, regional and national levels.
She was the Maritime Superintendent of the Parlor Meetings
Department which orchestrated tea parties used to organize
temperance activities and discussed how to educate other
women. She worked with the National Council of Women, the
Red Cross and the Victoria Order of Nurses. She was a
fighter for woman's suffrage that was finally granted in her
home province in 1918 , largely due to her efforts. She
would also find time to write the history of the Red Cross,
a novel a three act play and the Life and Letters of Sir
Edward Mortimer Archibald (1924), the biography of her
father. The Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board
recognized her as a national historic person in 1997. (2020) |
|
Helen Armstrong |
née Jury. Born 1875, Toronto, Ontario. Died
1947, California, U.S.A. Working as a seamstress at her
father’s tailor shop in Toronto, Helen met and married
the politically minded George Armstrong in 1897. The couple
raised
four children. The couple originally settled in Butte,
Montana, U.S.A. but moved numerous times following the job
market for George. In New York City, New York, U.S.A. Helen became active in
the National Women’s Suffrage Association. In Washington,
D.C. she was jailed for chaining herself to the White House
fence during a demonstration for votes for women. In
Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1905 they were forced to take in borders
to make ends meet. Preferring peace they denounced Canada’s
involvement in WW l. She became a women’s labour rights
leader and served as President of the Women’s Labour League
in Winnipeg and also served on the Mother’s Allowance Board.
She led women to strike at Woolworth’s Department Store in
1917, successfully winning a $2.00 a week raise. She was
arrested four times during the notorious 1919 Winnipeg General
Strike. The family home was raided by the RCMP. On Bloody
Saturday, June 21, 1919, she suggested women use their hat
pins (some of these pins were a good six inches long!) as
weapons. She was arrested for inciting violence. While her husband
would serve a jail term for his role in the Winnipeg Strike
but she was acquitted. After the strike she toured eastern
Canada on a lecture tour to raise legal funds for those men
still in jail. She ran twice for a city alderman in
Winnipeg. Finally with no jobs available for George the
family moved to Chicago in 1924 where Helen worked with the
Nobel Prize winning suffragist Jane Adams. In 2001 a
documentary film was based on her life and courage.
Source: 100 more Canadian Heroines:
Famous and forgotten faces by Merna Forester (Dundurn
Press, 2011) (2020) |
|
Sally
Wishart
Armstrong |
Born July 16, 1943, Montreal , Quebec.
Sally earned her Bachelor of Education at McGill University,
Montreal,1966. In 2001 she would return to university to
earn her Master’s at the University of Toronto. She started
working as a physical education teacher but soon found
herself involved in journalism where she became editor in
chief for Homemakers magazine from 1988 through 1999.
Along with numerous magazine articles she has published
several books including Mila, the biography of Mila
Mulroney, wife of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1982. Her
works have brought the political and cultural struggles of
women around the world to her readers. She has highlighted
strife of women in Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, and Afghanistan.
She has chronicled lives of women who have opposed efforts
of the Taliban to subjugate women. She has also produced award winning
documentaries for the CBC spotlighting international
struggles for women’s rights. She is a founder of WILLOW a
resource for Breast Cancer in Canada. As well, she serves on
the Council of Advisors for the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
In 1996 she was awarded Women of Distinction Award in
Communications by the YMCA in Toronto.
She has been granted numerous honourary degrees from
universities and in 1998 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada. Sally was married to Ross Armstrong (died 2000) and
the couple had one son. In 2000 she won the Amnesty
International Media Award for her article "Honour's Victims'
in Chatelaine magazine. She won again in 2002 for her
article "Speaking their peace" in Chatelaine magazine
and again in 2022 for her article "These Little Girls are
Setting out to Change the World" in Chatelaine. In 2002 she was UNICEF’s Special Representative to
Afghanistan. She is a member of a United Nations group
consisting of Palestinian women, Israeli women and women of
other nationality working to help bring peace to the Middle
East. In 2008 she received the Canadian Journalism
Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Source: ‘Sally
Armstrong’ by Dana Schwab New Brunswick Literary
Encyclopedia 2009. Online (Accessed May 2014) (2020) |
|
Iphigénie Arsenault |
Born September 17, 1908, Summerside,
Prince Edward Island. Died July 13, 1996 Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island. Iphigenie attended Price
of Wales College and Union Commercial College. In 1927 she
joined the local Red Cross and continued served for 70
years! In 1967 she was the only woman Red Cross Commissioner
in Canada. She also served the young women of the Island
while serving in the Girl Guides at various levels including
Deputy Commissioner of PEI. Girl Guides presented her with
their Medal of Merit. She held various offices in the
Catholic Women’s League from 1938 through 1970. She worked
as National Spiritual Convener, National Convener of
Education and Scholarships. Working her way up from 3rd
Vice President she became National President from 1970-1972.
A love of the stage nourished her active participation in
the Charlottetown Little Theatre. She was a charter member
and president of the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs
of PEI. In 1967 she received the Canada Centennial Medal and
in 1977 became a member of the Order of Canada. In 1978 she
received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Source: Outstanding
women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the Zonta Club of
Charlottetown, 1981 (2020) |
|
Gail Asper |
Born May 28, 1960, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
She was brought up with a love of music. She enjoyed playing
the piano and performing on stage. Law became her focus at
University where she took a B.A. in 1981 and followed this
with a Bachelor in Law in 1984 from the University of
Manitoba. She articled and worked in Nova Scotia at first
but in 1989 returned home to Winnipeg. She worked as General
Council and Corporate Secretary of CanWest Global
Communications. In 2003 she became president of the
Charitable Asper Foundation. She initiated multiple
fundraising campaigns including the CanWest Raise-a-Reader
and the CanWest National Spelling Bee. She was an
inspiration and tireless worker for the establishment of the
Canadian Museum of Human Right located in Winnipeg. In 2005
she was awarded the Governor General Ramon Jon Hnatyshyn
Award for volunteerism in the Performing Arts followed in
2007 with the Order of Manitoba. In 2008 she had received
the University of Ottawa’s Distinguished Canadian Leadership
Award and she also received the Hadassah-Wizo’s Rebecca Sieff Award. In 2009 she was given the Order of Canada.
Source: Herstory 2012: The Canadian
Women’s Calendar. Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective,
2011. (2020) |
|
Isabelle Atkinson |
Born July 22, 1891 Bramley, England.
Died August 11, 1968 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She and her
widowed mother immigrated to Waterbury Connecticut, U.S.A.
as a teenager. She became a factory worker and found herself
a women’s rights supporter. She moved to her brother’s farm
near Strasbourg, Saskatchewan in 1914. By 1919 she moved to
Kerrobert and worked as a bookkeeper. She worked to found
the local library and pursued her own studies in social
issues. After her mother’s death in the early 1920’s she
traveled abroad to continue her education in commonwealth
countries. She reported her experiences back to Canada and
they were published in the Star Phoenix and other
newspapers. It was the Winnipeg Free Press that would
later publish a booklet of some of her articles. She was
active in the Consumers Association of Canada serving as
provincial president in 1954 and then as national President
from 1956-1960 in Ottawa. She was also active in the
Saskatoon Council of Women and took interest in the Liberal
Party of Canada. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon.(2018) |
|
Grace Bagnato |
Born 1891, Penslyvania, U.S.A. Died October 8, 1950. Born in the United
States her Italian immigrant family moved to Toronto Canada about
1905. It was in this city
in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s that Grace would become known to
many immigrant Canadians who needed help. She learned their
languages in order to help them and to communicate with
them. She went to court with them to help them get the best
justice their new home could offer.
In 1921 Grace became the 1st Italian-Canadian woman to be a
police court interpreter. During World War II
when Canadians who had immigrated to Canada were all suspect
simply because they were aliens, Grace worked hardest making
sure their needs were understood. She was a mother of 13
children who worked hard for all the immigrants of Ward area
in Toronto. Grace St. is a part of the acknowledged Italian
district of Toronto. In 2003 the City of Toronto erected an
historic plaque in her memory and in 2013 Via Bagnato a
small street was named for her. Learn more about Grace
Bagnato in the video recording “An Act of Grace” (A
scattering of seeds series) White Pine Pictures. You can
borrow it from your own library or through interlibrary
loan. (2020) |
|
Denise Marie Baillargeon |
Born February 17, 1946, Edam,
Saskatchewan. Died October 8, 2013, Toronto, Ontario. Denise attended teachers
College in Quebec and later attended the University of
Manitoba. In June 1973 she married John West. The couple had
four children. From 1989 until she retired in 2001 Denise was a
French language interpreter for the Ontario Legislative
Assembly. Returning home from a trip to Paris in 2001 she
met Sister Delphine Nebi and the two women became friends
with Denise becoming a dedicated supporter of Sister
Delphine’s work in West Africa. Together they worked helping
abused women and girls in Burkima, Faso. Denise traveled
five
times to Africa, creating Rescuing Our Africa Daughters
(ROAD). ROAD runs a school and women’s centre helping over
200 women and girls escape forced marriage, mutilation and
abuse. Source: Obituary, Globe and
Mail, October 9, 2013. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario (2020) |
|
Clara Balinsky |
née Zaitchick. Born January 1, 1924,
Kharkov, Ukraine. Died October 8, 2006, Montreal, Quebec.
Clara immigrated with
her family to Canada and settled in Montreal, Quebec. She
studied at the McGill Conservatory of Music graduating in
1939. In 1941 she married Charles Balinsky and the couple
had three children. A officer the Canadian Hadassah Wizo
Organization of Canada she served as National President from
1976-1980. She was also a member of the Board of Governors
of the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University and was
made an Honorary Fellow in 1976; National Honorary
Vice-President of the Canadian Zionist Federation, Member of
the Administrative Board of the Canada-Israel Committee;
member of the National Board of the United Israel Appeal;
member of the Board of the Canadian Friends of Weizmann
Institute Science; member of the World Assembly of Jewish
Agency. She has been a delegate at the Brussels Conference
of Soviet Jewry, 1971; delegate to the Prime Minister's
Conference 1975, and a delegate to the World Zionist
Congress 1972, 1978, 1983. In 1980 the Clara Balinsky Day
Care Centre at the Asaf Harofe Hospital, Montreal, Quebec
was named in her honour by Canadian Hadassah-Wizo.
Source:
Library and Archives Canada, Clara Balinsky Fonds. Online.
(Accessed April 2014) (2020) |
|
June Elizabeth Bantjes |
Born April 24, 1930, England. Died
December 2006 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1952 June moved from England to South
Africa where she met and married Dennis Bantjes. The couple
would have 3 children. In 1959 she moved to Canada and after
her divorce she settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She
attended the University of Saskatchewan and earned a M.A. in
sociology in 1995. She was a founding member of Saskatoon’s
Women’s Calendar Collective which publishes Canada’s Women’s
calendar annually. She became active with woman and drug
use, Women for Childcare Action, and worked for the
Saskatoon Environmental Society. She joined the Saskatoon
Heritage Society and worked with the New Democratic Party
both in the front lines and behind the scenes.
Source: Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008
(Saskatoon Women's Calendar Collective / Coteau Books,
2007) (2020) |
|
Annie McDermot Bannatyne |
Born 1830?, Fort Garry, Manitoba. Died
1908, Saskatchewan She was the daughter of Andrew McDermot, the
pioneer free trader of Rupert’s Land. She married A. G. B.
Bannatyne, prominent in business and politics in the Red
River Settlement. The couple had three children. Along with
caring for her family Annie devoted much of her time to
charitable works. One of her interests was the Winnipeg
General Hospital which had been built on land donated by her
father, Andrew McDermot, and her husband. A feisty
individual, there is a story that in February 1869 she
horsewhipped Charles Mair over slurs Mair had published
about mixed-blood women in Red River. Sources: "Some
Manitoba Women Who Did First Things" by Lillian Beynon
Thomas. Manitoba Historical Transactions, Series 3,
No. 4, 1947-48; Pioneers and Early Citizens of
Manitoba (Manitoba Library Association, 1971) ; Memorable
Manitobans: online (Accessed December 2011). (2020) |
|
Maude Victoria Barlow |
Born 1947, Toronto, Ontario. Maude can
perhaps be best described as a "loyal opposition" citizen.
She was brought up with being exposed to the idea of
speaking out against what you saw as wrong. As a young woman
she was immersed in the Women's movement. After a failed
attempt to become and elected member of the government of
Canada she turned her energies to working to build something
non-partisan. Maude is married to Andrew Davis and the
couple have two children. She has become Canada's best known voice of
dissent. She is an ardent opponent of Free Trade as not be
good to Canada. She has put her talks into some five books
to give Canadians a chance to see another point of view to
what the government is doing or sometimes not doing. She is
co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works to stop
commoditization of the world's water. In 2005 she was
nominated for the 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maude has been chair of the board of the Washington-based
Food and Water Watch, a founding member of the San
Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization and a
Councillor with the Hamber, Germany based World Food
Council. She
has been appointed the 1st senior advisor on water issues
by Miguel d"Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd session
of the United Nations, 2008. Maude has received numerous
awards including 14 honourary doctorates from various
universities, the 2005 Livelihood Award, the Lannan
Foundation Cultural Freedom Fellowship Award, the Citation
of Lifetime Achievement in 2008 from the Canadian
Environment Awards and from Earth Day Canada in 2008 the the
Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. In 2011
she received the EarthCare Award from the United States
Sierra Club. She has received by 2010 six
honorary doctorates from Canadian Universities. Maude
has published and co-authored 19 books including Boiling
Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse and Canada's
Water Crisis, and Whose Water is it Anyway?
Sources: Women
in Ottawa: Mentors and Milestones online (Accessed
June 2011) (2020) |
|
Ada Youlton Barnes |
Born December 18, 1906, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died March 5,
1998, Victoria , British Columbia. On November 5,
1927, Ada married Kenneth Dudley Barnes inWinnipeg. They had three children. She volunteered for more
than 30 years with the Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Red
Cross Society. In April 1966, she was elected the first
female president of the Branch. Three years later, she was
inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt, the 1st woman named Captain
of the Hunt. Soon after, she and her husband retired to
Victoria, British Columbia. Sources: Memorable Manitobans
profile by Gordon Goldsborough. Online (Accessed December
2011) (2020) |
|
Katherine Bawlf |
née Madden. Born January 9, 1855, Almonte,
Ontario Died Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. November 26,
1918. Educated at Almonte, and married Nicholas Bawlf (1849-1914) February 6, 1877. The couple moved to
Manitoba the next year. They had nine children. Nicholas
became a pioneer grain merchant who brought Winnipeg into
the forefront of grain business in western Canada. The
family enjoyed living in the prosperous business community.
Active in local philanthropy, Katherine was a member of the
board for the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), and was
president of the St. Joseph’s Orphanage Society. She was a
member of the Women’s Musical Club, the Western Art
Association, and the Roman Catholic Church. Sources: Who’s
Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable
Living Men and Women of Western Canada,
Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press
Association, Vancouver : “Mrs. N. Bawlf dies suddenly”, Manitoba
Free Press, 27 November 1918, page 9 : Memorable
Manitobans , Profile by Gordon Goldsborough Online
(Accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Mary Elizabeth Bayer |
Born February 10, 1925 Alberta. Died
September 7, 2005. Mary was raised and educated in Manitoba.
She served as Executive Director of the Volunteer Bureau and
the Manitoba Centennial Corporation, founding Executive
Director of the Manitoba Arts Council, founding Chair of
Heritage Winnipeg, and founding member of the Assembly of
Arts Administrators. She pioneered adult daytime television
programming and served as the provincial government’s 1st
woman Assistant Deputy Minister. At the national level, she
was president of Heritage Canada, member of the National
Executive of the Girl Guides of Canada, member of
Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre for the Arts, and the
Canadian Commission for UNESCO. She also served on the
selection committees for the Rhodes Scholarships and the
Royal Bank Award. Retiring to Victoria, British Columbia in
1980, she served as Chair of the Greater Victoria Library
Board, founding member of the Greater Victoria Arts
Commission, Executive member of the Provincial Capital
Commission, member of the Honorary Board of the Victoria
Foundation, Chair of the British Columbia Heritage Society
and founding Chair of the province-wide arts, and heritage
advocacy group, Culture Acts Now. She was presented with the
Girl Guides of Canada Merit Award, and the Manitoba
Historical Society Centennial Medal (1970). In 1994 she was
appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2000 she
was named an Honorary Citizen of Victoria. She was the 2004
recipient of the Woman of Distinction Award for Lifetime
Achievement and in June 2005 received the British Columbia
Heritage Award. Sources: Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15
September 2005 : Memorable Manitobans . Profile by Gordon Goldsborough Online (Accessed December 2011) ; Order of
Canada, Online (Accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Elsie Bear
Métis Activist |
née Hourie. Born December 13, 1921 Grand
Marais, Manitoba. Died March 5, 2002 Selkirk, Manitoba. At 18 Elsie worked as a cook at fishing
camps. At one of the camps she met and fell in love with
Sam Bear. The couple had five children. When the children
became old enough to attend school the family moved to
Selkirk, Manitoba. While her family was growing up Elsie
volunteered for 20 years at the Indian and Métis Friendship
Centre and the Manitoba Métis Federation. The couple loved
children and they opened their heats to 40 children who
needed a home. Christmas was always special as all the
family gathered and the door was opened to needed families
for Christmas dinner. Up to 100 guests would come on any
given Christmas Day. In 1972 the Christmas dinner
celebration was moved to the Métis Friendship Centre where
Elsie and Sam would welcome 300 people . After Sam’s death
Elsie carried on the tradition. In 1987 Elsie was Woman of
the Year. Her name is also on the Wall of Honour at the
Winnipeg Indian and Métis Friendship Center. She was
honoured to be a Senator of the Manitoba Métis Federation
and in 1992 she was inducted into the “Order of the
Buffalo”, the highest honour given by the province of
Manitoba. Sources: Hall of Fame, History of Metropolitan Vancouver
web site Accessed April 2013; Obituary, March 8, 2002
Winnipeg Free Press (2020) |
|
Ruth Marion Bell |
née Cooper. Born November 29, 1919
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Died December 16, 2015 Ottawa,
Ontario. In 1929, after her father committed suicide her
mother brought her home to Toronto to be close to
family. After school and without a scholarship to university
Ruth worked at the American consulate in Toronto. It was
here she met her 1st husband, William Kirby Rolph. The couple
married in 1945. They moved internationally to keep up with
his teaching career and she began taking university courses
at various universities on 2 continents. Dr. Rolph died in
Australia in 1953 and Ruth returned to Canada. She completed
her BA graduating in 1955 from the University of Toronto.
She would earn her MA from Carleton University, Ottawa in
1965. She worked at 1st for the Progressive Party of Canada
in Ottawa. While working for a food processing company in
Montreal she was invited to an evening with senior officers
but reused to dance when asked. She was fired because she
did not know her place! She then worked and a research
economist at the Bank of Montreal and was hired as a
lecturer with the University of Waterloo where she had to
fight her way into the mail dominated engineering school. In
1963 she attended the annual Progressive Conservative party
meeting in Ottawa reconnection with Robert Bell whom she met
when she 1st returned to Canada. They married that year and
settled in Nepean outside of Ottawa. As a volunteer she
worked with more than 50 local, national and international
organizations including being the
1st chair of UNESCO’s Sub-Commission on the Status of Women. Some
of the organizations she worked with were Match
International, the Canadian Research Institute for the
Advancement of women, the Forum for Young Canadians, the
Canadian commission for International Year of the Child, the
National and Ottawa Council of Women, the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council and the YM-YWCA. She was the
longest serving director of TVOntario and a director of the
Canadian Adult Education Association. She penned her
autobiography, Be a Nice Girl…A Woman’s Journey in
the 20th Century. In 1981 she was named to the Order of
Canada followed in 1982 with the City of Nepean
Distinguished Citizen Award. In 2000 she was presented the
Nepean Millennium Medal. In 2002 she received the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2005 she received the Governor
General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case and the
YWCA Woman of Distinction Award. In 2007 she established the
Dick and Ruth Bell Chair for the Study of Canadian
Parliamentary Democracy at Carleton University, Ottawa and
received the ScotiaBank Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008
she received the Founders Award from the University. The
Bell’s historic home, Fairfields, was donated to the City
of Nepean. Sources:
Obituary, Ottawa Citizen December 19, 2016; Lisa Fitterman,
‘She Refused to be a ‘nice girl’. Toronto Globe and
Mail January 18, 2016. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario (2020) |
|
Jenny Belzberg
Volunteer and Philanthropist |
née Lavin. Born January 7, 1928 Calgary,
Alberta. Since her father did not believe in further
education for women, Jenny went to work as a clerk for the
Cunard Shipping Line in Vancouver, British Columbia and
later at the Dominion Department of Immigration in Calgary.
After first meeting, on a blind date, she married Hy Belzberg
(died 2017) in 1948. The family was well off financially
leaving Jenny time to volunteer for numerous community,
provincial, and national organizations. Among many groups
she served as Chair of the Banff Centre from 1987-1991,
Chair and founder of the Calgary Arts Partnership in
Education Society, founder of the Lieutenant Governor of
Alberta Arts Award Foundation in 2003, founder of the Ester
Honens International Piano Competition, founder of the
Canadian Cancer Society's Daffodil Gala, and a Trustee of
the National Arts Centre, Ottawa. As well she held many
important positions with the Beth Israel Sisterhood,
Calgary, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Jewish
National Fund and the Calgary Jewish Community Fund. In 1996
she became a member of the Order of Canada followed in 2000
by the Alberta Order of Excellence. In 2006 she was a
recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal and in 2012 the
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth Medal. (2020) |
|
Agnes Benidickson |
née McCaushland. Born August 19,1920,
Chaffeys Lock, Ontario. Died March 23, 2007, Ottawa,
Ontario. Although she was raised in Winnipeg Manitoba she
decided to attend Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
where her father had served as chancellor. She earned a BA
in 1941 and would return in 1979 to earn a
degree in law. During World War ll she began working and
serving with the Canadian Red Cross. In 1947 she married
William Moore Benidickson (1911-1985) who would be an Member
of Parliament and Senator of Canada. The couple had three
children. From 1972-1974 she served as president of the
Canadian Council on Social Development and from 1974 through
1983 she was president of the National Association of
Canadian Clubs. 1980-1996 she served as the 1st woman
Chancellor of Queen’s University. In 1987 she was inducted
as an Officer into the Order of Canada and in 1998 was
promoted to Champion of the Order of Canada. In 1991 she was
inducted into the Order of Ontario. Queen’s University named
a beautiful gardened area the Agnes Benidickson Field in her
honour. (2020) |
|
Akua Benjamin
Black Activist |
Born Lorna Benjamin, Trinidad. Akua
emigrated to Canada in 1969. In the 1970’s she took an
African name Akua meaning a girl born on Wednesday. She
earned her PhD at the University of Toronto in Social work.
By 1988 she was teaching at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Her personal social work included outreach in over one dozen
women of colour communities. She was president of the
Congress of Black Women in Toronto, a founding member of
the Coalition of Visible Minority Women, and the National
Coalition of Visible Minority Women. She aimed to address
poverty, oppression, and discrimination. In 1986 she was the
winner of the Constance E. Hamilton Award which recognizes
efforts in equitable treatment for women from the City of
Toronto.
In 1988 she became the 1st Black faculty member in the
School of Social Work at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (Now
Ryerson University).
In 2001 she participated in the United Nations
Conference on Racism. She is currently the Director of the
School of Social Work at Ryerson University. In 2005 she was
nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 1000 Women of Peace
Project. Ryerson University has instituted the
Akua Benjamin Legacy Project with the aim to host an annual
Akua Benjamin Lecture and organize an Anti-Black Racism
Conference. Source:
Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the
Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006) pg.
72.: The Akua Benjamin Legacy Project, Ryerson University,
Online (accessed 2020) |
|
Corinne Bernard |
née L’Heureux. Born 1898 Norman, Ontario.
Died Winnipeg 1939. Corinne was the daughter of prominent
Manitoba pioneers. She was an active member of many
French-Canadian organizations including the Federation of
French-Canadian Women of Canada and the Society of Ladies of
St. Anne. She was also very active with her parish of Sacred
Heart church. Source: Memorable Manitobans Profile by
Kris Keen. Online (accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Nora Bernard
Aboriginal
Activist |
Born September 1935 Millbrook First
Nation, Nova Scotia. Died December 26,2007 Truro, Nova
Scotia. Nora was a Mi'kmaq who's mother was forced to send
her children to residential school. In 1945 Nora attended
Scubenacadie Residential School along with her siblings.
When she attempted to stand up and protect others who were
being mistreated she herself was punished. In 1955 Nora married
an non-indigenous man and, as outlined in the Indian Act, she
lost her Indian Status. This portion of the Indian Act was
repealed in 1985 but it did not mean automatic reinstatement
to an Indian Band. In 1995 Nora began alegal suit against the
federal government to receive compensation for her time at
residential schools. People from across the country soon
joined in forming one national lawsuit becoming the largest
class action lawsuit in Canadian History. In 2005 Nora
testified before the House of Commons in Ottawa about the
abuse that occurred in residential school. In 2005 79,000
residential school survivors settled the lawsuit for upwards
of five billion dollars. In March of 2007 Nora was voted
back into her Millbrook First nation. In December, just
after Christmas, Nora was found dead in her home and four
days later her grandson James Douglas Gloade was arrested
and charged with her murder. In January 2009 he was
convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in
prison. (2020) |
|
Dorothy Betz
Aboriginal Activist |
née Nepinak. Born June 26, 1929 Pine
Creek Reserve, Manitoba. Died September
9, 2007 Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dorothy's parents died when she was a child, and
she was
raised by her grandparents. She attended Pine Creek
Residential School until the age of 18 and worked in various
places before moving to Winnipeg in 1948. She married Elmer
Betz on December 2, 1950. Together they raised a family of
six children. Dorothy was moved by the hardship suffered by
native people which led to a lifelong career in aboriginal
law and community service. She pioneered the 1st Native
Court Communicators Program with the Province of Manitoba,
where she used her Ojibwa language to help aboriginal people
to understand the law. She was appointed as the Canadian
delegate to the Fifth United Nations Congress in Geneva,
Switzerland and spoke on the topics of women, youth, and
aboriginal people. She was a board member, worker, or
volunteer for such organizations as the Indian and Métis
Friendship Centre, Manitoba Society of Criminology, Manitoba
Correctional Institutions, Native Clan Organization,
Juvenile Review Board, Juvenile Corrections Child Welfare
Government Board, Main Street Project, Police Natives
Committee, Aboriginal Health Wellness Centre, Aboriginal
Centre, Human Rights Committee, Native Alcoholism Council,
Kekinan Centre (Aboriginal Seniors Residence), RCMP
Aboriginal Advisory Committee, Pathway Children’s Home,
Marymound School, Manitoba Association of Rights Liberties,
Ma Mawi Chi Itata Centre, Native Women’s Transition Centre,
Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development, and
Keteyatsak Elders and Seniors. In recognition of her
contributions, she was inducted into the Manitoba Order of
the Buffalo Hunt, received the National
Aboriginal Achievement Award, Women of the Year Award, the
Manitoba Good Citizen Award, and the Joe Zuken Award
for citizen activist. Sources:
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 September 2007; Memorable Manitobans
Profile by Gordon Goldsborough (Accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Ester Binder
Community Volunteer |
Born 1910, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died February 16, 2007,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. She grew up in
Roblin, Manitoba , and like many youth she learned to play
the piano. Moving to Winnipeg in 1929, she studied and
became a secretary. She married Benny Binder in 1932. The
couple had two daughters, Gloria and Carole. The family
moved to Rainy River, Ontario where they ran the general
store for over twenty years. Returning to Winnipeg after the
death of her husband in 1966, she began a 30 year career as
a volunteer piano player for residents at Deer Lodge
Hospital, later performing at several other nursing homes
and seniors’ centers. She was made a member of the Order of
the Buffalo Hunt in 1977. Sources: Obituary,
Winnipeg Free Press, 21 February 21, 2007; Memorable
Manitobans, Profile by Gordon Goldsborough. Online (Accessed
December 2011) (2020) |
|
Elsie Marion Eaton Bishop |
née Eaton. Born 1909, India. Died 2003. As a
student at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia Marion was
an award winning multi sport athlete. She went on to Normal
School (Teacher’s College) and began a career teaching Home
Economics. She worked with the Women’s Institute extension
program under the federal Department of Agriculture. In 1941
she married Alonzo Bishop just prior to him leaving to
server in the war effort overseas. Most working women left
the work place once they married but Marion refused to quite
work, after all her husband was overseas. After Al returned
from the war the couple had two children. The family moved
about the country with Al’s military postings. Elsie became
involved with the Girl Guide movement wherever they lived.
This association with the guiding movement would garner her
an award for her 27 years of Service. In 1991 she was
inducted into the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame. In 1992 she
received the New Brunswick Day Merit Award and in 1995 she
was honoured by both local and Provincial governments. Source: Herstory:
The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008 (Saskatoon Women's
Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007);
Hall of Fame, Acadia University Online
(accessed 2020) |
|
Violet Blackman
Black Activist |
Born Jamaica. Violet came to Canada as a
young girl in 1921. She worked in the garment district of
Toronto and was an active member in the fur worker's union
serving as secretary. She was involved in the work of the
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Toronto.
It was an international organization founded by Jamaican
Marcus Garvey in 1914 to unite people of African descent
from across the globe. Violet was a strong influence on the
group purchasing their own building on College Street. The
Toronto Unit had a choir, a brass band and produced local
plays for entertainment. A sub unit was the Black Cross
Nurses. The Toronto Division quickly became a cornerstone in
Toronto's Black Community and the Negro Credit Union.
(2018) |
|
Marjorie B. Blankstein |
née Rady.
Born Winnipeg, Manitoba. Marjory graduated in 1950 with a
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba. She did he
post graduate Master of Social Work in 1952. That same year
she married Morley Blankstein, and architect. The couple had
five children. She was active in her community serving on
various boards including the Rady Jewish Community Center
and the Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice. She was also an
active member of the Capital Campaign Advisory Council for
Friends of the Ralph Connor House and honorary Co-chair of
the Words and Deeds Leadership Award Dinner in 2007. In 2008
she was honored at the Spirit of Leadership Awards,
Winnipeg. In 1982 she was inducted as a member of the Order
of Canada. She was the 1st to receive the Sol Kanee
Distinguished Community Service Medal from the Winnipeg
Jewish Community Council. She has received the 125
Anniversary of Confederation Commemorative Medal and in 1977
the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. In 2003 she received a
Distinguished Service Award form the University of Manitoba.
(2019) |
|
Adeline Ruth Boswell |
née MacGregor. Born February 23, 1896,
New London, Prince Edward Island. Died December 15, 1979,
Prince Edward Island. She loved music all her life. The
completed lessons with care and determination. At 15, she
was the local church organist. She attended Price of Wales
College and began teaching school but also continued in her
musical studies. After World War I she married Keith
Boswell. She initiated the Music Festival in Prince County,
PEI and began a career as a traveling music teacher. She
retired only at 75 years of age. She was presented with an
honourary life membership of the PEI Music Festival for her
musical contribution to her home province. She also had an
active interest in local history. She was the prime activist
in the restoration of the Boswell Home. It had been empty
from 1947 thorough 1976 but is now a prime location for
community social events. She was the prime researcher for
the history of Victoria-B-The-Sea which is a highly
prized Tweedsmuir History. Source: Outstanding women of
Prince Edward Island Compiled by the Zonta Club of
Charlottetown, 1981. (2020) |
|
Beryl Bouvette
Métis
Activist |
née Knott. Born 1926?, Grand Marais, Manitoba.
Died December 10, 2019, Manitoba.
As a child Beryl loved to watch her fisherman father at work.
She herself learned to make his fishing nets and kept him
supplied. Later in life she and her brother-in-law made
special presentations to the Canadian History Museum of Man
and Nature (Now Canadian History Museum) about the
construction of theses fish nets. Beryl married musician
Red Bouvette (died 1992) and the couple enjoyed playing
country music while raising their two children. Beryl has also been a judge for many contests
for fiddle square dancing and jigging competitions within
the Manitoba. Joining up with her sister and brother the
family band known as the Why Not Band was born and played at
many socials and senior homes in the province. The group also
released two CD’s of Gospel music. She also volunteers for
several agencies, including the Indian & Métis Friendship
Centre and the Aboriginal Senior Resources Centre. She has
been the Entertainment Chairperson for Folklorama for the
Métis People’s Pavilion for a number of years. In 2010 she
was honoured at the Keeping the Fires Burning aboriginal
awards celebrating female leaders for preserving First
Nations culture and serving as role models for younger
generations. Sources;
Matt Preprost, “Gala recognizes accomplishments”. Winnipeg
Free Press June 18, 2010 Page A13; Lawrence Barkwell, Beryl
Bouvette, Métis Museum. Online (Accessed October 2015);
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press,
December 14, 2019. (2020) |
|
Judith Brady |
Born 1931, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Died
May 5, 2013, Toronto, Ontario. Judith was the daughter of a
father who believed in communism. She married briefly in her
early 20’s. In 1957 she joined a group of Americans who
wanted to travel to communist China. The members of the
group were warned by the government of the United States
that they could be criminally prosecuted for such a journey.
However the group felt that they should have the freedom to
travel where they wanted. They were met with great
hospitality in China but when they returned to toe U.S. they
were prosecuted and Judith lost her passport for a year. In
San Francisco she met and married Trent Brady and they
protested together in peace rallies against nuclear testing
in the atmosphere. They moved to become citizens in Canada
bringing up their two adopted children. Judith rallied
people to oppose the Spedina Expressway which would have cut
Toronto down the middle. The expressway was abandoned in
1971. She also helped found the Karma Food Co-op to provide
for the needy. Judith earned a Masters degree in Library
Science from the University of Toronto and authored an
annotated bibliography of the works of Michael Ondaatje. She
worked at the Sanderson Branch of the Toronto Public Library
until she retired to care for her ill husband. She wrote
poetry and volunteered for Out f the Cold, a program
providing emergency care for the homeless.
Source:
“Spurned by her homeland, she followed her conscience to
Canada” by Susan Ferrier Mackay, The Globe and Mail, May 31,
2013 (2020) |
|
Maria Cordis Brennan
Sister Maria |
Born 1908, Guelph Ontario. Died October
11, 2002, Hamilton Ontario. Maria moved to Hamilton, Ontario
with her family in 1919. In 1926 she attended Hamilton
Normal School graduating as a teacher. With no teaching
positions available at the time, Maria worked at
Westinghouse in the draughtsman's office. In 1927 she began
teaching at St. Ann’s School in Hamilton then moved to
Hespeler (now Cambridge) Ontario for six years. In 1934 she
decided on a religious life and entered St. Joseph’s
Convent. Sister Maria became music supervisor for
Hamilton's separate schools and taught music for 23 years to
children in 25 elementary schools retiring in 1973. She
served as president with the Canadian Pensioners Concern.
She ran a weekly drop-in centre for seniors at Hamilton's
Sons of Italy Hall. She lead the YWCA Fun Choir for
seniors, played the organ every day at mass and sat on the
board of the Boris Brott Summer Music Festival. In 1988, she
received the Ontario Senior Achievement Award for
outstanding contributions of individual senior citizens to
their communities and the quality of life in Ontario. (2020) |
|
Allison Brewer
Gay Rights Activist |
Born July 15, 1954, Fredericton, New
Brunswick. Allison earned her BA at Dalhousie University, Halifax. Following a career as a journalist and
communications professional, she worked as a gay rights
activist and established a national reputation. She and her
partner are mothers of three children. Their son has Downs
Syndrome and Allison became a forceful advocate for people
with disabilities. In 1994 she worked to establish the
Morgentaler Abortion Clinic in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
In 1995 she represented Canadian women in the Beijing United
Nations World Conference expanding her support for gays and
lesbians everywhere. Moving to Nunavut in 2000 she worked as
the vice president of Quilliit-Nunavut Status of Women. She
was a founder of the Iqualuit Pride and Friends of Pride and
was a driving force behind exclusion of sexual orientation
in the Nunavut Human Rights Act. In 2004 she was recipient
of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the
Persons Case. In the fall of 2005 she began a year long
leadership for the New Brunswick New Democratic Party. She
continues to be an activist while raising her children. Suggested
sources: Herstory: a Canadian women’s calendar 2007. (2020) |
|
Andrea Brett-Bronfman
Philanthropist |
née Morrison. Born 1945, London, England.
Died January 23, 2006. Andrea married David Cohen and settled
in Montreal where they raised three children. In 1982 she married
Charles Bronfman and became active in several philanthropic
causes in North America and Israel. After 9/11 she created a
program, the Gift of New York. She was also involved in
Birthright Israel and the Association of Israel’s Decorative
arts. |
|
Annie Gardner/Gardiner Brown |
née Bar. Born July 29, 1864, Norwich,
Upper Canada (Now Ontario). Died June 29, 1921, Regina,
Saskatchewan. Annie graduated from Brantford Young Ladies
College in 1883 and continued studies in art at Alma Ladies
College, St Thomas, Ontario. On October 10, 1895 she married
an up and coming lawyer and future Lieutenant Governor of
Saskatchewan George William Brown (died 1919). The couple
settled in Regina and brought up their two children. She was
an admired hostess for her aspiring husband and an active
volunteer in women’s groups in Regina. She worked with the
Methodist Church women, the Local Council of Women, the
Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the Independent Order of the
Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E), and the Aberdeen
Association. She was also active in the Women’s Educational
Club associated with Regina College. She worked with a small
group called the Kanata Club which advocated women’s rights.
She was recognized by the Red Cross and the government for
her work during and after World War l with the Saskatchewan
Siberian Relief Committee. Source: DCB vol. 15 1921-1930.
(2020) |
|
Bernice R. Brown
|
née Dickhoff. Born April 11, 1905 San
Francisco, California, U.S.A. Died December
15, 1971,West Vancouver. A journalist with the San Francisco News she
came to Canada when she married in 1930. She continued her
career as an editor of the Jewish Western Bulletin. In
1939 she organized Jewish women to do war work. The group
organized shipments of supplies overseas and resettled
refugees. Many of the group opened their own homes to
service men of all faiths. In 1946 she received the Canadian
Red Cross Distinguished Service Award. An active member of
the Canadian Institute of International Affairs she
pressured Parliament to change immigration policy and accept
orphaned Holocaust survivors. Source:
Outstanding women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the
Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981 (2020)
|
|
Raymonde 'Ray' Brown |
née Chevalier. Born July 18, 1919,
Senneville, Quebec. Died September 24, 2016 Ormestown,
Quebec. In 1930 Ray was part of a group that made amateur
dramatic films. She became a member of the Montreal Civil
Liberties Union. During World War ll she was an active
volunteer at the home from. In 1940 she married Desmond
Farrel ( -1944) and the couple had one son. In 1945 she
married George Roy, a bomber pilot. The couple had three
daughters. After the war she worked as a real estate agent
in Montreal. Ray was one of the founders of the Quebec
branch of the Voice of Women (VOW). She worked for peace
during the Cold War as well as for the political and
economic rights of women. She help found the Federation des
femmes du Quebec. In 1962 VOW organized a peace train that
brought 300 members to present petitions to the Canadian
government in Ottawa. In March 1962 she and her cousin,
Therese Casgrain (1896-1981), went to Switzerland to voice
support for nuclear disarmament at a 17 nation conference.
Ray married William Bowen ( -1998) and in 1982 she sold
her home on the family estate in Senneville and moved to
Elgin, Quebec. Source: Fred Langan, Obituary, Globe and
Mail October 18, 2016. Suggestion submitted by June
Coxon, Ottawa. (2020) |
|
Sandra 'Sandy' Brown |
née Tanzman. Born 1941, Saint John, New
Brunswick. In 1965 she earned her BSc in pharmacology at
Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the next
two years she studied and earned her Masters in Social Work
from McGill University, Montreal and in 1963 she married
Melvin Brown. The couple had three daughters. Sandy started
her working career with the Family Services Association of
Toronto. As a volunteer she served as a “foot soldier”,
board member, and executive member for numerous associations
including: The United Way, the Canadian Cancer Society, the
Kidney Foundation, The Salvation Army, the Senior Care for
the Jewish Elderly, the Heart Fund, the United Jewish
Appeal, the Forest Hill Nursery School, the National council
of Jewish Women, the Jewish Volunteer Services, the National
Educational Conferences of. the Canadian Zionist Federation,
the Toronto Board of Jewish Education, the Educational
Planning and Allocations Committee of Toronto Jewish
Congress… She was the 1st woman to be appointed president
of the Jewish Federation of Toronto from 1995-1996. There is
no doubt why she was selected in 1991 and again in 1995 by
the Ontario Government to be presented with the Volunteer
Service Award. Source:
Brown, Michael, “Sandra Brown”, Jewish Women: a
Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 march 2009. Jewish
Women’s Archives Accessed August 2011 (2020) |
|
Mary Bryant |
Born March 3, 1919, Ardath, Saskatchewan.
Died April 4, 2011, Ottawa, Ontario. Mary went to a one room
school house until the depression of the dustbowl made it
economically not possible for her to continue at school. She
finished her grade school a home and at 16 attended high
school for 90 days before successfully passing her final
exams with honours. With financial assistance fro an older
sister she enrolled in Normal School (Teachers college) and
graduated and in August 1936 she was teaching. She worked
at a number of one room schools, an Indian Residential
School at Lac L Rouge, Saskatchewan and from 1944-1948 at
the Anglican Mission School at Aklavik, North West
Territories. While in Aklavik, Mary wrote her own primer
called Our Book for her students. Mary had a great interest
in botany and enrolled in Biology at the University of
British Columbia, graduating in 1951. It was while at the
university she met and married Joe Bryant and the couple
moved to Manitoba, then Aklavik, N.W.T. The couple had two
children. After moving several times, including time in
Scotland, the family settled in Ottawa in 1967. Mary
received many awards for her community service, including
the Ottawa Mayor’s Award for Community Service; the Ontario
Horticultural Service Award; The Rehabilitation Centre
Achievement Award; the Woman of Distinction Award for
Lifetime Achievement. Through the 1970’s and 1980’s Mary
Taught Mathematics and English in the adult re-entry program
at Algonquin College, Ottawa. Perhaps more than the awards
she prized the contacts of her students who tracked her down
to tell her how much difference she made in their lives.
Later in her life she would published a book Four Years –
and then some (2007) documenting her early teaching
experiences. The proceeds from her books were donated to the
Rehabilitation Centre of the Ottawa Hospital. Source:
Mary Bryant…a life travelled by Carl Dow True North
Perspective. (Accessed March 2012)
Suggestion submitted by
June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Jane Buchan |
Born 1837, Paris, Upper Canada (Ontario).
Died November 21, 1904. As a young girl Jane committee
herself to Christian service and was baptized into
membership of the Baptist Church. In 1873 Jane included in
her benevolent works help in founding the YWCA /Young
Women’s Christian Association of Toronto. She would serve
for 20 years as Secretary of the YWCA. In 1876 Jane and her
sisters Margaret and Erskine became leaders in the movement
to create the Women’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of
Ontario West. Jane and Margaret launched a private
periodical, the Canadian Missionary Link with Jane as
its first business manager. Soon their publication bloomed
with 5000 subscribers. Within a year of the establishment of
the Society it had grown to 30 Circles. In 1886 the women’s
missionary society appointed Jane as corresponding
secretary/foreign secretary. She would hold this position
until her death. Source:
DCB (2020) |
|
Bessie Portigal Buchwald |
Born 1901 Russia. Died June 15, 1989
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Bessie immigrated to Canada at the age of
five. She married Frank Buchwald and the couple had three
children. A lifelong Zionist she was active in many
community organizations. She was the 1st Manitoba Regional
vice-president of Hadassah-WIZO and a founding member with
her husband of the Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Friends
of the Hebrew University. She was also a chairperson for the
sale of State of Israel Bonds, a member of the Women’s
Division of the Jewish Welfare Fund, a member of the
National Council for Jewish Women and of the Zaarey Zedek
Sisterhood. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded her
its ‘Torch of Learning’ award for lifelong service in 1980. Sources:
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, Monday, 19 June 1989, page 31
; Memorable Manitobans. Profile by Kris Keen. Online
(Accessed December 2011) (2020) |
|
Rebecca 'Becky'
Buhay |
Born February 11, 1896 London, England.
Died December 16, 1953 Toronto, Ontario. Becky immigrated to
Canada in 1912 settling in Montreal. During World War ll she
was active in socialist causes in Montreal. She studied at
the Rand School of Social Sciences, New York, U.S.A. Back in
Montreal she became a union organizer for the garment
industry. Around 1921 she joined the Workers Party of Canada
(Communist Party) lectured and toured across the country.
In Alberta she helped organize the striking Coal miner's
wives in the Women's Labour Leagues. In 1929 she was
secretary of the Canadian Labour Defense League. In the
1930's she headed the Canadian women's delegation to the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In World War ll
she worked to free interned communists. Political friends
knew her as a great communicator of radical ideas and for
her loyalty. (2020) |
|
Linda R. Bull
Aboriginal human rights advocate |
Born 1950, Alberta. Died July 10, 1955,
Alberta. Linda learned Cree as her 1st language from her
grandmother. In 1991 she earned her Master's Degree at
university. She valued and practiced cultural and spiritual
teachings of her Cree heritage. She was a human rights
advocate for Indigenous people and yet acknowledged that all peoples
need to be empowered and healed. She was talking about
reconciliation 20 years before the release of the Truth and
Reconciliation Report. Linda and she was a dedicated member
of the United Church of Canada and in 1986 she was
instrumental in brokering an apology, the 1st such apology
from any Canadian church, from the United Church of Canada
to survivors of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Linda
was an invited speaker to more than 40 International peace
education and human rights conferences. She helped host the
1999 International Institute on Peace Education held in
Canada. Linda was also a member of the national
organization, Understanding Strong Indigenous Communities.
In 2002 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. Linda
married Sam Bull (d1996) and the couple had four children. (2020) |
|
Annie Buller Guralnick |
Born Ukraine December 9, 1895. Died January 19, 1973. She
immigrated to Montreal from the Ukraine with her parents
when she was a child. She studied Marxism at school
and joined the Workers' (Communist) Party of Canada in 1922.
She devoted herself to the politics of the her party.
She would help workers of all trades, from mining to
dressmaking, form unions to better their working conditions.
She retired in the late 1950's but continued to lend her
experiences to the Party organization until her death. While
Communism never gained a strong foothold in Canada, her
devotion to the betterment of workers lives and the bravado
she displayed in her beliefs is a strong legacy for all
Canadian women. (2020) |
|
Audrey Burger |
Born 1912, India. Died January 15, 1988.
Educated in England she began her working career as a
teacher of languages in Germany until the Nazi regime forced
her to relocate. She eventually settled in Canada in 1959.
She became president of the Association of Women Electors in
the 1960’s and was an active member of the Metropolitan
Toronto Social Planning Council. She also served as a member
of the Metro Toronto Housing C. Ltd. Which acted as the
city’s public housing agency. (2020) |
|
Mavis Burke
Black Activist |
Born Jamaica. Mavis taught in local
Jamaican schools and at the University of the West Indies.
In 1970 she immigrated to Canada where she attended the
University of Ottawa and earned her PhD in Education. In
1987 she founded women for P.A.C.E., Project for Advancement
of Childhood Education. At the beginning it was a woman only
organization but since it was always supported by men, the
organization soon opened up. In the early years the group
supported per-school in Jamaica with 11 schools which soon
expanded to over 200 institutions. The work was featured on
the television series ‘Jamaica Proud’. Mavis has received
the Order of Ontario in 2000 and in 2004 she was presented
with the Order of Distinction from Jamaica. |
|
Marie Rosalie Cadron
Sister Marie de la Nativité |
Born January 27,1794, Lower Canada (now
Quebec). Died April 5, 1864. She married at 17 years of age
to Jean-Marie Jetté, October 7, 1811. The two would have
eleven children. As a widow she opened her home to care for
unwed mothers. In 1895 she became an nun and took the name
Sister Marie de la Nativité with the Institute of the
Sisters of Mercy where she continued her efforts to help
young pregnant girls.
Source: DCB Vol. lX (2020) |
|
Friselda Caisse |
née Potvin. Born 1858, Quebec. Died 1948,
Bracebridge, Ontario. Her family moved from La Prairie
Quebec to resettle in Peterborough, Ontario. Friselda was a
seamstress and milner. She married Joseph Caisse (1855-1916)
and the couple settled in Bracebridge, Ontario where they
raised their 11 children. She served as president of the
Local Women’s Institut. Her work for the Red Cross in both
world wars garnered her a honorary Life Membership. She was
also active in her community church where a church window at
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is dedicated to her. At the age
of 72 she suffered from breast cancer and was given little
hope of more than days to live. Her daughter René Caisse, a
nurse who worked to establish a breast cancer cure called
Essiac, used the herbal tea in caring for her mother and
Friselda lived for another 18 years. Source:
René Caisse. in the Bracebridge Examiner January 1979.
Online (Accessed June 2015) (2020) |
|
June Callwood |
Born June 2, 1924, Chatham, Ontario. Died
April 14, 2007, Toronto, Ontario. While still in high school June was editor
of the school paper, journalism was in her blood. After High
school she worked at the Brantford Expositor. She moved to
Toronto in 1942 to work at the Globe and Mail
newspaper. After
she married Trent Frayne (1918-2012) she retained her maiden
name as the Globe and Mail did not employ married
women. After the birth of her four children she returned to
work as a freelance journalist. She even interviewed Elvis!
She also ghost wrote several autobiographies of prominent
Americans. By 1954-55 was the host of The Fraynes, a
CBC television talk show. In the 1960's she became an
activist for such social causes as homeless youth and drug
addicts. June founded Casey House, a Toronto hospice for
people wit AIDS and the June Callwood Centre for Yong Women.
She continued in television journalism with In Touch on
CBC from 1974-1975. She Became an Member of the Order of
Canada in 1978 and became an Officer in the Order 1986. June
also holds the Order of Ontario and was inducted into the
Etobicoke Hall of Fame in 1992. She was named as Toronto's
Humanist of the year in 2004 by the Humanist Association. In
2005 a Toronto park was named in her honour and the Victoria
College, part of the University of Toronto, established a
social justice professorship to honour her. A biography,
written by Anne Dublin and entitled June Callwood: A Life
of Action, was published in March 2007. In 2008 June 2
of each year was declared June Callwood Day in Ontario.(2020) |
|
Maria Campbell
Aboriginal Activist
and Author |
Born April 6,1940 Athlone, Edmonton,
Alberta. In Edmonton Maria assisted in founding a halfway
house for women and a women's emergency shelter. She began
writing because she was upset that so few people knew about
historic and contemporary Native Cultures. She has written
screenplays and books. She is fluent in four languages:
Cree, Michif, Saulteaux, and English. Her 1st book Halfbreed came
out in 1973 but continued to inspire generations of
indigenous women. Four of her works have been published in
eight countries and have been translated into German,
Chinese, French, and Italian. Her plays have been performed
across Canada and abroad. From 1985 through 1997 she owned
and operated a production company, Gabriel Productions. She
has also directed and written films produced by the National
Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC). She is a well known activist for
Aboriginal Rights. She has set up food and housing
cooperatives, facilitated women's circles, advocated for the
hiring and recognition of Native people in the arts and
mentored many indigenous artists. She has been honoured
with numerous awards for her works including 1979 the Vanier
Award, 1985 the order of the Sash from the Métis Nation of
Saskatchewan, the Dora Mavor Award, Chalmers Award for Best
new play in 1986, The Gabriel Dumont Medal of Merit from the
Gabriel Dumont Institute in 1992, the Saskatchewan
Achievement Award from the government of Saskatchewan in
1994, The National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1995, The
Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2006, the Distinguished
Canadian Award in 2006, and the Order of Canada in 2008. She
has taught as an associate professor at the University of
Saskatchewan, at Brandon College she was a Stanley Knowles
Distinguished Visiting Professor, and is an Aboriginal
scholar and lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan. She
has been writer-in residence at universities and public
libraries since 1979. (2020) |
|
Minnie Julia Beatrice Campbell |
Born June 18, 1862, Palermo, Ontario.
Died November 3, 1952 ,Port Arthur [now Thunder Bay],
Ontario. After high school in 1880 she attended the Wesleyan
Female College (Hamilton, Ontario) and made her debut at
Government House at Toronto in 1878. She taught at the
Ottawa Ladies’ Presbyterian College from 1881 to 1882 prior
to her marriage, on 16 July 1884, to Colin H. Campbell. The couple had two children. She was active
in many social activities throughout Canada. Minnie organized,
promoted, and was chair of many war societies including
serving on
the Board of the YWCA, vice-president of the National
YWCA, honorary president of the Woman's’ Auxiliary of
the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, member of the Women’s
Music Club, Empire Club (England), Western Art Association;
Councilor of the Winnipeg Red Cross Society; and secretary
of the first Provincial and local Red Cross Society. She was
especially active with the Independent Order
of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E), as Regent of its
Fort Garry Chapter, President of the Provincial Chapter,
Councilor of the National I.O.D.E, and Life Member of the
National I.O.D.E. In 1935 she was inducted into the Order of
the British Empire. She was the only Canadian woman
to be awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by Poland for her
war relief service. She received the coronation medals of
Edward VIII, George V, George VI, and the Silver Jubilee
Medal of George V. Sources: Memorable Manitobans. Biography
by Gordon Goldsborough (Accessed March 2012) (2020) |
|
Sharon Capeling-Alakija
Helping people of the world |
Born Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Died
November 4, 2003, Bonn, Germany. Sharon taught school in
Saskatoon for a year after receiving her Bachelor of Arts and her
Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan.
In 1967 she was working with Canadian Universities Services
Overseas (CUSO). Returning to Canada she began working with
the head office of CUSO in Ottawa. Back in the field in
Togo, Africa she met and married Robin Alakija but
unfortunately was soon widowed. In 1982 she was the
Director of CUSO’s West African Region. Sharon was concerned
for the women who had to walk miles to obtain drinking water
and worked to provide small areas with safe wells with a man
and a woman in charge of each well. In 1989 she was working
with the United Nations (UN). From 1989 through 1994 she was
Directory of the United Nations (UN) Office of Evaluation and Strategic
Planning. In 1998 she became Executive Coordinator of the UN
Volunteer program and would lead the UN through the 2001
Year of the Volunteer. In 2003 she was appointed an Officer
in the Order of Canada which recognized her efforts to
better the lives of peoples of the world. Sources: Herstory:
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2000 ( Silver Anniversary
year) Coteau Books, 1999 pg. 22 ; The Encyclopedia of
Saskatchewan online accessed July 2011. (2020) |
|
Pat Capponi |
Born 1949. Abused as a child and
committed to a mental institution are all part of the life
of Pat. She turned her experiences into books and became a
major voice for mental health and poverty. From 1992
to 2008 she published seven books advocating for mental health
issues and poverty issues in Canada. Pat has served as a
board member at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health
in Toronto as a member or the Advocacy Commission in Ontario. She
is the co-facilitator of the "From Surviving To Advising"
initiative undertaken by the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health (CAMH). The effort
brings together consumer-survivors with psychiatry residents
to allow those with lived experience to work with residents
to understand new perspectives of recovery She holds the
Order of Ontario and has been awarded the C.M. Hincks Award
from the Canadian Mental Health Association. In 2015 she was
named as a Member of the Order of Canada. (2020) |
|
Bonnie Cappuccino |
Born 1934, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. Bonnie
trained as a registered nurse. In 1953 she married Fred
Cappuccino and had two
children and then her family grew even more with 19 adopted
children. In 1985 she founded and became director of Child
Haven International which is a non-profit charitable
organization. The organization helps destitute children and
women throughout the world. They maintain three children's
homes in India and one in Nepal and are affiliated with
others. Bonnie travels to each of the children's homes four
times a years. For her efforts she has been awarded the
Ontario Citizenship Medal in 1985, the Canada Volunteer
Award in 1986 the UNESCO Prize for teaching of Human Rights
in 1998. She and her husband Fred were the 1st Canadians
to win this award. In 1996 they both received the Order of
Canada. Their story has been written up as a children's
book and been featured on the CTV program W5.
(2020) |
|
Judith 'Judy' Feld Carr |
Born 1938 Montreal, Quebec. Judy earned
her Bachelor of Music in musicology at the University of
Toronto. She taught high school music in Toronto for several
years and also taught musicology at the University of
Toronto. She was a visiting lecturer at Yeshiva University,
New York City, U.S.A., The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and
Youngstown University, Ohio, U.S.A. In 1973 she established
the Fund for Jews in Arab Lands in 1973. The funds were used
to negotiate ransom for release of Syrian Jews from prison
and to smuggle other Jews across Syrian boarders to safety.
Her work covered a period of 28 years and was conducted in
complete secrecy in order to protect lives of Jews Muslims
and Christians in danger. Over 3,200 Syrian Jews escaped to
safety, She served as chair of the Canadian Jewish
Congress’s National Task Force for Syrian Jewry, publicizing
the plight of Syrian Jews and approached the Canadian
government to admit Syrian Jews temporarily to Canada. Her
story is told in the book by Harold Troper: The Ransomed
of God: the Remarkable Story of One Woman’s Role in the
Rescue of Syrian Jews. June 2012 she received the
Presidential Award of Distinction of the State of Israel.
She has also been inducted into the Order of Canada. In 2002
she received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and in 2012 the Queen
Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. She was the Abram Sachar
Medal’s Woman of the year at Brandeis University, Waltham,
Massachusetts, U.S.A. She has also received the Saul Hayes
Human Rights Award from the Canadian Jewish Congress, the
Simon Wiesenthal Award for Tolerance, Justice and Human
Rights and the University of Haifa Humanitarian Award of
Merit. (2020) |
|
Emilie Leblanc Carrier |
Born May 14, 1863, Memramcook, New Brunswick. December 19,
1935 Moncton, New Brunswick. Emelie
taught school for a number of years in Nova Scotia before
returning to New Brunswick with her husband. Between 1895
and 1898, using the pseudonym “Marichette”, she wrote a
series of letters on women’s issues to the French-language
newspaper, L’Évangéline. The 1st letter championed
women’s right to vote, claiming that women were “aching with
the desire” to get into the polling booths. This is believed
to be the 1st and last suffrage (i.e., the right to vote in
political elections) letter by an Acadian woman to appear in
a major Acadian newspaper. It was many years later, on April
15, 1919, that the New Brunswick legislature granted all New
Brunswick women the right to vote in provincial
elections. Source: New Brunswick Advisory Council on the
Status of Women, Celebrating Achievers; Behind Every
Successful Woman Are All the Women Who Came Before Her., September
2002. Online (accessed January 2016) (2020) |
|
Marion Young Coutts Carson |
née Coutts.
Born May 9, 1861 Kent County, Ontario. Died July 13,1950.Calgary,
Alberta. On May 18, 1887 she
married William Carson and the couple had six children. In
1898 the family settled in Calgary, Alberta. In 1911 she
formed the Tuberculosis (TB) Association and in 1912 the
1st TB hospital in Alberta opened in Calgary. She also
volunteered for the Calgary Library Board. From 1920 through
1924 she served as a trustee for the Calgary Public School
Board and she was a member of the Alberta Council of Child
Welfare for 27 years. She worked to establish free medical
clinics and distribution of milk to needy families. In 1935
she received the King George V medal for her services to the
province. In the mid 1940’s she was Calgary’s Citizen of the
Year. The Marion Carson School was named in her
honour. In 1969 the Marion Y. Carson School was opened
in Calgary. Source: Kay Sanderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta
Women. Famous Five Foundation, 1999. (2020) |
|
Thérèse Casgrain |
SEE - Politicians |
|
Alice Katrina Loewen Chambers |
née
Loewen.
Born June 11,1937 , Elkhorn, Manitoba.
Died December 13, 1999, Pinawa, Manitoba. Alice attended the
University of Manitoba. By the early 1960's she had completed an
Honours Bachelor of Science in microbiology and was working
in Ottawa at the National Research Council. In 1968, she and
her husband Keith moved to Pinawa, Manitoba from Leeds,
England with their infant daughter Anna. They would add two
boys to the family. An active community volunteer, she
served 14 years on the local school board, was a founding
member of the recycling committee, worked in the public and
school libraries, and volunteered as a Guide leader. In May
1992, her career as an environmental activist took shape
when Alice noticed an ad in the Winnipeg Free Press regarding
an environmental license for an old pulp mill downstream
from where she lived. Discovering that the mill was
discharging 38 million litres of lethal effluent every day
was her wake-up call to the true state of “environmental
protection” in Manitoba. She was well known (and sometimes
feared) for her vast knowledge of environmental issues and
the supporting science behind them. Her opinion was valued
by many local, regional and international organizations. She
was appointed to a number of advisory boards such the
Manitoba Environmental Council. Her husband died suddenly in
1993, and three years later, she contracted cancer. Source:
biographical profile by Roger Turenne, with revisions by the
Chambers family.Memorable Manitobans Online. (Accessed
November 2012) (2020) |
|
Charlotte M. Ayotte Chaput |
Born Aylmer, Quebec. Died Winnipeg,
Manitoba February 14, 2002. In 1942, her husband joined the
Air Force, Charlotte launched on a long career of
volunteerism, working for the Red Cross during the war. She
was active in the 1950s in the Catholic Women’s League of
Canada (CWL), serving as President of the CWL in Peace
River, Alberta, Dawson Creek and Prince Rupert, BC and later
as the CWL Provincial Treasurer in BC. She was also the
President of Home and School of Notre Dame in Dawson Creek,
and in 1964, she helped organize the Regina Newcomers Club.
Moving to Winnipeg in 1971, her volunteer efforts turned to
the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation. Joining St.
Agnes Guild, she served as President for two years and
chaired the Children’s Hospital Annual Appeal for two years.
She was later honoured by being named Vice President of the
Board of the Research Foundation for three years. She was
active in the Rotary Inner Wheel Club and served as its
President. Sources:
Winnipeg Free Press, February 16, 2002,
(2020) |
|
Donalda Charron |
Born August 29, 1886, Hull (now Gatineau) Quebec.
Died July 10, 1967, Hull (now Gatineau), Quebec. Donalda's mother died when she was
just nine years old. She began working in a mining company
where they separated mica sheets by hand. By 1912 she was
making matches at the E. B. Eddy Company. She was promoted
to the role of contremaîtresse, a supervisor of women
employees, where she shielded women from male factory
workers. Around 1918 she became President of the Catholic
Women Trade Union Association / ouvrière féminine de Hull,
the 1st female union. In 1919 the women signed a contract
for fixed salaries but as electricity became more popular
sales fell and company decided to slash the women's
salaries. Donalda was one of the main motivators of the
1924 wildcat strike by the matchmakers/ allumettières of the
E. B. Eddy Company in Hull. She may have been president but
she was not allowed to speak at meetings as only male union
leaders and priests could speak and negotiate with the Eddy
Match Company on behalf of workers. She rallied the troops
and attended meetings. The 400 workers were locked out for
three months. This was the 1st strike by women in Quebec.
While the strike won workers recognition and allowed them to
maintain the pay and hours they fought for working
conditions were not improved. The Company refused to hire
Donalda back after the strike. The union offered her a
position at the headquarters but Donalda did not take to
office work. In December 1924, just after the strike Donalda
was in a train accident at the local station and her leg
had to be amputated. Nothing seemed to hold her back as she
went on to work as a laundress at a local hospital. Creating
her own bleach she sold it door to door and later worked as
a seamstress at the Woods Textile Company. When she was 60
she let yet another strike over union recognition In 2006
the City of Gatineau renamed Boulevard de L'Outaouais,
Boulevard des Allumettières in honour of the female match
factory workers who endured appalling working conditions and
became the 1st women in Quebec to go on strike. A branch of
the Gatineau Public Library carries the name Donalda
Charron.
Source: National Capital Commission "Donalda Charron and the
E. B. Eddy Match Company.' Online (accessed 2020): Donalda
Charron, Workers History Museum , online (accessed 2020) |
|
Gertrude Childs |
Born November 1881. Died Winnipeg,
Manitoba June 15, 1957. Gertrude was active in social welfare
work for the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba.
She started working with the city social welfare commission
in 1920. Later appointed supervisor of the city welfare
commission, and she became supervisor of Mothers Allowances.
In recognition of her work, she was made a Commander of the
British Empire in 1934. She retired in 1948. After her
death, the Gertrude Childs Scholarship was established to
recognize second year students in the school of social work
at the University of Manitoba. Sources:
“Noted social worker dies at age of 75” Winnipeg Free Press,
June 15,1957, page 53: Memorable Manitobans Online (Accessed
November 2012) (2020) |
|
Ada Borradaile Chipman |
Born June 11 1860 (?) Brussels, Belgium.
Died October 26, 1913 London, England. Wife of
Clarence Campbell Chipman,(1856-1924), a Canadian civil servant
who in 1891 was appointed Commissioner of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. The couple were married April 25, 1882 and lived
first in Ottawa and then Winnipeg, Manitoba from 1890 to
1910. They had a family of seven children. After her
husband ‘s retirement the couple returned to England. Ada
was the organizing president of a women’s art association, Western Art Association in 1907. She organized the Rupert’s
Land diocesan branch of the Mothers’ Union in 1909,
supported anti-tuberculosis campaigns, and aided patients at
Ninette Sanitarium. Source: Pioneers and Early Citizens
of Manitoba (Manitoba Library Association, 1971) :
Legacyfamilytree.ca (Accessed November 2012) (2020) |
|
Elizabeth Goodfellow Chisholm |
née Goodfellow. Born December 27, 1842 St. Catharines,
Canada West (now Ontario). Died 1930, California, U.S.A. Elizabeth started work as a
teacher in Brant County, Ontario. She married James Chisholm
on February 22, 1864. The couple would have six children. In
1877 the couple relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she
was involved with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
for thirty years. She served as Manitoba Provincial
President from 1888 to 1892. She then moved to the United
States for eight years. Returning to Winnipeg in 1900, she
was re-elected Provincial President in 1902 of the WCTU and
continued in office for several years, representing Manitoba
in the World’s WCTU Convention at Boston, Massachusetts, USA
in 1906. She went on to serve Vice-President of the Dominion
WCTU and Vice-President of the Dominion National Council of
Women. Source: Pioneers and Early Citizens
of Manitoba (Manitoba Library Association, 1971) :
Legacyfamilytree.ca (Accessed November 2012) (2020) |
|
Agnes Marie Christenson |
Born 1886 Hjørring, Denmark. Died
November 2, 1989 Winnipeg, Manitoba. Agnes immigrated to
Canada and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1907. She
served for years as president of the ladies’ auxiliary of
the Danish Lutheran Church. During World War ll she placed
Danish airmen training in Winnipeg homes and organized
knitting groups making needed items for troops overseas. As
a result, she was honoured by the Danish government and the
Canadian Red Cross. (2020) |
|
Marie Arzélie Éva
Circé-Côté
Columbine, Musette, Jean Nay, Fantasio, Arthur Maheu, Julien
Saint-Michel and Paul S. Bédard. |
née Circé. Born January 31,1871
Montreal, Quebec. Died May 4, 1949 Montreal, Quebec. Éva
was a bright student winning a bronze medal for literature
from the Governor General. She also excelled in her studies
in French and music. In 1900 she joined the staff of the
newspaper Les Debats. As a prolific journalist Éva
used several pen names including Colombine, Musette, Jean
Nay, Fantasio, Arthur Maheu, Julien Saint-Michel, and Paul S.
Bédardwhen writing works for a dozen different newspapers. In
1902 she co-founded the literary journal L’Étincelle.
In 1903 her 1st play Hindeland et De Lorimer, was
produced by the Théâtre National Français, in Montréal was
produced by the During this era women oven used male pen
names so that their works would be published. Éva also wrote
poetry and was a playwright. She
was Montreal's
1st Librarian in 1903 at the 1st public library. She
also served as the curator of the prestigious Philéas
Gagnon collection, of rare and antiquarian Canadian books.
A staunch feminist she stood up for compulsory education for
everyone and fought for the status of women. April 19, 1905
she married a physician, Pierre-Salomon Côté (d 1909) and
the couple had one child. In 1908 Éva was the co-founder of
a secular high school for girls which ran for two years. In
1922 she was a founding member of the Canadian Authors
association and served as 1st vice-president of the French
section. The library forced Éva to retire in 1932. After her
retirement she became a spokesperson for Filles natives du
Canada the female counterpart of the Native Sons of Canada.
Having used so many pen names she died not having been
recognized for all her numerous writings.
(2020) |
|
Julia Jane Murray Clark |
Born November 1, 1857 Selkirk Settlement,
Manitoba. Died August 8, 1919 Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Julia
married fur trader William Clark. She was active in promoting the work of child
welfare agencies such as the Children’s Home of Winnipeg, on
whose Board she served for 12 years, seven as its president.
In 1918 a two storey school was built and named in her
honour and it was declared an historic site in 1997. Sources:
Memorable Manitobans Online (Accessed November 2012)
(2020). |
|
Janet Cochrane |
née Williams.
Born March 1, 1912, Fisher Bay, Manitoba. Died December 6,
1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The family changed their name from
Papaniakuse to Williams after immigrating to Canada. Janet
married Arthur Cochrane ( -1954) who relinquished all
treaty rights to work with his father-in-law off the
reserve. The couple had eight children. Sadly four of the
children died in infancy. Arthur became blind in 1955 and
the family relocated for better medical care to Winnipeg. In
1956 Janet and her friend Amy Clements founded the
Friendship Centre concept where First Nation peoples and
their family could gather across Canada.
The 1st Friendship
Centre was incorporated in Winnipeg. The two good friends
helped First Nation and Métis families relocated in urban
areas. She served her organization for over 35 years,
fundraising and doing hands on work for any group or project
that helped First Nations people. In 1984 she and her
daughter Frances applied for a grand at the Core Area
initiative to do a study for First Nation Elders Housing
Complex. The Kekinan Inc. was founded with the grant and the
housing complex was completed in Winnipeg. On April 20, 1989
Janet became a Member of the Order of Canada. Janet was also
acknowledged for her work from the Indian and Métis
Friendship Centre. The centre has named a hall after her,
and had several portraits painted of her. She has been a
long-time member of the Native
Women's Group and was the president of the
Indian and Métis Senior Citizen's Group of Winnipeg. (2020) |
|
Martha Ruth Cohen |
née Block.
Born October 14, 1920, Calgary, Alberta. Died February 26,
2015, Calgary, Alberta. Martha married Dr. Harry Cohen (1912-1990) and the couple had four children. Martha earned a
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta in 1940 and
a Master Diploma of Social Work from the University of
Toronto in 1945. Martha
was a driving force behind the creation of many social and
cultural institutions including Jewish Family Service
Calgary, Mount Royal College, and the Calgary Centre for the
Performing Arts. In 1970 she earned the Prime Minister Medal
from the State of Israel Bonds. She received the Alberta
Achievement Award in 1975 and that same year was inducted
into the Order of Canada. In 1977 she received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medal and a Sesquicentennial
Year Plaque from the University of Toronto. In 1979 she was
made Calgary Citizen of the Year. In 1984 she received the
Boy Scouts of Canada Medal and the Variety Club
International Lifeliner Medal. From 1980-1985 she was a
Councilor, of the Alberta Order of Excellence. In 1983 Harry
Cohen donated $1 million to have a theatre named at the
Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts to honor Martha’s
birthday. In the 1990’s she received the Scopus Award from
the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
the Distinguished Citizen Award from Mont Royal College, the
Angel Award from the International Society for the
Performing Arts. In 2005 she received an Alberta Centennial
Medal followed the next year by the Distinguished Alumni
Award from the Calgary Board of Education. In 2008-2009 she
received the Best of Alberta Award from the Calgary Herald
and the Global News Woman of Vision. In 2012 she received
the Western Legacy Award as one of the 100 Outstanding
Albertans from the Calgary Stampede. The couple established
a foundation in their name which provided grants primarily
to Calgary based charities. On
May 4, 2015, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) announced
that it would name a new Middle School (located in New
Brighton/Copperfield) after Martha. In April, 2017, the CBE
formally opened the Dr. Martha Cohen School at 1750 New
Brighton Drive S.E. It will provide educational programming
for approximately 900 students from Grades five to nine.
(2020) |
|
Nina Cohen |
née Fried. Born January 1, 1907, Glace
Bay, Nova Scotia. Died December 31, 1991. She studied music
and art at Mount Allison Ladies College and went on to
Rutgers’s University in New Jersey, U.S.A. In 1928 she
married Aharon Mordechai Cohen (1899-1978) During World War
ll she served as chair of the hospital visiting committee
and as publicity chair of the Canadian red Cross in Sidney,
Nova Scotia. After the War she was active in the War Orphan
Placement Service of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1955
she was a Negev Dinner Honoree in Sidney. She was an active
Zionist serving as National President of Canadian Hadassah-Wizo
from 1960-1964 after which she was proclaimed President for
Life. She received the Canadian Red Cross Medal of Merit,
and Woman of the Century 1867-1967 for the province of Nova
Scotia and for the National Council of Jewish Women. Source:
Jewish Women’s Archive. Personal Information for Nina Fried
Cohen. Online (Accessed June 2013) (2020) |
|
Elizabeth Comper |
née Webster. Born November 6, 1945
Etobicoke, Ontario. Died June 22, 2014 Toronto, Ontario.
After high school Elizabeth attended Toronto Teacher’s
College and began teaching elementary school students. In
1971 she married banker Anthony (Tony) Comper and the newly
weds settled in Montreal, Quebec. While Elizabeth continued
to teach she attended night classes and earned her BA from
Concordia University, Montreal. She followed this with studies in
librarianship receiving her Master's in Library Science from McGill University. The
family moved to wherever the bank sent Tony including time
in England before finally settling in Toronto. In 1989
Elizabeth helped raise funds for the 1st Yee Hong Center for
Geriatric Cancer and she was honoured to receive the Dragon
Ball in 2000 and 2001 for her work. She also served on the
Board of Directors of the Tarragon Theatre serving 2 years
as President. She was also a member of the Board of
Directors of the Art Gallery of Ontario
and the Royal Conservatory of Music. Aware of disturbances
in Montreal against the Jewish community she formed Fighting
Anti-Semitism Together (FAST), a coalition of non-Jewish
businesses and citizens who provided free educational
materials to 2 million primary grade children. Personally
she helped aboriginal single mothers to enter
university. She helped Reach for the Skye Program for child
cancer research, the March for Remembrance and Hope and
Smile Theater Company. She has received the Arbor Award from
the University of Toronto, the Human Relations Award from
the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, the Human
Relations Award from the Canadian Center for Diversity and
the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In
2011 she and Tony were inducted into the Order of Canada. Source:
Elizabeth Comper, Obituaries, The Globe and Mail, June 25,
2014. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon Ottawa, Ontario (2020) |
|
Myrtle Rietta Conway |
Born January 28, 1908 Miniota, Manitoba.
Died April 5, 2005. Myrtle earned her BA and her teaching
certificate from the University of Manitoba.
She began her teaching career in Ebor, Manitoba. She
taught at Neepawa and Gladstone before relocating to teach
High School in Winnipeg during the Second World War. By1949
she had become a school Principal. She would serve as
president of the Manitoba Teacher’s Society, the Manitoba
Educational Association and the Canadian Teachers’
Federation. In 1948 she was one of only three Canadian
delegates to the second international seminar of UNESCO at
New York, U.S.A. She was also a member of the Canadian
delegation to the seventh annual UNESCO conference in Paris,
France. She was an active member with the Provincial and
National Councils of Women, the Zonta (Aurora) Club, and
the University Women's Club where
she served as President from 1959 to1961. She retired to
Victoria, British Columbia at the end of 2003. Source:
Obituary, Manitoba Free Press, April 9, 2005.online (accessed 2018) (2020) |
|
Bertha Cook
Métis Activist |
née Houle. Born November 6, 1922 Clear
Hills, Alberta. Died October 21, 2014. At 18 the young
Métis joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked her way
to being a corporal. After the war in 1945 she was incensed
by the fact that she could not have a land grant like the
men who had served in World War ll. Women were not allowed
the grants of land. During the war she had met a young
Australian serviceman who returned to Australia after the
war. Bertha gave birth to a baby girl but was forced to give
her up for adoption. It would be 50 years before the two
would find one another again. Meanwhile Bertha married
George Clark, a farmer, and eventually the couple had six
children. In the 1960’s they lost their farm to fire and the
family moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta. Bertha worked at
various jobs to help keep the family together including
being a hairdresser, a receptionist, a school bus driver and
a telephone operator. During this time she was also and
active volunteer in the community. She helped establish and
aboriginal Friendship Center. In 1968 she founded the Voice
of Alberta Native Women’s Society. She became the
1st president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
All the time she was working towards making a better
existence for aboriginal women. She has received both the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee
medal. She has also been inducted into the Order of Canada. Source:
Alicja Siekierska ‘Métis activist galvanized by
injustice’. The Globe and Mail, January 31, 2015. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Gladys Evelyn Taylor Cook
Topahdewin
Indigenous social worker
|
née Taylor. Born August 18, 1929 Sioux
Valley Dakota Nation, Manitoba. Died May 9, 2009 Portage la
Prairie, Manitoba. Her Indigenous name was Topahdewin. At
the age of four, she was taken to the Elkhorn Residential
School where she remained for twelve years
Like so many Indigenous youth she suffered abuse at this
school. After a brief return to her family, she moved to
Yankton, South Dakota, U.S.A. working in a housekeeping
position at the hospital. At the end of World War ll, she
worked on a hospital ship bringing wounded soldiers from
Hawaii and Guam to San Diego, California, U.S.A. Returning
to Yankton where she met and married, Clifford Cook, on 29
September 1950. The couple eventually settled at Portage la
Prairie where she worked in house cleaning in the local
residential school and in private home. Gladys went on to
became a drug and alcohol abuse counselor for the Friendship
Centre and coordinator of the National Native Alcohol Drug
abuse program. She worked with the Agassiz Youth Centre,
Women’s Correctional Centre, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon,
and Al-Ateen Groups. She was a member of the Manitoba
Council of Elders for Corrections with the National
Association of Cultural Centres teaching Dakota culture to
federal employees. She was presented with a Governor
General’s Award, the Order of Manitoba, the Canada 125 medal for outstanding
citizenship, the Premier’s Award for volunteer work, YM/YWCA
Woman of Distinction Award, Manitoba Medical
Association Award for Health or Safety Promotion, the Order
of Rupertsland for the promoting native education in the
ministry, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award. In
Portage la Prairie the the Gladys Cook Education Centre is
named in her honour. (2020) |
|
Joan E. Coolican |
née Campbell. Born 1918. Died July 20,
2010 Ottawa, Ontario. Joan married Denis Coolican and the
couple had four As the daughter of a British Diplomat Jean
was well traveled. She was born in Ethiopia and lived in
England, U.S.A., and finally Ottawa where she met he husband.
After raising the children Jean went to Carleton University
and earned a BA in religious studies when she was 53 years
old. She was co-founder of the Canadian Save the Children
Fund and was a long time volunteer. In 1999 she was awarded
the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award. Source: Births
and Deaths, The Ottawa Citizen July 23, 2010. (2020) |
|
Faith Coughlan |
Born December 18, 1917 Riverside, New
Brunswick. Faith trained for the Registered Nursing at St
Joseph’s Hospital, St John, New Brunswick. She married and
the couple had one daughter. In 1969 she took a cheque she
had received at Christmas for $50.00 and planned a meal for
26 children in need in late February. Within a decade that
had become an annual program. She also developed a cooking
school for girls and also taught sewing, knitting and
included handcrafts for boys in the free or charge program.
In 1973 she earned publicity on local and national
television for her project. She knew she had to do something
to help families because social assistance cheques did not
last the whole month. Source;
Canadian Women of Note, Canadian Womens Press Club, 1994. (2020) |
|
Léa Cousineau |
In 1974 the Montreal Citizens Movement (MCM)
/ Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal (RMC)
was formed and Léa was right there. She would become the
1st woman to be elected president of a municipal political
party in Quebec. She was instrumental in changes to the
Montréal Police Service, leading to the hiring of more women
police officers and more transparent and community-friendly
approach to policing. She was elected as a city councilor
from 1986 through 1994. Léa was also a member of the Status
of Women Council and Associated Deputy Minister responsible
for the status of women in Quebec. She was a strong force in
the establishment of a programme analyzing differentials
between genders and a grant programme enabling Quebec women
to maintain involvement in regional development. In
2004 she was a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in
Commemoration of the Person Case. Sources:
2004 recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in
Commemoration of the Person Case Online (Accessed November
2008) (2020) |
|
Linda Dorothy Crabtree |
Born April 16, 1942, St Catherines, Ontario. From 1970 through 1982 she was a journalist for the
St
Catherines Standard newspaper. in 1986 she developed It's
OK! a magazine which publishes information on sexuality,
self-esteem and disability. In 1984 she established and
became president of the Charcot-MarieTooth (CMT)
International. CMT is a progressively debilitating
neuromuscular syndrome. Having the disease herself, she is
an active role model. She earned her BA from Brock
University, St Catherines in 1987. She is a member of the
Advisory Board of the Canadian Organization for Rare
Disorders (CARD). She became a member of the Order of Canada
in 1994 and that same year was recipient of the YMCA Peace
medal. She also received the Toronto Sun's Women on
the Move Award. She also received the Canada 125 Medal, the
Order of Ontario and the Ontario Medal for Citizenship. In
1993 she was inducted into the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
|
Marion Elizabeth Crerar
Philanthropist |
née Stinson. Born September 8, 1859
Hamilton, Upper Canada (Ontario). Died May 20, 1919, Hamilton, Ontario.
Marion married Cuthbert John Ottaway on August 19,
1877 but sadly he died before their daughter was born. She married
a second time to Peter Duncan Crerar on June 9, 1884. The
couple would have three sons and a daughter. Marion was
trained as a singer and raised funds for the local
philharmonic orchestra. She founded the Hamilton branch of
the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) in 1900
and served as regent from 1902-1913. She also worked for the
battle against tuberculosis, which had claimed the life of
her first husband. In 1906 she was a founding member of the
Ladies” Auxiliary Board of the Hamilton Health Association.
In WW l Marion directed her energies to the war effort. In
September 1915 she donated her home for the use of a
convalescent hospital for returned soldiers. She organized
the Woman’s Auxiliary of the 11th Battery, Canadian Filed
Artillery, her son’s unit. She also was a tireless worker
with the Canadian Red Cross. Source: Canadian
Dictionary of Biography Online (Accessed 2002) (2020) |
|
Sophie Crestohl |
née Wolofsky. Born June 18, 1902,
Montreal, Quebec. Died October 27, 2002. Sophie married Leon
David Crestohl (1900-1963) on June 18, 1025. He was an up
and coming Lawyer who would become a Liberal Member of the
Canadian Parliament. After World War ll Sophie made more
than 25 trips to war torn Europe in her work for
rehabilitation. She visited Poland, Italy, France,
Czechoslovakia, and Germany on fact finding missions,
visiting displaced people and concentration camps. Her work
involved Liaison with the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration and the International Refugee
Organization. In Turkey and Greece she worked with the
Marshall Plan to raise money for more rehabilitation. In
1948 she founded the Canadian Women’s Overseas Office of
Rehabilitation and Retraining (ORT) and served as the
1st president of the organization.
Sources:
Canadian Women of Note,
Canadian Women’s Press Club through York University. (2020) |
|
Cathy Crowe |
Born 1952 Cobourg, Ontario. Cathy studied
nursing at the Toronto General Hospital and received her
diploma in 1972. In 1985 she earned her Bachelor Degree in
nursing from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (now Ryerson
University). She went on to earn her Master of Education at
the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1992.
Cathy married twice and has one daughter. Cathy worked in a
impoverished downtown Toronto area as a 'street nurse'
caring for the homeless and poor. She advocated for
affordable housing, public health and social justice. In
1998 she was a co-founder of the Toronto Disaster Relief
Committee which brought attention to homelessness in the
city calling for each level of government to commit an
additional one percent of their budget towards affordable
housing. In 200 she was named the Toronto Sun's newspaper
Person of the Year. In 2003 she received an international
Nursing Ethics Award in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The
Atkinson Charitable Foundation presented her with the
Economic Justice Fellowship in 2004 and the following year
she was named Toronto's Bess Homelessness Advocate by NOW
Magazine. In the February 4, 2010 provincial
by-election she ran unsuccessfully for the New Democratic
Party. She was also a candidate in 2011 but again was not
successful. She is the author of Dying for a home;
Homeless Activists Speak Out which discussed
practical steps needed to address homelessness. In She has
also been involved in numerous documentary films about
homelessness. In 2018 she became a Member of the Order of
Canada. (2020) |
|
Elizabeth Mary Crowe |
née Holmes. Born March 31, 1856, Clifton,
Nova Scotia. Died November 6, 1918, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In 1875, she married grain merchant George
Reading Crowe (1852-1924). The couple settled in
Winnipeg in 1881. They had three children. Elizabeth
became active in their new community where she served as
vice-president for Manitoba of the YWCA Dominion Council,
president of the Winnipeg YWCA, president of the Westminster
Presbyterian Church Ladies’ Society, president and Secretary
of the Women’s Missionary Society, and president of the
Women’s Canadian Club of Winnipeg. She was also a member of
the Independent Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE), and the Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON). Source: Memorable
Manitobans. Online. (Accessed February 2014) (2020) |
|
Hilda Luella Cryderman |
Born May 10, 1904 Vernon, British
Columbia. Died 1985 Vernon, British Columbia Hilda at 19 was
principal of Coldstream School from 1924 to 1937, when she
obtained her B.A. from the University of British Columbia.
From 1937 to 1967 she taught business law and history at
Vernon Senior Secondary School and counseled female
students. She always met her students halfway allowing them
to keep their skates on when they wanted to because it took
too much time from play to change to their boots. In 1936,
she became the 1st president of the North Okanagan Teachers'
Association, in 1939 she became president of the Okanagan
Teachers' Association and from 1954 to 1955 she was
president of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation. She
led the fight for equal pay for women teachers. In 1953,
1957, and 1958, Hilda ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal in the
federal riding of Okanagan-Revelstoke. However, in 1967, she
was the 1st woman appointed to the Public Service Staff
Relations Board in Ottawa. She was awarded the Queen's
Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977. In 1985 she was the
1st honorary member of the Human Relations Institute of
Canada and received the Order of Canada. Source: Canadian
Women of Note, Canadian Women’s Press Club, 1994. (2020) |
|
Evelyn Cudmore |
née MacEwen. Born MacEwen’s Mills
Bristol, Prince Edward Island. Died May 25, 1892. She was
born a member of the fourth generation Scottish Immigrant of
the Island. She attended Prince of Wales College before
marring Harry. W. Cudmore. They had one son, Paul. As a
youth she helped with the Canadian Girls in Training and
later she served in various capacities with the Girl Guides
of Canada. She joined the service of the Red Cross on June
2, 1942 and would remain loyal and active for 70 years! She
served with the United Way and joined the local Zonta group
and became involved the Zonta International. She was
responsible in 1945 for organizing the first Red Cross Water
Safety Course in Canada that certified Instructors. In 1946
she organized First Aid services throughout PEI. She
introduced radio and later television training for water
safety. She would host the safety Radio programs for 25
years. Her life was devoted to physical education, health
and recreation. The Girl Guides of Canada presented her with
life membership and the Beaver Award. She was provided with
the Distinguished Service Award from the United Way of
Canada. She also received the 1967 Confederation Medal and
the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal in 1977. In 1993 she
became a member of the Order of Canada. The University of
Prince Edward Island offers annually the Evelyn M. Cudmore
Memorial Scholarship. Source:
Outstanding women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the
Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981. (2020) |
|
Claire Culhane |
née Elgin. Born September 2, 1918
Montreal, Quebec. Died April 25, 1996 Vancouver, British
Columbia. As a youth in the province of Quebec during the
depression she had been involved in the relief movement. As
a young idealistic woman she joined the Communist Party of
Canada. This began a lifelong relationship with the RCMP
watching her movements. She strove for the end of the
Spanish Civil War. Working as a medical records librarian in
Montreal she gained the experience to volunteer as an
advisor at a Canadian Government operated Tuberculosis
hospital in Quang Ngai City in Viet Nam 1967/1968. She was
deeply moved and never forgot the horrors she saw. Returning
home to Canada, on September 30,1968 she began a ten day
hunger fast on Parliament Hill in protest of Canada’s
involvement in Viet Nam. Her efforts were supported by the
Voice of Women organization. Later that year she attended
the International Stockholm conference on Viet Nam and from
there to Paris, France for peace talks. In December 1969 she
participated in a Paris conference on War Crimes. On
Christmas Eve 1969, back in Canada, she was working on a
documentary called Enough/Assez: enough horrors,
enough vacillation, and enough complicity. In 1972 she
published Why is Canada in Viet Nam?: The truth about
our foreign aid. At one point when Parliament was in
session she chained herself to a gallery chair in the House
of Commons and scattered pamphlets denouncing Canada in Viet
Nam. In 1975 she was a woman’s studies instructor at the
Lakeside Prison for Women in British Columbia. This began a
career advocating prison rights as she became a watchdog for
prisoners’ human and legal rights. She was passionate about
prison reform and in 1976 she was appointed to the Citizen’s
Advisory Committee for British Columbia Penitentiaries. Sources: Claire
Culhane: Canadian Peace Activist and Humanitarian.
online (Accessed
December 2011): Farewell to a friend by Liz Elliott
Journal of Prisoners on Prisons vol. 8 nos. 1 & 2 1997:
Lowe, Mick, One woman Army: the life of Claire Culhane (Toronto:
McMillan Canada, 1992) Suggestion submitted by Marion Crow,
Cochrane, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Alice Marion Curtis |
née Mills. Born 1877, Lambeg, Ireland.
Died 1964, Vancouver, British Columbia. Alice arrived in
Ontario in 1887 and graduated in 1898 from the Ottawa Normal
School. She taught for several years in Ottawa. In 1903 she
married James Heines Curtis. The couple would have three
children. In 1904 they relocated to Alberta in hopes of
having a ranch but by 1905 they lived in Calgary. In
1913-1914 she became the 1st president of the Mothers’ Club
at Connaught School. This was the 1st such club in the
Canadian west. She was soon organizing other clubs at other
schools. Widowed in 1921 she would return to teaching to
support her family. In 1926 she helped found the Calgary
Home and School Federation. She would go on to serve as
secretary treasurer for the national Federation. The
Federation gave her a life membership in 1951. She was also
active in the United Nations Association of Canada. In 1964
a school in Calgary was named in her honour. (2020) |
|
Dorothy Danzker |
née Sternberg. Born Minneapolis,
Minnesota, U.S.A. Died April 26, 1988. Dorothy was a community
volunteer who worked with over one dozen organizations
within her community including the B’Nai B’rith Women’s
Organization, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Hadassah-Wizo
Organization, the Council of Jewish Women, the Canadian
Jewish Congress, the Young Women’s Hebrew Association, the
Winnipeg United Appeal, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian
Cancer Society, the Winnipeg Hear Fund, the Society of
Crippled Children and the Multiple Sclerosis Society to name
a few. Her volunteerism behind the scenes was an essential
force that runs the organizations and without which such
organizations cannot function. (2020) |
|
Francoise David |
Born 1948 Montreal, Quebec.
Francoise
graduated from the University of Montreal with a degree in
Social work and began her career as a public servant until
1987. She worked at a women’s centre and from 1994 though
2001 she served as president of the Fédération des femmes du
Québec (Quebec Federation of Women) She was the organizer
behind provincial marches on behalf of the advancement of
women and women’s issues. She visited Nicaragua, Iraq, and
Mali and attended the World Social Forum in India in 2004.
She initiated the world march of women against violence in
2002. In 2004 she created Option citoyenne a provincial
political party and ran unsuccessfully for election in 2007
and 2008. She also wrote a book and collaborated on other
books about social justice. In 2002 she was made a Knight of
the National Order of Quebec and in 2004 she was presented
with the Governor’s General award for working towards
equality between men and women. Source: Herstory:
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2012. (2020) |
|
Bridgit Ann Davidson |
Born December 30, 1958, Port Hope,
Ontario. Died June 30, 2013, St. Catherines, Ontario. Her
job was her avocation. She loved to teach. Bridgid is
married with two children. While raising her children she
earned two university degrees. At 38 she began teaching in
Niagara Falls, Ontario. She knew she had found her calling.
She would write and perform stories to delight and educate
her students. In 2010 she married Michael Davidson. That
same year she saw a television program about Mary’s Meals in
the United States. Mary’s Meals International feeds children
at schools in poor countries around the world. She gathered
people around her and established Mary’s Meal’s in Canada.
At home she organized “Oatmeal Days” for schools in the
Niagara Region to inspire students to held the hungry of the
world through Mary’s Meals. She was able to share her desire
to help others in need around the world even though she had
been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. Source:
'Lives Lived', The Globe and Mail, September 24, 2013
: Mary’s Meals website. (Accessed February 2014) Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Vega Dawson |
née Gronlund. Born 1894?, New Brunswick. Died January 2,
1988. Vega completed her post secondary studies at Mount
Allison University. For her work in Halifax during World War
ll she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. She
served as the chair of the Regional Advisory Committee of
the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. In 1945 she organized
the National Clothing Collection for Europe to help families
suffering from the devastation of World War ll. She was also
a member of the executive of the I.O.D.E, the Nova Scotia
Tuberculosis Association, and the Halifax Children’s
Hospital Auxiliary. She was active with the Mount Allison
University Federated Alumni and received a honourary degree
from that institution. (2020) |
|
Mary Jo 'M.J.'
DeCoteau |
Born April 1970, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
M.J.'s grandmother was a breast cancer survivor but her mother
died from the disease. She was disheartened to find little
information about prevention of Breast Cancer. After moving
to Toronto she established Rethink Breast Cancer to provide
public awareness about this leading cause of death amount
women under 40. “Rethink” also sponsors fundraising events
which support many services across the country. She married
Glenn Vogelsang in 1996 and the couple have one daughter. In
2004 Maclean’s Magazine named M. J. as one of the ten
Canadians who make a difference and in 2006 Chatelaine
listed her as one of the 12 Canadian women who should run
for parliament. Source: Herstory:
Canadian Women’s Calendar 2012 ,Coteau Books, 2011. (2020) |
|
Coleen Anne Dell |
Born Winnipeg, Manitoba. She earned her
BA at the University of Winnipeg in 1992 and went on to earn
her Masters in Sociology at the University of Manitoba in
1996. By 2001 she had received her PhD from Carleton
University, Ottawa., Ontario. She worked as Research Chair
in Substance Abuse at the University of Saskatchewan. Her
work has had an impact on substance abuse programming across
Canada. Source: Herstory;
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2010. (2020) |
|
Anna Maria de Souza/Sousa |
Born Brazil. Died September 2007,
Toronto, Ontario.
Anna Maria married John Marston, a Canadian importer of
orange juice, and arrived in Toronto, Ontario in February 1965 to set up a
shop for her family coffee company. In 1966 she founded the
Brazilian Carnival Ball in Toronto, in the basement of a
Portuguese church. In its history the ball has raised some
$50 million for numerous charities in both Toronto and
Brazil. The monies in Toronto have gone to York University,
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, the Canadian Opera
Company and Princess Margaret Hospital. In 1982, Anna
married Ivan de Souza and the two worked to improve the
funds raised. The tickets to the Brazilian Carnival Ball
rose to an astounding $6,200 for businesses in 2007 as the
city's glittery bit-ticket even and everybody who was
anybody attended. In 2002 the ball raised $2,000,000.00 for
France's Louis Pasteur Institute. The
ball annual ball continued to raise funds after Ana Maria's
death for such groups as the Royal Ontario Museum, the De
Souza Institute which runs a training program for nurses in
Cancer care, and the Canadian Association of Psychosocial
Oncology. The last ball was held in 2012. Source:
Anna Marie de Souza: the simmer in the Brazilian Ball by
Surya Bhattacharya, Toronto Star, September 21, 2007. (2020) |
|
Velma Demerson |
Born 1920 Saint John, New Brunswick. Died
May 13, 2019, Vancouver, British Columbia. As a youth and
underage, Velma was arrested under the 1893 Ontario Female
Refugees Act as incorrigible because she lived and became
pregnant with her Chinese fiancé Harry Yip. Her parents had
not agreed to her relationship and they went on to report
her to the Ontario Government. She was sentenced to 10
months in the infamous Mercer Reformatory for Women. Inside
she underwent numerous medical procedures. Out of the
reformatory she married Harry and according to the law
because of her marriage she assumed the nationality of her
husband. Velma was now officially Chinese. Unfortunately she
became divorced three years later. Denied Canadian
Citizenship because she was “Chinese” and ignored by the
Chinese Embassy because she was not ‘Chinese” Velma was
stateless. November 13, 1948 she applied to have her
Canadian Citizenship returned but was denied. In 1949 she
resettled in British Columbia where she received a passport
under her maiden name. She knew it was illegal to have this
document in her maiden name and lived in fear of having a
false application. She and her son went to Hong Kong hoping
for a more accepting life. Unable to fit in she sent her son
back to Canada to his father. Returning to Canada herself a
year later, Velma found out her son was living in care of
the province of British Columbia. They were never together
again. Her son died when he was 26. In 2002 she sued the
Ontario government for pain and suffering during her
incarceration in the Mercer Reformatory. She settled out of
court receiving an apology and a financial compensation from
the provincial government. It would not be until 2004 that
Velma would finally be granted recognition as a Canadian
Citizen. That year she published a book telling her story:
Incorrigible (Wilfrid Laurier University Press) which won
the J. S. Woodsworth Prize from the New Democratic Party of
Canada for anti-racism Source:
Daren Fleet, Lost Canadian Velma Demerson’s tragic Story of
love and loss. (2020) |
|
Agnes Dennis |
Born April 11, 1859, Truro, Nova Scotia.
Died April 21, 1949. President of the Victoria Order of
Nurses (1901 - 1946) and the Halifax Council of Women (1906
- 1920) she mobilized women in World War I for the Red Cross
for which she was also president at the provincial lever
from 1914-1920. She helped co-ordinate relief efforts for
the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Even with all this work she
found time to raise ten children of her own! (2020) |
|
Carrie Matilda Derick |
SEE - Academics or First Women - Academics |
|
Viola Desmond
Black
Activist |
Born July 6, 1914 Halifax, Nova Scotia .
Died February 7, 1965. New York, U.S.A. Viola was a
successful Halifax beautician and businesswoman working with
her husband Jack Desmond, who was a barber. She would become
embroiled in one of the most publicized incidents of racial
discrimination in Canadian history. On November 8, 1946,
while visiting New Glasgow, Nova Scotia she attended a movie
at the Roseland Theatre. She chose to sit downstairs in the
racially segregated theatre instead of upstairs in the
balcony where Blacks were forced to sit. She was arrested
and thrown into jail overnight. She had refused to pay the
once cent amusement tax difference charged to clients
sitting downstairs instead of the balcony. She refused to
pay more than white customers at the show. At trial, where
she had no counsel, she was sentenced to a fine of $20.00.
Later she, and newspaper editor Carrie Best would encourage
a lobby group to force the Nova Scotia government to finally
repeal the law of segregation in 1954. After her trial she
closed her shop and moved to Montreal where she enrolled in
a business college. In 2000, Desmond and other Canadian
civil rights activists were the subject of a National Film
Board of Canada documentary Journey to Justice. On
April 14, 2010, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia,
Mayann Francis, invoked Royal Prerogative and granted Desmond a
posthumous pardon,
the 1st such to be granted in Canada. The government of Nova
Scotia also apologized to her family. Cape Breton
University has a Viola Desmond Chair for Social Justice. In
2018 Viola Desmond Became the 1st non-royal women to appear
solo on a Canadian monetary bill, the ten dollar bill. (2020) |
|
Veronica N. Dewar
Inuit Activist |
Born Coral Harbour, Southampton Island,
Canadian Arctic. Veronica left home at 16 to continue her
education in Churchill, Manitoba and later attended college
in Ottawa. Serving as the President of Pauktuutit, the Inuit
Women’s Association of Canada where she pushes to bring
violence against women to the political for front of the
Canadian North. Violence again women has always been kept a
private matter but Veronica knows the word must get out so
that prevention and healing can take place for the Inuit
Peoples. She has also worked to have the traditional
amatutit parka design is protected against global
production. In 2002 she travelled to South Africa and the
World Summit on Sustainable Development where she presented
the problem of protection of the amatutit design. Working
with women from Peru and Panama who have been successful in
protecting traditional designs Veronica was steadfast in her
goal. The Summit organization was successful in halting
international production of the Amatutit. Sources: Herstory,
the Canadian Women’s Calendar 2006 Coteau Books, 2005 (2020) |
|
Marion Margaret Diog |
née Hales. Born September 21, 1902,
Hartney, Manitoba. Died June 8, 1961, Brandon, Manitoba. As
a child her family moved to Brandon, Manitoba. She became
an authority on art and worked to plan the Alfred Arts
Centre. She served on the Brandon
School Board from 1948 to 1956. She also
served as President of the Teck Chapter, I.O.D.E and the
Brandon Red Cross. She was inducted into the Manitoba
Order of the Buffalo Hunt (now the Order
of Manitoba) for meritorious service to her community. Source: Memorable
Manitobans Online (Accessed February 2014) (2020) |
|
Winona Margaret Dixon |
née Flett. Born June 10, 1884, South
Dumfries Township, Ontario. Died May 16, 1922, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. In 1912 she moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba with her
sister Lynn and her mother. It did not take log before she
was involved in the community and she joined the Political
Equity League in a desire to gain the right to vote for
women. She was a gifted and popular speaker at numerous
events in the coming years. In May 1914 she spoke up for
reform of the Factory Act in places where women and children
worked. In July 1914 she was working on the election
campaign for liberal Frederick John Dixon. In October 1914
Fred and Winona were married. The couple had three
children. They were also committed pacifists and would
condemn the future World War l conscription. In August 1914
Winona was in charge of a petition signed by 39,584 women
when a group of women present the petition to the provincial
legislature. In January 1916 Manitoba became the
1st province in Canada to grant women the right to vote.
Winona was one of eight women who were invited to be on the
floor of the legislature for the third and final reading of
the bill! The couple were arrested after the Winnipeg
General Strike of 1919 and charged with seditious
conspiracy. By June 1920 she campaigned in her husband’s
election as labour candidate in the provincial election. (2020) |
|
Margaret Ellen Douglass |
Born 1878 Stanley, New Brunswick. Died
July 11, 1950, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1905 Margaret graduated
with a medical degree from the University of Toronto. She
would travel to continue Post Graduate studies in London,
England and the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in
the United States. She returned to New Brunswick and but 1909
was settled with her own practice. She was also
active in various women’s groups such as the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union and the Women’s Christian Club.
With the onset of World War l she decided in December 1914
to put aside her private practice to work with St Johns
Ambulance Association when its Commissioner went overseas.
She was a great orator and she worked with the association
to encourage women to work at home to help the war effort.
She taught First Aid to women’s work groups. On January 10,
1915 she created the Woman’s Rifle Club and opened an indoor
rifle rant for practice. The Club also taught about security
patrols and crowd control and the women worked at local
events with these skills. She opened an outdoor rife range
that summer. On July 28, 1915 200 women showed up to for the
Winnipeg Woman’s Volunteer Reserve to protect the home scene
from danger and relive the home boys for duty overseas. This
group of women submitted to rigorous training. In May 1917
Margaret became a national deputy commissioner for the St
Johns Ambulance Association. In January 1918 she headed out
to Europe with the 1st group of 25 volunteer nurses.
Margaret served as an officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Army
Corps and then as a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
When she returned to Winnipeg in 1919 she began a lecture
circuit presenting “Some Phases of Women’s Work in the War”.
In the 1920’s Margaret was back in private practice where
she also served on the Manitoba Board of Health’s Better
Babies conference which was held throughout the province.
She continued to be involved with women’s groups such as the
Women’s Tribute Memorial, Women’s Club of Winnipeg, the
League of Women Voters and the Canadian Women’s Professional
and Business Club. She was also involved leading the call to
have women sit in the Senate. In 1933 she was unsuccessful
in a run for city Council. By the time of World War ll she
still spoke to get women in service and ran the Greater
Winnipeg Bureau for Volunteer Registration of Women. Source:
Christian Cassidy, “This is Manitoba: Local Physician
Prepared Women Volunteers Unit for War. Doctor’s Orders.” Winnipeg Free Press June 14, 2015. (2020) |
|
Elizabeth Miriam Janzen Dreger |
Born 1917 or 1918 Kitchener, Ontario.
Died 1979. Elizabeth married Roderick Louis Dreger. She was an
active member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Business and
Professional Women’s Club, the Kitchener Historical Society,
and the K-W Gyrettes, She worked with the Kitchener Young
Woman’s Christian Association (YWCA) and became treasurer of
the YWCA at the National level. She was also a charter
Member of the Ontario Press Council. She served as a member
of the Board of Governors at the University of Waterloo from
1972 through 1975 and from 1967 through 1975 she was also on
the Board of Governors of Conestoga College. She was a
Director of the Pioneer Community Foundation serving as
president for three years. She was on the Research Committee of
the Pioneer and Builders Section of the Waterloo County Hall
of Fame. She served as president of the Western Ontario
Progressive Conservative Women’s Association and was chair
of the PC Woman’s Advisory Committee for the province of
Ontario. In 1956 as president of the PC Women’s Association
of Canada she became the 1st woman in Canada to preside at
sessions of a national political party convention. She is a
member of the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame. Source: Waterloo
Region Hall of Fame. Online. (Accessed July 2014) (2020) |
|
Lady Grace Julia Parker Drummond
Philanthropist
|
née Parker.
Born December 17, 1860, Montreal, Quebec. Died June 10, 1942.
In 1879 she married the Rev. George Hamilton but was widowed
at 19. She married a second time on September 11, 1884 to
Sir George Alexander Hamilton, a member of the Senate of
Canada. Grace Julia had five step sons and two step
daughters as well as two sons with George Hamilton. This
humanitarian and philanthropist she was the 1st president
of the Montreal Council of Women, 1893-1899. She helped
found the Montreal Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). She also
served as president of the Montreal Charity Organization
Society, which she founded with her husband, from
1911-1919. She was director of the Women’s Historical
Society and she served as an advisor to the Parks and
Playgrounds Association of Montreal. During World War she
was living in London, England and served as head of the
Canadian Red Cross Information Bureau, which she founded to
keep Canadian families informed about missing, injured and
deceased soldiers. She was presented with the Serbian Red
Cross and the British Red Cross for her work and was given
the title of Lady of Justice of the Order of St John of
Jerusalem. In 1923 the Winnipeg Tribune newspaper named her
as one of the 12 Greatest Canadian Women for her Red Cross
efforts. The Drummond family papers are housed in the
McCord Museum in Montreal. (2020) |
|
Muriel Helen Duckworth |
née Ball.
Born October 31,1908, Austin, Quebec. Died August 22,
2009. Graduated from McGill University in 1929 and followed
up with graduated studies at the Union Theological Seminary
in New York state, U.S.A. In 1920 she returned to Montreal
where she married Jack Duckworth ( -1975) and the couple
had three children. Muriel involved with the Student
Christian Movement and other community organizations.
Relocating to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1947 she worked with
the provincial Department of Education for 14 years. She was
a founding member and a committed member of the Voice Of
Women (VOW) which was concerned with world peace. She formed
the Halifax branch of the VOW and in 1967 she became
national president and represented Canada at the
international Conference of Women for Peace in Moscow,
Soviet Union. This was the 1st of numerous international
conferences for Muriel. She was also a founding member of
the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women
(CRIAW) in 1976. She served as national president 1979-1980.
In 1981 CRIAW established the Muriel Duckworth Award to be
presented annually to a woman making a significant
contribution to the advancement of women within Canada. She
was also a founding member of the Canadian Conference on
Education, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of
Women and Sport, the Canadian Council for International
Cooperation, the Nova Scotia Women’s Action Coalition and
the Movement for Citizen’s Voice,and Action, Halifax. In
1974 and 1978 she was a candidate for the New Democratic
Party (NDP) in Nova Scotia. In 1981 she was given the
Governor General’s Award of the Persons’ Case and in 1983
she became a Companion in the Order of Canada. In 1991 she
was awarded the Lester B. Pearson Peach Medal. (2020) |
|
Phyllis Anne DuMoulin |
Born 1921, Kingston, Ontario. Died
September 20, 2010, Victoria, British Columbia. The family
relocated to British Columbia when Phyllis was young.
Graduating High Scholl in 1939 she earned a BA at the
University of British Columbia and went on to receive the
degrees of Bachelor of Social Work, 1944 and Masters of
Social Work, 1947. On graduation, she was appointed
Director of the teenage program at Alexandra Neighbourhood
House. In 1949 she was appointed Assistant Professor at the
University of Manitoba’s School of Social Work where she
established the group-work sequence and field work
placements. She served as Executive Director of the Greater
Winnipeg Community Welfare Planning Council from 1952 to
1970, where she initiated the social planning program and
process, developed an interdisciplinary staff and volunteer
approach to social problems, launched Indian-Métis
consultative mechanisms, set up neighborhood houses, led the
country’s 1st and most comprehensive study of problems and
opportunities for the aging population, and supervised a
review of social services in Manitoba. In 1966 she was
elected president of the Canadian Association of Social
Workers. She initiated the transition from the Community
Chest to the United Way and was elected as its 1st woman
Board Chair in 1976. She served the Board of the Vanier
Institute of the Family, and the Board of the Royal Winnipeg
Ballet from 1961 to 1976 serving as Executive Vice-President
in 1975/76. She was a founding member of the Board of the
Health Sciences Centre, a member of the Board of the
Manitoba Medical Research Centre and the Manitoba Branch of
the Canadian Mental Health Association. She was the 1st
Chair of the Prairie Regional Committee for the Explorations
program of the Canada Council. She was also active in the
Girl Guides for many years as a leader and member of the
Manitoba Council of the Girl Guides, and the National
Council of the Girl Guides of Canada. In 1970, she was
inducted into the Order
of the Buffalo Hunt (Now Order of
Manitoba). In 1967 she was awarded the Canada Centennial
Medal. She also received the McArton
Prestige Award for her work in the profession of social
work, Guiding’s Order of the Beaver for service to youth
across Canada, the City of Winnipeg Community Service Award,
and the University of Manitoba’s Distinguished Service
Award. (2020) |
|
Harriet Irene Dunlop-Prenter |
née Dunlop. Born April 7, 1866, Eurkva,
Russia. Died ???? . On September 8, 1992 she married Hector
Henry Weir Prenter (1860-1945) She believed in peace and
followed her beliefs when she by became secretary of the
Canadian section of the Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom and which became the Women’s Peace Party
founded in the U.S. in January 1915. Many women did not like
the pacifist movement and chose instead to support the war.
Harriet was also a strong suffragette and a member of the
Political Equality League in Toronto. Harriet wrote about
her beliefs and her stands in the Canadian Forward, the
White Ribbon Bulletin and Women’s Century. In 1918 she
and Lucy MacGregor formed the Women's Labour League in
Toronto. In 1920 she started a woman’s page in the Industrial
Banner where she discussed money value of women’s work
in the home and paid wages. After Canadian women gained the
right to vote in 1917 Harriet remained interested in
politics and the advancement of equality for women. She
joined the Independent Labour Party and in December 6, 1921
federal election she was a candidate for Toronto West.
Although Unlike fellow candidate Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954)
Harriet was unsuccessful in the election it still stands
that she was one of the 1st women to run as a candidate in a
Canadian federal election. In 1922 she became a member of
the Worker’s Party of Canada and helped with communist
campaigns. In 1924 she was with the Women’s Labour League
celebrating the 1st Canadian International Women’s
Day. (2020) |
|
Nora Ellen Dunwoody |
née Bell.
Born 1899, Dublin Ireland. Died May 17, 1988. She attended
the University of Manitoba and as a young woman she and her
sport partner Art Snell, won the Canadian mixed doubles
Badminton Championship. She settled down to a married life
which included dedication to volunteering. She would pioneer
the establishment of hospital gift shops through
out Ontario. The idea of the hospital gift shop was for
hospital auxiliaries to raise needed funding. She was the
founder of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital
Auxiliary. And became dedicated to the provincial
organization as vice president of the Hospital Auxiliaries
Association of Ontario. She travelled extensively throughout
the province encouraging fund raising with the help of the
Gift Shop. (2020) |
|
Dorothy Dworkin |
née Goldstick. Born 1889, Windau, Latvia.
Died August 13, 1976, Toronto, Ontario. In 1904 she and her
family immigrated to Canada. By 1907 she was training and
working with a Dr. S. J. Kaufman at a free Jewish
Dispensary as a maternity nurse.. Dr. Kaufman encouraged
Dorothy to study in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. In 1909 she
earned a diploma from the Medical State Board of Ohio. In
1911 she married Henry Dworkin, a successful businessman
from Toronto who helped Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe
to immigrate and settle in Canada. The couple had one
daughter. Dorothy opened a free Jewish Dispensary in
Toronto. By 1922 she helped establish the Toronto Jewish
Convalescent and Maternity Hospital so that kosher food
could be provided for patients. This institution would later
be renamed Mount Sinai Hospital where she was 1st president
of the Hospital Woman’s Auxiliary. Widowed in 1928 she
successfully took over the family businesses. By the mid
1930’s she was serving as the secretary of the Jewish Labour
Committee. She was also active in the Canadian Jewish
Congress, ORT and Pioneer Women. On Jul7 6, 2009 the
Canadian Government declared Dorothy Dworkin a National
Historic Person. Sources: Dorothy
Dworkin. Backgrounder. Parks Canada. Online (Accessed July
2014) :Toronto’s 1st Jewish nurse writes of early Toronto.
April 15, 2013 (Accessed
July 2014) (2020) |
|
Henrietta Louise Edwards |
Born December 18, 1849, Montreal, Quebec.
Died November 10, 1931, Fort Macleod, Alberta. As a young
woman she studied art in New York. Her works were
acknowledged in showing by the Royal Canadian Academy and
her miniature portraits included Sir Wilfrid Laurier. She
Married Dr. Oliver Cromwell Edwards in 1876 and they had a
family of three children. She continued her social
activities all her life working for un-enfranchised women,
public library support and equal rights. At eighty she went
to a tea in Edmonton and became one of the “Famous Five”
women who took the Person case to England and had Canadian
women declared” persons” under the law. Women, as
'non-persons' had no rights to own land, serve in government
and had very few legal rights prior to 1929. (2020) |
|
Florence Fernet-Martel |
Born July 25, 1892 Woonsocket, Rhode
Island, U.S.A.. Died February 5, 1986. She studied French
literature at the Universite Laval earning a Bachelor
degree. She became a teacher of English for the Montreal
Catholic School Commission and later worked as a secretary
and translator for an insurance company. She supported and
fought for women’s rights with Therese Casgrain. She went on
to study social sciences at Universite de Montreal. She
would provide shelter for Montreal students for some 40
years. She wrote for several magazines in her adopted French
language including Chatelaine, La Reforme and Le Canada. She
also hosted the Radio Canada program Femina from 1933-1939.
In 1940 she worked for the Canadian Unemployment Insurance
Commission and from 1946 through 1972 she served as a
arbitrator for the commission in Montreal. She also served
on the Quebec censor board for Cinema from 1961-1966. In
1975 she was inducted into the Order of Canada for her
service to the community. In 1981 she received the Governor
General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for
advancing Equality.
(2019) |
|
Emma Sophia Fiske |
née Skinner. Born October 23, 1832, Saint
John, New Brunswick. Died October 29, 1914, Saint John, New
Brunswick. Emma was an accomplished linguist who taught
English Literature at a local high school. On June 15, 1875
she married John Mackenzie Campbell Fiske(- 1877). She was
an active member of the Saint John Art Club, the Ladies
Auxiliary of the Natural History Society, the Associated
Charities of Saint John, the Women’s Temperance Union, and
the Red Cross Society. By 1900 she was president of the
local Suffrage Club. 1904-05 she was a member of the
Government Factory Commission gathering evidence on working
conditions in the area. In 1905 the New Brunswick Factories
Act regulated Child labour and working conditions in the
province. She was a founding member and the driving force in
the Women’s Enfranchisement Association. In 1894 she was
Vice President for the Maritimes of the Dominion Women’s
Enfranchisement Association. She worked with such activists
as Flora Macdonald Denison and British suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst. It is unfortunate that she did not live to see
the right to vote for women come to New Brunswick in 1919.
The Women’s Enfranchise Association established a Memorial
Fund in her name that helped to distribute clothing to Saint
John’s needy children. Source: The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Online.(Accessed 2002)
(2920). |
|
Aida Maud
Boyer McAnn Flemming |
née Ada 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 (SPCA)
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) |
|
Agnes Fontaine
Aboriginal
Activist |
Born June 29,
1912. Died August 10, 1988, Fort Alexander, Manitoba.
Agnes married young and became a
busy mother of 15 children. She somehow always found time to
serve her community as an elected band counselor and as a
counselor at Camp Neecheewan. In 1953 she was awarded the
Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal of service to her
community. (2020) |
|
Lily Frank |
Born
Shanghai. As a youth she joined the
Betar youth movement. In 1949 she immigrated to Israel. In
1956 she served as secretary-general of World WIZO (Woman’s
International Zionist Organization). In 1965 she was invited
to work for Canada Hadassah-WIZO, it was the beginning of a
40 year career that began in Montreal. In 1978 she was
appointed nation executive vice-president. Lily attended
the United Nations Decade for Women conferences in
Copenhagen, 1980 and Nairobi, 1985. Retiring from Hadassah-WIZO
she began working as regional director of the Canadian
Friends of Bar-Ilan University for Eastern Canada. She has
been awarded the Rebecca Sieff Award from Hadassah-WIZO.
(2020) |
|
Margaret Franssen |
Born March 21, 1952, The Netherlands. By
1979 Margaret had immigrated to Canada and had earned her
B.A. at York University, Toronto. In 1h2 1990’s she
convinced the Body Shop , a company of natural and ethical
beauty products, that she was the person to head up their
Canadian branch of the company. The company would garner
numerous accolades including being listed as one of the 100
best companies to work for in Canada and the recognition
from the Financial Post as one of the best 50 best managed
companies in Canada. In 1995 she was a guest speaker at the
World Conference of Women in Beijing, China and presented a
million signature petition calling for women’s rights to be
human rights around the world. She has served on numerous
boards including being chair for 6 years of the Canadian
Women’s Foundation. She served on the board for the CBIC
bank for 15 years and on the World Wildlife Fund, the
Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Toronto Family Services
Association, The York University Foundation, the Women’s
College Hospital and the Women’s Funding Network. From 1991
through 2003 she served on the Board of Governors at York
University. She was also co-chair of the Women Funding
Millions. Over the years she has received over 50 awards for
her efforts supporting women’s justice. In 2002 she was
inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada and received
the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. She has been recognized by the
United Nations with the UN Grand Award for addressing
violence against women and the UN Development Fund for Women
Canada Award in 2004. In 2008 she received the Yorkton
Family Services Humanitarian Award. MicroSkills has
established the Margaret Franssen Leadership Award in her
honour. (2020) |
|
Lillian Freiman |
née Bilsky. Born 1885, Mattawa,
Ontario.
Died 1940 Ottawa, Ontario. Lilian was the daughter of one of
the founding Jewish families in Ottawa. At 18 she married
Archibald Jacob Freiman (1880-1944). He would found
Freiman’s Department Store in Ottawa. The couple had 3
children and adopted a Ukrainian war Orphan named Gladys
Rozovsky. Lillian would among her numerous activities head
the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, the women’s Zionist Organization
from 1919 though 1940. The Red Cross Sewing Circle which she
started in her home as a war effort became a Disraeli
Chapter of the Daughters of the Empire. She would lead
Ottawa’s efforts to battle the influenza epidemic in 1918.
She served on the executive of the Ottawa Welfare Bureau and
helps with the Ottawa Women’s Canadian Club, the Institute
Jeanne d’Arc for Catholic girls, the Protestant Infants Home
and many more. In 1921 she led the campaign to bring 150
Jewish war orphans from the Ukraine to settle in good
Canadian homes. She was granted honourary membership in the
Canadian Legion veteran’s organization, the first woman to
be so honoured. In 1934 she became the first Canadian Jew to
be awarded the Order of the British Empire. Source:
Brown , Michael Lillian Freiman Jewish women: a
Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. March 1, 2009 Jewish
Women’s Archive Accessed August 2011; Knowles,
Valerie Capital Lives. (2020) |
|
Thais Frémont |
Born Montréal, Quebec October 18, 1886.
Died April 6, 1963. A welfare worker by profession she was a
social activist by avocation. She founded the Ste Justine
Children's Hospital in Montreal in 1907. In 1926 she founded
the Conservative Women's Association for Quebec City. She
was appointed a Canadian delegate to the League of Nations
Assembly in 1932. From 1933 to 1936 she was the vice
president of the League of Nations Society of Canada. In
1943 she was a member of the Women's National Advisory
Committee on Problems of Post-war Rehabilitation. In 1947
she was still active in working with the Joint Committee on
the legal status of married women in the Province of
Quebec. (2020) |
|
Eira 'Babs' Friesin |
née Charles. Born April 1, 1917, Wales,
United Kingdom. Died December 11, 2008 Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Babs attend the University of Manitoba earning her Bachelor
of Science in 1939. February 11, 1944 she married Rhinehart
Friesen who was in the armed forces at the time. The couple
would have four children. Once life settled after World War ll
Babs was able to devote herself to her children and her
community. She was a tireless worker with the Young Womens
Christian Association (YWCA) in
Winnipeg. In 1973 she inaugurated a Women’s Resource Centre
at the Winnipeg YWCA which served as a template for other
centres. She was also an active member of MATCH
International, Girl Guides, and the Provincial Council of
Women of Manitoba. She would attend the 1985 International
Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya and the Five Year
After” follow-up to the conference. In 1995 she attended the
Beijing, China Women’s International Conference. Here
community efforts did not go unnoticed. She received the
Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2002, The Premier’s Volunteer Service
Award, the Girl Guide Medal of Merit, the Paul Lejeune
Volunteer Service Award from the Manitoba Council for
International Co-operation as well as the 50th Anniversary
United Nations (UN) Global Citizen Award. In 2003 she was inducted into the
Order of Canada and that same year was honoured with the
Governor’s General Award in Commemoration of the Persons
Case. The Winnipeg YWCA now offers the Eira “Babs” Friesen
Award for Lifetime Achievement. Source:
Eira “Babs” Friesen Award, Winnipeg YW/YMCA online (Accessed
February 2014) (2020) |
|
Lisa Goddard Frothingham-Molson |
née Frothingham.
Born April 15, 1827 Montreal, Quebec. Died August 20, 1910,
Montreal, Quebec. Lisa was just 18 she joined the management
committee of the Montreal Protestant Orphan Asylum which
cared for some 1,000 orphans. She remained active with the
establishment for 64 years. She visited the home regularly,
organized Christmas parties. She also worked with Protestant
Infants’ Home in Montreal and was a life governor of the
Montreal Maternity Hospital. Lisa served on the board of
management of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane and was
second president of the Montreal Ladies’ Educational
Association for 1873 through 1875 helping contribute to the
cause of education for women. As a member of wealthy elite
of the city of Montreal she contributed handsomely to many
charitable institutions helping single parent families,
orphans, local hospitals. and educational institutions such
as McGill University. After the death of her mother, when
Louisa was just 16, she devoted her life to caring for her
father. After her father’s death in 1870 she married John
Henry Robson Molson (1826-1897) the son of brewery founder
Thomas Molson (1791-1863). (2020) |
|
Marion Fulton |
née Tye. Born March 5, 1921, South
Kirby, Yorkshire, England. Died November 4, 2013. In
February 1943 she earned her Registered Nurse papers from
York County Hospital, England. October 16, 1943 she married
Victor Fulton, a flight lieutenant with the Royal Canadian
Air Force. She arrived in Canada with her fist son in her
arms as a War Bride. The family settled 1st in Winnipeg and
then Birtle Manitoba. Two more sons rounded out the family.
Marion worked at the Birtle Hospital while raising her
children and she also became a Brownie leader, a Sunday
School Teacher and joined the local Women’s Institute. She
became provincial president of the Womens Institute (WI) and later National
President of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada and
moved on to become vice-president of the International
Council of Associated Country Women of the World. In 1978
she was inducted as a Member into the Order of Canada. In
1988 the was inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of
Fame. Source: Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press.
November 7, 2013; Order of Canada Online (Accessed April
2014) (2020) |
|
E. Margaret Fulton
Feminist |
Born September 8, 1922 near Birtle,
Manitoba. Died January 22, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia.
After graduating from High School in 1942 she taught in a
rural school in Western Manitoba. During World War ll she
spent her summers working on the family farm to help keep
things running while her brothers served in the War. After
her brothers returned home in 1945 she she taught in Fort
William Vocational School in Ontario. She studied at the
University of Toronto and showed her feminist tendencies in
1963 when Masses Collect opened. She protested the lack of
female Fellows outside the college doors. From 1967 through
1974 she taught at Waterloo Lutheran University, now Wilfrid
Laurier University. She often rebelled against the dominance
of male academics and stood for equal opportunity for all.
In 1974 through 1978 she served as Dean of Women at the
University of British Columbia. In 1978 she became President
of Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Here she worked to make education more accessible to women.
In 1985 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. By 1985
she was once again at the University of British Columbia as
adjunct professor and consultant. She also served as
Scholar–in-Residence at the new feminist university in Loten,
Norway. In 1996 she retired from the university scene but
continue to lecture and campaign for feminist issues. During
her career she was presented with 15 honorary degrees. Source:
“Margaret Fulton…Advocate Fought for Women’s Education…” by
Allison Lawlor, the Globe and Mail , January 2014.
Book: Transformations: the Life of Margaret Fulton, Canadian
feminist, educator and social activist by James Doyle. (2020) |
|
Corinne Gallant |
Born 1922 Moncton, New Brunswick. Died
July 24, 2018 Moncton, New Brunswick. Corrine originally
joined the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and
served in the order for 26 before deciding to become a lay
person in 1970. Corrine was one of the 1st Acadian women to
earn a PhD. She taught philosophy at the Université de
Moncton and became Director of the Philosophy programme and
Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts. She also created the 1st
women's coursed in Canada. Some of her students formed La
Fédération des dames d'Acadie. In 1984 she published La Philosophie
au Feminists. She served on the board of Crossroad for
Women, a woman's shelter from 1985 through 1988. In 1989,
she co-chaired a working committee that led to the creation
of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women
and remained an active member until 1994. She also chaired
the Canadian
Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW).
In 1988 she became a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1992
she was honoured with the 125th Anniversary of the
Confederation of Canada Medal. She retired in 1994 becoming
a professor Emeritus. In 2002 she received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2012 she was presented
with the Governor General's Award for the Advancement of
Women's Equality and received the Order of Moncton. Her
biography Corinne Gallant: A Pioneer of Feminism in Acadia
was published in 2012 as the 1st volume in a series of
biographies about Acadians of achievement. In 2014 she
received the New Brunswick Human Rights Award.
(2020) |
|
Laure Gaudreault |
Born 1888?, Canada. She was described as
a half-Breed. One legal form lists her as a wife so she may
have been married. Her alias was Waters. Her recorded
narrative begins on May 17, 1917. She was broke, without a
place to sleep, and ended up spending a few nights in the
home of John James Ryan who subsequently, had her arrested
and charged with vagrancy. At her trial the next day her
defense lawyer, John McKinley Cameron (1879-1943), appealed
her conviction on the grounds that the female magistrate,
Alice Jamieson, who made the ruling did not have the legal
authority to act as a judge because, as a woman, she was not
a person under the British North America Act. The Alberta
Court of Appeal struck down the appeal in November 1917, a
decision later overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Persons Case eventually came before the British Privy
Council, which asserted October 18, 1929, that women were in
fact persons under constitutional
law.(2020) |
|
Bella Hall Gauld |
Born December 31, 1878. A political and social activist she
worked with immigrants, founded the Labour College
(1920-1924) , and the Woman’s Labour League which sponsored
camps for poor children. In the desperate 1930’s she
operated a soup kitchen and played piano at fundraisers for
various ethnic communities. During World War II she was a
frequent soloist at navy league concerts for
servicemen. She became interested in the political beliefs
of Communism, these beliefs she would retain all of her
live. (2020) |
|
Huberte Gautreau |
Born 1935?, New Brunswick. In her 20's
she travelled to South America to learn Spanish but ended up
working in Peru following an earthquake. Huberte
studied to be a nurse and then went
on to teach in the health field. She has spent most of her
life working for the rights of women and disadvantaged
groups. She has helped families living in violence with the
establishment of Carrefour pour femmes, a shelter for women
and children who are victims of domestic violence. She has
reached out to guide men inclined to violence and is
co-founder of Groupe Option that helps these men. A sexual
and gender harassment counselor she has worked as an
international solidarity education coordinator at the
University of Moncton in New Brunswick. She also
serves as spokesperson for the Concerned Citizens Committee
for Peace / Comité pour la paix. She has received the
1996 New Brunswick Human Rights Award. She was the
driving force behind the New Brunswick women in the World
March of women in 2000. She was co-chair of the provincial
committee to rally some 150 New Brunswick women travelling
to the United Nations headquarters in the U.S.A. to denounce
poverty and violence against women. Additionally she
presided over the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity
2001-2003 and 2008-2009. She founded the Fondation
Marichette, a charitable organization with the mission to
increase access to education for women through scholarships.
In 2004 the
Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person
Case. She has also received the YMCA Peace Medal and the
Order of Moncton. (2020) |
|
Sylvia Gelber |
Born Toronto, Ontario 1910. Died December
9, 2003. Sylvia attended Havergal Ladies College in Toronto.
From 1932 through 1948 Sylvia spent 15 years as a medical
social worker in Palestine where she was professionally
involved in the fields of labour and welfare. She returned
to Canada an in 1989 she wrote No Balm in Gilead (McGill-Queens Press) reporting on her time in this service.
Back in Canada she became a Federal Government consultant
and became Director, Women’s Bureau at the Department of
Labour. She also served as Canadian representative on the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women from
1970-1974. And as a UN Canadian delegate for the General
Assembly from 1976-1978. Her dedication to service earned
her the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967 and the Order of
Canada in 1975. Sylvia also has a passion for music and
visual arts. Her desire to help talented youth to reach
their potential she formed the Sylvia Gelber Foundation for
help youth. Sources:
Sylvia Gelber Music Foundation Award Online (Accessed
August 2011). Feminist tore down Barriers Globe and
Mail January 31 2004. : Information from family members (2020) |
|
Mary Gilliland |
née Hart. Born March 1940, Wisconsin,
U.S.A. Died April 2010, Saskatchewan. In 1960 Mary married her
college sweetheart, Marshall Gilliland. The couple soon moved
to Saskatchewan and Mary taught English at the University of
Saskatchewan. She was an active member of the Saskatchewan
Women’s Calendar Collective, producing an annual Canadian
Women’s calendar featuring sketches of Canadian women in
history for 25 years. She was also a member of the
Saskatchewan Natural History Society where she was the
1st woman to be President of the Canadian Nature Federation. Source: Herstory:
Canadian Women’s Calendar 2012 ,Coteau Books, 2011. (2020) |
|
Edythe Elizabeth Goodridge |
née Ryan. Born March 3, 1937, St John’s,
Newfoundland. Died June 4, 2014, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She
was educated in England before attending St. Michael’s
College at the University of Toronto. She also attended the Ontario
College of Art, the Académie Julian, and L’Ecole des
Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, and the Reil Cercle Artistic de
Barcelona, Spain. She started her career as a freelance
journalist with the Halifax Daily News and the CBC. In 1968
she was Memorial University developing programs in
communication, visual and performing arts. In 1972 she was
in Ottawa. Widowed with the death of her husband Norman in
1973 she channeled her energies into her work. She worked
with the National Capital Commission in Ottawa as director
of visual arts with the Canada Council. 1st Director of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) in 1980 she opened
eyes to local artistic talent. She supported and mentored
creative curators and encouraged Aboriginal curators to come
forward. She got people to believe in themselves, a rare and
valuable talent. She was the central energy of festival and
celebrations. She was an active member of the Canadian Art
Museum Directors Organization and the Canadian Museums
Association and the Atlantic Provinces Art Gallery
Association as well as the founding president of the
Newfoundland Historic Trust. In 1990 she was inducted into
the NLAC Hall of Honour. Source:
Joan Sullivan, “Edythe Goodridge Cultural Maven, 77: Curator
called ‘Mother of Newfoundland’”. Globe and Mail, July
7, 2014. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Sarah Gotlieb |
Born January 1, 1900, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In 1912 her family immigrated to Canada
and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She married David P.
Gotlieb and the couple raised two children. In 1923 she
became a member of the Ezra chapter of Hadassah where she
served as secretary and president. In 1932 she was elected
President of the Winnipeg Hadassah Council and in 1934 she
was elected Western Vice President where she served until
1951when she became National President from 1951-1955. After
at trip to Moscow, Poland and Germany she became one of the
founders of the Youth Aliyah movement in Canada which is
devoted to the rescue and resettlement of children from
Europe. She served as the 1st chair in 1942. From 1957-1961
she served as National Chair for the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem. She was also the 1st National Chairman of the
Women’s Division of the Israel Bond Organization of Canada,
1955-1963. In 1971 she was made Honorary President for Life
for her distinguished Service to Canadian Hadassah-WIZO. Source:
Jewish Women’s Archive. Personal Information for Sarah
Gotlieb Online (Accessed June 2013) |
|
Mildred Amanda Gottfriedson
Aboriginal Activist |
Born April 20, 1918 Kamloops Indian
Reserve. Died November 18, 1989. Mildred was a leading member
of the Kamloops Indian Reserve who helped with revival of
dances, legends, songs and crafts of her people and
encouraged others to follow her lead. In 1963 she helped
start the Secwepemc Dance Troupe which would travel to
perform even arriving on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. She was
a founding member in 1968 and former president of the
British Columbia Native Women’s Society. This group fought
against the Indian Act which discriminated against status
aboriginal women who lost their status and that of their
children if they married non-status men. She married Gus
Gottfriedson and raised 13 children and fostered over 30
additional children and was awarded Mother of the year in
1963 by British Columbia and the following year she became
Canadian Mother of the year. She was a founding member in
1968 and former president of the British Columbia Native
Women’s Society. This group fought against the Indian Act
which discriminated against status aboriginal women who lost
their status and that of their children if they married
non-status men. She was also an experience horseman and
marksman but she never bragged or showed off. She
was the 1st First Nations individual to be awarded the Order
of Canada on July 11, 1977. (2020) |
|
Bernelda Winona Sakinasikwe Gordon
Aboriginal Activist |
née Pratt. Born April 8, 1937,
Muskopetung First Nations, Saskatchewan. Died September 10,
2005. She was the 1st member of her family to complete high
School. At 17 she became a DJ on the CBC radio in Churchill,
Manitoba. She wanted to be a doctor but settled on nursing.
After a brief time as a nurse she earned a job at Port
Alberni, British Columbia on the radio. She also freelanced
to the CBC. By 1972 she was back in Manitoba hosting and
producing the CBC radio show “Our Native Land”. She was a
single mother who often took her children to interviews. Her
son, Jordan, remembers travelling with his mom when she
became a writer for television shows such as North of 60. By
1982 she was freelancing as a journalist, newspaper
columnist, author, and activist. She helped found the
National Association of Friendship Centres and was a member
of Grannies for Justice. As an author she wrote several
books for children. She also enjoyed acting on stage and in
movies. In 2002 she was Citizen of the Year for the
Saskatchewan Indian Nations. In 2005 she earned the Rebel
with a Cause Award from the Elizabeth Fry Society. That same
year she earned a lifetime Achievement Award from the AnsKohk Aboriginal Literature Festival. Source: Herstory
2008: The Canadian Women’s Calendar (Coteau Books, 2007) :
“Bernelda Wheeler : a Trailblazer Throughout life” by Cheryl
Petten in Windspeaker Vol. 23 No. 7 2005. (2020) |
|
Mary Gordon |
Born October 13, 1947, Newfoundland.
After studying three years at Memorial University in
Newfoundland Mary relocated to Toronto where she met her
husband. The couple have two children. She began her career
teaching kindergarten and in 1981 founded Canada’s
1st school based Parenting and Family Literacy Centers. In
1996 she founded Roots of Empathy (ROE), a classroom based
program for elementary school children with the mission to
build caring peaceful and civil societies through the
development of empathy in children and adults. ROE strives
to break the intergeneration cycle of violence and poor
parenting. In 2005 she founded Seeds of Empathy, a program
for three to five year old children in child care programs.
In 2005 her book: Roots of empathy, Changing the World Child
by Child rose to the top 100 books of the year. Her ROE
programs are supported by First Nations Schools across the
country. Internationally ROE has sparked interest for use in
schools in New Zealand, the U.S.A., the United Kingdom,
Germany and Switzerland. Her program has garnered her the
Distinguished Canadian Educator Award, and in 2002 she
became the 1st woman to become Canadian Fellow in the Ashoka
Foundation, an international organization supporting social
entrepreneurs. In 2004 she received the Ontario Teacher’s
Federation Lifetime Fellowship Award. October 6, 2006 she
was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. In July
2009 she received the Public Education Advocacy Award from
the Canadian. (2020) |
|
Helen Mary 'Marie' Grant |
née Smith. Born 1843, Maitland, Nova
Scotia. Died 1907, Victoria, British Columbia. While she
attended school and trained as a teacher Marie did not teach
long. In those days married women could not be teachers and
she left teaching Captain William Grant in 1873. She was not
the type of wife that stayed at home, rather she sailed the
world with her husband coming on shore only to give birth to
her children. In 1886 the family settled in British
Columbia. In 1884 women became eligible to vote for school
board members if there were mothers. In 1889 women were even
allowed to run for school board positions. In March 1895
Marie was elected as the 1st school board trustee, a
position she held for 6 years. Maria was also active in the
Women’s Temperance Union and helped founding the Victoria
Local Council of women in 1894. Such local women’s groups
worked towards women’s suffrage. In 1901 she was presented
to the Duke of York (later King George V as the 1st and only
women school trustee in Canada. Sadly Marie did not live to
see gain the right to vote which did not come to British
Columbia until 1917. In 1987 the Victoria Council of Women
presented a plaque to the provincial legislature honouring
Maria Grant and Cecilia Spofford, who had both worked over
30 years for women’s suffrage. Sources:
Merna Foster, 100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten
Faces (Dundurn Press, 2004); Victoria Council of Women, online (accessed May 2015) (2020) |
|
Maria Heathfield
Pollard Grant. |
née Pollard. Born September 15, 1854,
Quebec City, Quebec. Died March 30, 1937, Victoria, British
Columbia. In 1871 the family moved west to British Columbia.
On July 30, 1874 Maria married a marine engineer, Gordon
Fraser Munro Grant (d. 1908), and the couple had nine children.
Maria and her mother formed the Local Victoria Women’s
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and her mother became
president of the provincial organization. In 1885 she helped
circulate the 1st petition for women’s right to vote and
present it to the British Columbia Legislature. Not
successful the petition simply hardened the determination of
women such as Maria. In 1894 she helped organize the
Victoria Local Council of Women with Lady Aberdeen attending
the inaugural meeting. In 1895 women were allowed to vote
for school trustees and in March 1885 Maria became the
1st woman elected as a school trustee in British Columbia.
In 1897 she was elected as secretary for the National
Prohibition Federation of Temperance Associations. From 1900
through 1905 she served as president of the WCTU of British
Columbia. In 1901 she helped set up the Children’s Aid
Society in Victoria. In 1910 she became the 1st president of
the Political Equality League (P.E.L.) of Victoria and by
May 1911 she was serving as President of the provincial
P.E.L. By 1912 the organization had 36 local branches. A
women’s franchise bill was put forth in the British Columbia
Legislature in 1916 but an amendment called for a referendum
to see whether the Act would come into Legal force. The
women opposed the referendum since only men could vote! On
May 15/16, 1916, as president of the P E. L. she appealed to
the premier but the bill was defeated. The referendum was
held on the date of the election and in a vote of 2-1 women
earned the right to vote. However there were allegations of
irregularities with respect to votes from service men and
these votes were set aside and the referendum was defeated.
In April 5, 1917 the New Liberal government gave women the
franchise. Source: DCB vol. 16,
(2020) |
|
Marie Gérin-Lajoie |
née Lacoste. Born Montreal, Quebec
October 19, 1867. Died November 1, 1945. As a youth she read
her father’s law books and developed a concern for women’s
rights. She combined her religion and family life with
reform work bringing together Canadian Francophone women.
She worked closely with branches of the national Council of
Women of Canada. She would give strong testimony before the
Dorion Commission that recommended change to Quebec law. (2020) |
|
Ruth Miriam Goldbloom |
née Schwartz. Born December 5, 1923, New
Waterford, Nova Scotia. Died August 29, 2012. As a child she
loved the customs and history of Cape Breton and enjoyed tap
dancing. She attended Mount Allison University and did
graduate studies at McGill University in Montreal. She
married Richard Goldbloom and the couple had a family of
three children. She was a tireless volunteer in Montreal and
continued her charity works when the family moved to
Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was the 1st woman chair of the
Halifax United Way and the 1st Jewish chair of the Board of
Mount Saint Vincent University. She participated whole
heartedly in the creation in 1990 and the acceptance of Pier
21, an national immigration museum. The Women’s Exchange
Network designated her one of the 100 most powerful women
in Canada. She was presented with the Human Relations Award
from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, the
Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian Award and the Queen
Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012. Source;”
N .S. community leader steered Pier 21 toward museum status.
Obituary. Globe and Mail, August 30, 2012. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Dorothy Goldman |
Born July 24, 1904, New York City, New
York, U.S.A. Died February 16, 1996, Regina, Saskatchewan.
She married Leon Goldman, a businessman, in 1926 and the
couple settled in Saskatchewan. She became a Red Cross
volunteer during World
War II and continued to serve on the executive for
forty-two years. For twenty-three years she was area captain
for the United Way. Dorothy’s work in the Jewish
community—locally, regionally, and nationally—was honoured
by the Hadassah Organization of Canada. She
was the 1st woman to receive the Good Servant Award from
the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. She
was also president and Life Member of the Women’s Canadian
Club of Regina. A patron of the arts, she supported the
Norman MacKenzie
Art Gallery, Dominion Drama Festival, Regina
Little Theatre, Regina Musical Club, Regina Opera Guild,
and Regina
Symphony Orchestra. She sponsored various scholarships
at the University
of Regina for the Conservatory of Music, Journalism
Program, and English Department. Her many honours included
the Rotary Club’s Heritage Award in 1989. Source: Encyclopedia
of Saskatchewan Online (Accessed February 2014)
(2020) |
|
Alix Goolden
Philanthropist |
Born Alexandria Anne Goolden. 1897,
Vancouver British Columbia. Died August 1988. Alix was the
founder and honorary president of the Victoria Conservatory
of Music. Music and theatre were driving forces in her life
and she was an avid supporter of theatre and of the Victoria
Symphony Orchestra. In 1977 she was honoured with the Order
of Canada for her lifelong support of the arts in her
beloved Victoria, British Columbia. The Victoria
Conservatory named the 800 seat Alix Goolden Performance
Hall (formerly a church sanctuary purchased with the efforts
of Alix) in appreciation of her work. Source:
The Canadian Obituary Record 1988 by Robert M. Stamp.
(Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1989) p. 65. (2020) |
|
Harriett Armine
Gosling |
née Nutting. Born 1861, Waterloo, Canada
East (Now Quebec). Died December 15, 1942 Bermuda. Like many of her
era when few professions were open to young women Armine
attended Normal School (Teacher’s College). In 1882 she
relocated to St. John’s Newfoundland to work as principal at
the Church of England Girls School (now Bishop Spencer
College. In 1885 she resigned to spend time in Bermuda and
Ottawa. It was during this time that Armine met a Bermuda
business man William Gilbert Gosling (1863-1888). They married on January 2, 1888, settled in St. John’s and had
six
children, four of whom lived to adulthood. Armine became
involved in the community working with the Society for the
Protection of Animals and the Child Welfare Association. In
1904-5 while staying in England she became exposed to the
activities of the suffragist movement. In 1908 she founded
in her home the Ladies Reading Room (LRR) which originally
organized in response to a ban on women attending lectures
at an all-male club. Out of this group also came the Current
Events Club which was suffragist in spirit. During World War
l she served as honorary secretary of the Women’s patriotic
Association (WPA) which grew to some 15,000 members. This
group would provide a strong base for working towards
suffrage in the colony. In 1920 Armine founded and was
president of the Women’s Franchise League and later she
served as president of the Woman’s Party, a political party
that had candidates in the 1925 St. John’s municipal
Elections. 1925 was the year that women gained the right to
vote and the right to run for political office. In 1927 the
Goslings retired to live in Bermuda.
(2020) |
|
Rosalie Alma Gower |
née Cheeseman. Born October 5, 1931,
Calgary, Alberta. Died October 13, 2013, British Columbia.
Rosalie studied nursing and earned her nursing certificate
in British Columbia. In 1954 she married architect Terry
Gower and the couple settled in Vernon, British Columbia.
She raised her family while working as a night nurse. She
taught her sons how to cook and sew so they could look after
themselves and not be dependant on a partner to keep house.
She served a year as alderman and her name was put forward
at Canadian Radio and Television Commissioner (CRTC). She
hired herself a housekeeper to keep up the home. In 1980 she
was appointed to the CRTC full time. She was a strong
believer in Canadian content in broadcasting and she pushed
for gender neutral terminology and recognition. Her husband
left Ottawa were the family had relocated for Rosalie to
work. It seems he did not like being “Mr. Rosalie Gower” and
their marriage ended. In 1992 she retired and moved back to
British Columbia. In retirement she pursued world travel,
community service and participated in local theatre. Source:
“Women’s rights advocate started at home.” By Susan Smith,
The Globe and Mail, December 23, 2013. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. (2020) |
|
Hilda Gregory |
Born August 19, 1936, Liverpool, England.
Died November 16, 2014 Vancouver, British Columbia. Hilda
immigrated to Canada August 23, 1962 and taught at the
Jericho School for the Deaf in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Responding to the requests of parents looking for pre-school
programs for their hard of hearing and deaf children she
founded the Vancouver Oral Care Centre for Deaf Children in
1963. She served as principal of the school for more than
three decades. She was committed to her community
recognizing the needs of the homeless, she and five other
volunteers founded the 127 Society for Housing to meet needs
of low income housing in Vancouver. Also under her guidance
a community worker program was established to help the
Society’s tenants in building which were opened in the late
1980’s and 1990’s. Suffering from Kidney problems in the
late 90’s did not slow her down and she became an ardent
spokesperson for the Kidney Foundation of Canada. In 1990,
1995, and again in 2006 she was the YMCA’s Woman of
Distinction. In 1998 she was inducted into the Order of
British Columbia and in 1999 she was inducted into the Order
of Canada. In 2002 she was presented with the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee Medal. In 2012 she was invested in the Order
of New Westminster and was awarded the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee Medal. The teaching techniques developed in her
school are now used in similar programs across North
America. (2020) |
|
May Gutteridge |
Born 1917, Gosport, England. Died February
2002, Vancouver, British Columbia. She preferred to be called
a parish worker. She had come to Canada in 1955. She and her
husband settled 1st in Saskatchewan and moved to British
Columbia in 1958.. Here May began her social work by
starting a small Dollar Club. Each member was encouraged to
donate $1.00 a month. It was a little idea that was
extremely successful! A women's centre would be build where
neighborhood women could use tools such as steam irons and
sewing machines and even typewriters! For some 40 years May
worked her talents lobbying and advocating help for the
needy to give them the resources to advance themselves by
their own work from the shackles of poverty. Although
encourage to take her energies to work in the houses of
politics she preferred to keep her work "Hands on". Her
efforts on behalf of her community were recognized not only
in the bettered lives of the people who used the facilities
she pushed to be established but also with the Pioneer Award
from Vancouver City, the Silver Eagle Award for her
contributions to Aboriginal people and the Order of
Canada. In the early 1990s, Vancouver’s first free-standing
hospice, a six-bedroom facility in the downtown eastside,
was named the May Gutteridge Community Home. It came to be
known simply as May’s Place. (2020) |
|
Helena Rose Gutteridge |
Born London, England, 1879?*- Died October 3, 1960. Helena
immigrated to British Columbia in 1911. A ardent feminist
she organized the British Columbia Women's Suffrage League.
She had a sincere concern and interest in the lives and well
being of working class women and was a proponent of trade
unionism. She would be a leading personality of the
Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. She was a member of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C.C.F) political party
and in
March 1937 she became the 1st woman
member elected to the Vancouver City Council. *
Her birth is sometimes reported as 1880. (2020) |
|
Jessie Columbia Hall
Philanthropist |
née Greer. Born 1872, Jack-of-Clubs
Creek, British Columbia. Died June 22, 1949. She was the 1st
white child born in the Caribou region. In 1893 she married
James Z. Hall, Vancouver’s 1st notary public and 1st
volunteer soldier. In 1908 the family build Kitslano’s
Killarney mansion and entertained the high society circuit.
As was want for women of means in this era she gave
willingly of her time and support for charity. She was a
volunteer with the Children’s Aid Society, the Vancouver
Welfare Society, and was very active in the Women’s Auxiliary
of Christ Church. She became the first woman to serve on a
jury in Vancouver. She was President in 1931 of the Burrard
Women’s Conservative Club and worked with the Victoria Order
of Nurses. She was also the first Grand Factor of Post no. 1
of the Native Daughters of British Columbia. In 1934 sh4e
was honoured with the Vancouver’s Good Citizen Award. Source: The
History of Metropolitan Vancouver – Hall of Fame. Online
(Accessed June 2009) (2020) |
|
Aldyen Irene Hamber
Philanthropist |
née Hendry. Born April 16, 1885, New
Westminster, British Columbia Died October 3, 1988. The
daughter of one of British Columbia’s prominent families she
married Eric W. Hamber in 1912. She served as first lady,
wife of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from
May 1, 1936 though 1941. It was though her general donation
of one million dollars that the Hamber Foundation was
founder to serve the youth and population of the province.
She served as governor of the foundation from 1968 to 1971
when she resigned leaving the business of the Foundation to
a volunteer Board of Governors. After her death in 1988
numerous charities benefited from her will including the
Hamber Foundation. The Foundation is well known for it’s
support of various activities including the Aldyen Irene
Hamber Special Collection Reading Room is located at the New
Vancouver Public Library. Source
The Hamber Foundation web site (ACCESSED
JUNE 2009) (2020) |
|
Christine Hamilton |
Born 1921, Scotland. Died 1987 Hamilton,
Ontario. Christine
immigrated to Canada and settled in Hamilton, Ontario after
serving thirteen years in the Women’s Royal Army Corps. In
1957 she began work at Hamilton’s Y.W.C.A. as business
manager and programmer director for children’s day camps.
When the Y.W.C.A. and the City of Hamilton began joint
operation of the 1st Senior Citizens’ Centre, Christine was
named Director, a post she held until her retirement in
1986. During Christine’s early years at the Senior Citizen’s
Centre, the idea for the now famous “Geritol Follies” began.
Not only are the follies part of the Hamilton scene but they
have performed at centres in the United States and Toronto.
Christine was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of
Distinction in 1987. (2020) |
|
Mae Harman |
Born 1921? Died February 2005. She was
the 1st member of her family to graduate from university.
Early in her career she began a successful career as
supervisor at University Settlement House at the University
of Windsor in Ontario. However it is not her career in the work force
for which she will be remembered. She came into her own
power when she retired and took on the causes of seniors.
Being a social activist had its roots in her teens when she
had written Prime Minister Mackenzie King about an economic
situation. He acknowledged her letter. She renewed her
letter writing skills and was the author of numerous
submissions on behalf of senior's organizations such as the
Canadian Pensioners Concerned. She could be sincere in her
demands and could have a sharp edge to her tongue as the
occasion demanded. In 2004 the Ontario Society of Senior
Citizens Organizations honoured her with the Dan Benedict
Award for her continued efforts on behalf of seniors in
Canadian society. |
|
Ella Bertha Marvin
Hatheway |
née Marvin. Born January 4, 1853, Saint
John, New Brunswick. Died 1931, Saint John, New Brunswick.
February 19, 1883 Ella married Warren Franklin Hatheway, a
grocer and importer and a labour leader in Saint John. The
couple had two daughters. In March 1894 Ella was a member of
a group of women who belonged to the Women's Christian
Temperance Union (W C T U) who formed the local chapter of
the Dominion Women's Enfranchise Association (WEA) in Saint
John. Ella would serve as secretary-treasurer and later as
corresponding secretary to the new group. She and three
other women Emma Sophia Skinner Fiske (1852-1914), Mabel
Priscilla Penery, and Clara McGivern repeatedly petitioned
the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly for women's suffrage.
In 1914 it was Ella who presented the case for women's
suffrage to the Trades and Labour Congress when they met in
Saint John. The Congress passed a resolution in favour of
women's suffrage. The WEA not only fought for women's
suffrage it also worked for improvement of labour conditions
better heal care and improvement of the lives of children.
Ella may have worked on a committee with her husband to
establish kindergarten in Saint John. (2020) |
|
Grace Hartman |
née Fulcher. Born July 14, 1918, Toronto,
Ontario. Died December 18, 1993, Toronto, Ontario. She
became a member of the National Union of Public Employees
when she served as secretary for the Township of North York,
Ontario. She served in several union positions including
being elected as President from 1959 through 1967. In 1965
she chaired the Ontario Federation of Labour's Women's
Committee as a prominent feminist and strong supporter for
gender pay equity. In 1968 she was appointed to the Advisory
Council for the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. She
was the 1st woman to hold the top position in a Canadian
Union. In 1975 she was elected to the
national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
(CUPE). In 1985 she earned the Governor General's Award in
Commemoration of the Persons Case.
(2018) |
|
Phyllis Haslam |
Born May 24, 1913. Died August 23, 1991.
Phyllis began competitive swimming in 1931 placing 2nd in a
Saskatchewan Provincial Mile Championship. At the 1934
British Empire Games trials, Hamilton, Ontario Phyllis set a
new world record for the 100-yard breastroke and also set a
British Empire record in the 200 yard breastroke. That same
year she graduated with a Bachelor degree in Science from
the University of Saskatchewan. At the 1934 British Empire
Games themselves, London, England she placed second in the
200 meter event and won gold in the 3 X 100 Yard medley
relay event. Phyllis Haslam served as the executive
director of the Elizabeth Fry Society, Toronto from 1953
until 1978 with her administration seeing considerable
growth in the organization. In 1974 she was inducted into
the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. In 1978 she was made
an Officer in the Order of Canada. In recognition of a life
devoted to the cause of criminal welfare at home and
abroad. Elizabeth Fry Toronto sponsors the Phyllis Haslam
Residential Program, a residential program providing women
who are on parole from provincial or federal prisons with a
place to call home. (2020) |
|
Alice Mildred Heap |
née Boomhour. Born July 20, 1925. Died
March 24, 2012, Toronto, Ontario. After high school Alice
attended the United Church Training School, Toronto, before
heading to McGill University, Montreal, where she began attending the
Anglican Church. She was a member of the Student Christian
Movement at University and in 1948 she attended the founding
meeting of the Canadian Peace Congress. She would work for
Church Peace Mission, the Easter Peace Marches in the 1960’s,
and even in 2009 she worked with the White Poppy campaign
for Peace. In 1951 she married Daniel (Dan) Heap
(1925-2014) and the couple would have seven children. Dan became
an Anglican Priest and was a councilor in Toronto and a New
Democratic Member of Parliament from Toronto. Alice
practiced all her life what could only be termed radical
hospitality with war resisters, civil right activists, farm
workers. In 1965 while her husband was with Martin Luther
King in the U.S.A. marching for Black civil rights, Alice and the children participated at a sit
in support of the March in Toronto. Alice also worked with
the Canadian council for Refugees and the Christian
Peacemakers Teams. In 2000 she received the Bishop’s Award
for Faithful Service at her Holy Trinity Church. Source:
Lois M. Wilson I Want to Be in that Number: Cool Saints I
Have Known. (Self published, 2014) ; Obituary from funeral
bulletin Online (Accessed May 2014). (2020) |
|
Twyla Elizabeth "Tees"
Hendry |
Born 1928 Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died August
11, 1997, Cambridge, Ontario. Tees, moved to Galt, Ontario in
1954. She was elected president of the Eventide Home Ladies
Auxiliary, a Salvation Army home. She enjoyed playing Mrs.
Santa Claus for over 30 years at the home. She was elected
to the Galt Board of Education in 1964 working at various
positions and serving as chair in 1967. She served two terms
on the Waterloo County Board of Education 1969-1974 and
again in 1981 through 1991 having served as chair in 1984.
She served as director of the Canadian School Trustees
Association as well as serving at the provincial level. In
1991 she earned the Harry Paikin Award from the Ontario
Public School Boards Association. She served as a director
of the Ontario Housing Corporation 1973-1980. In the newly
formed area of Cambridge she served at the YMCA and at the
in 1988 Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Big Sisters
Association, Cambridge Fall Fair Board and the Oktoberfest
Committee for which she was In 1989 Woman of the Year. In
the following year she was Political Woman of the Year in
Kitchener-Waterloo. Source: Hall of
Fame, City of Cambridge, Ontario Online Accessed March
2013. (2020) |
|
Catherine G. Hennessey |
Born September 1933, Prince Edward
Island. Catherine thought of becoming an architect but was advised
that it was not a woman’s profession. She attended school
and became a dental hygienist working all over the island.
In the mid 1960’s she opened an antique shore but was
totally dismayed by the number of historic artifacts leaving
the province. She entered politics and was elected as a city
councilor where she furthered heritage preservation. She
created the Prince Edward Heritage Foundation in the early
1970’s and served as the 1st executive director. She
became involved and was appointed a board member of Heritage
Canada and the Canadian Housing Design Council. In 1988 she
received the Lieutenant-Governor Medal from Heritage Canada. On May 31, 2001 she was invested with the Order of Canada.The
PEI Museum and Heritage Foundations presents The Catherine
G. Hennessey Award, their highest award annually. Source: Herstory
2012: The Canadian Women’s Calendar. Saskatoon Women’s
Calendar Collective, 2011. (2020) |
|
Fran Herman
Music Therapist |
née Korson. Born 1927 Cobalt, Ontario. A
pioneer of Music Therapy Fran used her work to teach and
encourage children and adults with severe disabilities to
explore and express themselves through the use of music. In
1955 a doctor, head of the Canadian Medical Association,
asked Fran to work with his son who was disabled with
muscular dystrophy. She soon worked with groups of people
who had been abandoned by schools. She developed programs
that incorporated singing, dancing and puppetry to bring
children out of their cocoon. She created a wheelchair
ballet of Prokofiev’s famous Cinderella. A group
called the Wheelchair Players which lasted from 1956-1964
was the first group music therapy project in Canada. In
1964 she and her daughter Eve became involved with a
rehabilitation centre and founded and directed Creative Arts
Therapy Department. She worked her wonders here until she
formally retired in 1992. Her works were written in two
books and in 2001, with sponsorship from the Sony
Corporation she spearheaded the opening of the Music Therapy
Centre in Toronto. She has brought together Music Therapy
workers by arranging Canadian conferences and has encouraged
the establishment of the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. In
2016 Fran was presented with the Meritorious Service Medal
(Civil Division) by the Governor General of Canada. Source: A
Woman’s Agenda 2003: Celebrating Movers and Shakers by Helen
Wolfe. Second Story Press, 2002. ; Personal correspondence. (2020) |
|
Marjorie 'Maggie' Hodgson
Aboriginal
Activist |
A member of the Carrier First Nation she
is a residential school survivor. Maggie is a healing and
wellness activist, educator and author. She began working in
the offices of the Native Council ling Services of Alberta
and then became a community developer and paralegal with
Moose Jaw Legal Services. She went on to become the C.E.O.
of the Nechi Training which is part of the curriculum at
dozens of universities around the world, She was a Special
Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Indian Residential Schools
Resolution Canada, the department responsible for dealing
with the legacy of the residential schools and former
residents’ claims for compensation. She is a cofounder of
the May 26 National Day of Healing and Reconciliation, which
acknowledges the abuse and cultural annihilation suffered at
residential schools. She has received countless awards
including the United Nations Community Development Award and
two honorary doctorates from universities. A tree has been
planted in her name in the Peace Park in Israel in honour of
the work she has done. In 2005 she was a member of the 100
Women for the Nobel Peace Prize Project. Source: Profiles
of Peaceful Women by Sierra Bacquie. (2020) |
|
Adelaide Sophia Hoodless |
née Hunter. Born February 27, 1857 St
George, Canada West (now Ontario). Died February 26, 1910,
Toronto, Ontario.
Young Addie attended the Ladies College at Brantford,
Ontario where she med John Hoodless. On September 14, 1881
the couple were married and settled in Hamilton, Ontario.
The couple had four children. On August 10, 1889 her
youngest son died at 14 months of age from meningitis. It
was a time when dairy practices where questionable and
pasteurization was not common leaving milk often tainted and
was not refrigerated. Contaminated milk for a baby would
have increased. It was after the child's death that Adelaide
began to participate in public life his suffering. to help
spread knowledge and prevent baby deaths. She served as
president of the Hamilton Young Women's Christian
Association (YWCA) and worked to establish domestic science
education She is one of the founder of the Canadian
National Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA) in 1895. In 1989 she published a book Public
School Domestic Science. February 12, 1897 while
speaking at the Farmer's Institute Ladies Night she
suggested forming a social group to broaden the knowledge of
domestic science and agriculture. A week later a group of
100 women became the 1st branch of the Women's Institute
(WI).
with Adelaide as honorary president. The WI would grow
into an international organization. With Lady Aberdeen
(1857-1939), she helped found the National Council of Women,
the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). In 1902 she approached the
wealthy Sir William MacDonald, a tobacco merchant, to fund
Domestic Science Programmes in Guelph, Ontario and Quebec
at the college level. In 1907 the Women's Institutes for
their 10 anniversary commissioned a portrait of Adelaide.
The University of Guelph recognizes her contribution to
education by hanging her portrait in what was once called
MacDonald Institute. Several Ontario schools have been named
in her honor. In 1937 a cairn near St George, Ontario is
dedicated to her. In 1960 Adelaide was declared a Person of
National Significance by the Canadian Historic Sites and
Monuments Board. In 1975 the Adelaide Hoodless Rose was
developed and in 1993 Canada Post issued the Adelaide
Hoodless commemorative postage Stamp. In 2003 to mark the
100th anniversary of the founding of MacDonald Institute in
Guelph the Hoodless Garden was dedicated beside MacDonald
Hall. A large aluminum portrait is mounted on the wall by
the garden allowing light to cast a shadow image of
Adelaide. The Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead is a
National Historic Site. (2020) |
|
Waneek Horn-Miller
Aboriginal Activist
and sport personality |
Born November 30, 1975 Montreal, Quebec.
Waneek began competitive swimming when she was seven years of and
was the winner of numerous competitions and gold medals. She
continued in her chosen sport until 1997. At 14 she was
involved in the OKA demonstrations at the Kahnawake Mohawk
Territory near Montreal. She worked hard to combat the anger
that she had arising from this standoff against the Canadian
Government who brought in the army to block the
demonstrations. In 1989, while in High School I Ottawa, she
was introduced to the sport of water polo. In 1999 the
Canadian Water Polo team won gold medals. That same year
Waneek graduated from Carleton University where she was
three
times the Female Athlete of the Year and is a member of the
Carleton Ravens Hall of Fame. In 2000 she co-captain to the
Canadian Women’s Water Polo team at the Sydney, Australia
Olympics. In 2001 the team won gold at the FINA World
Championships.. Waneek is proud to be a role model for
Indigenous girls and takes her role seriously. She has
worked part time as a television host with the Aboriginal
Peoples Television Network (APTN). In 2017 she was appointed
Director of Community Engagement for the National Inquiry
into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2020) |
|
Nadine Hunt |
Born 1926, Kingston, Ontario. Died August 6, 1993, Regina,
Saskatchewan. In 1964 Nadine became a widow left to bring up
her three children. Nadine began working as a
secretary at the Regina Campus of the University of
Saskatchewan (Now Regina University). Having an interest in
union activities Nadine attended
the Labour College of Canada and graduated in 1971. She went
on to work on the executive of the Saskatchewan Federation
of Labour. In 1978 she was the 1st woman to lead a labour
federation in Canada when she was elected president of the
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. She held this post until
1988. She helped establish the Labour Studies Program at the
University of Saskatchewan. She has served as a
representative at the International Labour Organization
where she served on a committee to establish international
standards for the treatment of workers with family
responsibilities. The University of Saskatchewan has a
memorial scholarship named in her honour. Source:
Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan (accessed 2020) |
|
Maisie Amy Hurley
Social activist and
newspaper editor |
née Campbell-Johnston. Born November 27,
1887, 1888, Swansea, Wales. Died October 3,
1964 North Vancouver, British Columbia.. Maisie moved to
Canada with her family when her father was given a mining
engineering job. As a young woman Maisie attempted to eloped
a minister. She was sent o England to be educated and in
1909 she married J. R. Armitage-Moore but the marriage did
not last long. Being Catholic she could not obtain a divorce
and live common law with Martin Murphy. While in the U.S.A. would manage a group of boxers who
provided entertainment in the lumber camps of the Pacific
northwest. It is said that she was taught to ride a horse by
the infamous Canadian train robber, Bill Miner. She worked with the union known as the IWW-
International Workers of the World. She had a sincere desire
to better working conditions for families. She left
Washington state and returned to Canada with her family of
five children after a dangerous union riot. She met a lawyer
Tom Hurley and the couple would marry in 1951 after the
death of her 1st husband. Tom was well known for his pro
bono (free) work for Aboriginal clients. In 1944 she became
the 1st woman associate life member of the Native
Brotherhood of British Columbia. Maisie served her husband's
legal secretary. In 1946 she
founded and edited the 1st native newspaper in Canada called The Native Voice.
She was a strong advocate of Native rights
and was actually jailed at one point for her support of
clients rights. Her second husband Tom Hurley was a lawyer
working with the Native community. She also became a noted
collector of aboriginal art and artifacts. Her collection
is now housed in the North Vancouver Museum and Archives
Association.
Source: Canadian Encyclopedia
(2020) |
|
Maria 'Mary' Nazarena Dolores Ierullo |
née Massina.
Born 1920, Calabria, Italy. Died July 19, 2005, Ottawa,
Ontario. In 1928 she immigrated to Canada with her mother,
uncle, and grandmother settling in Ottawa, Ontario. As a
young girl Mary always wanted to help people. She married Vincenzo Ierullo when she was 31 and the couple had three
children. In the 1950’s she was helping young pregnant woman
alone in their new country. She became a friend, and
surrogate mother holding their hands at birth. In 1952 she
was asked to become the 1st woman interpreter for the
local courts. When her husband was no longer able to work because
of a series accidents she took up real estate, the 1st woman
in Ottawa to pass her realtor’s exams. She is considered the
1st Italian women real estate broker in Canada. She opened
her own business in 1953 helping new Canadians to have their
own houses. Most of her agents were women, many of whom
spoke other languages. In the 1960’s working with Ottawa
Mayor Charlotte Whitton
(1896-1975) she fought for independent
appraisers who would give home owners a better deal. She was
the was the founder of the Independent Realtor’s
Association. In February 2003 her work was recognized by the
Italian-Canadian Women of the Village, the 1st of two women
to receive this annual award. Her story was included in an
exhibit on Italian-Canadians by the Canadian Museum of
Civilization. (2020) |
|
Mary Coyne Rowell Jackman |
née Rowell. Born January 7, 1904,
Toronto, Ontario. Died July 11,
1994, Toronto, Ontario. Daughter of a prominent lawyer, Newton Rowell who
among many things had worked on the famous “Persons” case,
Mary attended private schools and travelled extensively as a
youngster. She graduated in 1925 from the University of
Toronto and later attended the London School of Economics.
In 1930 she married Henry Rutherford Jackman (1900-1979) a
Toronto lawyer and financier. Mary worked to establish the
Bond Street Nursery School to serve children in an
impoverished area. Active in the Metropolitan United Church,
she worked in a WW ll Service unit and numerous women’s
groups as well as being co-author of the church history. The
couple had four children including Hal Jackman,
25th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and a Nancy Ruth, Member
of the Senate of Canada. Mary was a volunteer at the Clark
Institute of Psychiatry, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the
Ontario Society of Artists, and at Victoria college where
she served on the Senate, the Board of Regents, the Board of
Management and the Art Committee. He youthful love of travel
was crowned with a round the world tour in 1954. She
retained and active lifestyle with continued interests in
her charity work and politics until the end of the 1980’s.
In 1988 she was the YWCA Woman of Distinction and she
received honorary degrees from Victoria College and the
University of Toronto. In 1993 she was nominated of the
Order of Canada. Source: Mary
Coyne Rowell Jackman (1904-1994) Victoria University Library
Special Collections Fonds 29 : Mary Coyne Rowell Jackman
1904 - : The beginnings of a biography. 1st edition 1994.
Copy provided by Senator Nancy Ruth. (2020) |
|
Jane Jacobs |
née Butzer. Born May 4, 1916, Scranton, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. . Died April 25, 2006, Toronto, Ontario. Jane's original career was that of a writer and this brought
her to New York City, U.S.A. where she met and married
architect Robert Hyde Jacobs in 1944. The couple would have
three children. Her 1st book: The Death and Life of Great
American Cities appeared in 1961 and recognized the need to rethink
urban planning to create health community life. This book
would become a basic text book of the future. While she
never completed formal education and had no professional
training she become the foremost expert in city planning and
moral philosophy producing books reflecting one of the most
brilliant minds of the 20th century. In 1968, not believing
the war effort in Vietnam the family emigrated to Canada and
settled in Toronto, Ontario. The city would honour her in
many ways. In 1997 the conference, Jane Jacobs Ideas, was
held in the city. As a citizen of repute she was awarded the
Order of Canada. Sources:
Obituary by Veronica Horwell The Guardian, April 28, 2006.
Online Accessed June 2011. (2020) |
|
Alice Jane Jamieson |
née Jukes. Born July 14, 1860, New York
City, New York, U.S.A. Died June 4, 1949, Calgary, Alberta.
Shortly after her birth the family moved to Chicago,
Illinois, U.S.A. On March 8 1882, she married Reuben Rupert
Jamieson in Springfield, Ohio. The couple would have five
children, four of whom survived infancy. They settled 1st in
Toronto and the Canadian Pacific Railroad posted Reuben to
Smith Falls, Ontario prior to sending him in 1902, as general
superintendent of the Western Division of the CPR, to
Calgary, Alberta. He became interested in local politics and served
as Mayor of Calgary in 1909/10. After his death in 1911
Alice became deeply involved in local women’s groups. She
was a founding member of the Calgary Young Womens Christian
Association (YWCA), and supported
such women’s demands such as the right to vote.
In 1914 she
was appointed as a judge to juvenile Court, the 1st woman in
the British Empire to hold such a position. In December 1916
she became magistrate of the Calgary Women’s Court. In 1917
she won a Supreme Court case which questioned if a woman
could serve in the office of Magistrate. This was quite
contentious as women were still not considered ‘persons’ at
this time. She was the 1st president and the driving force
behind the Local Council of Women, as well she was active in
the Women’s Musical Club and the General Hospital Auxiliary.
The Alice Jamieson Girl’s Academy is the only single gender
school in the Calgary School Board. Sources:
Kay Sanderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women, (Famous 5
Foundation, 1999) online (accessed July 2015). (2020) |
|
Rebecca Jamieson
Aboriginal leader |
Born Michigan, U.S.A. as a member of the
Eel Clan of Tuscorora People. At the age of two her family
relocated to the Six Nations of Grand River Ontario. As a
child she was taken from her family to attend
school at the Mohawk Institute Residential School where she
felt the history of Aboriginals was ignored. She earned a
Native Social Counsellor Certificate at the University of
Toronto and then she earned her teacher's certificate at the
Ontario Teachers Education College, Hamilton, Ontario. Still eager
to learn she received her bachelor degree from Wilfrid
Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario and then a Master's in
Education for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
Toronto,
in 1976. After graduation she worked as a post secondary
student counsellor and teacher with Six Nations. In 1993 she
helped found the Grand River Polytechnic Institute (now the
Six Nations Polytechnic (SNP). In 2007 she was presented
with the Order of Ontario. In 2009 she was appointed as CEO
and president of SNP. In 2015 she became a Distinguished
Fellow of Mohawk College, Hamilton. In 2017 Six
National Polytechnic became the 1st Indigenous institution
to confer its own accredited degree. It was the world's 1st
degree program in Indigenous language. Rebecca has served
on the Board of Governors for several Ontario universities.
In 2017 she and SNP hosted the World Indigenous Peoples
Conference on Indigenous Education with 3,000 attendees. In
2018 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
|
Susan 'Sue' Johanson |
née Powell. Born March 16, 1930, Toronto,
Ontario. Sue is the great niece of Lord Baden-Powell,
founder of the Boy Scouts. Sue studied at the St Boniface
Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shortly after graduating as a
nurse she married Ejnor Johanson and the couple had three
children.
A mother, grandmother and by training a
nurse, Sue is extremely concerned about unplanned
pregnancies, babies having babies, sexually transmitted
disease and kids being used and abused. In
1972 she opened
in Don Mills Birth Control Clinic, the 1st such clinic in
a high school in North America. She continued
her education at the Toronto Institute of Human Relations,
the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, U.S.A. She was soon a popular speaker providing
advice on sex at school and university across the country. She had no idea that her
forthright talk approach about sex would lead to the “Sunday
Night Sex Show” on W television reaching audiences across
North America. In 2004 she entered the
American market on Oxygen Network with four million viewers.
She has also penned three books on sex. Sue retired from
television in 2008 but retained a weekly column in the
Health Section of the Toronto Star newspaper. She is a member of the Order of Canada
as of 2001. In March 2004 the National Post newspaper named her one of Canada’s
Most
Influential Women. In 2010 she received the Bonham
Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual
Diversity Studies for her contributions to the advancement
and education of issues around sexual identification.
(2020) |
|
Susan Gertrude Jasper |
née Robson. Born 1902, Ontario. Died
2000, Deleau District, Manitoba. In 1911 her family moved to
Deleau District of Manitoba. In 1922 she married Norman
Jasper and the couple raised three children. At 18 she
started working as secretary for the United Farmers of
Manitoba, a position she held for 19 years. Later she served
on the Board of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture where
she lobbied governments for legislation to improve quality
of rural life. In her home community she founded a school
for mentally impaired children. She served on the Hartney
Chamber of Commerce and founded the local museum. Many in
the area remember her as their music teacher and as organist
for local churches. She arranged award winning gardens about
her home and served 15 years as district director of the
Manitoba Horticulture Society. She was also a director of
the International Peace Garden that joins the U.S. –
Canadian Border, for 15 years. In 2002 she was inducted into
the Manitoba Agriculture Hall of Fame. Source: Herstory
: A Canadian Women’s Calendar 2006 (Coteau Books 2005) (2020) |
|
Mary John Sr
Aboriginal Language activist
|
Born June 15, 1913, Prince George, British
Columbia. Died September 30, 2004, Vanderhoof, British
Columbia. Mary was a member of the Tachek Clan. She was
called Mary John Sr to distinguish between herself and one
of her daughter-in-laws. Mary Sr was a leader of the Carrier
people of central interior of British Columbia. At the age
of eight she was taken from her family to attend residential
school 1st at Fort St James and then Lejac Residential
School. She married Lazare John and the couple had 12
children. In 1942 Mary Sr helped found her local British
Columbia Homemakers Association and she served as the 1st
president. She went on to become president of the District
Association. In 1950's she worked with Welfare Committee
helping to place Aboriginal children into Aboriginal foster
homes. In the 1970's she taught the Carrier language, the
language of her childhood, in Vanderhoof. She was one of the
founders of Yinka Dent Language Institute. In 1978 she
became the 1st Aboriginal woman to be Citizen of the Year in
Vanderhoof. In the 1980's Mary Sr worked with the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police in her region on the Aboriginal
Advisory Committee. In 1997 she was inducted as a Member of
the Order of Canada. In 2002 Mary Sr. received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Award. In 2008 the local
Vanderhoof Public Library dedicated the Mary John Collection
of Books. (2020) |
|
Dorothy Charlotte
Johnson |
née Dodds. Born Clute, Ontario October 5,
1925. Died January 8, 2016, Cochrane, Ontario. Raised on a
farm in northern Ontario she would marry Raymond ‘Bud”
Johnson and the couple would raise their five children on
their farm. During the World War II teacher shortage she
taught school on a letter of permit and continued to work in
local schools as a supply teacher and in the school library.
In winter she often snow shoed to school to light the fire
early so the students would come to a warm class. Later in
life she was also elected to the Board of Education for
North Eastern Ontario. An active member of her church, she
has always enjoyed being a member of the choir, serves as a
counselor and worked on writing a constitution for the newly
formed Unified Council of her local church. She has had a
long standing interest in the Federated Women’s Institutes
enjoying membership and all the activities. She has also
performed administrative positions form local and area
president, 1983-1986 President of the Federated Women’s
Institute of Ontario and in July 1991 she became president
elect of the national Federated Women’s Institutes of
Canada. She was responsible for a written presentation to
the Associated Country Women of the World for their revised
constitution. She would be one of the women chosen to
represent Canada at the world Conference on Women in
Beijing, China. November 2, 2006 Charlotte was the
recipient of an Honorary Fellowship from Huntington
University, Sudbury, Ontario. Sources:
Personal interview with Charlotte Johnson; Federation of
Women’s Institutes of Ontario Online. (accessed
December 2008); Huntington University (Accessed
January 2009). Obituary, ; Personal acquaintance.
(2020). |
|
Lillie Johnson
Black nurse and Health
Advocate |
Born 1922, Jamaica. Lillie trained as a nurse
in Jamaica and Scotland prior to completing her studies in
Toronto, Ontario after immigrating in 1960. She worked at an outlying Red Cross
posting before settling to work at the Sick Kids Hospital in
Toronto. She taught courses in Child and Maternal Health at
Humber College and also served as a consultant for the
Ontario Ministry of Health before becoming Director of
Nursing Services at Leeds Granville and Lanark Heal Unit in
Eastern Ontario. By 1981 she founded the Sickle Cell Association of
Ontario. In 19189 she returned to Jamaica as a volunteer for
CUSO International. In 2005 she was successful in realizing the
universal newborn screening for sickle cell disease (SCD).
In 2009 she received the Bloomberg Award from the Bloomberg
School of Nursing at the University of Toronto and the
Toronto Public Health Companion Award. In 2010 she was
inducted into the Order of Ontario. SCD affects mainly people of colour from Africa and the
Middle East. In September 2014 Lillie was presented with the
Legacy Award for her lifelong, extraordinary commitment to
advancing the health and well being of the Black community
at the Inaugural Black Health Alliance Awards. In 2015 Lillie was honored at the Sickle Cell
Advocacy Gala in Ottawa, Ontario. That
same year she published her memoir My Dream and was
an honoured torch bearer for the Toronto Pan Am Games. She
has also received the Viola Desmond Award from Ryerson
University, Toronto.
(2020) |
|
Pearl Keenan
Aboriginal
Elder of Canadian northwest |
née Geddes.
Born 1920 Near Teslin, Northwest Territories. Died January
29, 2020 Whitehorse, Yukon. Pearl grew
up on the family mink ranch near Teslin and taught
herself mathematics, English and how to write. In 1947 she
married Hugh Keenan (died 1999) and the couple had three
children. She has always been involved in serving her
community and is involved with helping the youth and helping
preserve the environment. In the 1980’s she was a member of
the newly formed Yukon Human Rights Commission. In British
Columbia she worked as a First Nations counsellor in
provincial prisons. She also ran the Nishito Friendship
Centre in New Westminster, British Columbia. She has served
as a guest lecturer at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks,
Alaska, U.S.A. and at the University of Regina in
Saskatchewan. In 2007 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada. She continues to work with her community on the
Counsel of Yukon First Nations (CYFN’s) elders advisory
council and environmental board, and serves as an elder for Behaviour Health Foundation of St Norbert Manitoba. She also
serves as a board member of the Selkirk Healing Centre in
Manitoba. In 1986 she received the Commissioner’s Award for
the Public Services and that same year she was a
Commissioner for the Yukon Pavilion at Expo 86 in Vancouver,
British Columbia. From 1993 through 200 she was
chancellor of Yukon College. In 2006 she was inducted into
the Order of Canada in recognition of her work to preserve
and teach the Tlingit language and culture.
(2020) |
|
Virginia K. Copping Norton Kemp
Lady Kemp |
née Norton. Born February 22, 1895, Forest City, Arkansas,
U.S.A. Died June 26, 1957, Toronto, Ontario. Virginia
studied piano in both the U.S.A. and Canada and was
considered an accomplished pianist. Her 1st marriage was to
Norman Judson Copping on February 28, 1914 in
Arkansas, and the couple had two children. Norman Cooping
died in 1921. Her in-laws had both died with the sinking of
the ship Lusitania and it was through an organization to
remember those who died Virginia met Sir Albert Edward
Kemp (1858-1929) who had lost his grandson on the ship. The
couple married on March 3, 1925 and they would have one
daughter. She was a true patron of the arts providing the
famous Canadian pianist, Glen Gould, with a starting
scholarship and served as Benefactor Member of the Toronto
Art Gallery. Lady Kemp was a member of the executive
committee Canadian Troops in Training supporting the
Canadian Forces throughout World War ll. She was patron of
the Canadian Institute for the Blind and was the elected
president of the CNIB in 1954 to 1957. She would donate
Baker Hall for blind veterans. (2020) |
|
Cathy Kerr |
Born 1951(?) Died October 22, 2004. She
had a quick mind and by the mid 1970's when she was 23 she
was the youngest person to be head of the correspondence
section in the Prime Minister's Office. By 1988 she was
Director of operations c-ordination for the Winter Olympics
in Calgary. While campaign manager for John Manley she was
in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. She was confined
to a wheel chair but the chair did not confine her spirit,
determination nor her energies. She became a tireless worker
for the disabled and was a board member of the Disabled
Persons Coalition and the Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre. In
2000 she received the Rick Hansen Award in recognition of her
efforts. In 2001 it was the United Way Community Builder
Award and in 2004 it was the Ottawa Civic Appreciation
Award. (2020) |
|
Naomi Klein |
Born Montreal, Quebec May 8, 1970. The
daughter of social activists Bonnie Sherr-Klein and Dr.
Michael Klein, Naomi grew up in Montreal. She attended the
University of Toronto where she became editor of the
University newspaper and went on to intern at the Globe
and Mail before working for This Magazine. She
married Avi Lewis and, a current affairs show host. They
enjoy editing each other’s works. Naomi’s first book No
logo: taking aim a the Brand Bullies (1999) appeared in over
25 different languages and had a special 10th anniversary
re-publishing. The anti-globalization there garnered
attention for the inspiring activist. Her second book the Shock
Doctrine , 2007 again appeared in multiple languages and
appeared on lists of must read books of the year. Naomi has
also written such documents at the Take in 2004 winning the
Best Documentary Jury Prize at the American Film Institute
Festival in Los Angeles. Her work as a contributing editor
and reporter has appeared in Harper’s, Rolling Stone, The
Nation, the Guardian, the Washington Post and is
syndicated through the New York Times. She has won
the James Aronson Award for social Justice Journalism, in
2004. She was the Miliband Fellow as the London School of
Economics.
Sources: A woman’s agenda 2003:
Celebrating movers and Shakers by Helen Wolfe. Second
Story Press, 2002; About Naomi Klein Online (accessed
June 2011). (2020) |
|
Kathy Knowles
Lay
Librarian |
Born 1955, Toronto, Ontario. Kathy
studied nursing at Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario
earning her BSc (Nursing). She worked in various pediatrics
hospitals including a year in Moose Factory, in Northern
Ontario. She married John Knowles and the couple had four
children. In 1989 the family relocated to Accra, Ghana, west Africa, where John worked for a Canadian gold mining
company. Kathy loved to read books to her children and she
soon found that she accumulated many more eager listeners to
her stories told under a tree in her back yard. Soon she
had converted the family garage into a lending library and
was lobbying Canadian friends and all who could help to send
books. In 1993 the family returned to Canada and settled in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Before she left Ghana Kathy made sure
her library would remain open and trained local staff. She
founded the OSU Children’s Library Fund, a registered
charity in both Canada and Ghana. 8 libraries have been
established in the greater Accra area and over 200 more
libraries across Africa. Through the Osu Children’s Library
Fund Kathy has authored and published almost 30 books of
easy learning, stories and tales of Ghana for children. In
2002 Kathy was awarded the Lewis Perinbam Award for
International Development, the 1st of many awards she has
received for her continued efforts for literacy in Africa.
She has been recognized in both Canada and Ghana. She is an
honorary fellow of the Ghana Library Association and has
received in 2010 the International Board on Books for Young
People (IBBY) the Asahi Reading Promotion Award. In 2013 the
American Library Association presented her with the
Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library
Projects. At home in Winnipeg she was the YWCA Woman of
Distinction, has been inducted into the Order of Manitoba
and in 2010 she was recognized as one of Canada’s 25
Transformational Canadians. The Governor General of Canada
presented her with an Award of Meritorious Service in 2001.
In 2013 she received from the Winnipeg YM/WCA Peace
Medallion. Perhaps the best award she has received is
watching the children read to her when she visits libraries
in Africa. Book: Cowley, Deborah. The Library Tree. Sources:
Dawson, Joanna and Beverly Tallon. “Helping Heroes:
Canadians who made a difference in the world.’ In Canada’s
History February- March 2013; Kathy Knowles, Bio Osu
Library Fund Online (Accessed
September 2014) (2020) |
|
Julia Koschitzky |
née Plodlski. Born Cardiff, Wales. The
family had fled German in 1939 and left for Canada in 1949
finally settling in Toronto, Ontario in 1956. In 1963 Julia
married Businessman Henry Koschitzky. She has always had a
strong presence in her community. She began when some of her
four children were in school becoming president of the
Parents’ Association of the Associated Hebrew Schools in
Toronto. In 1985 she chaired the Toronto United Jewish
Appeal, Women’s Division Campaign and in 1988-1989 she
co-chaired the general Toronto UJA Campaign. She served for
eight years as an officer of the UJA Federation of Greater
Toronto and then from 1990-1992 as president of the United
Israel Appeal/Federations Canada. In 1998 she chaired the
Toronto celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Israeli
statehood. In 2003 she was chair of the UJA Federation’s
Israel Advocacy program and serving on the executive
committee of Israel Now. Her work and dedication has
garnered her numerous awards including the Woman of Valour
Award of Toronto’s UJA Business and Professional Women’s
Division in 1990. In 1994 she received the 125 Canadian
Confederation Medal. There was also the Jerusalem Award of
the Canadian Zionist Federation in 1994 and the Ben Sadowski
Award for outstanding dedication to the Toronto, Jewish
Community in 1997 which was followed by the Volunteer award
of the Province of Ontario in 1999. Source:
Jewish Women: A
comprehensive historical encyclopedia Jewish Women’s
Archive. online (Accessed August 2011) (2020) |
|
Rosemarie Ester Kuptana |
Born during winter seal hunt 1954, Price
of Wales Strait, Canada. Rosemarie grew up leaning the traditional role of
Inuit women. However she was whisked away to residential
school where she was to learn the ways of the 'white man'.
She was not allowed to speak her own language for ten years!
In 1979 she began working as a radio broadcaster with the
CBC Northern Services. In 1983 she was President of Inuit
Broadcasting Corporation setting policy and standards. From
1986-1989 she was Vice President of Inuit Circumpolar
Conference, an organization addressing common consensus of
Inuit in Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia. In 1991 she
took over leadership of Tapirisat of Canada in Ottawa. This
organization allowed Inuit communities to work together to
control their own futures. She was a part of the Canadian
Constitutional talks of 1992 in Charlottetown where
recognition of Canada’s aboriginal was guaranteed. Her work
garnered her the Confederation Medal. In 1994 she was
honoured with the National Aboriginal Achievement Award and
in 1999 she was invested as an Officer in the Order of
Canada. She is very proud of her family of two sons. Sources: Honour
Song: A tribute by Barbara Hagan Vancouver: Raincoast Books,
1996; Native Leaders of Canada Online (Accessed November
2011) (2020) |
|
Anne Lacquette |
Born Ebb and Flow, Manitoba. Anne has
lived in Mallard, Manitoba for over 50 years and has served
as a town counselor, deputy mayor and then as mayor of the town.
She has also served on the board of the Parkland Regional
Health Authority. as Chair of Northern Association of
Community Councils Western Region and a is a member of the
Cancer Care Aboriginal Board. She was past Chair of the
Provincial Aboriginal Advisory Committee and has served on
the Parkland Regional Health Authority Board. She married
Norman Lacquette and the couple had Seven children. In 2010 she
was honoured at the Keeping the Fires Burning aboriginal
awards celebrating female leaders for preserving First
Nations culture and serving as role models for younger generations. Source;
Matt Preprost, “Gala recognizes accomplishments”. Winnipeg
Free Press June 18, 2010 Page A13. (2020) |
|
Michele Landsberg-Lewis |
SEE - Writers - Journalists |
|
Rebecca 'Rivka' Fox Landsberg |
Born December 21, 1863, Biebrusk, Russia. Died February 20,
1917 Toronto, Ontario. After her marriage to Abraham
Landsberg in 1880 she and her husband immigrated to England
where two of their six children were born. In 1894 the
family immigrated to Canada settling in Toronto, Ontario.
She became involved helping improving living conditions of
immigrant European Jews. She was one of the founders in 1899
of the Toronto Hebrew Ladies’ Aid Society which was the
1st formal charitable organization for East European Jewish
families. She served as principal inspector for the
investigating committee formed in 1903 helping destitute
families. She made sure food and fuel was delivered
anonymously and she often went door to door asking for
funding to which her real estate holding allowed her to
contribute personally. In 1909 she helped found the Jewish
Day Nursery with the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society as well as
establishing an orphanage, the Jewish Children’s Home. She
visited the home daily playing wit the children and serving
as Vice-president of the organization.
(DCB) (2020) |
|
Gertrude M. Laing |
Born February 13, 1905 Tunbridge Wells,
Kent, England. Died December 18, 2005 Calgary, Alberta.
Gertrude graduated from the University of Manitoba with her
Bachelor of Arts in 1925. She went on to study French at the
Sorbonne in France for two years. On June 16, 1930 she
married Stanley Bradshaw Laing and the couple had two sons.
Living at first in Winnipeg she taught at the Riverbend
School for Girls for a couple of years. She volunteered
locally at the YWCA where she served as president from 1941
through 1943. When the family relocated to Calgary she was
on the Social Planning Council in the city 1957-1959. In
1974 she served on the Canadian Committee for UNESCO and was
a member of the Canadian Delegation UNESCO General Assembly.
She served as a member of the Canada Council and was Chair
from 1975-1978. She went on to lecture in French at the
University of Manitoba from 1945 through 1950. She also
served as executive Secretary for the War Services Board and
the Central Winnipeg Volunteer Bureau of Winnipeg. In 1963
she was appointed to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism
and Biculturalism. For her volunteer and service to her
national community Gertrude was inducted into the Order of
Canada in 1972 and received the Queen Elizabeth Silver
Jubilee Medal in 1977 and in 2002 the Queen Elizabeth Golden
Jubilee Medal. |
|
Joy Langan |
née Pollard. Born January 23, 1943,
Rossland, British Columbia. Died July 20, 2009, Port Moody,
British Columbia. She dropped out of school in grade ten but
she was known to quip that she had a PhD in being a working
woman. Her first child was put up for adoption but not
forgotten and they were reunited years later. In 1966 she
had a brief marriage to Gary Langan and the couple had one
daughter. When she was bringing up her daughter she worked
tirelessly to obtain day care for people working shift work.
In 1972 she was the 1st woman journeyman printer at a
company called Pacific Press. They felt they had to hire the
person who had obtained the highest results in their
mechanical aptitude testing. In 1979 she met a fellow
printer Doug Schop who became her life partner. She worked
with labour organizations and became the 1st woman
Vice-President of the British Columbia Federation of Labour.
From this position she continued to battle for equal rights
for women. In 1988 she ran successfully for the New
Democratic Party and became a Member of the Canadian
Parliament. She continued her hard working feminist
tendencies and introduced a private members bill to ban the
sale of the dangerous silicone breast implants. After she
left parliament in 1993 she worked for the Communications,
Energy and Pipe workers Union. In 1999 she was arrested when
she laid down under the tires of a truck during a legal
strike. In 2008 she retired from her union job only to
become a working President of the British Columbia
Federation of Retired Union Members. Here she took on the
role as advocate for seniors rights. Source:
“Activist liked to say she had a PhD in being a working
woman” by Noreen Shanahan, The Globe and Mail, August 17,
2009. |
|
Jeannette Vivian Lavell
Aboriginal Activist |
née Corbiere. Born June 21, 1942
Wikwemikong First Nation, Ontario. Growing up she learned
English from her mother and Ojibwe from her father. She
attended business college in North Bay, Ontario and worked
for the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. In 1965 she was
named Indian Princess of Canada. Since in 1970 she married
a non-Indigenous mane, David Lavell she was no longer
considered to be an 'Indian' according to the Canadian
Indian Act. Jeannette went on to become a person dedicated
to the causes of native women for more than a quarter of a
century. This courageous women fought to improve their
plight and proved that one person's voice can make a
difference. In 1971 she challenged the Indian Act and her
failure fueled her energies to a 1974 successful challenge
which permitted reinstatement of First Nations women and
children to regain their 'Indian' status. She served as
president of the Native Women's Association of Canada and
founded the Ontario Native Women's Association. She also
served as a cabinet appointee for the Commission on the
Native Justice System and was president of Anduhyaun Inc a
residence for Native women in Toronto. She earned a teaching
degree from the University of Western Ontario, London and
worked as as a teacher and school principal, living on
Manitoulin Island, Ontario In 2009 to 2012 she became
president of the Native Women's Association of Canada. In
2009 she received the Governor General's Person's Case
Award. In 2012 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth ll
Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2018 she became a Member of the
Order of Canada. |
|
Gertrude 'Trudi'
Le Caine |
née Janowski. Born 1911 Passau, Bavaria.
Died September 5, 1999 Ottawa, Ontario. Trudi moved as a
youth to Berlin, Germany to live with her father. They would
relocated to Spain after the Nazi Party came to power in
Germany in 1933. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
in 1936 they fled to France she Trudi studied and the
Sorbonne, Paris. By 1942 she had settled in Ottawa Ontario.
It was here in 1946 tha she helped establish the Ottawa
Children's Concerts. She became involved with Le Groupe de
la Place Royale, Opera Lyra and the Council for the Arts in
Ottawa. She was well known in the community and when she
suggested to the National Capital Commission to use the
Rideau Canal as a public skating rink they took her idea up
and ran with it. The Rideau Canal is considered the longest
skating rink in the world and brings thousands of tourists
to Ottawas each year. Trudi has bee presented with the
Lescarbot Award, the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award and in 1991
she was appointed as Member of the Order of Canada. (2019) |
|
Mary Jo Leddy |
Born February 1 1946. Mary Jo earned her
doctorate in philosophy from the University of Toronto. She
has served as a Board member of PEN Canada. In 1987 she
received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council
of Christians and Jews. In 1993 she was presented with an
Ontario Citizenship Award. In 1996 she was named as a Member
of the Order of Canada. After 30 years being a member of the
Roman Catholic Sister of Our Lady of Sion she left the
congregation in 1994. She is the founder of Romero House a
shelter for refugees established in 1991. She spends the
summer taking refugees on a discovery adventure to
Manitoulin Island. Her latest book Why Are We Here is
a meditation on Canada where we need, as Canadians, to see
Canada Constantly becoming something new. (2019) |
|
Janet Chisholm Lee |
Born January 4, 1862, Woodstock, Upper
Canada. (Ontario). Died August 24, 1940, Stoney Creek,
Ontario. Like many women of her era, Janet attended Normal
School (Teachers College) and earned a Kindergarten
certificate in 1887. She would create the 1st kindergarten
program in the City of Hamilton, Ontario. She married Erland
Lee (1864-1929) farmer, teacher and civil servant, The
couple would have five children. She worked with Adelaide
Hoodless (1858-1910) to found the Women’s Institutes which
would offer programs to rural women. On February 25, 1893
Janet is credited with writing the original Woman’s
Institute constitution on her dining room table. In 1987, a
primary school in Stoney Creek was named in her honour. The
Lee family home, Edgemont, was taken over by the Federated
Women’s Institutes of Canada in 1970 and in 1972 was opened
as the Erland Lee Museum. |
|
Kathleen 'Kay' Livingstone
Black
activist for women |
Born October 13, 19 London, Ontario. Died
July 25, 1975 Toronto, Ontario.. Kay studied music at the
Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario and the Ottawa
College of Music. During World War ll she worked for the
Canadian government at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics,
Ottawa, Ontario. In 1942 she married George Livingstone and
the couple had 5 children. While in Ottawa she became host
of her own radio program, The Kay Livingstone Show. Moving
to Toronto she hosted radio shows for various radio
stations. In 1951 she joined the Dilentantes, soon renamed
as the Canadian Negro Women’s Club (now Canadian Negro
Women’s Association). She served as the groups 1st president
from 1951-1953. The group is the force behind the Calypso
Carnival which developed into the famous Caribana. She
enjoyed acting as an amateur and professional stage
productions and television series becoming known as one of
Canada’s leading Black actresses. She served as president of
the United Nations Association in Canada and as regional
chair of the National Black Coalition. She was moderator for
Heritage Ontario and served as a member of the Appeal Board
of Legal Aid. She is credited with being the 1st person to
use the term ‘Visible Minority’. After her death the Kay
Livingstone Visible Minority Women’s Society was formed. The
Kay Livingstone Award is presented to Black women I Canada
encouraging them to improve lives of women of colour. In
2011 she became a Person of National Historic Significance.
In 2017 a national historic plaque was erected near her home
in Toronto. In February 2018 Canada Post issued a stamp with
her image to honour Black History Month. |
|
Gwen Lord
Pioneer Black activist |
Born Montreal. Completing high school
Gwen began working in the garment industry in Montreal to
earn money to continue her education. The garment industry
was one of the few places a Black citizen could easily find
a job. Her brother who had been originally offered a
scholarship at McGill only to have it taken back and given
to another white athlete was attending an American
university made sure Gwen became registered at university. ,
After graduating with a Bachelor in Science on the Dean's
List and with a science prize Gwen was set back when she
applied to become a teacher. The Protestant School Board of
Greater Montreal in 1961 informed Gwen during an interview
that she had to have a teaching certificate. Gwen knew that
the PSBGM had previously hired teachers right after their
high school graduation. She attended Macdonald College and
earned her teaching certificate but she and other Black
applicants were not hired by the PSBGM. The class protested
and Gwen was finally hired. In 1977 she became the 1st Black
Principal of a school in the PSBGM (now the English Montreal
School Board. Gwen went on to become a senior board
administrator. The bitter pill of refusal on her 1st
application sill stings her. She was a true role model and
trail blazer. She would also serve as President of the Black
Community Resource Centre in Montreal. (2019) |
|
Jean Bessie Lumb |
née Wong. Born 1919 Nanaimo, British
Columbia. Died July 18, 2002, Toronto, Ontario. The daughter
of a Chinese coal miner Jean grew up not understanding why
Chinese people and women in general were not accepted! At 16
in 1935 she moved to Toronto to work for her sister. The
next year she opened a fruit store which gave he funds to
bring the rest of her family to Toronto. In April 1939 she
married. Doyle Jennings Lumb. She and her husband raised 6
children while working in their Toronto fruit store. In 1959
they opened the Kwong Chow Restaurant. Jean became a
community lobbyist in order to effect changes in
immigration. From 1923 until 1947 federal regulations kept
families in China from joining their husbands and fathers
who were in Canada. In 1940 she was president of the Women’s
Association in the Chinese Community where she lobbied to
changes to reunite Chinese families in Canada. In 1957 when
Ellen Fairclough was Minister of Immigration , Jean was a
force behind sending a group to Ottawa to fight for family
re-unification for immigrants. She was also a central force
in the preservation of Toronto Chinatown. In the 1960’s she
headed the “Save Chinatown Committee which was formed to
save the area from developers. She formed and worked with
the Chinese Dance troop with her work recognized when she
was presented to Queen Elizabeth. In 1976 she became the 1st Chinese Canadian to
become a member of the Order of Canada. Source: Chinese
Canadians: Voices from a community by Evelyn Huong with
Lawrence Jeffery. (Vancouver: Douglas McIntyre |
|
Roberta Catherine MacAdams |
Born July 21, 1880, Sarnia, Ontario. Died
December 16, 1959, Calgary, Alberta. Roberta was a graduate
from Macdonald Institute of the Ontario Agricultural
College, Guelph, Ontario (Now University of Guelph.. In 1912
she was hired by the Alberta Government to offer “institute”
courses for rural women across the province. As well the
Alberta Department of Agriculture had her conduct a survey
to determine the viability of a provincial Women’s
Institute. Roberta was what was called a new woman
participating in society out of the home in non-traditional
ways through education, employment and civic engagement. In
1914-1916 she worked for the Edmonton Public School Board
creating the 1st Department of Domestic Economy (Home
economics) in Alberta. In 1916 she left her job to serve as
a lieutenant during World War l. She served as a dietitian
in the Canadian Military Hospital in Orpington, England. In
1917 the Alberta Military Representation Act allowed the
38,000 Alberta soldiers and 75 nurses overseas to elect 2
representative to the Provincial legislature. On September
17, 1917 Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams were elected.
Roberta was the second woman in the Empire after fellow
Albertan Louise McKinney to be elected to office. In 1918
she became the 1st woman in the British Empire to introduce
legislation when she brought forward a bill to incorporate
the War Veterans Next of Kin Association Bill. After the
1st legislative session she was back in Britain with the
Khaki University which provided women’s staff for continuing
education for overseas Canadian forces. Back in Alberta in
1919 she served as district Director of the Soldiers Land
Settlement Board. After this position Roberts married lawyer
Harvey Price and was less prominent in the public eye. Source: Our
Future, Our Heritage. The Alberta Heritage Digitization
Project. Online (Accessed May 2014) ; Roberta MacAdams and
the New Woman. Alberta’s Women’s Institute. Online (Accessed
May 2014. |
|
Heather B.S. MacGregor |
née Reynolds. Born June 6, 1921,
Pietermarlizberg, South Africa. Died January 5, 2013,
Cobourg, Ontario. While still a child she moved with her
family to England where she trained as a classical ballet
dancer and teacher. During World War ll she was chosen to be
an officer in the Royal Air Force, one of the few women
officers, and was posted in Palestine. In Cairo in 1944 she
married Canadian Flight Leader Winston Walker (died 1958)
and came to Canada as a War Bride. She taught and danced in
Edmonton meeting many dancers and pioneers in the Canadian
Ballet ensemble. In 1963 she married Colin MacGregor (died
1987) and the couple lived in various cities before settling
in Cobourg, Ontario. She was active in her Anglican Church
and was a committed volunteer, being president of the
Toronto Hospital Auxiliary from 1997-1999. Source:
Obituary, Globe and Mail January 19, 2013. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Anne Elizabeth Macdonald |
Born March 18, 1930, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Died July 10, 1993, North Vancouver. Established
North Vancouver's Presentation House Arts Centre. She worked
to save the historic Church of St. John the Evangelist with
the building becoming a recital hall renamed in her honour
the Anne Macdonald Hall in 1977. She founded the Arts and
Crafts Fair as well as the North Vancouver Community Arts
Council .. As the council’s first executive director of she
established the Assembly of B.C. Arts Councils. In addition
she sat on many boards and commissions including University
of British Columbia's senate, North Vancouver School
District and Canadian Conference of the Arts. In 1990 she
received YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Community
Service. She was also inducted as a Member of Order of
British Columbia. Source:
The Vancouver Hall of Fame online (Accessed November 2012) |
|
Annie Caroline Macdonald |
Born Wingham, Ontario October 15, 1874.
Died July 17, 1931. She graduated in mathematics from the
University of Toronto in 1901. She would turn to on of the
opening professions for respectable young ladies of the day.
She became one of the first professional secretaries of the
Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA). By 1904 she was
on her way to Japan to establish the YWCA in that country.
She became immersed in her new job and new home. She became
fluent in the Japanese language and became a staunch
advocate of penal reform in Japan. Among other things she
established a settlement house in the city of Tokyo to
provide support services for families of prison inmates,
ex-prisoners and juvenile delinquents (dare we call it
Macdonald House?) In 1924 her social work was recognized by
the Emperor of Japan. In 1925 she returned to Canada and was
the first woman to receive an LLD (Doctor of Law) from the
University of Toronto. |
|
Elizabeth Lee Macdonald |
née Owen. Born May 11, 1835, Cardigan
River, Prince Edward Island. Died July 12, 1901,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Her family was a well
established family on the Island. The family moved to
Charlottetown in 1842 when her father was appointed to the
position of Postmaster General. On November 25, 1863 she set
the social society buzzing when she married a catholic
shipping magnate Andrew Archibald Macdonald. While she
remained loyal to her Anglican roots her four sons were
brought up as Catholics. Her husband became well situated
after their marriage and as a politician was the youngest
among the Fathers of Confederation who attended both the
Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences. Dibbie, as she was
known to family and friends, was active in working for her
church and served as president of the Sewing Society of St
Peter’s Cathedral where she organized fundraising events. In
1884 she became the 1st lady of PEI when her husband served
as Lieutenant Governor. In 1891 she was appointed to the
senate. Using only her initials E.L.M. was the manner of
women authors of the day, she wrote of local history. This
was a popular topic for magazines and papers from 1867
through 1920. From October 1900 through June 190 she wrote a
nine part series entitled Charlottetown Fifty years Ago in
the Prince Edward Island Magazine. Her articles included
much of her memories and emphasized women’s contributions to
the making of the provincial society. She died suddenly from
complications with Diabetes. Sources:
Evelyn MacLeod, “OWEN, ELIZABETH LEE,” in Dictionary of
Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université
Laval, 2003–, accessed June 30, 2015, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/owen_elizabeth_lee_13E.html.
(accessed June 2015) ; Carolyn Harris, Elizabeth Lee
Macdonald. Canadian Encyclopedia online (accessed June 2015) |
|
Margaret L. McLeod |
Died June 19, 1993. Marg was a volunteer
teacher for the Ontario Crippled Children's Centre, Toronto,
Ontario (Now the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation
Hospital). She visited England to see Cheshire Homes which
provided housing for adults with disabilities. The trip
inspired her to found in 1970 the Cheshire Homes in Canada
which provided housing for people with disabilities.The 1st
Canadian Cheshire Home opened in 1972 and was called McLeod
House in her honour. her. She also founded the Clarendon
Foundation. She was also a co-founder of the Ontario
Federation for the Physically Handicapped. In 1978 she
earned the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. In 1979 she
was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1983 she
entered the Hall of Fame of the Canadian Foundation for
Physically Disabled Persons. In 1993 she was inducted into
the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. (2019) |
|
Isabel Janet Macneill / MacNeill |
Born June 4, 1908, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Died August 18,1990. Isabel attended Halifax Ladies College,
Mount Saint Vincent Academy followed by attending the Nova
Scotia College of Art and graduating in 1928. She wanted a
career in scenic design but soon found herself working as a
counselor. In 1942 she joined the Wrens and in March 1943
she was promoted to 1st Officer. Two months later in June
1943 she became commanding officer of HMCS Conestoga, the
1st woman in the British Commonwealth to hold a command. In
June1944 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire in
recognition of her training Canadian Wrens. In April 1945
she was promoted to the rank of Commander. After World War
11 in 1946 she was employed by the Ontario Government as
Director of Special Services for Wayward Girls and she
headed the Training School for Delinquents in Coburg and
then in Galt. She believed that the girls should achieve
self confidence to re-enter successfully life in society. In
1954 she returned to duty in the Canadian Navy to help
establish a small permanent force of Wrens. She retired from
the Canadian Navy in June. In
1960 she became the 1st woman prison warden when she was
appointed to head the Prison for Women (P4W), Kingston,
Ontario. Here, as she had done for the Girls
Training School she encouraged development of the women to
encourage change. When her beliefs became contrary to prison
regulations in 1966 she resigned her post. She became a
life member of the Elizabeth Fry Society and continued to
promote prison reform. . She was also a charter member of
Veterans Against Nuclear Arms. She was a recipient of the
Queen’s Coronation Medal in 1953 and in 1971 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada. Source: Herstory
2006: The Canadian Women’s Calendar. Coteau Books, 2005) ; Macneill,
Isabel 1908-1990. Fonds. Memory Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia
Public Archives. Online (Accessed October 2014) |
|
Adaline Augusta 'Ada'
Marean-Hughes |
née Marean.
Born January 9, 1848 Broome County, New York, U.S.A. Died
December 24, 1929 Toronto, Ontario. Ada operated a private
kindergarten in St John New Brunswick and in Toronto,
Ontario in 1878. In the
1880’s she was hired by the Toronto Board of Education to
teach in its 1st kindergarten at Louisa Street
School. In 1885 she married James Laughlin Hughes
(1847-1935) the Chief Inspector of Education in Toronto.
While she continued on as director of kindergartens for
several years she no longer received a salary for her work.
Together she and her husband and together they became the
most important exponents of the idea of kindergarten
education. In the later 1880’s the spearheaded the formation
of a provincial kindergarten association and Ada was
accepted as a member of the organization in the Ontario
Educational Association (OEA) in 1890. Ada
became the 1st woman president of the OEA in 1900. She
was later president of the International Kindergarten Union
in the United States. The couple was paramount in the
establishment of the international kindergarten movement and
the Association for Childhood Education International. Ada
served as the sixth president of the association from
1906-1908. In 1885 the Ontario provincial government
accepted kindergarten as part of the public school system.
Newspapers sided against the couple pleading that this was
an interruption to family life. The school Board wanted
families who participated to pay for supplies used. In 1892
three women were elected as Board of Education members and
the idea of fees was overrun. By 1893 there were 66
kindergartens in the province teaching 6,375 children. Ada
was also active the suffragette movement and in the Toronto
Local Council of Women where she helped organize the
Education Committee. |
|
Maria Marrelli |
née Di Grandis. Born Montreal, Quebec May
18, 1915. Died Montreal, Quebec, June 21, 2012. As a teen
she saw a need and created a charity, Loggia Elisabetta Di
Silvestro, to help young Italian women who were on welfare.
She married Guiseppe Marrelli in 1936 and learned that she
cold no have her own bank account legally in Quebec. Thus
began her desire to work even harder for women’s rights.
She was in the front lines fighting for the right to vote
that came to Quebec in 1944. She also worked tirelessly for
the Italian community. She was principal of Patromato
ItaloCanadese Algi Immigrah, a private school that taught
Italian as a language on Saturdays. She wrote a column for
The Suburban in Montreal and in 1972 she was the only woman
founding member of the Quebec Congress Italian Canadians
that safe guarded the interest of the Italian Community.
From 1977 -1981 she served as a Canadian Citizenship judge.
She received Italy’s Order of Merit and a medal from the
National Congress of Italian Canadians for her efforts. Source:
Obituaries by Alan Hustak, The Globe and Mail June 26,
2012. Suggested by June Coxon, Ottawa Ontario. |
|
Elizabeth "Betsy"
Carroll Martin
Philanthropist |
Born March 14, 1959, Washington, D.C.,
U.S.A. Died June 4, 2013, Ottawa, Ontario. She worked for
CitcCorp Mortgage Corporation but was much more interested
in the company charity activities. In 1992 she became
director of Public Affairs for St. Louis University. She
earned her master’s degree from the Kennedy School at
Harvard University. On August 5, 1995 she married Canadian
businessman Corey Copeland and the couple settled in Ottawa.
They had one daughter. She joined the Community Foundations
of Canada as Director of Programs, happy to once again to be
involved in charity work. In 1999 she launched a campaign to
celebrate the new millennium that engaged more than 6
million Canadians in giving gifts to their communities. Her
work garnered her the Innovations Award from the CDC. Source:
Obituary by Nora Ryell, the Globe and Mail, July 22, 2013. |
|
Laura Blanche McCain |
née Perley. Born October 3, 1891
Maugerville, New Brunswick Died March 11, 1982,
Florenceville, New Brunswick. In 1909 she earned her
education certificate and taught in Alberta for a few years
before moving back to New Brunswick. In 1914 she took a one
year course for teaching household science at Mount Allison
Ladies College, Sackville, New Brunswick. In 1915 School
Board Chairman Andrew D. McCain hired Laura to teach
household sciences. Andrew Davis McCain married Laura
Blanche Perley, October 2, 1918 at St. Anne’s Anglican
Church, Fredericton, York Co. The couple had 6 children. She
was instrumental in organizing and establishing some 20
local Women’s Institutes in New Brunswick. During World War
ii the Women’s Institutes in New Brunswick put together a
Victory Cook Book. Although Laura’s name does not appear as
a contributor it was widely known that she was the organizer
behind the book. The first edition of the book earned
$40,000.00 which was used to purchase 2 ambulances for the
Canadian forces. After the death of her husband in 1953 she
took over as manager and President of the McCain Produce
business. On December 6, 1974 she was inducted as a member
of the Order of Canada. Source
with sincere thanks to the Andrew and Laura McCain Public
Library, New Brunswick. |
|
Nellie
Letitia McClung |
née Mooney. Born October
20, 1873 Chatsworth, Ontario. Died September 1, 1951. At 16 she attended
Normal School (teacher’s college) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While teaching, she
was introduced to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union by her future
Mother-in-law. Marrying Wes McClung in 1896 they raised five children. As an
accomplished writer, she joined the Canadian Women’s Press Club. In 1912, a
founding member of the Political Equity League, she helped female wage
earners. She imitated Manitoba Provincial Premier Roblin in the 1914
“Women’s Parliament” mocking the idea of giving votes to men! She was the
only woman delegate at the Canadian War Conference of 1918 and was a
Methodist delegate to the world ecumenical Congress of 1921, where she
advocated women as clergy. She represented her ideas as a member of
Alberta’s legislature 1921-1925 and in 1927 she was one of the “Famous
Five”, who forced the courts to recognize women as “Persons” in 1929.
The 1st woman to be appointed to the Board of Directors, Canadian Broadcasting
Network in 1936 she was also a Canadian representative to the League of
Nations, 1938. A popular author, she wrote newspaper and magazine articles,
columns, short stories and published 16 books and 2 autobiographies. In 1954
Nellie was named as a Person of National Historic Significance.
In October 2009, the Senate of Canada voted to name
Nellie McClung and the rest of the Famous Five Canada's 1st 'honorary
senators'.
(2019) |
|
Anne "Annie' Elizabeth McClung |
née Meharry. Born April 3, 1849, Durham,
Ontario. Annie Married a Methodist minister, James Adam
McClung (d. 1916) in 1870. The couple had 6 children. Annie
herself was an active member of her local Womens Christian
Temperance Movement and while in Manitou, Manitoba she
shared her views with her daughter-in-law Nellie McClung.
She also saw Nellie’s talent for the written word and
encouraged Nellie to enter a magazine writing contest. Annie
took over doing things like the laundry and sewing, things
she called frivolous so that Nellie could have time to
write. When Nellie published her 1st book, Annie made sure
Nellie was a guest speaker at events so that the book could
be promoted. |
|
Jessie Turnbull McEwen |
Born December 1845, Montreal?, Quebec.
Died June 1, 1920, Brandon, Manitoba. After attending
college she toured Ontario under the aegis of Egerton
Ryerson, superintendent of education, lecturing on the need
for daughters to be educated. Married April 30, 1868 to
Donald McEwan. The couple settled 1st in Toronto and then
Montreal and once again in Toronto. The couple had 4
children. Jessie became involved in 1877 in the Toronto
Woman’s Literary Club which in 1883 became the Canadian
Women’s Suffrage Association with Jessie as President. She
was also secretary and trustee of the committee which
organized the Woman’s Medical College in 1883 and was among
the group instrumental in obtaining entrance for women into
the University of Toronto that same year. In 1884 the family
relocated to Manitoba. They named their mansion in Elton
Tullichewen. In 1895 after a visit with Lady Aberdeen Jessie
became president the local Council of Women, a position she
held till 1916 and she was National vice-president in 1900.
She was also president of the local Aberdeen Association
bringing classes in domestic sciences to the Brandon
schools. She furnished and equipped a ward in the Brandon
General Hospital and was instrumental in establishing and
financially supporting the Shoal Lake Hospital. In 1900 she
organized the 1st active branch of the Red Cross Society in
Manitoba and in 1907 she led the formation of the Young
Women’s Christian Association. An active Presbyterian she
was a founder in 1886 of the auxiliary of the Women’s
Foreign Mission Society in Brandon and its 1st regional
organization of the society in Western Canada. Source
Dictionary of Canadian Biography. |
|
Margaret 'Peggy' Louise Wilton McKercher |
née Wilton. Born April 17, 1929 Manitoba.
Peggy Graduated from the University of Saskatchewan (U of S)
in 1950. While at university she had been on various
champion sports teams including basketball, track and field
and the swim team. She also served a year as president of
the Women's Athletic Board. In 1950 she was awarded the
University of Saskatchewan Major Athletics Award. In 1952
she married a University of Saskatchewan student, Robert
Hamilton McKercher and the couple had two children. Peggy
supported her student husband while he earned his Master's
at Harvard Law School, Cambridge Massacheutts, U.S.A. At one
point the family lived in Ottawa where Peggy served on the
Canadian Water Resources Board, the National Capital
Commission's Canadiana Fund and the Governor General's Board
for the Meritorious Service Decorations. The family
eventually settled in Saskatchewan. In 1984 Peggy was
inducted into the U of S Hall of Fame. Her interest in
sports continued as she served with the Jeux Canada Games
Board of Directors and the ParticipACTION Board of
Directors. The U of S presents an academic and athletic
scholarship in her honour each year. She was the 1st woman
to serve as counsellor in Corman Park, Saskatchewan where
she also served as Deputy Mayor. She was a founding member
of the Meewasin Valley Authority and served as chair from
1979 through 1995. In 1989 she was the Saskatoon Citizen of
the Year. In 1992 she received the Canada 125 medal. She was
also on the Board of the Wanuskewin Heritage Park from 1992
through 1997. She has also served on the Saskatchewan Arts
Board, the Trans Canada Trail Foundation Advisory Board, the
Saskatchewan Medical Research Foundation and the
Saskatchewan Order of Merit Advisory Committee. In 1995 she
was invested into the Order of Canada. November 21, she
received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. From 1995 through
2001 she served as the U of S Chancellor. (2019) |
|
Lillian McGregor |
Born 1924 Birch Island (Whitefish River
First Nations, Ontario. Died Newmarket, Ontario April 20,
2012. She and her cousin Florence were the first native
children to graduate grade 8 on Manotoulin Island, Ontario.
She moved to Toronto at 15 to avoid a possible arranged
marriage. She became a nanny with the condition from her
employer that she continue her education. She finished high
school and attended nursing college. During WW ll she worked
at a munitions plant in eastern Toronto and packed
parachutes. In 1949 she worked for the Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON) and at a west end nursing home until her
retirement in 1990. She raised three sons. She was a
founding member of the Native Canadian Centre and a national
leader in the Friendship Centres. She was on the board of
the Native child an And Family Services Nishnawbe Homes, the
original Advisory Council and Ontario’s Aboriginal Healing
and Wellness Strategy. In 1994 she became the 1st Elder in
residence at the University of Toronto and lectured on the
seven sacred teachings of the elders: wisdom, courage,
truth, honesty, love, humility and respect. She was the
1st native woman awarded an honorary doctorate of law from
the University of Toronto. In 1996 the university
established a scholarship in her name. She received the City
of Toronto’s Civic Award and the outstanding achievement
Award from the province as well as receiving the Order of
Ontario. She was also instrumental in founding the Ontario
Aboriginal Diabetes Institute. She had tea with the Queen,
offered a first nations prayer to open the provincial
legislature and travelled to Russia with a group
representing Toronto’s bid for the Olympics. She carried the
2010 Olympic torch through part of Toronto. Source:
“She helped natives survive the city.” By Noreen
Shanahan. The Globe and Mail May 22, 2012. Suggested by June
Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Mary Jane McQuesten |
née Baker. Born October 10, 1849,
Brantford, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died December 7,
1934, Hamilton, Ontario. Her father was Thomas Baker a
Calvinist minister who strongly defended women’s rights.
After attending grammar school she attended Mrs. Burns’
ladies collegiate in Toronto. On June 18, 1873 she married
Isaac Baldwin McQuesten (1847-1888) a young lawyer. The
couple would have 7 children. The couple would inherit a
very large house which Mary caller Whitehern in Hamilton. At
one point poor family investments caused a reversal of
finances and Isaac turned to drink and began to exhibit
traits of mental illness. Mary herself sought treatment for
a mental breakdown in 1897. Widowed in 1888 Mary was left
with children from 2 to 14 years of age and a mountain of
debt. Through the years the children helped support the
family. Her daughter Ruby took a teaching position in Ottawa
and sent home money so her brother Thomas could attend
university. Thomas would go on to become a member of the
Ontario Legislative Assembly. Even with all her personal
responsibilities she found time to volunteer at her
Presbyterian church and for 50 years was active in the
Women’s Foreign Mission Society (WFMS) in the Hamilton area.
In 1906 she traveled throughout Ontario and the Canadian
west establishing WFMS auxiliaries. She helped to found the
Young Women’s Christian Association in Hamilton and she
belonged to the National Council of women. In 1923 she
lectured publically against church union and the formation
of the United Church of Canada. Her own local church
remained Presbyterian. None of her children married and upon
the death of Calvin, her youngest son their home, Whitehern
was bequeathed to the City of Hamilton and became a museum
in 1971. More than 3,000 letters attributed to Mary and her
family are preserved at Whitehern Historic House and
Gardens. The letters provide a detailed look into the
personal lives of an upper-middle class family of the late
Victorian and Edwardian era in Canada. A biography on Mary
has been published in 2004 and 2 plays have been written
based on family life. |
|
Anne Jean
McWilliam McDonald |
née Beleaney Born 1877 Waterside,
Ayrshire, Scotland. Died August 15, 1969 Calgary, Alberta.
By the time she was 11 she was an orphan working as a
domestic servant and a milkmaid. She married William
McWilliams and although the couple had 5 children only 2
lived to adulthood. The family immigrated to originally to
Ontario, Canada to work on a farm but soon William headed
to Alberta. In 1907 while traveling with the children to
Alberta by train Jean was sexually assaulted by a railway
sleeping car attendant. . Arriving in Alberta, Jean became
good friends with the head of the Red Cross Mary Wagoner in
Calgary, and strongly encouraged the Red Cross to place
matrons aboard trains for accompanying female immigrants for
keeping them safe en-route. In order to gain a better
education for her children Jean left the family farm with
the children and settled in Calgary. She worked as a
domestic servant to support her family. She went on to
become Calgary’s 1st police matron for female prisoners. By
1912 she had purchased her own home taking in boarders to
help with finances. She took in destitute single women who
needed help. She was a staunch supporter of women’s rights.
She was a suffragette who wanted to make sure women would
have the right to vote in elections. She worked with other
women in the province including the members of the “Famous
Five”, Nellie McClung (1873-19510, Irene Parlby (1868-1965),
Emily Murphy (1868-1933), Henrietta Muir Edwards (1849-1931)
and Louise McKinney (1868-1931). Her husband, During World
War One Jean and started the Next of Kin organization for
petitioning the Canadian Government to grant more money for
soldiers wives while their husbands were away fighting in
France. Her husband, William was shrapneled at Vimy Ridge
Easter Monday 1917. After returning to Alberta he again
fell ill and returned to Scotland and died. Jean later
remarried Andrew William ‘Mac’ MacDonald during 1936. Family
was important to Jean and she in her latter years raised one
of her granddaughters (Jean McWilliam/Fraser) who had been
very badly treated and emotionally abused by her
stepmother. Jean McWilliam MacDonald was Child Welfare
Convener in Calgary for 35 years and enjoyed a large turnout
at Palliser Hotel 1952 acknowledging her contributions to
Calgary's Society. She was later referred to by journalists
as being the champion of the Underdog and ultimately the
Voice of Calgary's Conscience. Source:
Family member |
|
Mary Majka
Naturalist |
Born 1925, Poland. As a child she was
separated from her family and sent to a forced Labour Camp
during World War ll. After the war she was located and
reunited with her mother. She studied Medicine in Innsbruck,
Austria. In 1948 she married Mika Majka. The couple have 2
sons and one adopted daughter. August 22, 1951 the family
landed at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They began their
life in Canada in Hamilton, Ontario but when Mike began to
practice medicine they settled in Moncton, New Brunswick.
From 1967-1974 Mary headed a Television program on nature
for youth called Have You Seen? In 1968 she studied nature
in the U.S.A. at Maine’s Audubon Camp. In 1972 she was
working with the New Brunswick Field Naturalists making
countless contributions to wildlife preservation and to
heritage trusts. Mary and Mike also founded the Moncton
Naturalists association. In 1996 she received the Gulf of
Maine Council Visionary Award. She holds the order of New
Brunswick and in 2007 was inducted into the Order of Canada. Sources:
Pier21.ca (accessed November 2011) Resource: Sanctuary: the
story of naturalist Mary Majka by Deborah Carr (Goose Lane
Editions) |
|
Adeline Augusta 'Ada'
Marean-Hughes |
née Marean.
Born January 9, 1848 Broome County, New York, U.S.A. Died
December 24, 1929 Toronto, Ontario. Ada operated a private
kindergarten in St John New Brunswick and in Toronto,
Ontario in 1878. In the
1880’s she was hired by the Toronto Board of Education to
teach in its 1st kindergarten at Louisa Street
School. In 1885 she married James Laughlin Hughes
(1847-1935) the Chief Inspector of Education in Toronto.
While she continued on as director of kindergartens for
several years she no longer received a salary for her work.
Together she and her husband and together they became the
most important exponents of the idea of kindergarten
education. In the later 1880’s the spearheaded the formation
of a provincial kindergarten association and Ada was
accepted as a member of the organization in the Ontario
Educational Association (OEA) in 1890. Ada
became the 1st woman president of the OEA in 1900. She
was later president of the International Kindergarten Union
in the United States. The couple was paramount in the
establishment of the international kindergarten movement and
the Association for Childhood Education International. Ada
served as the sixth president of the association from
1906-1908. In 1885 the Ontario provincial government
accepted kindergarten as part of the public school system.
Newspapers sided against the couple pleading that this was
an interruption to family life. The school Board wanted
families who participated to pay for supplies used. In 1892
three women were elected as Board of Education members and
the idea of fees was overrun. By 1893 there were 66
kindergartens in the province teaching 6,375 children. Ada
was also active the suffragette movement and in the Toronto
Local Council of Women where she helped organize the
Education Committee. |
|
Ada/Aida Maud Boyer McAnn
Flemming |
née McAnn.
Born Victoria Corner, New Brunswick, March 7, 1896. Died
January 25, 1994. Aida taught English and history at Mount
Allison University and later at a private school in New York
City, U.S.A. Before returning home to New Brunswick she
worked as a freelance writer. Once home she worked in the
provincial Department of Tourism from 1932 to 1941. In 1938
she published a The New Brunswick Cook Book. As well she
taught cooking through a radio station in Saint John, New
Brunswick. In 1944 she became a reporter of the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick. On August 20, 1946 She married
Hugh John Flemming (1899-1982) who was Premier of New
Brunswick from 1952-1960 and member of the Canadian House of
Commons from 1960 to 1972. Aida was active in her home
community organizing the local branch of the Canadian Red
Cross, a patron of the Young Canada Book week and helped
established the Fredericton Public Library in 1955. She
served on the board of governors of the Beaverbrook Art
Gallery the Fredericton SPCA and the Fredericton Children’s
Aid Society. In 1959 she founded he Kindness Club, a humane
education organization for children between the ages of 5
and 13. In 1962 she was named Atlantic Woman lf the Year and
In 1964 she was the Humanitarian of the Year for the Humane
Society of the United States. In 1976 she received the
Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award from Fredericton
Chamber of Commerce. In 1978 she was inducted as a Member of
the Order of Canada. |
|
Rosemary McCarney |
Born October 5, 1953 Toronto, Ontario.
She studied law so she could change policies and laws to
help the poor of the poor. While earning her law degree at
the University of Western Ontario, London she headed the
Student Legal Aid Society which would become the Community
Legal Services. She went on to earn her Masters in Business
Administration at Case Law at Case Western Reserve
University in Ohio, U.S.A. It was here that she met and
married fellow lawyer Barry Fisher. While traveling to
Nairobi, Kenya in 1984 to visit her sister, she took to
backpacking around the country and she decided to work in
international development. She has worked in more than 1000
projects in a multitude of countries as a development
consultant. She has served as President and Chief Executive
Officer for Plan Canada, championing children in developing
countries. Under her leadership annual donation went from
$50 million a year to $162 million a year! She was a key
mover behind the “Because I am a Girl” movement which
promotes rights and opportunities for girls. She pushed the
Canadian United Nations delegation to foreword October 11,
as the International Day of the Girl which was established
in 2011. She had continued to write a series of
children's books on social and rights issues affecting
children around the world. She has served on the advisory
boards of the Canada-United States Law Institute and the
Public Policy Committee of Imagine Canada. In 2015 she was
appointed to the position of Canadian Ambassador and
Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. (2019) |
|
Beverly McCloskey
Union worker for women's equal rights |
Born January 1, 1929. Died November 14,
2014 Oshawa, Ontario. In 1949 Bev began working at the
General Motors plant in Oshawa. She Married Patrick
McCloskey and they had one daughter. The year she began
working there was a strike at the auto plant and she learned
from it. She became a pioneer for woman's rights. In the
1950's she was elected to Local 222 of the Canadian Auto
Workers Union. She took the position on the union board as
recording secretary as at that time it was the only position
open to women. In 1968 she chaired the 1st local union
women's committee and they fought hard for women's rights
and equality. The group was a strong force, even marching to
thee Ontario provincial legislation for changes to the
Ontario Human Rights code removing gender and marital status
discrimination in the work force. In 1983, the year before
she retired, she lobbied General Motors to have
inappropriate photos removed from work benches. Stickers
were placed on the photos stating "This Insults Women".
Retirement did not slow Bev down. She had long worked
outside of the GM plan in her community being a founding
member of the Durham Region Unemployment Centre. She worked
with the Friends of the Second Marsh cleaning up the city
waterfront. She organized bussed to take retirees to events,
she taught Tai Chi and worked to create Sunrise Senior
Place, and supported Oasis Animal Rescue. In 2011 she was
presented with the Agnes MacPhail Award by the Women's
Committee of the National Democratic Party of Canada. The
following years she was names as Outstanding Retired Member
of the Year for Local 222. In 2013 her name was added to the
Ontario Federation Honour Roll and a scholarship was named
in her honour. (2019) |
|
Catherine McLellan |
née Morton. Born Penobsquis, New
Brunswick 1837. Died August 18, 1892. She married Alexander
McLellan , a self directed railroad entrepreneur, who took
her to British Columbia in 1865. During the early years with
her husband she traveled throughout the British Columbia
Interior and as far as Southern California. By the 1880's
she was more settled and played an active role in church
missionary societies and other women's activist groups such
as the Women's Christian Temperance Union established in
Victoria , British Columbia, 1883. During her executive
tenure there was support for the Crosby Girls' Home in Port
Simpson, the Orienta Rescue Home in Victoria and several
hospitals. (2019) |
|
Violet Clara McNaughton |
née Jackson. Born November 11, 1879. Died
February 3, 1968. Violet forced the formation of the
women’s section of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers
Association and sparked the formation of the Saskatchewan
Equal Franchise League. In 1919 she became president of the
Interprovincial Council of Farm Women. As a journalist, she
wrote the women’s column in the Western
Producer. |
|
Fannie/Fanny McNeil |
née Knowling. Born March 14, 1869 St
John's Newfoundland. Died February 23, 1928 St. John's, Newfoundland. Her
family finances allowed for her to have some education in England where she
may have gained an interest in painting. Fannie was a co-founder in
1925 of the Newfoundland Society of Art serving as the 1st President.
March14, 1869 she married Hector McNeil and the couple had two surviving
children. She had come from an enlightened family and she became as
supporter of child welfare and health services. She was a member of the
Ladies Reading Room and Current Events Club, later known as the Old Colony
Club that was founded in 1909. By 1920 there emerged from this club the
Women's Franchise League which fought for the vote for women and Fannie was
the Secretary and organized rallies and the collection of 20,000 signatures
on an island wide petition. On March 9, 1925 women over 25 gained the right
to vote for and stand as candidates in general elections. Fannie McNeil and
May Kennedy ran for the new Women's Party while Julia Salter ran as a Labour
candidate in the St John's municipal election but none of the women were
successful. The 1st general election in which woman could vote would
take place in 1928.
Photo:Courtesy of
Archives and Special Collections (William Knowling, Collection MF-276),
Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's,
NL.
|
|
Margaret May McWilliams |
née Stovel. Born Toronto, Ontario 1875.
Died April 12, 1952. She graduated with her B.A. from the
University of Toronto in 1898 and shortly after , 1903 marry
d Roland Fairbairn McWilliams and the couple would move west
to Manitoba. Like her husband , who would become the
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, she enjoyed politics, but
she was not content to just be chatelaine to her province.
and would serve 4 consecutive terms as an alderman in
Winnipeg. in the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's she would publish
several books, many historical in nature such as Manitoba
Milestones (Toronto, 1928) and many concerning women such
as Women of Red River ( 1923). She also was adamant about
social reforms and wrote Blueprint for Canadian Social and
Economic Reform (1931). She was a Canadian Delegated to the
League of Nations. Perhaps her longest lasting legacy is
that she was the founder and first president of the Canadian
Federation of University Women. She also provided the
inspiration for and was a charter member of the
International Federation of University Women founded in
1920. Both organizations have successfully celebrated their
Centennial and are enthusiastic about entering another
century of service. |
|
Marion Ironquil Meadmore
Aboriginal Activist |
Born 1936 Peepeekisis First Nation
Reserve, Saskatchewan. Like many of her generation she was
forced to leave home and attend residential School. In 1954
she married Ronald Hector Meadmore (1933-2013). She attended
the University of Manitoba and in 1977 she became the
1st indigenous woman lawyer in Canada. She is the founder of
several aboriginal organizations including the Canadian
Indian Lawyer Association (Now Indigenous Bar Association),
National Indian Brotherhood, the Indian and Métis Friendship
Center, the Kinew Housing, and the National Indigenous
Council of Elders (NICE). In 1985 She was inducted into the
Order of Canada. Since 2011 she has been actively involved
on the National Council of Indigenous Elders for the
Creation of Wealth Forum. In 2010 she was honoured at the
Keeping the Fires Burning aboriginal awards celebrating
female leaders for preserving First Nations culture and
serving as role models for younger generations. In 2015 the
University of Manitoba presented her with a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Source: Don
Marks, “What is the Use in Spending so Much Time Studying
Failure’ CBC.ca May 14, 2015; Matt Preprost, “Gala
recognizes accomplishments”. Winnipeg Free Press June 18,
2010 Page A13. |
|
Marguerite Michaud |
Born 1903 Bauctouche, New Brunswick. Died
1982. At the are of 13 she received the Lieutenant’s
Governor Medal in recognition of her outstanding academic
abilities. She studied at the New Brunswick Teachers College
and wit a Carnegie Scholarship she attended St Francis
Xavier University graduating with distinction in 1923. She
was the 1st Acadian woman to receive a university degree.
Continuing her studies she obtained a diploma en française
from the Sorbonne in France and also did a graduate studies
at Columbia University in New York City and Université de
Montréal where she earned her PhD in history. She was one of
three Canadians to attend the United Nations Conference on
Teaching Human Rights in Schools. She was the founder of the
1st Acadian parent teacher association and she helped
organize the Association des enseignants francophones du
Nouveau Brunswick in 1961. Marguerite was the 1st woman
vice-principal at the provincial normal school working to
improve opportunities for francophones. She was also a
respected volunteer working as vice president of the New
Brunswick UNICEF and the Beaverbrook Foundation. She
received the order of Canada, the Medaille de l’ Alliance
Français, and the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal.
Several schools in Acadian area of New Brunswick are named
in her honour. Source: Herstory:
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2012. |
|
Joanna Elizabeth Miller |
née Green. Born Vancouver, British Columbia May 1926.Died March 21,
2012 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Graduating
from the University of British Columbia in 1948, she met and married
Leonard Miller in June 25, 1949. The couple had of four children with Joanna
a stay at home mom. The family moved to Saskatchewan in 1961 and Joanna had
a babysitter one day a week which allowed her time for her active interest
in international issues. She helped with UNICEF
 card sales and began to
serve on the national boards of UNICEF and the United Nations. By the end of
the 1970’s she was national president. Of the United Nations Association. In
1983 she was named Saskatoon Woman of the Year for Community Service. While
working with the Project Ploughshares she was named to the Canadian
Institute for Peace and Security by the Government of Canada as well as
being special advisor on disarmament to the Canadian Delegation to the
United Nations. 1985 she received the Muriel Duckworth Award from the
Canadian Advancement of Women Organization. In 1994 she receive a Peace
Plaque from the Canadian Research and Education Association. In 2002 she
worked for the Saskatoon first Peace Conference as a member of the Saskatoon
Peace Coalition. In 2001 she was presented the Global Citizens Award form
the Saskatchewan Council for International Co-operation. In 2006 she was
presented with the YMCA Peace Medal.
In 2013 Project Ploughshares Saskatoon and Joanna's
family funded a grant in her memory focusing local, national or
international peace issues.
Sources:
Canadian Who’s Who (University of Toronto, 2005) ; Herstory : an
Exhibition. Women’s Issues. University of Saskatchewan (Accessed October 2011)
|
|
Geraldine 'Geri' Migicovsky |
née Shnier. Born 1921, Winnipeg Manitoba.
Died May 27, 2014, Toronto, Ontario. She married Bert
Migicovsky ad the couple settled in Ottawa where they had
two children. She stared in “The lives and loves of Dr
Susan” which was the 1st soap opera on CBC Radio, and
continued her acting career on radio and television. After
retirement from acting she turned her energies to being a
social activist in Ottawa where she spearheaded the movement
to have “911” emergency call service brought to Ottawa. She
was also active in the Canadian Israel Cultural Foundation,
the Ottawa Hospital Foundation and the Ottawa Heart
Institute. Source:
Obituary. Globe and Mail May 29, 2014. Suggestion submitted
by June Coxon, Ottawa. |
|
Karen Rochelle Mock |
Born 1945 Toronto, Ontario. She graduated
from the University of Toronto with a PhD (Doctorate) in
Applied Psychology in 1975. In 1974 she married dentist Dr.
David Mock and the couple have two sons. is a certified
teacher and registered educational psychologist,
specializing in human rights, hate crime and diversity
issues and multicultural/anti-racist education. She has
published widely in her field, and conducts many training
programs in the public and private sectors. She has taught
at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York
University and is a past president of the Canadian Friends
of Haifa University. She has served as President of the
Ontario Multicultural Association and has been on the board
of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and chair of the
Canadian Multicultural Advisory Committee. In 1999 she
received the International Woman's Day Award from the
Women's Intercultural Network. In 2001 she served as a
member of the official Canadian Delegation to the World
Conference Against Racism (WCAR). Karen Mock is an active
founding member of the Antiracist Multiculturalism
Network of Ontario (AMENO), the Women's Intercultural
Network (WIN), the Canadian Association of Jews and
Muslims (CAJM), and the Canadian Arab/Jewish
Leadership Dialogue. In 2002, she received the Excellence
in Race Relations Award from the Human Rights Council of
the Ahmadiyya Movement
of Islam in Canada and was the 2004 recipient of the Sikh
Centennial Foundation Award for Civil Liberties Advocacy. In
2006 she was appointed chair of the Ontario Hate Crimes
Community Working Group. She was
named an Eminent Woman of Peace in 2008 by the
Department of Peace Initiative and Voices of Women in
Ottawa. In 2011 she ran unsuccessfully for a position as a
Member of Parliament. In 2012 she received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. |
|
Simonne Monet-Chartrand |
née Monet. Born November 4, 1919,
Montreal, Quebec. Died January 18, 1993 Richelieu, Quebec.
Simonne attended the Université de Montreal to study
Canadian literature and history. During her student years
she supported the fight for women's votes in the province of
Quebec. In 1942 she married Michael Chartrand (1916-2010) a
militant unionist. The couple would have seven children. In
1942 during World War ll she joined the Bloc populaire
canadien supporting the removal of a ban on conscription for
overseas service. In 1949 she was an advocate for the
asbestos strikers. She was also co-founder of the
Fédération des femmes du Québec, the pacifist Voix des
femmes and the Movement for Nuclear Disarmament. In 1962 she
was an organizer with the Train de la paix, and was a member
of a delegation of the movement which made demands on the
federal government. In 1963 she attended a Moscow conference
of the International Democratic Federation of Women calling
on the United Nations to devote a year to peace and
international cooperation. In 1978 when she attended
Concordia University in Montreal she was co-founder for the
Simone de Beauvoir Institute which is dedicated to feminist
studies. She was a writer and researcher for Radio-Canada
and she authored 2 books: L'éspoir et le défi de la paix
published 1980 and a four volume autobiography published in
1992. She also worked as head of the public relations for
the Syndicat des enseignants de Champlain and later as
assistant director for the Human Rights League. |
Patricia 'Trish' Ann Monture-Angus
Indigeneous Rights Activist |
née Monture.
Born September 24, 1958, London, Ontario. Died November 17, 2010 Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. She was orphaned at 9 and by the time she was a teenager in
high school she had been victim of rape and knew life on the streets. Taking
some university courses, she surprised herself when she scored well and
realized that she was not just a ‘stupid Indian.’ She earned her B.A. from
the University of Western Ontario, London in 1983 and followed it with a law
degree from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. By 1998 she had completed
her studies in law at Osgood Hall, Toronto. Right out of school she proved
to be a strong willed fighter for people’s rights when she filed action
against the Attorney General of Ontario to avoid taking the oath of
allegiance to the Queen. It was nothing personal she insisted but she was a
member of a Soverign people, the Mohawk Nation. By 1992 the oath became
optional. Trish went on to teach law first at Dalhousie University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia and later at Ottawa University in Ontario before
settling at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Native
Studies. She married Denis Angus of Thunderchild First Nation Cree
Nation of Treaty 6. The couple had three sons and adopted 4 children to
round out their family. In 2004 Trish switched to a full professorship in
the Department of Sociology at U of S. She wrote two books and co-edited a
third book on aboriginal women. She served on numerous boards and committees
including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1993-1994 and the
Federal Task Force on Administrative segregation which made recommendations
on the use of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons. She played a key
role in which Canadian prisons agreed to accept aboriginal ceremonies and
healing circles. In 2007 she was presented with the Sarah Shorten Award from
the Canadian Association of University Teachers in recognition of her work
for the advancement of women at universities. Her Mohawk name was Aywahande
– the one who starts things with words.
Source:
Csillag, Ron ‘Aboriginal , indigenous, native? She preferred Haudenosaunee
or people of the Longhouse.’ In Globe and Mail, December 2, 2010.
Suggestion submitted by Marian Crow, Cochrane, Ontario
|
|
Joy Salmon Moon |
Born Welland, Ontario January 28, 1938.
After business school she tried working in a bank but she
hated the job. In Toronto, she worked with Oxford University
Press where she made her way from secretary to Children's
Book Editor. She Married George Moon and the couple would
raise two children. Concerned about toddler's safety in cars
she researched safety features for her own son. She
pressured newspapers to publish her concerns. Committees
were set up by other concerned mothers and eventually by
1986 all provinces in Canada had new legislation in this
area. Her son enjoyed long distance running and Joy turned
her energies to coaching and establishing the Tom Longboat
Club. She traveled across North America to world cross
country events and commonwealth games. Her latest interest
is in genealogy and her family. Sources:
Cottage Country Now.ca Introducing Joy Salmon Moon Accessed
June 2011. : Herstory: The Canadian Women's Calendar 2007.
Coteau Books, 2006 Page 26. |
|
Ruth Rittenhouse Morris
Prison reform / abolishment activist |
Born December 12, 1933. Died September
17, 2001. In 1956 she earned her BA in Music and Sociology
from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A. Moving to the
University of Illinois, U.S.A. she earned a Master's Degree
in 1958. At he University of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan,
U.S.A. in 1959 she earned her her second post graduate
degree, a Master's in Social Work. By 1963 she had received
her PhD (doctorate degree) from the University of Michigan.
Ruth was an active member of the Religious Society of
Friends (Quakers). She taught at the Graduate School of
Theology, University of Toronto, York University in Toronto
and the American University, Washington D. C. , U.S.A. Ruth
also spoke about penal abolition and justice across North
America, New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina. From
1975 to 1978 she was the Coordinator for the Canadian
Friends' Service Committee, Toronto. She also was active
with the Quaker Committee on Jails and Justice. She was
considered one of the world's leading spokespersons for
prison abolition and transformative justice. The Canadian
Quakers were the 1st religious body in the world to endorse
prison abolition. She was a founder of the International
Conference on Prison Abolition. had a hand in establishing
many groups and networks, including: My Brother’s Place (a
halfway house), Toronto Justice Council, St. Stephen’s
Conflict Resolution Service, the Corner (drop-in center for
street people), Toronto Bail Program, the Coalition Against
Neighborhoodism, and the Black Creek Anti-Drug Focus
Coalition. In 1987 she was named Prison Volunteer of the
Year. That same year her book, Street People Speak was
published followed two years later by Crumbling Walls:
Why Prisons Fail. Along side of her books she published
a prolific numer of articles for various North American
magazines and journals. From 1995 through 2001 she
Education Director at Rittenhouse and was coordinator of the
Black Creek Anti-Drug Focus Community Coalition. 1987 to
1990 she was the Executive Director of the John Howard
Society of Metro Toronto. She earned the Governor General's
Award for her community work in 1993. In 1995 she earned a
community building award from the Addiction Research
Foundation and in 1998 she earned the YMCA Peace Medallion.
In 2000 she earned the Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award
and the J. S. Woodsworth Award for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination. That same year she published Stories of Transformative
Justice and Penal Abolition: The Practical
Choice. In 2001 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada.(2019) |
|
Leilani Marietta Muir |
Born July 15, 1944, Calgary, Alberta.
Died March 4, 2016, Devon, Alberta. When she was 10 she
thought she was going to an orphanage where she could meet
friends and have food. In reality her mother had placed her
in the Provincial Training School for Mental Defects, the
Michener Centre in Red Deer Alberta. He mother also signed
consent for compulsory sterilization! As a teen she had an
operation for appendicitis and the sterilization was done at
the same time. She was not told of the second part of the
procedure. In 1965 Leilani left the school without
authorization. She learned of her sterilization during her
marriage. During her second marriage the couple were denied
adoption because Leilani had been in the Provincial Training
School. After her second divorce, while receiving help from
a psychiatrist, she was found to be of normal intelligence.
She sued the Alberta Government for wrongful sterilization
and in a milestone settlement she received almost
$750,000.00 plus legal fees for her “pain and suffering”.
National uproar followed the attempt by the Alberta
Government to cap the payout in similar cases which
followed. Leilani continues to tell her story throughout
North America and Europe. She wants to fight for rights of
individuals in society. In 1996 a film of her story was
produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Source: Eugenics
in Alberta http//abheritage.ca accessed August 2011. : Herstory;
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2000 (Silver Anniversary
edition) Coteau Books, 1999 page 72. |
|
Margaret Smith Murray |
née Polson. Born Paisley Scotland June 1,
1844. Died January 27, 1927. The oldest of seven children
she did not have time for education outside of the home
where she was expected to help care for her brothers and
sisters. In 1821 she married John Clark Murray and she
emigrated to Kingston , Ontario with her professor husband.
They soon moved to Montreal where she applied her
considerable energies to helping other women established the
Young Woman's Christian Association. In 1891 she was a known
writer and she founded the publication Young Canadian to
help instill patriotism in Canadian youth. She returned from
an 1899 trip to England with the embryo of an idea to form a
patriotic organization of women. On January 13, 1900 she
sent telegrams to the mayors of major Canadian cities
entreating them to encourage women to organize and become
part of a federation of Daughters of the Empire. February
13, 1900 the National organization of the Federation of the
Daughters of the Empire was formed. At the height of the
setting up of the organization she would send cables,
postcards and as many as 500 letters a day to seek patrons
and members. The International Order of the Daughters of the
Empire (IODE) celebrated its centennial in 2000. |
|
Evelyn Myrie |
Born Jamaica. Evelyn has worked with the
United Way of Burlington-Hamilton, the Social Planning and
Research Council, the Hamilton Arts Advisory Committee, the
Workers Arts and Heritage Centre and the Hamilton Historical
Society. She is a founding member of Elect More Women -
Hamilton and worked for Status of Women Canada for two
decades. She founded and is Principal of EMpower Strategy
Group - a boutique leadership development organization
specializing in creating strategies to foster empowering
leadership at work, at home, and in the community. She was
also the founding Director of Peel Newcomer Strategy Group.
She also founded
the Rev. John C. Holland Awards to recognize Black
achievement in Hamilton.Myrie
was appointed executive director of the Hamilton Centre for
Civic Inclusion in April 2011. She also has written numerous
articles for the Hamilton Spectator which instill pride in
the community and its history as well as instilling
leadership. Her
home community has recognized her accomplishments with
several awards for leadership, including Woman of the Year
in Public Affairs, the Phenomenal Woman Award, and the Queen
Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. She
was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in
2011. |
|
Nahnebahwequay |
SEE - Catherine Sutton |
|
Josefina Napravilova |
Born January 21, 1914, Plzen,
Czechoslovakia. Died February 20, 2014, Tabor,
Czechoslovakia. When she was still an infant her father left
to fight in World War l and he did not return. She was
brought up by her mother who instilled in Josefina
humanitarian valued and strong nationalism. She began
studies in law but was interrupted with the outbreak of
World War ll and Nazi occupation of her homeland. She met
and married Karel Napravil and the couple first lived in
Prague. At the end of the War Josefina set out to find
Czechoslovakian children who had been scattered throughout
Europe by the Nazi invasion. In May 1945 she joined the
Prague uprising serving to care for wounded during the fight
to liberate the city from the Germans. She joined the Red
Cross handing out food and supplies to people freed from the
concentration camps. It was at this time that Josefina heard
about Czech children taken during the war. Hitler’s Nazi
soldiers murdered adults in Czech villages and took the
children to live with German families. While many of the
children ended up in consecration camps and were murdered
some of the children were given German names so that they
could be assimilated as Germans. Josefina wanted to being
the children home to Czechoslovakia. . She traveled by any
means she could and slept on benches at train stations if
necessary. She followed clues and hunches using her deceive
instinct and located 40 children. Josefina and Karel never
had any children of their own and she loved to see the joy
in the faces of the children she managed to help. After the
death of her husband in 1948 she joined the International
Refugee Organization which caused her to be stripped of her
citizenship. She emigrated arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia
on December 6, 1949. She settled in British Columbia and
worked in a bank. She retired in 1979 to Guelph, Ontario. A
tireless volunteer in 1956 she helped Hungarians arriving in
Canada and in 1968 she helped Czech refugees to Canada.
Josephina was awarded the Masaryk Medal for her war efforts
and in 1994 she returned to her beloved Czechoslovakia to
live. In 2013 a book : Dreams and Memories by
Josefina Napravilova was published. Source:
Josefina Navratilova …second mother reunited Czech families
by Katerina Cizek in the Globe and Mail March 8,
2014. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Rosalinda "Linda" Linsangan
Natividad-Cantiveros
|
Born November 3, 1946. Gapan, Nueva Ecija,
Philippines. Died March 4, 2008, Winnipeg Manitoba. Studied
for her BA in psychology and education at St. Theresa’s
College (Manila) and a masters degree at the University of
Santo Tomas. She and her husband emigrated to Canada in July
1974. She continued her studies with a degree in English and
history from the University of Manitoba then worked in a
variety of jobs, involving teaching in the Department of
Indian Affairs; in the Winnipeg School Division No. 1;
language training consultant at Manitoba Education Training;
ESL and open door education program; an independent
interpreter and translator in Immigration and Appeal Board
of Winnipeg School Division No. 1.; and became examiner in
Filipino Language Proficiency Test, GED coordinator. She was
founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of Filipino
Journal and Filipino
Bride and Groom news
magazine and a contributor for the Manitoba
Encyclopedia.
She served as a volunteer for several citizens and human
rights groups and worked with the Philippine Heritage
Council, the Gawad Kilinga, Pangarat Foundation and was a
founding member of the Philippine Canadian Centre of
Manitoba as well as several bridging Canada-Philippine
groups she was a member of the University of Santo Tomas
Alumni Association. She was also the founder of MAFTI
Rondalla, National Songfest (Manitoba). She was named one of
the twenty outstanding Filipinos in North America
(Washington, DC) and in Canada (Toronto); one of the 100
outstanding Filipinos in Canada. In 1995 she ran
unsuccessfully for a seat in the Manitoba Legislature. Sources:
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, March 11, 2008. |
|
Hanna Newcombe
Peace Activist |
née Hammerschlag Born February 5, 1922
Prague, Chechia. Died April 10, 2011 Hamilton, Ontario.
Hanna and her parents fled to Canada in 1939 when the Nazis
invaded Prague. The family had a fruit farm near Grimsby,
Ontario. At the end of World War ll the family relocated to
Toronto. Hanna earned a Bachelor of Science from McMaster
Univeristy, Hamilton, Ontario in 1945. She would meet her
husband, George Newcombe while at university and the couple
both earned doctorates in chemistry from the University of
Toronto. She then worked at being a new mother to their two
children. In 1955 the young family relocated to Hamilton
where their third child was born. Busy with home life Hanna
did some occasional teaching and translating of scientific
articles. In 1962 she taught high school but did not take to
working with the teenagers at school. She took a position at
the Canadian Peace Research Institute and Hanna and George
founded the Peace Research Institute in Dundas, Ontario in
the late 1970's. They would found and publish two scholarly
journals; Peace Research Abstracts and Peace
Research Reviews. They also organized summer institutes
on Grindstone Island in the Rideau Lakes area. Hanna was
active in the World Federalist Movement, the Canadian Voice
of Women and the Canadian Friends Service Committee of the
Quakers. In 1997 Hanna was the recipient of the Pearson
Medal for Peace. IN 2007 she was named a Member of the Order
of Canada for her work in peace research and international
relations. The Newcombe Prize in Peace Studies is offered
annually at McMaster University, Hamilton. (2019) |
|
Joyce Nsubuga
Activist and
Medical doctor |
Born near Kampala, Uganda 1947. Died May
4, 2006. Second of 12 children she was fortunate that her
father believed both his sons and daughters deserved equal
education. After she graduated university with a degree in
medicine, Dr. Joyce set up a clinic and would become a
district medical officer of health. She married a school
headmaster who was a budding businessman. In 1983 revolution
was in the air and her husband was kidnapped and killed.
Joyce quickly moved her family and went into hiding in
Kenya. She remarried and she and her new blended family
moved to start a new life in Canada. She took a job with the
Ontario Ministry of health and after working hours devoted
her life to her family of 10 ( the last child was born in
Canada). She also worked for the Toronto Uganda community
founding the Uganda Martyrs Church and prepared reports on
wife assault in the Canadian African Community. She promoted
AIDS awareness among young immigrants and mentored many
newcomers setting up a system helping single African women
access to Social Services. To her, she was never able to
provide enough help. When she died she has almost
accomplished the establishment of a Community Learning
Centre in Uganda with the help of her Canadian church. The
Centre has now been completed. Source: “Joyce Nsubuga, 59:
Met Uganda’s needs.” By Catherine Dunphy. The Toronto
Star July 14, 2006. |
|
Samantha Nutt |
Born October 1969 Scarborough, Ontario.
Samantha lived near Durban, South Africa as a young child
and in her teens the family went to work in Brazil.
Samantha earned her BA and her medical degree from McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario. Her Master’s Degree was
earned in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine at the University of London, England. She
holds a Fellowship in Community Medicine from the Royal
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She has
completed a sub specialization in women’s health through the
University of Toronto as a Woman’s Health scholar. She is a
staff physician at Woman’s College Hospital, Toronto and is
an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of
Toronto. She is a Senior Fellow at Massey College,
University of Toronto and is on the board of the David
Suzuki Foundation. She is an author and founder and
executive Director of War Child Canada and War Child U.S.A.
in 1999. The mission of the organization is to provide
humanitarian aid to children affected by war. She has
written articles for Maclean’s Magazine and the Globe and
Mail concerning human rights, foreign policy and war-related
issues. She is a sought after commentator on human rights
for radio and television. In 2010 she received the Order of
Ontario. In 2011 she was inducted into the Order of Canada
for her contributions to improving the plight of your
people in war zones around the world. He has been named as
one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 by the Globe and Mail
newspaper, Toronto. Time magazine labeled her as one of
Canada’s five leading Activists. The World Economic Forum
chose her as one of the 200 young global leaders. In 2012
she was presented the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee
Medal.(2018) |
|
Helen Frances Okuloski |
Born Black Lake, Quebec
1912. Died 1993. The family eventually settled in Hamilton,
Ontario. She studied law and was called to the Ontario Bar
in 1935. She set up her law practice in Hamilton as one of
the city’s first women lawyers. She would be joined by her
brother, Edward once he was called to the bar. Her offices
were opened for 50 years. The daughter of Polish
immigrants, her office served the large ethnic clientele
because of her understanding of their needs and background.
She was also very protective of her female clientele whom
she felt were “Handicapped by being women”. The firm was
also known and the only local firm that in 1953 would hire a
young black lawyer, Lincoln Alexander (1922-2012) who would
go on to become Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Helen was
appointed Queen’s Council in 1955. She was a member of the
American Trial Lawyers Association and an honorary member of
the Hamilton Law Association. Source: Diversifying
the bar: Lawyers Make history. Law Society of Upper
Canada Online. |
|
Alethea Pearleen Borden Oliver |
née Borden. Born 1917 Cooks Cove, Nova
Scotia. Died July 28, 2008. Nova Scotia. 1936 – 1st Black
person to graduate from New Glasgow High School. She married
W.P. Oliver a Baptist Minister and the couple had 5 sons.
1945 she helped found the Nova Scotia Association for the
Advancement of Coloured People. In 1947 she worked to have
Black women gain entrance into nurse’s training in Canada.
Active in her church she served as choir director, played
the organ and organized the Canadian Girls in Training and
Explorers programs. She ran girls’ summer camps, established
women’s groups and initiated continuing education classes in
Black communities. Authored several books including A
Brief History of the Colored Baptists of Nova Scotia
1782-1953. She went on to found the African United
Baptist Association Women’s Institute in 1953. Served as the
1st woman Moderator of the African United Baptist
Association of Nova Scotia in 1976. As a board member of the
Maritime Religious Education Council and the Nova Scotia
Training School for Girls she affected many young women with
her positive message. She was honored with the 1992 125
Anniversary of Confederation Medal. In 1994 she wrote Song
of the Spirit for the 150th anniversary of the
Beechville Church. She received the 1st YWCA Community
Award and the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia
President’s Award and became a honorary life member of the
Society. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll
Jubilee Medal and has a place on the Nova Scotia Ebony Wall
of Fame. Source: Herstory:
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2010. |
|
Eliza Olson |
née Kiss. Born September 1938 Meadow
Lake, Saskatchewan. Eliza considers herself a late bloomer.
She married and had two daughters and her divorce found her
seeking a profession. At 30 she enrolled at Simon Fraser
University in British Columbia. By 1987 she was working as a
teacher in Surrey, British Columbia. A proposal to dredge
the Burns Bog, a 3,000 hectares of peat bog with divers wild
life shocked her into action. She ran for municipal council
and sought attention of renowned environmentalist Dr. David
Suzuki. The Burns Bog was saved and a conservation Society
was formed with Eliza as president, continuing to fight for
environmental conservation in the area. She has been awarded
several awards for her work: The Canada 125 Medal, the
Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the Canadian Geographic Society
Silver Award for conservation, the Human Rights Award for
Environmental Stewardship and the Yves Rocher Foundation
Women of the Earth Award. She was also a finalist on the
2011 CBC’s Champions of Challenge earning 10,000.00 for
conservation projects. Source: Herstory:
Canadian Women’s Calendar 2012 ,Coteau Books, 2011. |
|
Ratma Omidvar |
Born November 5, 1949 Amristar, India.
Ratma earned her Bachelor’s degree and left for Germany on
scholarship. While in Europe she met her Iranian husband.
Living in Tehran was uncomfortable during the Islamic
revolution and the couple fled to Germany and then in 1981
immigrated to Canada. It was several years before the
Educated Ratma could obtain steady employment. Employment
was a common problem for educated immigrants. In 2003 she
was cofounder of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment
Council. She also runs her own Maytree Foundation of Toronto
which promotes diversity, fights poverty, and assists
immigrants to settle and find work. She is director of the
Toronto City Summit Alliance. She has created mentorship,
networking and career – bridge programs that have assisted
by 2010 over 500 skilled immigrants who face lack of
experience in Canada. Politicians and executives seek her
advice with respect to immigration and integration. In 2006
she was appointed to the Order of Ontario. In 2010 the Globe
and Mail newspaper named her as its Nation Builder of
the Decade for Citizenship. In 2011 she published her
1st book: Five Good Ideas: practical strategies for
non-profit success (Coach House Press, 2011). In 2015
she co-authored Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to
Canada and was named on of the Top 10 Diversity
Champions world wide by The Economist magazine. April
2016 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada and that same
year she received Lifetime Achievement Awards from
CivicAction and the Canadian Urban Institute. Senator
Omidvar serves as a Councillor on the World Refugee Council
and is also a director at the Environics Institute, and
Samara Canada and is the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment
Council’s Chair Emerita. She was formerly the Co-Chair of
the Global Future Council on Migration hosted by the World
Economic Forum and the Chair of Lifeline Syria. (2019) |
|
Maureen O'Neil |
Maureen studied Sociology earning her BA
from Carleton University, Ottawa. She has served in 1997 as
President of the International Development Research Centre,
interim president of the International Centre for Human
Rights and Democratic Development, president of the
North-South Institute, and deputy minister of citizenship,
Government of Ontario. She is also a former Chair of the
Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social
Development from 2011 through 2017. She has chaired the
Board of Governors of Carleton University and has also
represented Canada on the UN Commission on the Status of
Women. In 2008 she joined the Canadian Foundation for
Healthcare Improvement where she served as President.
President. In 2011 Maureen was named and Officer in the
Order of Canada. (2019) |
|
Ethel Ostry |
Born January 1, 1904, Elizabethgrad,
Russia. Died December 31, 1976, Vancouver, British Columbia.
She immigrated to Canada with her family who settled in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. She earned her B.A. at the University of
Manitoba in 1924 and for awhile taught in rural schools
before moving back to Winnipeg to work as a social worker.
In the 1920’s she relocated to Montreal, Quebec where she
worked as director of the Baron de Hirsch Institute. She
then traveled and worked in Palestine. During World War ll
she worked as a psychiatric social worker in hospitals in
Toronto. After the War she volunteered to serve with the
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA) in
Europe where she was director and principal welfare officer
in several displaced persons camps in France and Germany.
She went on to work for the Canadian Jewish Congress
settling 1200 youth Holocaust survivors in homes across
Canada. Her final career was that of a family and marriage
counselor in her own private practice in Toronto and later
in Vancouver. Source:
Jewish Women’s Archive. Personal Information for Ethel
Ostry. Online. (Accessed June 2013) |
|
Marnie Paikin |
Born Toronto, Ontario. Marnie graduated
from the University of Western Ontario with an Honours
degree in Psychology in 1958. She settled in Hamilton and
became involved in the community as a founding member of the
Philharmonic Children of Hamilton, founding member and 2nd
president of the Anna Herskwitz Chapter of Hadassah,
Director and President of the Hamilton Philharmonic
Orchestra, and member and Director of the Hamilton and
Regional Arts Council Task Force. She has served as a
Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum, Chairman of the
Governing Council of the University of Toronto, and Member
and Chairman of the Ontario Council on University Affairs.
She served as a member of the Committee to Study the Future
Role of Universities in Ontario, for the Premier and
Minister of Colleges and Universities. She has also been a
member of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute, and
Chairman of the Evaluation Council. She received an honorary
Law degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1988,
and from the University of Toronto in 1981 Marnie has also
received in 1980 the Outstanding Woman Award from the
Province of Ontario Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1978,
Citizen of the Year 1980 from the Jewish National Fund.
Human Relations Award, Canadian Council of Christians and
Jews in 1985 and Woman of the Year for Community Service by
the Hamilton Status of Women in 1990. Marnie was inducted
into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 1996. |
|
Debbie Palmer |
Born 1955. In 1957 at the age of 2,
Debbie was taken by her father to the newly found settlement
of Bountiful, British Columbia. Bountiful is polygamous
Mormon fundamentalist community. At 15 Debbie was given to a
55 year old man to live as his wife. After her 1st man died
in 1974 she was ‘reassigned’ to another man who already had
5 ‘wives’. This man was abusive to his ‘wives’. In 1979 she
was released from her ‘marriage’ and giver to a 3rd man. By
1988, she wanted ‘out’ of the community and managed to
escape with her 8 children. She has been a voice of
dissention to the polygamous community of Bountiful ever
since she left. She has appeared numerous times on all 3
Canadian national television networks and a clip from the
television show The Fifth Estate was even aired on the Oprah
television program. Debbie has written a book with Dave
Perrin: Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy. In 1992 3
Bountiful men were convicted of sexual abuse mainly though
Debbie’s efforts. |
|
Madeleine Parent |
Born November 11, 1918 Montreal, Quebec.
Died March 12, 2012 Montreal, Quebec. Madeleine earned her
Bachelor of Arts at McGill University, Montreal and worked
teaching English to French speaking garment workers. She
married in 1941 to Val Bjaranson and carried on with her
activities for equality for workers. She worked as the
secretary with the Montreal Trades and Labour Council and
soon became pre-occupied with union activity. She helped
labour organizer Lia Robach organize workers in the Montreal
textile mills. In 1946 she took part in strikes at the mills
which lead to the 1st collective agreement with the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Her
determination to Unionize saw her arrested five times and in
1948 she was convicted of seditious conspiracy. She became
wrongly labeled as a Communist for her labour involvement.
In 1954 a new trial saw her acquitted of all charges.
During this time around 1952 she and fellow activist Kent
Rowley formed the Confederation of Canadian Unions.
Relocating to Ontario in 1968 she married Kent Rowley (died
1978) in 1969 she campaigned for pay equity for women and
fought against the U.S.A. dominated labour unions in Canada.
She was a member of the Steering Committee of Ontario Status
of Women and made national contributions as well. In her
80’s she protested the North American Free Trade Agreement
in 2001. |
|
Elizabeth Fulton Parker |
Born December 19, 1856, Colchester
County, Nova Scotia. Died October 26, 1944, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Elizabeth’s mother dies when she was a toddler and
it was here step mother who would influence most of her
life. At 18 she married Henry John Parker (1853-1920). The
couple would have 4 children. The family settled in Winnipeg
in 1892. January 13, 1904 was a pivot point in her life. She
went to the Manitoba Free Press to complain about coverage
of an literary even and ended up writing a column that would
appear for the next 36 years under the pen name of “The
Bookman” During a period of ill health she visited Banff,
Alberta to take in the health mountain air and she fell in
love with the mountains. When the idea of a Canadian Branch
of the American Alpine Club surfaced, Elizabeth rebelled and
using her journalistic skills demanded a Canadian Alpine
Club. The Club was established in 1906 and it would become
the 1st mountaineer club to allow women as members. She and
her family would enjoy the Club’s summer camps until her
health prevented her attendance. A hut close to Lake O’Hara
in the Canadian Rockies was dedicated to her in 1931. Sources: Women
Explorers: the hundred years of courage and audacity by
Helen Y. Rolfe (Altitude Publishing Canada, 2003) |
|
Mary Irene Parlby |
née Marryat. Born London, England January
9 , 1868. Died July 12, 1965. Irene came to Canada in 1896
and shortly after met and married Walter Parlby. The couple
would have one son. In 1916- 1919 she was elected president
of the United Farm Women of Alberta and destined to become
actively involved in the agrarian movement. In 1921 she was
elected to the Alberta government as member for Lacombe. She
was a Minister without Portfolio with the responsibility for
issues surrounding women and children. However she had no
budget to go with her mandate. Ahead of her time perhaps in
1925 she introduced a Community of Property Bill that served
the legal recognition of women’s domestic work. It failed to
pass. She was a popular member of the provincial legislature
with the electorate who put her back in office in 1926 and
again in 1930-35. She was a member of the Canadian
delegation to the organization of the League of nations, the
forerunner of the United Nations. As a member of the Famous
Five women who championed the famous Persons Case to have
women declared “person” in a legal sense in 1927 she has
left a lasting legacy to the women of Canada. The Famous
Five are pictured on the Back of the Canadian fifty dollar
bill. Suggested resource: On Line; Famous 5 Foundation www.famous5.ca. |
|
Kim Pate |
Born November 10, 1959. Kim graduated in
1984 from Dalhousie Law School, Halifax Nova Scotia. Her
post graduated studies were in forensic mental health. Kim
is the proud mother of a son and a daughter. She began her
career working with the Calgary John Howard Society and
later at the national offive. She has taught prison law,
human rights and social justice, and defending battered
women on trial at the faculties of Law at the University of
Ottawa, Dalhousie University and the University of
Saskatchewan. Kim was appointed the Executive Director of
the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies i992.
The Elizabeth Fry Society works in coalition with Aboriginal
women, women with mental health issues and other disabling
conditions. young women, visible minority and immigrant
women, poor women and those isolated and otherwise deprived
of potential sources of support. on issues affecting women
and girls in the justice system. In 2014 she was named as a
Member of the Order of Canada. She also occupied the Sallows
Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan
College of Law in 2014 and 2015. She has received the
Governor General's Award for the Commemoration of the
Persons Case and the Bertha Wilson Touchtone Award from the
Canadian Bar Association. In 2016 she was appointed by the
Prime Minister to the Senate of Canada to sit as an
independent. (2019) |
|
Landon Pearson
Senator and child health and children's
right advocate |
née Mackenzie. Born November 16, 1930
Toronto, Ontario. She graduated from the University of
Toronto with a Masters degree in Education in 1951. That
same year she married Geoffrey Pearson, son of Prime
Minister L.B. Pearson, and a Canadian Foreign Service
Officer. The couple would have a family of five
children, and live in France, Mexico, India and the Soviet
Union. In each country, Landon not only was concerned for
her own children but observed and marveled at each of the
country’s children’s survival skills. Turning concern
into action she served on various commissions, organizations
and committees dealing with the welfare and rights of
children. In 1974 she founded Children Learning for Living.
In 1979 she was vice chair of the Canadian Commission for
the International Year of the Child. The committee report
has had many of its recommendations accomplished with the
help of her activities including abused children and women’s
safety, income tax deductions for child care costs and
regulations for infant car seats. Appointed to the Senate of
Canada (1994-2005) she carried on her efforts for children
around the world. She co-founded the Canadian Coalition for
the Rights of Children and the monies from a book published
in 2003 were given to Street Kids International. In 2005 she
was designated by the Nobel Prize group as one of the 1000
Women of Peace Project. In 2006 she opened the Landon
Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood and
Children’s Rights. In 2008 she was inducted an Officer in
the Order of Canada. Source:
Fiery God Mother by Thom Barker Ottawa City June/July 2004
P. 44-48 : 1000 Peace Women Across the Globe. On line (
accessed June 2008) |
|
Mary Peck |
Born October 9, 1904 Ampthill, England.
Died May 11, 1992 Vancouver, British Columbia. She was a
grade school teacher who was asked to work with children who
could not leave home for classes. She was driven from home
to home to teach individual children many of who suffered
from arthritis. She established the British Columbia Spastic
Society to help out and bring together those who suffered.
Soon it became the British Columbia Arthritis Society. An
editor friend sent out an appeal from Mary seeking news of
others who suffered from across the country. In 1948 the new
national organization had its roots. In 1953 Mary Peck was
given the Queen’s Coronation Medal. By 1956 her efforts
earned her the British Columbia Good Citizen Award. She has
also been inducted into the Order f Canada. There is a Mary
Peck Arthritis Program which provides treatment services for
children and adults who suffer from the disease. Soon
research was working to catch suffering before it became
totally disabling and soon, thanks to Mary’s efforts less
and less children had to be kept at home because of the
disease. In 1990 the Mary Peck Arthritis Society Chair in
Rheumatology was established at the University of British
Columbia. Always humble, Mary felt that each acknowledgement
of her work should be shared with the numerous volunteers
who worked towards the establishment of the Canadian
Arthritis Society. Source: The
history of Metropolitan Vancouver Hall of Fame online
(Accessed November 2012) :Pioneers every one by E. Blanche
Norcross (Burns and MacEachern Ltd, 1979) |
|
Marie Catherine Pélissier Sales Laterière |
née Delezenne. Born March 26, 1755. 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. |
|
Tshaukuesh 'Elizabeth' Penashue. |
Elizabeth has bee a life long advocate for Innu rights in her
home area of Labrador. In 1963 she married Francis Penashue and the couple
attempted to go back to the old way of life on the land. The couple had nine
children. In the late 1980's and 1990's she was arrested while defending her
land from the harms of the NATO low-level flying exercises and Voisey Bay
hydro project. These events dimished the capacity of the land to recover
itself. The National Film Board documentary, Hunters and Bombers,
highlighted the problem. She was an outspoken critic of the Muskrat Falls
hydro project which she feels threatens the water on which the Innu and
wildlife depend. Since 1996 Elizabeth has made an annual trek to Nutshimit,
a 150 mile snowshoe trek, walking to show the love of the land and
traditions of Innu peoples. In the summer she guides a month long canoe trip
on the Churchill River. She is a respected Innu elder from Sheshatshiu First
Nation who takes this three week journey into the Labrador backcountry to
highlight the importance of maintaining the traditional ways of the Innu,
and or preserving Innu culture and identity. Elizabeth invites anyone to
join her on her trek and is especially pleased when she is joined by Innu
youth including her grandchildren. She is a hands on teacher showing the
young how not to get lost in the north. People have been known to returned
from their life in the south to make a trek with Elizabeth. Elizabeth has
published her story and her teachings in her 2019 book, Nitinikiau Innusi I
keep the Land Alive. |
|
Aaju Peter
Inuk lawyer |
Born 1960 Arkisserniaq, Greenland. In
1981 she and her family settled in Iqaluit, Nunivut. Aaju
has travelled across Canada, Greenland, and throughout
Europe introducing people to the traditions of the Inuit
peoples. She speaks about sustainability and resources and
their impact on the traditional way of life in the Canadian
Arctic. She also well known for her designs of sealskin
fashions. She graduated from Akitsiraq Law School, Iqaluit,
Nunivut in 2005 and was called to the bar in Nunavut in
2007. She became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011. In
2013 she was featured in the documentary Arctic Defenders
and in the 2016 documentary Angry Inuk. (2019) |
|
Margaret Alberta Phillips |
Born April 12, 1931. Died November 4,
2015, Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 1957 Margaret was the
1st woman in Canada to be hired as an arena manager. She
worked 3 years in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. From 1960-1967
she was Recreational Director in Kenora, Ontario. In 1965
she became the 1st woman president of the Society of
Municipal Recreation of Ontario. In 1971 for ten years she
was Executive Director of Lakehead Social Planning Council
dealing with regional day care services, co-op housing and
regional transit. She helped found the Thunder Bay Women’s
Center. 1982-1992 she was a member of the Northern Women’s
Journal Collective. In 1984 she co-founded with Anna McColl
the Northern Woman’s Bookstore. From the mid 1980’s through
to 1997 she worked with Inner Pares, a non-government
organization working on social justice. She was also a Board
member of the Canadian Council on Social Development and the
Ontario Welfare Council. |
|
Mary Pellatt
Lady
Pellatt |
née Dodgson. Born 1858, Toronto,
Ontario. The 1st Commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada,
Lady Pellatt lived in a Castle! Lady Mary often invited Girl
 Guides to have rallies at Casa Loma in Toronto. She was
warranted as Commissioner of the Dominion of Canada Girl
Guides on July 24, 1912. When she was to ill to attend
events she enjoyed watching the girls from her bedroom
window. When Lady Pellatt died in April 1924 she was buried
in her Girl Guide uniform and the Girl Guides formed a Guard
of Honour at the funeral service. |
|
Betty Peterson |
née Faber. Born November 27, 1917
Reading, Pennsylvania. U.S.A. Died February 24 2018 Halifax,
Nova Scotia. In 1039 Betty graduated from Syracuse
University, New York, U.S.A. She taught music and married
Gunnar Peterson (d1976). The couple would have three
children. Betty and Gunnar where conscientious objectors to
World War ll and after the dropping of the atomic bombs in
Japan the couple vowed to devote their lives to peace. In
1950 the family lived in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. and
participated in the 1960's sit-ins and civil disobedience
demonstrations. Betty became a community educator and
organizer for voting equality. In Protests of the U S
involvement in the wqr in Vietnam the couple settled in Capr
Breton, Nova Scotia in 1975. After the death of Gunnar Betty
relocated to Halifax. Betty became an activist with the Nova
Scotia Voice of Women for Peace. in 1982 she marched in New
York, U.S.A. against nuclear weapons as a representative of
the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. It was one of the
largest peace demonstrations in History. It would be in the
1980's that Betty delivered the Women's International Peace
Petition with tens of thousands of Canadian signatures to
the United Nations special session on disarmament. Betty had
strong organization skills she was involved for 35 years in
organizing non-violent campaigns for peace and social
justice. In the late 1980's she worked for justice of
Indigenous peoples across the country. She camped out near
the airport in Goose Bay Labrador to pretest low flying NATO
planes that disturbed live. In 1995 she brought a group
together to protest at the G7 meeting of world leaders in
Halifax. She became a member of the Raging Grannies who
used street theatre to put their points across. |
|
Jean Anne Pinkham |
née Drever. Born 1849, Lower Fort Garry,
Manitoba. Died January 3, 1940, Calgary, Alberta. As were
many young girls, Jean was well educated and had learned to
play music. On December 29, 1868 she married an Anglican
Clergyman, William Cyprian Pinkham (1844-1928). The couple
had 8 children, 6 of whom lived to adulthood. In Winnipeg
Jean was the 1st organist at Holy trinity Anglican Church
and a driving force that helped found the Winnipeg General
Hospital. In 1887 her husband became Archbishop of
Saskatchewan and Calgary and the family relocated to
Calgary. She was not only busy with bringing up her family
but took over many duties of her husband who traveled a
great deal for his work. Jean chaired the 1st meeting of
the Local Council of women, helped to establish Calgary’s
1st general hospital and organized the Women’s Hospital Aid
Society to help keep the hospital funded. She helped to
establish the Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) in Calgary as
well as the 1st chapter of the IODE (Imperial Order of the
Daughters of the Empire). Sources: Sanderson,
Kay. 200 Remarkable Women of Alberta. (s.l., s.d.) online
(Accessed September 2014) |
|
Mary Isabel Ross Pinkham |
Born 1878 Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died 1964.
During World War l Mary organized Red Cross branches in her
province. She is credited as being the founder of the
Alberta Division of the Canadian Red Cross. She was active
in the Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire and
was a member of the Women’s Hospital Aid Society. She served
as Bursar of St. Hilda’s College for Girls one of the
1st private school for girls. She was the recipient of the
Royal Jubilee Medal and in 1935 she received the Order of
the British Empire. |
|
Maria Heathfield Pollard
Grant |
née Pollard Born September 15, 1854
Quebec City, Lower Canada (Quebec). Died March 30, 1937
Victoria, British Columbia. In 1871 Maria’s family relocated
to Victoria, British Columbia where her Methodist minister
father was offered a position. July 30, 1874 she married
Gordon Fraser/Frazar Munro Grant ( -1908). The couple had
7 children who survived infancy. Maria and her mother were
founding members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
of British Columbia and both would serve on the executive.
In 1885 Maria together with other WCTU members traveled the
province with a petition for women’s voting rights and took
the 1st petition for female suffrage to the provincial
legislature. She was also the key organizer of the Local
Council of Women in Victoria in 1894. In January 1895 this
group of determined women got the provincial government to
allow women to serve as school trustees. In
March 1895 she becomes the 1st woman to be a school trustee
in British Columbia and the 1st woman to be elected to a
municipal position in the province. She was
elected secretary to the Nation Prohibition Federation of
Temperance Societies of Canada. In 1900 she became President
of the provincial WCTU. In 1904 she co-supervised
construction of a Refuge Home for unwed mothers. In 1910 she
was the 1st President of Victoria’s Political Equity League
(PEL) and helped form the British Columbia PEL the following
year. She also helped to create a local Day nursery. In 1904
she helped establish the Children’s Aid Society of Victoria
where she became an employee. In 1918 she formed the Women’s
Independent Political Association to support female
candidates in civic elections. Source:
DCB. |
|
Harriet Irene Dunlop Prenter |
SEE - Dunlop-Prenter. |
|
Louise Profelt-LeBlanc
Social
Activist for Aboriginal rights |
Born Whitehorse, Yukon. Louise is a
member of the Nacho-N’Yak Dun (People of the Big River)
First Nation, Yukon. As the Aboriginal Arts Coordinator for
the Canada Council Louise works to ensure Aboriginal Arts
receive the attention they deserve. She has also worked in
the area of mental health, specifically suicide prevention.
In 1996 she co-founded the Yukon Storytelling Festival. She
encourages people to tell their story adding strength to any
story. |
|
Mary Clark Pyne |
Born Saskatchewan 1924. She was trained
as a nurse and became a medical missionary with the United
Church of Canada. She is one who makes friends wherever she
works. She studied Portuguese in Portugal before heading to
Angola where she learned the local language of Umbundu. At
home In Canada, she upgraded her nursing skills and learned
French and then off to the Congo and Zaire. She was forced
to return to Canada after contacting Tuberculosis and
malaria. Once recuperated she returned to Northern Canada
where she earned her pilot’s license so that she could have
easier access to northern communities. She found time to be
married in 1978 while doing her travels. She also worked
with Canadian University Services in Nicaragua. Leaving the
work in remote global areas to younger people she retired in
1994 allowing herself time to earn a degree in modern
language and to express herself in writing poetry and her
memoirs. Suggested sources: Herstory:
a Canadian women’s calendar 2007. |
|
Judy Rebick |
Born Reno, Nevada, U.S.A. 1945. A well
known journalist she is an established social activist for
women's issues. She honed her skills as President of the
National Action Committee on the Status of Women from
1990-1993. She is perhaps one of Canada's best known
political commentators. She has hosted shows on the CBC such
as Face-off and From the Hip, a women's discussion show on
CBC Newsworld. She has co-authored a book Politically
speaking with Ken Roach (Toronto,1996) and published in the
traditional manner two books, Imagine democracy (Toronto,
200) and Ten thousand roses: the making of a feminist
revolution (Toronto, 2005). She contributes on a regular
basis to various Canadian newspapers and magazines and is
one of the founders of Rabble.ca a virtual publication that
is a lively forum of critical politics meant to be an
alternative to mainstream media. She lectures across the
country and is on staff in women's studies at the University
of Toronto as well as being the GINDIN Chair in social
justice and democracy at Ryerson University in Toronto. |
|
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 would
have 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. |
|
Eliza Arden Redfern |
née Robinson. Born 1852? England. Died
March 19, 1966 Victoria, British Columbia. Eliza
arrived in British Columbia in 1875. On October 5, 1877 she
married a prominent businessman, Charles Edward Redfern. The
couple had nine children. Charles would serve several terms
as mayor of Victoria in the 1890's. Eliza supported the
British Columbia Protestant Orphans Home and The
Friendly Help Society, which helped local destitute
families. Her main efforts were with the Children's Aid
Society of Victoria (CAS) which as formed in 1901. She found
home for many homeless children. In 1904 through 1906 she
became vice president of the CAS. In recognition of her
service flags in Victoria were flown at half staff upon her
death. Source DCB (2020) |
|
Dorothy Reitman
Volunteer |
Born October
13, 1932, Montreal, Quebec. She was educated at McGill
University. May 26, 1952 she married Cyril Reitman
(1928) son of the Reitman Clothing entrepreneurs. The couple
have one son. Dorothy was a founding member of the Portage
Program for Drug Dependency, the Council of Canadian Unity
and Auberge Shalom for Battered Women as well as being
instrumental in establishing Kosher Meals on Wheels in
Montreal. She was also a founding member of the Match Centre
which was established in the UN Year of the Woman in 1975 to
enable women from Canada to share their experience and
expertise with women from developing countries. Dorothy was
particularly interested on Kenya. At the 1985 Match
International conference she was part of the Jewish
coalition fighting the UN Declaration on Zionism as racism.
She has served as honorary chair of the McGill University
Centre for Research and Teaching for Women, co-chaired the
Canadian Conference of Christians and Jews and chaired the
Commonwealth Jewish Foundation of Canada. She was the first
woman elected as president from 1986-1989 of the Canadian
Jewish Congress. Her endeavors have been marked with the
Montreal Jewish Community Young leadership award in 1965,
the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 1967, the Commonwealth Jewish
Council Annual Award in 1989 and the Governor’s Generals
Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case in 1992. On
October 22, 1997 she was invested as a Member of the Order
of Canada. Sources: Canadian
Who’s Who, University of Toronto 2006 : Brown, Michael
“Dorothy Reitman. Jewish Women: A Commemorative
Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2008. Jewish Women’s
Archive. Http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/ (Accessed
August 2011) |
|
Nancy Riche |
Born October 14, 1944, St. John’s
Newfoundland. Died St. John’s Newfoundland October 1, 2011.
She graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland and
during her career held various career in Labour
organizations. She was secretary-treasurer of the Canadian
Labour Congress from 1984 through till retirement in 2002.
She served as Vice-president of the Brussels based
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and
chair of its women’s committee from 1993-2002. After
retirement she returned to her beloved Newfoundland and was
President of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic
Party from 2003-2008. She received both the National Action
Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) Woman of Courage
Award and the Governor’s General Award in Commemoration of
the Persons Case in 2002. The AFL-CIO presented her with the
Meary-Lane Human Rights Award. In 2004 she became an Officer
in the Order of Canada. In 2009 she received the
Elijah Barayi Award from the Congress of South African Trade
Unions for her struggle against apartheid. Sources:
Women of Ottawa: Mentors and milestones.ca (accessed October
2011.) |
|
Eliza Ritchie |
Born May 20, 1856 Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Died September 5, 1935. In 1982, a year after women were
allowed to attend Dalhousie University in Halifax Eliza
began her undergraduate studies. She studied for three years
in the general program which did not provide a degree. She
switched in 1886 for a fourth year to obtain a Bachelor of
Letters with first-class honours. By 1889 she had completed
a doctorate (PhD) at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York,
U.S.A. An educator, feminist and author in 1889 Eliza
received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in the United
States. She is probably
the 1st Canadian woman to have received a doctor of
letters. She remained in the United States
teaching for near a decade. She then continued her studies
in Leipzig, Germany and at Oxford University in England. She
wrote numerous articles for learned journals and even
published book reviews on philosophical tests that were
written in Italian, German and French. She volunteered at
the Victoria School of Art and Design in Halifax and in 1917
she became a member of the Board of Directors of the school. In
1908 she was a founder member of the Nova Scotia Museum of
Fine Arts and in the late 1920's served as Vice-President. She
was also a strong supporter of libraries and especially
children's departments in libraries. She was also
suffragette and an active member of the local Local Council
of Women and the National Council of Women. She served as
President of the Nova Scotia Suffrage league which was also
known a the Nova Scotia Equal Franchie League. In 1911 she
became President of the Dalhousie Alumnae Association where
she worked to establish the university's 1st womens
residence, Forest Hall where she served warden in 1912/1913. Her appointment to the Dalhousie University Board of Governors in
1919 is also a 1st for Canadian women. She
served two three year terms on the Board. She was a member
of the founding editorial board for the Dalhousie Review in
1921. Eliza
was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from
Dalhousie. As
part of the celebrations marking 100 years since the
graduation of the first woman from Dalhousie University
(Halifax) in 1985, the Eliza Ritchie Doctoral Scholarship
for Women was established, and it was fittingly awarded for
the first time in 1987, the centenary of Eliza Ritchie’s
graduation and the 60th anniversary of her honorary degree.
In the same year, a small university residence named for her
was opened. (2019) |
|
Lily Rosebush |
née Houghton. Born May 28, 1924, Toronto,
Ontario. Died June 14, 2013. Her family struggled
financially and she worked in a General Electric factory
giving half of her $9.00 weekly pay to her mother. She
married Thomas Joseph Rosebush and the couple had 5
children. She founded Brownies and Girl Guide units in their
home town of Warsaw, Ontario. Selling the family garage in
1969 they eventually settled in Peterborough. In 1973 she
left her husband and worked at several sales clerking jobs
to keep her family going. In October 1980 her son, Ralph,
was killed by an impaired driver. She became a pioneer in
the North American Movement against drunk driving. In
1985-1884 she served as president of the Peterborough
Against Impaired Driving (PAID) which she helped to create.
She has received the Ontario Crime Prevention Award, the
Addiction Research Foundation Community Achievement Award,
and the City of Peterborough Award for Outstanding
Contribution . The Lily Rosebush Award, named in her honour
is given to outstanding contributors to lives in crisis. She
had a simple goal, to fix things going wrong in the world
and make the world a better place. Source:
“Feminist before her time” by Danielle Adams, The Globe and
Mail, July 9, 2013. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon,
Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Bertha Rosenthal |
née Lehman. Born August 2, 1849 Berlin,
Germany. Died December 10, 1922, Ottawa Ontario. On March
27, 1867 she married Aaron Rosenthal whom she met on a visit
to Austria. The couple had five sons. After their marriage
they lived a short time in England before emigrating to
Canada in 1874 and finally settling in Ottawa. Here Aaron
opened a jewelry shop and they became one of the founding
families of the Ottawa Jewish community. Bertha became a
leader of the Ladies Auxiliary Society of the Adath Jeshurun
congregation. She organized events for all special
celebrations. She was also a strong help to incoming
immigrants to the growing community through her Ottawa
Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society. She founded the
organization in 1898 and served as president until her
death. Funds were raised through publications lie the
Economical Cook Book (Ottawa, 1915) which was the first such
collection of Jewish recipes in Canada. She was also
honorary president of the Ottawa Ladies Sewing Circle which
grew out of the Red Cross effort of her friend Mrs. Freiman.
She gave her time and talents to other groups as well such
as the Perley Home for Incurables , the war effort in
support of the Ottawa General Hospital and services to
veterans returning home. Source: The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Online (Accessed November
2011) |
|
Betty Ross |
Born Cross Lake First Nation, Manitoba.
As a child she was removed from her home by the Government
of Canada to attend an Indian Residential School. Betty was
a true survivor and despite being discouraged at school to
let go of her cultural heritage she found a way to learn
about her culture, to embrace it and to share it with others
eager to learn. Betty is a social worker, counselor and
interpreter. In 2010 she was honoured at the Keeping the
Fires Burning aboriginal awards celebrating female leaders
for preserving First Nations culture and serving as role
models for younger generations. In 2012, David Robertson
wrote an e-book called Sugar Falls: A residential School
Story (Toronto: Portage and Main Press) a novel for
young readers which is based on Betty’s own school
experiences.
Sources; Matt Preprost, “Gala recognizes
accomplishments”. Winnipeg Free Press June 18, 2010 Page;
David Robertson, Sugar Falls: A residential school story. |
|
Sandra Rotman |
née Frieberg. Born May 10, 1938 Toronto,
Ontario. Sandra earned her teaching certificate from the
Toronto Teachers College in 1958. Sandra married in 1959
to lawyer Joseph Rotman. The couple had two children. In
1960-1961 she studied fine arts at Barnard College, New York
City, U.S.A. She returned home to Canada and earned at
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1975.
Over a period of 20 years the couple served on numerous
boards including the Ontario Heritage Foundation, The
University Health Network, the Art Gallery of Ontario from
2004 through 2019, Canadian Friends for the Israel Museum,
and the Toronto International Film Festival. They donated
more than $90 million. In 2006 she was induced into the
Order of Ontario. The couple were proud torch bearers for
the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. In 2009 the couple
received the Outstanding Philanthropists Award from the
Association of Fundraising Professionals. In 2010 they
received the Beth Sholom Brotherhood Humanitarian Award. In
2013 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. (2019) |
|
Nellie Langford Rowell |
Born December 16, 1874. Died 1968. In
1896 Nellie graded from Victoria College, Toronto . She was
one of 14 women who dared entered the halls of learning with
265 male freshmen. She joined the Victoria College Women’s
Literary Society and soon became Vice President. She was
also V-P, and the only women on the executive of the
Victoria College Missionary Society. A year after graduation
she completed her teacher training course. After teaching
for awhile in 1901 she married Newton Wesley Rowell, a
brilliant young lawyer who was destined to leave his own
mark in Canadian legal history circles. In 1906 Nellie
continued her lifelong relationship with Victoria College
when she joined the Board of Management of Annesley Hall, a
women’s residence. In 1910 she became an active member of
the YWCA National executive and in 1913 was president of the
Dominion Council. In 1927 she was appointed to the World
Committee of the YWCA. She would remain committed and active
with the YWCA until she resigned in 1934. In 1913 she
founded the Toronto’s Women’s Liberal Association for which
she served as President and later, 22 years as honorary
President. By 1919 she was President of the Ontario Women’s
Liberal Association. She also served a lifetime of services
with the university Women’s Club and her local Women’s
Missionary Society. In 1969 the Toronto New Feminists set
up a library. In the 1980’s the library was the bases for
the Nellie Langford Rowell Library at York University. Sources:
Re-examining history: bringing a name to life, Nellie
Langford Rowell by Maria Carney. Toronto: Nellie Langford
Rowell Women’s Studies Library, 1987. http://www.yourku.ca/nlrowell/...
Accessed June 2011. |
|
Nancy Ruth (Jackman)
Member of Senate of Canada |
Born January 6, 1942. Nancy Ruth is
Canada's first feminist philanthropist. With less that 5% of
funding from private foundations and corporations going to
women and girls her philosophy remains : "If women don't
give to women and girls, who will?" As an activist, Nancy
Ruth was part of the 1981 push for the inclusion of the
equity clauses ( 15 & 28) in the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms. She is a founding mother of Canada's largest
women's history website www.coolwomen.ca
of The Womens' Legal Education and Action Fund - LEAF/FARJ.
( Be sure check out the teen pages at the site www.LEAF.ca )
and of the Canadian Women's Foundation/Foundation des Femmes
Canadiennes, www.women.org who founded among other things
the "White Ribbon Campaign". Nancy Ruth holds three
honourary degrees and the Order of Canada. In 2005 Prime
Minister Paul Martin appointed her to the Senate of Canada. |
|
Olga Rains |
née Trestorff. Born the Netherlands.
Olga met Lloyd Rains three weeks after the Dutch Liberation
in May 1945. The couple were married on Christmas Eve, 1945
in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Olga would join her solder
husband to live in Canada becoming what is known as a war
Bride. In 1980 the couple
founded Project Roots to help children left in Europe after
the war find their Canadian soldier fathers. Olga
wrote stories of the Dutch war brides in her 1984 book We
Became Canadians. She has also written Children of
the Liberation and The Summer of 46. In April 1997
Olga was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for
work with Project Roots. In 2006 she published Voices of
the Left Behind: Project Roots and the Canadian War Children
of World War ll, telling the stories of children who were
fathered by Canadian soldiers during the war and who were
left behind when the soldiers returned home to Canada.
Source: Project Roots Online Accessed
July 2000. |
|
Idola Saint-Jean |
Born 1880 Montreal, Quebec. She studied
in Montreal and became a teacher of the French language.
However it would be her dedication to the fight for women's
rights, specifically the right to vote in her home province
of Quebec for which she would be best remembered. Quebec
would be the last province in Canada to grant the vote to
women and the battle was won by the direct efforts of women
like Idola Saint-Jean. She founded the Alliance canadienne
pour le vote des femmes du Quebec. In 1991 the Federation
des femmes du Québec (FFQ) instituted Le Prix Idola
Saint-Jean. |
|
Norma Scarborough |
Born 1918. Died April 2, 2009. During
World War ll Norma served in the Canadian Women’s Army Corp.
Norma was married and had 5 children. She worked as a
secretary for the Scarborough Township (near Toronto) School
Board. On November 19, 1974 she was a founder of the
Canadian Abortion Rights Action League/Association
canadienne pour le droit d’avortement (CARAL/ACDA)(2016) |
|
Lauren Donna 'Becca'
Scholfield |
Born 1999 Moncton, New Brunswick. Died
February 17, 2018 Riverside, New Brunswick. In December of
2016 Becca learned that she had a brain tumor. She called
her tumor ‘Butterscotch’. She posted a letter on Facebook
asking people to cross an item off her bucket list by
performing random acts of kindness using the hash tag #BrendaToldMeto.
The request went viral. The social media campaign inspired
altruistic acts not only in her home town but around the
world Her home province gave her a day of honour in
September and she even got the attention of Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. In November 2017 a second tumor was
found. The family requested Christmas card and they were
overwhelmed with the mail. With the announcement of her
death porch lights across North America were lit in her
memory. Supporters have pledged to carry out her last wish
to continue sharing random acts of good deeds. |
|
Anna Selick-Raginsky |
née Kanen.
Born November 2, 1891 Rochester, New York. U.S.A. Died
February 9, 1981 Montreal, Quebec. Anna was twice married to
Joseph Selick with who she had one child and to Abraham
Raginsky (died 1941). Anna had been 1st vice president of
the Toronto Zionist Council. In 1918 she was appointed as
one of the few woman Notary Publics. In 1917 the Hadassah-WIZO
organization was founded in Canada to work on behalf of
Zionism. In 1021 Anna was elected as national Vice-president
at the 1st Hadassah-WIZO convention serving as president
from 1941-1947. She also served as an officer of the
Montreal Council of Women, the National Council of Women,
the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Maternity Aid Society of
Toronto, the Women’s Canadian Club, the Daughters of the
Empire and was honourary president of the Jewish National
Fund of Canada. (2018) |
|
Ida Lewis Siegel |
née Lewis.
Born 1885 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died 1962
Toronto, Ontario. Ida arrived in Canada with her family in
1893. She married Isadore Hirsch Siegel (1877-1953) a
travelling salesman and store owner in Cochrane, Ontario.
The couple had six children. Ida formed sewing circles like
the 1912 Jewish Endeavor Sewing School of Girls, Saturday
afternoon story hours and other youth activities. In 1899
she formed the Daughters of Zion, the first Zionist group in
Canada and Ida was the 1st woman to be president of the
Zionist Organization of Canada. In 1909 she helped organize
the Jewish Dispensary to provide medical care to immigrants
and later became the Mount Sinai Hospital. In 1915 she was a
member of the Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom. She worked with the Hebrew Ladies Maternity Aid and
Child Welfare Society and was a member of the Toronto School
Board in the 1930’s and involved in establishing the
foundation for the Home and School Association. A
suffragette she was active in the Women’s Electors of
Toronto. She was also a member of the Daughters of Canada, a
group developing a distinct Canadian identity. This group
even went so far as to design a new Canadian flag! Source:
Multiple Loyalties by Rabbi Gail Labovitz in Canadian Women
Studies Vol. 16. No. 4 1996 |
|
Janina 'Janka' Stykolt Seydegart |
Born August 3, 1920, Poland. Died July
30, 2008. She studied international law in Switzerland but
with the beginning of World War ll in 1939 her family was
forced to find safety and immigrated to Toronto, Ontario.
Although she did not speak English she studied for her B.A.
at Victoria College, University of Toronto and went on to
earn a Masters of Social Work at Columbia University, New
York City, New York, and U.S.A. After the war she married
Stanislaw Seydegart and the couple had 2 daughters. While
her children were still in school she took the unusual step
of returning to a job. She worked at the Children’s Aid
Society of Metropolitan Toronto assisting women with
unplanned pregnancies. She became an instructor with the
University Of Toronto School Of Social Work. In 1979 she
became a founding member of the Feminist Party of Canada.
Upon retirement she volunteered with the YWCA and with the
Board of the Victoria Daycare Center helping to establish
subsidized daycare. A graduate scholarship in feminist
studies was established in her name at the University of
Toronto. Source: Herstory;
The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2010. |
|
Edna May Williston Sexton |
née Best. Born June 25, 1880, Sediac, New
Brunswick. Died December 4, 1923, Halifax, Nova Scotia. When
her father and step-mother died prematurely she went to live
with family in Boston Massachusetts. In 1902 she graduated
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She worked
for a year at General Electric Company in Schenectady, New
Your before marrying a colleague Frederic Sexton. The young
couple moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia where Frederic had a
job at Dalhousie University. The couple had two children.
May was restless at home and soon sought outlet for her
energies through various women’s organizations in Halifax.
Here her abilities in organization were put to good use.
She campaigned for children’s playgrounds, placing women on
School boards and votes for women. On August 5, 1914, in
direct response to the war effort a Central Red Cross and
Relief Committee was established. May was soon organizing
women from all walks of life, even crossing the colour line
to create assembly line teams working for the war effort.
She herself led a financial campaign with patriotic lectures
being a part of the $1,000,000.00 campaign for the war
effort. In 1916 a 25 bed convalescent Home was established,
the 1st such facility to provide vocational training in
Canada. She swept into organizational mode for relief after
the 1916 devastating Halifax explosion. In 1918 she was
replacement of Red Cross Hospital Committee and introduced
new British standards, established libraries and sun
parlours for returning wounded troops. That same year she
suffered from broken health and retired from public work but
still continued as a consultant for various projects. Source: Dictionary
of Canadian Biography Toronto; University of Toronto/Laval
Université, 2005 vol. 15 1921-1930 |
|
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Lorraine Shepherd |
née Le Drew. Born St John’s, Newfoundland
August 16 1932. Died January 27, 2006. In the 1960’s, Jackie
was a consumer advocate to be reckoned with and an activist
to whom people listened. In 1967 she formed the Consumer
Housewives Union and convinced members to picket food
warehouses. A strong supporter of the New Democratic Party
in politics she was an unsuccessful NDP federal candidate
for York West in 1968. She spearheaded a fight for better
housing for low-income residents and helped convince the
government of the day to pass legislation that banned
landlords from refusing to rent to people with children. |
|
Bonnie Sherr- Klein |
Born April 1, 1941, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. After high school she attended Akiba
Hebrew Academy where she was introduced to the social
justice concept to make the world more tolerant. A concept
that would remain with her and guide her life. She earned
her BA at Bernard College and a teaching certificate from
Temple University in Philadelphia. At Stanford University
she studied theatre. She and her physician husband Michael
immigrated to Canada in 1967 in protest to the war in Viet
Nam. Bonnie worked for the National Film Board of Canada in
Montreal in the late 1960’s. By the 1980’s she had made
dozens of movies in the NFB’s famous women’s STUDIO D while
raising her two children. Perhaps the best known work was Not
a Love Story: a film about pornography / C’est
surtout pas de l’amour: un film sur la pronographie. In
1987 she survived two debilitating brain-stem strokes that
resulted in her becoming a quadriplegic and requiring a
respirator to breathe. She spent three years in full time
rehabilitation. During this time she kept writing and taped
her journals . From these notes she produced an award
winning movie about coping with disabilities. She became
co-founder of the Society for Disability Arts and Culture
and was producer of the pioneering Kickstart Festival of
Disability Arts and Culture for whom she made a movie of
the same name in 2003. In 2004 she was presented with the
Governor’s General Award in Commemoration of the Persons
Case recognizing outstanding contributions to quality of
life for women in Canada. Source.
Library and Archives Canada. Bonnie Sherr Klein: Canadian
women in film. Celebrating Women’s Achievements. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/ (accessed
June 2006) This site includes an extensive bibliography. |
|
Anastasia Marie Shkilnyk |
Born August 22, 1945, Wasserberg,
Germany. Died May 13,2014. The family immigrated to Canada
and settled in Winnipeg. She attended the University of
Toronto graduating in 1966 and then went to Yale University
in the U.S.A. to earn her Master’s in 1968 and on to
Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a PhD IN Urban
Planning, While completing her studies she worked with the
Ford Foundation in Santiago, Chile helping to direct
scholarships to the most deserving students. She also worked
in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula helping with the resettlement
along the Suez Canal in the 1970’s. From time working on her
thesis at the Grassy Narrows Reservation on the English-WABIGOON
River system in Ontario she was inspired to write a book: A
poison Stronger Than Love , 1st published 1985. She
established and funded The Light of Justice Award
recognizing moral leaders in the Ukraine. Although diagnosed
with cancer she continued to raise funds to support child
refugees of the conflict in Syria. Source:
Obituary . Globe and Mail, May 17, 2014. Suggestion
Submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Jacqueline Shumlatcher
Community volunteer |
Born 1923 Venin-le-Viel, Pas de Calais,
France. In 1927 she immigrated to Saskatchewan and worked as
a teacher. She married Morris Shumiatcher ( -2004) in
1955. After her marriage she founded her own management
business in Regina, to support her husband’s law practice. A
tireless community volunteer she worked with the Canadian
Club, the Dominion Drama Festival, Regina Council of Women,
France-Canada Association, Women’s Business and Professional
Association, Saskatchewan Center of the arts, Saskatchewan
Veterinary College and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. The
couple were founders and supporters of the Shumiatcher
Sculpture Gallery at the Mackenzie Art Gallery, the Shu-Box
Theatre at the University of Regina, as well as the
Shumiatcher Scholarship at the University of Saskatchewan
which provides funding for two students. She was recognized
with many awards including: 1996, the YWCA Woman of
Distinction, 1999, B'Nai Brith named her Citizen of the
year, in 2000 she was awarded the Canadian Woman Mentor
Award and the Mayor’s Community Volunteer Award for the
Arts, 2001 she was inducted into the Saskatchewan Order of
Merit and in 2004 she was named Regina’s Citizen of the
year. Source:
City of Regina. Heritage & History Online. (Accessed January
2012. |
|
Virginia "Ginny" Dobson Shrivastava |
Born 1942, Amherst, New Brunswick. She
and her family relocated to Burlington, Ontario when she was
a child. In 1963 she earned her B.A. at Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario. Right after graduating she spent a year
in Indonesia. In 1970 she married Om Shrivastava whom she
had met at the University of Toronto when they were studying
for their master’s degrees in education. The couple steeled
in Rajasthan, India. In 1986 they helped to found ASTHA, an
organization to help the poor with “faith in people”. ASTHA
supports collective efforts of villagers to help them solve
their own defined problems. Ginny is also a founder of Ekai
Nari Shakti Sangathan (Association of Strong Women Alone,
ASWA) informing widows, separated woman and those abandoned
of their rights. They work for women to gain ownership of
lands, increasing widows pensions and similar projects. In
2005 her work gained her a nomination for the Nobel Peace
Prize in the project of 1000 woman of Peace. Source: Herstory
2008: The Canadian Women’s Calendar. (Coteau Books, 2007) |
|
Mary-Woo Sims |
Born Hong Kong. Mary-Woo came to Canada
as an exchange student in 1970 and stayed to earn her
Canadian Citizenship in 1978. She became a community
activist in both Toronto and Vancouver. She was a founding
member of the Women Against Violence Women or WAVAW Rape
crisis Centre in Vancouver and she participated in the
British Columbia Federation of Labour's Women's Right
Committee in the Mid 1970's . For a short period she worked
thei the British Columbia Telephone Company, also known as
TELUS, and was an active member of the Telecommunications
Worker's Union. She relocated to Winnipeg to work with the
Canadian Human Rights Commission and shortly thereafter
relocated to Toronto where she became president of her local
in the Union of Solicitor General Employees. In 1993 she won
the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto's Honouring Our
Heroes Award in 1993 and also received awards from the Gay
Asians of Toronto as well as an award from The Chinese
Canadian National Council. In 1996 she moved back to
Vancouver as the Chief Human Rights Commissioner for the
province fo British Columbia. She has also served as a board
member of Vancouver Co-op Radio , the Women's Education and
Action Fund, and Canadian for Equal Marriage. She writes an
opnion column with the Tri-City News which covers Port
Moody, Coquitliam and Port Coquitliam in British Columbia.
She travels to Australia at times to look after her father.
She ran under the New Democratic ticket for provincial
election in 2006. She is also writing a book. |
|
Wilhelmina 'Minnie' Smith |
née Gordon. Born February 5, 1849, Pictou,
Nova Scotia. Died July 16, 1925, St Andrews, New Brunswick.
On October 29, 1879 she married and New Brunswick ship
broker, George Frederick Smith (d 1894) and the couple
settled in Saint John, New Brunswick. They had three
children. . Minnie was very active in their local Anglican
Church with various groups including the Ladies’ Society of
Church Women where she served as President in 1891.After the
death of her husband she raised her daughters as a single
parent. Fortunately the family estate was enough so that the
family was relatively well off allowing her time to
volunteer in the community. In 1899 she was a founding
member and vice President for the local Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON). 1905-1911 she was the VON representative on
the local Council of Women. In the 1920 she was involved
with the establishment of a training school for nurses. In
February 1918 she was a member of an elite group of women
who attended a national conference called in Ottawa by the
federal War Committee. She was a Board member and
1st Vice-President of the Women’s Auxiliary to the
Missionary Society of the Church of England and in 1925
became President. Source: Peter J. Mitham, “GORDON,
WILHELMINA (Minnie) (Smith),” in
EN:UNDEF:public_citation_publication, vol. 15, University of
Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 10,
2016, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gordon_wilhelmina_15E.html. |
|
Elizabeth Smith-Shortt |
Born January 18, 1859, Vinemount, Canada
West (now Ontario). Died January 14, 1949. One of Canada’s
early women doctors she almost single handedly fought fore
Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario to become
co-educational and accept women as students in medicine.
She was an enthusiastic champion of women’s rights and was
elected Vice President of the National Council of Women. |
|
Jean Spears
War Bride |
née Tubbs. Born
Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, England 1921. Died September 15,
2017 Ottawa, Ontario. Jean met a young Canadian Serviceman,
George Spear (1920-2017) a sergeant with the 1st Field
Survey Co, Royal Canadian Engineers in England during World
War ll. They fell in love and were married in August of
1942. In 1944 Jean came to Canada December 23, 1944 as a war
bride to join her husband. She stepped of the train into a
foot of snow in Ottawa to meet her husband. The couple
would raise a family of two children. She had been in the
early groups of war brides who would follow their hearts to
Canada. In 1945 she formed a war brides club the ESWIC:
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Canada Club. She was
named a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006. Jean
and George died within hours of one another without either
of them knowing the other had died. They had dances at their
75 wedding anniversary with Jean wearing a red dress just as
she had when they met at a dance in England. |
|
Mary Barrett Speechly |
Born 1873, London, England. Died 1968.
Her father was not satisfied with the education provided for
girls and in 1884 Mary was the only girl with 80 boys in the
school where her father was headmaster , Mostyn Hall. She
earned her B.A. on scholarship at University College,
Liverpool, England in 1892. She also studied at Cambridge
University but did not receive a degree as women were not
granted degrees from Cambridge at this time. In 1895 she
earned her M.A. from University College. She married Henry
Speechly in 1895 and joined him in Pilot Mound Manitoba
in 1902. The couple would have 3 children. Prior to joining
her husband in Canada she followed his advice and studied
photography so she could earn money once she arrived in
Manitoba. In the beginning Mary did not take to the hard
work and loneliness, but acclimatize she did. Mary became
president of the Pilot Mound Home Economics Society in 1912
and was active in the home economics societies of the time,
becoming a major advocate of home economics and domestic
science. She was also a member of the Agricultural Women’s
Association and the Women’s Institute. She moved to Winnipeg
in 1916, became a prominent proponent of the birth control
movement and became the first president of the Winnipeg
Birth Control Society in 1934. That same year she wrote a Short
History of the Women’s Institutes of Manitoba. She was
appointed to the council of the Manitoba Agricultural
College in 1924 and to the board of governors of the
University of Manitoba in 1933, where she served until
retirement in 1946. She also helped found the Family
Planning Association of Manitoba. Speechly The Mary
Speechly student residence at the University of Manitoba
was named in her honor. Source:
Mary Speechly: A Life of Service” by Angela
Davis, The Beaver, 74, no. 5 (October/November 1994):
35-39 ; Memorable Manitobans. Online (Accessed August 2014) |
|
Doreen Spence |
Born Alberta. In 1959 she studied and
earned her Practical Nursing Certificate at Edmonton
University Hospital in Alberta. Almost from the beginning
she became involved with volunteer work with the police,
school systems, and hospitals to preserve aboriginal
traditions and ensure a promising future. From 1980 through
1993 she was president of Plains Indian Cultural Survival
School in Calgary. A Cree Nation Elder her efforts have
earned her the Alberta Human Rights Award and she has been
inducted into the Thunder Bay (Ontario) Elder’s Circle. In
1994 she represented Canada on a United Nations working
group on world indigenous populations. In 1996 she founded
and is currently executive Director of the Canadian
Indigenous Women’s Resource Institute which has a mandate to
keep traditional teachings alive in Calgary. In 2005 she was
awarded the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for
Heritage and Spirituality. That same year she was nominated
of the Nobel Peace Prize 1000 Women of Peace Project. Source:
Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the
Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006) pg.
36 |
|
Annie Charlotte
Starkey |
née Stairs. Born November 15, 1910,
Halifax , Nova Scotia. Died May 19, 2012, Knowlton, Quebec.
As a teen Charlotte became manager of the family home during
the illness of her mother and later after her mother’s
death. She brought up her sibling, was hostess for her
father’s business parties and generally ran the household.
In 1935 she married Hugh Starkey, a medical doctor and
micro-biologist at the Royal Montreal Hospital. The couple
had four children. For more than 55 years she maintained a
relationship with Girl Guides. The organization, founded the
year of her birth, enrolled her as a member when she was 11
years old. She enjoyed many years as a company leader and
volunteered as District Commissioner. From 1964 through 1970
she served as Commissioner of Girl Guides for the province
of Quebec and travelled across Canada. In 1967 she was
awarded the highest honour from Girl Guides and also
received the Canadian Centennial Medal. Sources:
“Charlotte Starkey” by Fred Langan, The Globe and Mail June
9, 2012. : “Happy 100th birthday to Charlotte
Starkey”, Tempo (Brome Lake, Quebec) vol. 30. No. 5 June
2010 online (Accessed November 2012.) Suggestion from June
Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Pearl Steen |
née Soper. Born 1893, Victoria, British
Columbia. Died 1988, Vancouver, British Columbia. Joined
Canadian Federation of Professional and Business Women's
Club and served as president in 1935. President, Point Grey
Conservative Association (1936-37). Spent six years on
Vancouver School Board (1947-52); elected chair in 1950. In
1958 she served as a member of the, British Columbia
Centennial Committee. In 1960 she was the only Canadian
woman delegate to UN General Assembly and from 1960 through
1968 she was the only woman director of the Pacific
Northwest Exhibition. She was President of the Vancouver
Council of Women and president of the Vancouver Women's
Canadian Club and the President of National Council of Women
1964 through 1967. She also served as a member, British
C0olumbia Human Rights Council. In 1967 she was presented
with Vancouver's Good Citizen Award. Source:
Vancouver Hall of Fame Online (accessed November 2012. |
|
Dorothy Gretchen Steeves |
née Biersteker. Born May 26, 1895,
Amsterdam, Holland. Died May 9, 1978, Vancouver, British
Columbia. She graduated in Law from Leiden University, the
Netherlands. During World War she served as legal advisor
to the government of The Netherlands. In 1918 she married
Rufus Palmer Steeves (1892-1960) a Canadian officer and
former prisoner of war. The young couple settled in
Vancouver in 1919. Dot was a founding member of the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and attended the Regina
Convention in 1933. She was elected in a by election as
C.C.F MLA for North Vancouver, in 1934 and won the elections
again in 1937 and 1941. In May 1948 she was elected C.C.F
president for British Columbia /Yukon. She also worked with
the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, the
Committee for Nuclear Disarmament, the International League
for Peace and freedom and the Association to Protect Fur
Bearing Animals. Source: Dorothy
Gretchen Steeves Collection Inventory, Special
Collections, Library of the University of British Columbia.
Online (Accessed November 2012) |
|
Emma M. Stirling |
Born Scotland. Died Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
In 1877 she founded the Edinburgh and Leith Children’s Aid
and Refugee Society which she funded with her own monies.
Like several other organizations at this era the Society
worked with homeless children often sending them to Canada
in the hopes of providing them with a better life. In 1893
Emma felt she would serve the program better is she
established a home in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia to
accepting the children from Scotland. She would write two
volumes about her work under the title of Our Children of
Old Scotland and Nova Scotia. The 1st volume covered her
work in Scotland and the second volume covered a history of
her work in Nova Scotia. In the late 1890’s she retired to
Pennsylvania in the U.S.A. |
|
Marion Stirling |
née Fairweather. Born October 14, 1846,
Bowmanville, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died February
28,1923, San Leandro California, U.S.A. In 1869 she received
her teaching certificate from McGill Normal School,
Montreal, Quebec. Teaching in Bowmanville gave her time to
reach out to the Foreign Mission Committee of the
Presbyterian Church. She accepted to work with the American
Presbyterians in India in 1873. By 1877 Canada had its
1st Presbyterian Mission in Indore, central India with
Marion as one of the original workers. However the strong
woman was recalled in 1879 among rumors of suspected
impropriety. She had gone beyond the expected behavior of a
meek Victorian woman. She began to channel her energies into
nursing and by 1885 she had graduated as a medical doctor
from the Woman’s Medical College of Chicago. Gathering
financial aid for supplies she returned to India in January
1887. In Agra she began a medical school. On September 25,
1888 she married fellow physician Charles Stirling. They
remained serving in India until Charles poor health caused
they to return to the United States. By 1914 they had
practices in Oakland, California. . Source: Dictionary
of Canadian Biography Toronto; University of Toronto/Laval
Université, 2005 vol. 15 1921-1930 |
|
Eileen Tallman Sufrin |
Born 1913, Montreal, Quebec. Died 1999,
White Rock, British Columbia. She relocated with her family
to Toronto where she was the leading all-around student in
her Vaugh Road Collegiate. After high school she went
looking for work and was dismayed by the working conditions
she observed. Women worked not only for lower wages then me
but there was less opportunities for women to obtain jobs as
well. She joined with other unemployed youth the Canadian
Commonwealth Youth Movement (CCYM). She learned to speak on
street corners and to organize and motivate people. She also
liked to tell stories how she won a contest as Canada’s
fastest typist and how she won contests for dancing the
Tango. In 1941 she led the 1st strike of bank employees in
Montreal. Later in the 1940’s she attempted to unionize
employees of the Eaton’s Department stores in Toronto.
Though her determination and perseverance she was able to
organize 9,000 of the 30,000 Eaton’s workers between 1948
and 1952. Though her efforts did not gain a fully unionized
Eaton’s work place her work forced Eaton’s administration to
take measures to stop the unwanted unionization and salaries
were increased, pensions provided and welfare packages were
provided to staff. Eileen published her story of the
attempted unionization leaving a detailed account of her
work. Eileen moved about and organized wherever she went. In
the early 1960’s she was working in a finance office of the
government of Saskatchewan. She met and married in 1962 Bert
Sufrin a fellow CCF worker. The couple moved to Ottawa in
1964 where Eileen worked with the Women’s Bureau of the
Canadian Department of Labour. In 1972 the couple moved to
White Rock, British Columbia for retirement. However Eileen
still campaigned for the New Democratic Party and founded
the local Choice of Dying Society. In 1979 Eileen was one of
7 women who were awarded the Governor’s General Award for
the 50th Anniversary of the Persons Case. In 2016 Canada’s
History magazine listed Eileen as one of 30 women in
Canada’s Great Women.
Source:
Anne Farrell, Eileen Tallman Sufrin. July 13, 2001,
Section15.ca Accessed February 2016 |
|
Catherine Sutton |
née Sonego. Born Port Credit River
Mission, Upper Canada (now Ontario) fall 1824. Died
September 26, 1865, Sarawak Township, Canada West (now
Ontario). In 1825 she was baptized as Catherine Bunch (her
father was Bunch Sonego) and later book the name Catherine
Brown. She grew up in the home of her Uncle Rev. Peter Jones
and his wife Eliza. They took Catherine to England in 1837
where Peter, as Chief of the Mississaugas, petitioned the
crown to acquire title deeds and ownership of their lands to
prevent more European settlement on the Credit River. On
January 9, 1839 her Uncle, Rev. Peter Jones, performed her
marriage to an Englishman William Sutton. The couple would
have 7 children. They eventually settled in Sarawak, where
Catharine was given land by the Nawash band. The couple
cleared land and build a home but ill health and poor
weather made life unsuitable. William as a lay minister in
1852 relocated his family to Garden River near Sault Ste
Marie and then to Michigan in the U.S.A. before returning in
1857 to Sarawak. Here they found their lands up for auction
by the authorities. Catherine attempted to purchase her
lands back but the Indian representatives held the view that
Indians could not won the land and then said she had no
rights anyhow since she had married a white man. The couple
attempted to obtain recompense for the clearing of the land
and building of a home. They took their demands to the
government in Toronto with no results. Catherine, as envoy
for the Nawash people and their land concerns traveled to
New York, U.S.A. where with the help of Quaker supporters
toured and lectured on Indian Rights and earned enough
funding to travel to England. On June 19 1860 she was
granted an audience with Queen Victoria. Catherine was
allowed to buy back her own land but nothing was ever done
for others who had land disputes. Back in Canada Catherine
continued to be outspoken on the mistreatment of justice
against her people. Source: Donald
B. Smith, “NAHNEBAHWEQUAY,” in Dictionary of Canadian
Biography, vol. 9, University of Toronto/Université Laval,
2003–, accessed February 3, 2016, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/nahnebahwequay_9E.html. |
|
Sunera Thobani |
Born Tanzania, 1957. Sunera left Africa
to attend Middlesex University, England graduating in 1986,
she spent a year volunteering in Palestine. She went on to
study at the University of Colorado, USA to earn a Master’s
degree . While in Colorado Sunera became involved in
anti-nuclear, peace and Palestinian solidarity movements.
For awhile she lectured at Evergreen State College,
Olympia, Washington, USA and then in 1989 Sunera immigrated
to Canada, where at the Simon Fraser University, British
Columbia, she earned her PhD in 1998. She became involved
with the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC)
which was then the largest feminist organization in Canada.
In 1993-1996 she was elected the 1st woman of colour to be
President of NAC. While at Simon Fraser University from
1996 through 2000 she taught women’s studies at the
university. In 2000 she relocated to teach at the University
of British Columbia. From 2008 through 2012 she served as
the Director for the Centre for Race, Autobiography, Gender
and Age (RAGA) focusing on the importance of autobiography
and oral histories. She co-founded Researchers and Academics
of Colour for Equality/Equity (R.A.C.E.) a non-profit
collaborative coalition of First Nations, Inuit, Métis,
Non-status Indians, people of colour and white allies which
is engaged in the production of critical academic and
activist knowledges. R.A.C.E. is committed to anti-racist,
anti-colonial and feminist scholarship. After 9/11 in the
U.S.A. she made a speech which many deemed as anti-American
and she was charged with a hate crime and she endured severe
harassment. She stood her freedom of speech and since 2004
her speech has been considered a great Canadian speech. She
is the author of several books on Canadian women’s history
and Canadian race relations as well as innumerable journal
articles. She
has received numerous awards in recognition of her community
engagements, including the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Human Rights Award; the Vancouver Status of Women Honouring
Women Award; Spice Radio's Hands Against Racism Award; and
the Action to End Racism, Vagina Warrior and Just Desserts
Awards of the UBC-Alma Mater Society. Sunera has also
received the Canadian Association of University Teachers
Sarah Shorten Award in 2017 for outstanding achievements in
the promotion of the advancement of women in Canadian
universities and colleges. |
|
Dorothy Thomas |
née Mikos. Born 1838, Toronto, Ontario.
Died May 9, 2005. She stated studies at the University of
Toronto but opted instead to a more practical training in
on-the-job journalism at the Toronto Star. She
married a fell journalist, Ralph Thomas and became a stay at
home Mom. She used her excess energies working for resident
group and from these she entered local politics. She was
elected to two terms on Toronto City Council from 1972-1976
and again from 1981 to 1985. An excellent politician she
worked hard for her constituents initiating Toronto's "poop
and scoop" program, establishing the City of Toronto's
Persons Day Award and heading the mayor's Task Force on the
Status of Women. During all of this time she made sure she
was home every night to have dinner with her son. She
maintained a reputation as a serious hostess and shared her
talents talents for auction with local charities. After
moving to Port Hope, Ontario she became immersed in her
community again with the development of the Port Hope
Ecology Garden. |
|
Verna Irene States Thomas |
Born 1935, Denson, Nova Scotia. Died
2005. As a Black Canadian woman there were few jobs open to
her. She tried domestic jobs but she did not like the
“slave” like mentality of her employers so she quit. In 1956
she married John E. Thomas and the couple had 6 children.
She was an avid volunteer serving as president of the
Women’s Missionary Society of her church, the Preston Area
Learning Skills Center and served as charter president of
Nova Scotia’s Black United Front. She was national
Vice-President of the National Anti-poverty Organization for
which she travelled across Canada. Source: Herstory:
The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008 (Saskatoon Women's
Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007) |
|
Frances 'Frankie' Tillman |
née Montgomery. Born December 5, 1916.
Died October8, 2003. Frankie attended the University of
British Columbia where she was active in the Student
Christian Movement. She married Robert “Bob” Tillman a
university administrator and the couple had three children.
Frankie taught scripture at Balmoral private school for
girls in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was non-judgmental and
supported lesbians well before it was the accepted thing to
do. While living in Vancouver, British Columbia she worked
with street women of the city’s east side. In the 1970’s she
travelled to Africa on behalf of the International YWCA. She
was the Vancouver YWCA Woman of Distinction. Source:
Lois M. Wilson, I Want To Be In That Number: Cool Saints I
Have Known. (Self published, 2014) |
|
Alice Star Tilley |
Born October 10, 1843 St Stephen, New
Brunswick. Died May 1921. On October 22 1867 she married
widower Samuel Leonard Tilley (1820-1896) a brewer and a
politician. She became stepmother to 8 children and the
couple would have two more children. She was a founding
member of the National Council of Women and served as the
President of the St John Local Council of Women. Both
husband and wife were activists in the temperance movement.
Alice was a founder of the Victoria College Hospital,
Fredericton, New Brunswick and aided in founding the
Industrial Schools for Boys, the Nurse’s Home, The Seamen’s
Mission and the Home for Consumptives. She was 1st Lady of
New Brunswick when her husband served as Lieutenant Governor
from 1873-1878 and again in 1885. Since Tilly is a Father of
Confederation, Alice could be considered one of the Mothers
of Confederation. Source:
Henry James Morgan, Types of Canadian Women and Women Who
are or Have Been Connected With Canada (Toronto, 1903) |
|
Topahdewin |
SEE Gladys Evelyn Taylor Cook |
|
Lillian Frances Treble |
née Massey. Born March 2,1854 Newcastle
Ontario. Died November 3, 1915 Santa Barbara, California.
Lillian was the daughter of Hart Massey (1823-1896) the
Canadian farm implement businessman and philanthropist. She
became interested in mission work with the Women’s Aid
Society of the Methodist Church when she was young. In 188
she became interested in “inner City work supporting the
Toronto City Missionary Society and in 1894 she helped to
establish the Fred Victor Mission where in 1896 she started
the Kitchen Garden along with sewing and cooking classes for
youth from the surrounding slums. She married only as a
mature woman on January 26, 1897 to widower John Mill Treble
( -1909). John was a men’s wear dealer and a father of
children from a previous marriage. In 1902 she founded the
Lillian Massey School of Household Science and art. The
methods used at this sis school were soon picked up at
Canadian Universities from coast to coast. This school let
to the 1st degree program in Household Sciences at the
University of Toronto. In 1913 she donated a building to the
university. A hypochondriac, she was always over concerned
with her health and moved to California for her health. Source: Dictionary
of Canadian Biography. Online (Accessed January 2013) |
|
Roberta Elizabeth Tilton |
née Odell. Born September 20, 1837,
Whiting, Maine, U.S.A. Died May 28, 1925, Ottawa, Ontario.
On November 11, 1858 she married a Canadian businessman,
John Tilton (d 1914). The couple would adopt one son. 10
years after their marriage the couple relocated to Ottawa
where John began working in the Civil Service. Roberta lost
no time in getting involved in her new home community. In
1868 she was the Vice- President of the Ontario Women’s
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and in 1871 she founded
the Ottawa chapter of the WCTU serving as president. In 1892
she was treasurer for the National WCTU. 1895 -1897 she was
Superintendent of the Soldiers’ and Volunteer Camps and then
was Auditor for the National WCTU. In April 1889 she founded
the Ottawa Branch of the Girls’ Friendly Society of Canada
and helped outfit a room at the Ottawa Children’s Hospital.
She was also a board member of the Orphans Home of the City
of Ottawa. Shew was also a founding member of the National
Council of Women of Canada. She was a member of the Anglican
Church of Canada and was founder of the Woman’s Auxiliary to
the Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada.
She served as secretary for the Ontario area of the
organization and 1891-1901 she served as President of the
Dominion Auxiliary 1902-1908. In 1925 an memorial house
which would serve as the headquarters of the organization
was named in her honor. Source:
Sharon Anne Cook, “ODELL, ROBERTA ELIZABETH (Tilton),” in
EN:UNDEF:public_citation_publication, vol. 15, University of
Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 10, 2016,
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/odell_roberta_elizabeth_15E.html. |
|
Nycole Turmel
Union
leader & Member of Parliament |
Born September 1, 1942 Sainte-Marie,
Quebec. Nicole married when she was 18 and the couple
settled in Alma, Quebec. The couple had three children
before Nycole became a single mother. She worked for the
federal government at the Canada Employment Centre and was a
an active member in the Canadian Employment and Immigration
Union (CEIU), part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada
(PSAC). In 1990 she and her children moved to Gatineau,
Quebec for her to take a job with the union. . In 1991 she
was elected to the PSAC executive as forth Executive Vice
President. and by 1997 she was responsible for women's
equity issues with the PSAC. That year she was elected as
National Executive Vice President of the Public Service
Alliance of Canada (PSAC). On
May 5, 2000 she became President of the PSAC, the 1st woman
and the 1st francophone to hold this position. In
2003 she was elected for a 2nd three year term. In 2006 she
was the recipient of the Michael Sharp Award for Meritorious
Service for her continuing support for the Government of
Canada United Way Campaign. In October 2010 she became
treasurer of the Canadian Research institute for the
Advancement of women. On July 28, 2011 she was elected to
the House of Commons representing the New Democratic Party
of Canada. When leader Jack Layton (1950-2011) to leave from
office due to his failing health Nycole became the Interim
Leader of the NDP . Upon the death of Jack Layton on August
22, 2011 she became the 2nd woman to serve as Leader of the
Official Opposition in the House of Commons until the new
leader of the NDP Thomas Mulcair took over on March 24,
2012. On October 19, 2015 she lost her bid to be re-elected
as a Member of Parliament. |
|
Ernestine van Merle |
née van Griethuysen. Born 1929, The
Netherlands. Died June 22, 2006. She was educated in
Belgium. Her family was actually forced to leave Holland
when they were found to be harboring Jewish families during
World War ll. She joined the navy after high school and
after the war she worked in the Belgian Red Cross with freed
concentration camp survivors and liberated Russians. She
married and the young couple who would have two children,
immigrated to Canada in 1951. When John took a job with NATO
the family moved to Italy where Ernestine published a
handbook for new NATO scientists and their families. In 1971
they were living in Etobicoke, Ontario and Ernestine asked
for space to set up a table and a chair in a mall to
distribute information for her Rexdale. Community
Information Directory. In 1977 she began a legal clinic to
help advise immigrants and even though she did not have a
law degree she served as director of the clinic for many
years. This would grow into the Rexdale Community
Information and Legal Services offices. Ernestine’s Women
Shelter in Rexdale was named for her in 1983. She was so
honoured that she took a seat on the Board. She also founded
the Federation of Community Information Centres and the
Association of Community Information Centres in Ontario as
well as championing the Jean Tweed Centre for Addicted
women. Source:
Ernestine van Merle, 80: The Heart of Rexdale’….by Catherine
Dunphy, The Toronto Starr September 5, 2006. |
|
Lorna van Mossel |
née McNeilly. Born October
31, 1923, Shelburne, Ontario. Died June 21, 2014, Kitchener,
Ontario. In 1946 Lorna graduated as a Registered Nurse from
the Toronto General Hospital. The following year she married
Bert van Mossel (d 1986) a Presbyterian Minister. The couple
lived in Boissevain, British Columbia, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan before settling in Kitchener, Ontario. The
couple had 6 children. Together they found Friendship
Families matching area families with new immigrants to help
them learn the new culture. After working for immigrant
settlement programs with the Kitchener Waterloo
Multicultural Centre she was appointed as a Citizenship
Judge in 1884 and served until 1992. Lorna testified at the
Ontario Human Rights Commission supporting the Gay community
and was very proud of this service. In 2012 Lorna was
awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal. Source:
Catherine van Mossel, Lives Lived Lorna (McNeilly) van
Mossel. The Globe and Mail, December 14,
2014. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Muriel Stanley Venne
Métis Activist |
Born Lamont, Alberta. As a child she was
forced to leave high School when she endured two episodes of
tuberculosis She survived two marriages and became a mother
to two children. She did not give up on her education but
took correspondent courses to earn a diploma. In
1973 she became a member of the Alberta Human Rights
Commission. She also served on numerous boards including the
National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation and was a
lifetime member of the Canadian Native Friendship Centres.
In 1996 she spearheaded the production of a publication on
Aboriginal human rights and wrote a booklet aimed at
Aboriginal youth. In 1998, the 25th anniversary Award from
the Alberta Human Rights Commission was presented to her.
She has also earned the Bowden Native Brotherhood Award.,
The Canadian Merit Award and in 2002 she received the
Queen’s Jubilee Medal. In 2004 she earned the National
Aboriginal Achievement Award and a lifetime Achievement
Award from the YWCA. She founded the Institute for the
Advancement of Aboriginal Women. She also established the
Social Justice Award to honour those who have done
outstanding work for Aboriginal women. In 2005 she received
the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons
Case and was inducted into the Order of Canada. In 2007 the
Toronto Globe and Mail recognized her as a Woman of Vision
and in September 2008 she was elected as Vice-President of
the Métis Nation. On
October 25, 2017 she became the 1st Aboriginal woman to have
an Alberta Provincial government building, a multi –purpose
government centre in Edmonton named in her honour. |
|
Edith Virginia Vuchnick |
née Myers. Born Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.
Died February 1, 2012, Toronto, Ontario. She grew up and
attended Ohio State University where she met and married
Michael “Mickey” Vuchnick. The couple married in South
Africa and then settled in Toronto. A lifelong volunteer
Edith became a member and President of the Toronto YWCA and
went on to become national President of the organization.
She was a member of the Y world council. She also
volunteered with the Rotary Club, the United Way Campaigns
and the American Women’s Club. Her efforts were recognized
when she received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the YWCA Woman
of Distinction Award and the Ohio State University Alumni
Citizenship Award. Source:
Birth and Death Notices, Globe and Mail, February 5,
2013. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Harriet "Hattie" Walker |
née Anderson. Born February 13, 1868,New
York City, U.S.A. Died Winnipeg, Manitoba September 24,
1943. She was a child actor and became a Broadway musical
comedy star appearing with such colleagues as Marie Dressler.
She married Corlis Powers Walker in the early 1890’s and
moved to Fargo North Dakota when he was manager of the local
Opera House. C.P. Walker established theatres in the
Winnipeg Red River Area and Hattie was totally involved.
From 1898 through 1913 she wrote the Matinee Girl column in
the Winnipeg Town Topics. She was a charter member of
the Canadian Women’s Press Club of Winnipeg and a staunch
suffragette. On February 28, 1914 she arranged the famous
Mock Parliament at the Winnipeg Walker Theatre, where women
debated giving males the vote! In 1911 her opera production
the Chimes of Normandy, won the Earl Gray Musical
Trophy. She became the driving force behind the University
of Manitoba Dramatic Society. In 1917 she founded the
American Women’s Club to help raise funds for the Canadian
War effort. Source: the
Canadian Encyclopedia online Accessed January 22, 2004. |
|
Almanda Walker-Marchand |
Born November 16, 1868, Quebec City. Died
January 4, 1949, Ottawa, Ontario. Almanda married
businessman Paul-Eugène Marchand and the couple settled in
Ottawa in 1890. They would raise a family of 9 children.
During World War l Almanda organized a group of French
Canadian women who raised funds to charter a hospital ship
for the war effort. On August 16, 1918 the Federation des
femmes-française was officially founded and she would serve
as president until 1946. The organization worked to expand
participation of French Canadian women in education,
economics, culture and policies becoming national in scope.
With the coming of World War ll the group raised funds to
purchase ambulances to serve the Canadian Army in England. Source:
‘Almanda Marchand (1868-1949)’, Ottawa Raconte-moi Online
(Accessed July 2015) |
|
Gail Walsh |
Born Northern New Brunswick, she
completed courses at Mt. St. Vincent University, Dalhousie
University, Université de Moncton, Université Laval,
University of New Brunswick and Hebrew University .Her
1st profession was that as a social worker and she has been
a supervisor of child abuse and inclusion where she was a
pioneer in the provinces introduction of inclusion in the
schools system She advocated the inclusion program as a
school board member. She is active in the New Brunswick
Association for Community Living. She has been an activist
and leader in the women’s movement and as Director of an
Addictions Center, helped lead the government to provide
more services for women in that area. She has also worked in
the areas of violence against women, helping to cofound the
1st association of sexual assault centres across Canada. She
has served on the executive of the National Action Committee
of the Status of Women. In 1978, she
was the 1st woman in her province to be elected as President
of a political party and continues to push for more women in
politics. Her work in computer science is equally well known
and she has lectured around the world. Her research area is
biotechnology but she also is writing a book on the history
of programming languages, believing people must be taught
several languages at once and not in the traditional method
of one language as was once the norm. She was the only woman
of the four founding members of the Irish Canadian Cultural
Association of New Brunswick, a group that led a renaissance
of all things Irish in that province. |
|
Frances Jane Wasserlein |
Born June 14, 1946 San Francisco,
California, U.S.A. Died August 23, 2015, At 14 she relocated
with her family to Vancouver, British Columbia. She worked
as a secretary at the University of British Columbia and
enrolled as a student earning her BA after which she worked
with the Women’s Office at the university. She worked as a
volunteer in her community becoming executive producer of
the annual folk music festival at Jericho Beach as well as
at the Vancouver International Writer’s Festival and the
Vancouver East Cultural Center. She did research and wrote
for the Women’s Research Center, a nonprofit society for the
advancement of women. She also worked with the Coalition
Against Discrimination. She was the co-founder of Women
Against Violence Against Women in Vancouver. In 1983 she led
a coalition called Women Against the Budget. In July of that
year she addressed 20,000 protestors saying ‘we will not be
silences’ by the government. In the mid 1980’s she earned
her Master’s Degree from Simon Fraser University. She put
herself forward as a candidate three times for the Vancouver
City Council. In 2003, after same sex marriage became legal
she married Marguerite Kotwitz, who she met on the internet.
The couple ran a Bed and Breakfast on the British Columbia
coast. Source:
Tom Hawthorne, Obituary, Globe and Mail, October 1,
2015. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
|
Dora Wasserman |
née Goldfarb. Born June 30, 1919, Jetomir,
Ukraine. Died December 15, 2003 Montreal, Quebec. She was
one of five children and she was often referred to as the
“showoff”. She studied at the Moscow Yiddish Art Theatre and
enjoyed her profession. However, with the dangers of World
War II she fled to Kazakhstan where she performed at the
State Theatre. It was here that she also met her husband
Shura (Sam) Wasserman. The rest of the Wasserman family were
killed during the war so Dora and Sam took their two
daughters and entered Canada as refugees in 1950. Dora soon
was working at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal and
dramatic presentations soon followed. In 1956 she founded
the Yiddish Dram Group which became the Yiddish Theatre in
1967. The Theatre kept the culture and language alive as
Dora provided works and translations for plays. The theatre
company itself has performed in both the U.S.A and Europe to
great reviews. In 1992 she was recognized for her efforts
with the Order of Canada and in 1993 the Order of Quebec.
She was also the recipient of the Masques Award for lifetime
achievement in theatre. After a stroke made it difficult for
her to continue her work her daughter took over the theatre
to assure its continence. Suggested
Sources: Herstory:
the Canadian women’s calendar, 2007 ; Jean-Marc
Larrue, “Dora Wasserman est décédér…” Le Devoir,
Décembre 18, 2003. |
|
Rebecca Belle Watson |
Born 1911(?) Kitsilano, British Columbia.
Died April 7, 1976, Vancouver, British Columbia. She began
her career by teaching in the Caribou region of the
province and then she trained as a nurse at Vancouver
General Hospital. In 1958, she was spokesperson for Save
Our Parklands Association, and rescued the Shaughnessy Golf
Course from development. She became interested in politics
and ran unsuccessfully as independent alderman in Vancouver
in1961,and 1962. In 1968 she was elected to Vancouver park
board. She became president, Progressive Conservative Party
of B.C. in 1971. A West End resident, of Vancouver she was
active in its community associations. She was named to the
City of Vancouver Civic Merit Board of Honor. Source: Vancouver
Hall of Fame online (Accessed December 2012 ) |
|
Margaret "Madge" Rose Robertson Watt |
Born June 4, 1888, Collingwood, Ontario.
Died November 29, 1948, Montreal, Quebec. In 1890 she
graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters of
Arts. From 1890 through 1907 she was able to make a living
as a writer, editor, and reviewer under the name of Madge
Robertson. Her writing appeared in The Varsity, the Ladies
Pictoral Weekly, the Toronto Globe and later after moving to
British Columbia the Victoria Times. She married Alfred
Tennyson Watt, M. D. on December 7, 1893 and the couple
would have 2 sons. In 1909 she joined the Metchosin, British
Columbia, Women’s Institute. While in British Columbia she
wrote pamphlets on womens issues and was a member of the
Senate of the University of British Columbia. In 1913 she
became a widow and she moved to England so that her sons
could complete their education. During World War l she
offered the ideas of organizing British country women in the
manner of the Canadian Woman’s Institutes. Her efforts were
funded by the Agricultural Organizations Society and the
1st Women’s Institute was set up in Wales in 1915. A good
speaker, Madge too the WI message throughout Britain. She
helped organize 100 Institutes and was Chief Organizer under
the Board of Agriculture. She developed and presented the
1st WI school in Sussex in 1918. In 1919 King George V
appointed Mrs. Alfred Watt to the Order of the British
Empire. She also received the Order of Agriculture Merit
from the governments of France and Belgium. She was also a
strong proponent of an international organization of country
women. In 1933, in Stockholm, Sweden the Associated
Countrywomen of the World was founded. Madge would serve as
1st President until she retired in 1947. She lived in
Victoria, British Columbia during World War ll and moved to
Montreal, Quebec later to be with her son Sholto. In 1958 an
Ontario Historic Plaque was placed at her home in
Collingwood. Today the plaque is located near the
Collingwood Museum. In 2007 she was declared a Person of
National Historic Significance. A memorial picnic shelter is
named in her honour at the International Peace Gardens on
the border between Manitoba and the U.S.A. . Book: A great
Rural Sisterhood; Madge Robertson Watt and the Associated
Countrywomen of the World by Linda Ambrose( University
Press) |
|
Sheila Watt Cloutier |
Born Kuujiuaq, Quebec December 2, 1953.
Her mother was a well known healer and no doubt taught her
daughter about living with the environment. Her brother,
Charlie, is a Canadian member of the Senate, and no doubt
accounts for some of her interest in politics. She was sent
at 10 years of age, to Nova Scotia and then Churchill
Manitoba for her education. She continued studies at McGill
University at Montreal. A mother of two children she has
been a life long social activist who has gained
international clout. She is recognized for her all out
efforts on behalf of the Aortic indigenous peoples world
wide. She is a contemporary champion against persistent
organic pollutants (POP’s) and has served as President of
the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada) In 2005 she was
awarded the generous and coveted SOPHIE Award from Norway
for her efforts to draw the world’s attention to the
devastating effects of climate change and of emissions of
toxic chemicals. |
|
Rhea Hildegarde Whitehead |
née Menzel. Born January 22,
1936, St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. Died June 14, 2011 Toronto,
Ontario. Rhea attended Elmhurst College in the state of
Illinois where she earned her B.A. She went on to earn her
M.A. in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education (OISE), University of Toronto. In 1957 she Married
Raymond Whitehead. The young couple studied Cantonese at
York University before moving to Hong Kong in 1961. They
would have three children. In 1976 the settled in Toronto
where Rhea worked with the Joint Centre on Modern East Asia
associated with the University of Toronto and York
University. She would also work as Asia Area Administrator
for the Anglican Church and the United Church of Canada. In
1984 she worked with the World Council of Churches
consultation on the Peace and Justice In Northeast Asia. She
was able to bring both North and South Korea together for
the 1st time since World War ll while working on this peace
imitative. In 1992 she was the General Secretary of the
Division of World Outreach for the United Church of Canada.
After she retired she taught at Nanjing Union
Theological Seminary, china and at Silliman University in
the Philippines. Sources: Lois
M. Wilson, I want To Be In That Number: Cool Saints I
Have Known. (Self published, 2014) ; Obituary, Globe
and Mail June 17, 2011. |
|
Doreen Wicks |
Mary Curtis Bristol, England 1935. Died
March 1, 2004. She was in training as a nurse when she met
and married Ben Wicks. The young couple emigrated to Calgary
, Alberta in 1957 with the grand sum of $25.00 in their
pockets. By 1963 the young family with three children moved
to Toronto where Ben could pursue his promising career as a
cartoonist, author and international journalist. Doreen
worked at Sunnybrook Hospital as a nurse. On a visit to
Haiti Doreen was overcome by the sight of poverty suffering
and disease of young mothers and children. She quite her job
and founded Global Education Medical Supplies …GEMS of Hope.
She recycled medical equipment and pleaded for donations of
drugs for the impoverished in 50 third world countries
around the globe. She travelled the globe on her own often
entering war torn countries. In 1987-1988 she was appointed
by the federal government as a Citizenship Judge. In 1989
her dedication of service was recognized by her appointment
to the Order of Canada. Ben Wicks had received the Order of
Canada in 1986 and they become the 1st husband and wife to
have received the Order of Canada. Source:
Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the
Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006) pg.
86.. |
|
Blanche Wisenthal |
Born January 1, 1919 Sydney, Nova Scotia.
She married and moved to Montreal. Her family had long been
active in the Zionist Movement and she was the founder of
the Herman Abranowitz Chapter of the Canadian Hadassah-W.I.Z.O.
in Montreal serving as 1st president from 1946-1951. She
held several positions at all levels of the organization
including being National President, 1968-1972. She was
responsible for introducing such projects as fashion shows
and Israel trade promotion. She wrote scripts and directed
two films on Israel. She was also Chairperson of the 1964
National Convention in Montreal and represented the Zionist
Organization of Canada at the 24th World Zionist Congress. Source:
Library and Archives Canada Online Accessed June 2013. |
|
Mary Wong |
Born Hamilton, Ontario. In 1943 she and
her husband opened a family restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario.
She soon became involved with her home community as
principal of the National Chinese School and as an
interpreter of the Chinese language in the city courts. She
served as a member of the Canadian Consultative Council on
Multiculturalism. In 1977 Mary Wong was the first Canadian
of Chinese descent to be appointed as a Citizenship Court
Judge. She retired from the "bench" ( as a Citizenship
Judge) in 1985. She is an appointee to the Hamilton
[Ontario] Gallery of Distinction. |
|
Frances Wright |
Born South Africa. In the 1950’s she and
her family immigrated to Canada. Om 1968 she earned her BA
from the University of Calgary, Alberta. In 1996 she was a
founder and president of the Famous Five Foundation founded
to acknowledge the democratic champions and the nation
builders and their achievements and to bring the stories of
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) , Emily Murphy (1868-1933) Irene
Parlby (1868-1965), Henrietta Edwards (1849-1931), and
Louise McKinney (1868-1931) to the forefront of Canadian
history. She worked to have larger than life statues erected
in Calgary and Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. The women have been
recognized by appearing on the back of the Canadian $50.00
bill. She spearheaded an education guide, textbook and
recognition with Canadian stamps of the women. Frances also
campaigned to have the Canadian National anthem be inclusive
by changing the words to ‘True patriot love, in all of us
command’. She was the founder and CEO of the Canadian Centre
for Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse and served as
co-chair fundraiser for the Canadian Women for Women in
Afghanistan. As a businesswoman she owned Ports
International Clothing Stores. She was a part of Wright and
Associates which specialized in communications research and
funding strategies. She is a founding member of the Calgary
and Alberta Status of Women Action Committee. In 2002 she
was presented with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the
Alberta Centennial Medal. In 2003 she was presented with
the Rotary Club Integrity Award and was recognized by the
Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s 100 Most
Powerful Women. . In 2004 she earned the Governor General’s
Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. |
|
Wanda Lefurgey Wyatt
Volunteer
|
Born 1895, Prince Edward Island. Died
1998. She earned her B.A. at McGill University, Montreal and
then went on to complete graduate studies at Chicago
University. She was the first woman in Prince Edward Island
to be admitted to study law. She joined the I.O.D.E.
(Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1915
and served on numerous positions. She became the first
Islander to be awarded life membership in the I.O.D.E. She
also enjoyed Little Theatre and was involved in efforts on
their behalf. She purchased the Grandfather’s historic house
imitating the founding of the Lefurgey Cultural Centre. She
was an active member of the Heritage Foundation and on the
Board of Governors of the Prince of Wales College. She would
serve her home province as a volunteer for 78 years. Source: Outstanding
women of Prince Edward Island Compiled by the Zonta Club of
Charlottetown, 1981. |
|
Anna Yonker |
née Humeniloyyck. Born Ukraine, February
5, 1890. Died Winnipeg May 6, 1944. As a teen she moved with
her family to Winnipeg following the Canadian Government
promise of a good life for immigrants. Life in the Canadian
west proved harsh, even in cities, low paying jobs were the
only avenue for immigrants. Her first marriage left her with
two small children to raise. She worked as a housekeeper for
Dr. Henry Yonker who moved to Winnipeg from the United
States in 1905. The two were soon in love and married and a
son, Zenon was added to the family. Anna worked to improve
the plight of Ukrainian immigrants and soon became a leader
of women’s organizations a philanthropist and pioneer
welfare worker. She personally contacted Senator Cairine
Wilson and Lady Ishbel Aberdeen, the activist wife of the
Governor General of Canada, to ensure the plight of
immigrant women was in the limelight. She urged the Canadian
Council of Women to pursue international peace. Serving on
the executive of Lesia Ukrayenka Women’s organization she
formulated fund raisers such as concerts, book fairs, plays,
dinners and dances. Upon her death she left not only a
family but a grieving community. It was estimated that 1600
people attended her funeral. In 1962, on the
25th anniversary of her death a memorial dinner was held in
her honour. Well known Ukrainian-Canadian author, Iryna
Knych, wrote Patriotyzm Anny Ionker (the Patriotism of
Anna Yonker) Winnipeg: [sn], 1964, text in Ukrainian
with a resume in English, as a tribute to the pioneering
spirit. Sources:
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, May 8, 1936 page 7: Herstory;
The Canadian women’s calendar 2007 Coteau Books, 2006. Page
62. |
|
Lititia Youmans |
née Creighton. Born January 3, 1827,
Hamilton Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died July 18,
1896. After visiting a rally of the American Women's
Temperance Crusade in 1874, she returned to Canada full of
determination. Her efforts founded the Women's Christian
Temperance Union in Canada and she would be the first
president. She would remain, after 1889, its honorary
president for the rest of her life. Read more about her
determination in her autobiography Campaign
Echoes. |
|
Grace Ledoux Zoldy
Métis Activist |
Born December 13, 1933, Camperville,
Manitoba. Still speaks the Michif, Cree and Saulteaux
languages. She has been a lifelong active member of the
Manitoba Métis Federation where she became A spokeswoman of
Métis Women in Manitoba. She married Gaspar Zoldy and the
couple has 3 children. Grace worked for 7 years at the
Sanatorium at The Pas in the kitchen and dining room. After
two years of training she became a Home Advisor for Northern
Affairs, a job she held for ten years. She also a passionate
and advocates for the preservation of the Michif language
and is active in the Manitoba Métis Federation’s Michif
Language Program. With Heritage Canada she has participated
in language focus groups in national heritage languages as
well as being an active member of the National Michif
Speakers’ group that was founded in 2006. Grace visited
California to learn from Native people who were actually
delivering the a language program which is a complete
immersion program where the speakers, usually elders, commit
to teaching the language on a one-on-one basis in the home
and in the community. The California program is a
community-centered approach that allows speakers to
effectively pass on their language to learners without
classrooms, books or language experts. She has been
paramount in introducing this program in the teaching of the
Michif language. She published in 2003 Li Liivr Oche
Michif Ayamiiawina: The Book of Michif Prayers. In 2010 she was honoured at the Keeping the Fires Burning
aboriginal awards celebrating female leaders for preserving
First Nations culture and serving as role models for younger
generations. Sources;
Matt Preprost, “Gala recognizes accomplishments”. Winnipeg
Free Press June 18, 2010 Page A13; Lawrence Barkwell, Grace
Ledoux Zoldy, Métis Museum, Online (accessed September 2015 |
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