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Who Will Remember Us?Commemorating the Historic Achievements of Women in Atlantic Canada
Who will remember our stories?Such might have been the concerns of Shanawdithit, a Beothuk woman who was the last of her people. She herself, it turns out, did much to ensure a lasting knowledge of the Beothuk. This brochure highlights women whose accomplishments have been recognized by commemorative plaques in Atlantic Canada. It also illustrates some of the places and events associated with women, and while only part of their stories can be told here, it’s a beginning. Together, we will remember them. Parks Canada is making sure that more recognition is given to the importance of women to Canadian history. Parks Canada, on behalf of Canadians and with their help, is making sure that more recognition is given to the importance of women to Canadian history. Our history is a collection of stories about the people, places and events that have shaped our country. These stories help us move into the future with a better understanding of how our society has evolved or how things have come to be.
Demasduit and Shanawdithitca. 1796-1820 ca. 1801-1829 Demasduit and Shanawdithit together created a legacy of knowledge about the Beothuk. They Are Not Forgotten Demasduit and Shanawdithit were Aboriginal inhabitants of the island of Newfoundland. These women taught their British captors much of what is now known about their people, including their name, Beothuk. While in St. John’s, Demasduit led many to change their negative attitudes about her people; she also provided a valuable record of their language. Her niece, Shanawdithit, remembered as the last of the Beothuk, taught her captors about the sad fate of her people. Aided by her drawings, she described encounters between the British and the Beothuk, including the circumstances of the capture of Demasduit. Together, Demasduit and Shanawdithit created a legacy of knowledge that gives a unique insight into the culture and history of this now War Brides
ca. 1942-1948 War brides helped strengthen many Canadians’ emotional links with Britain. A Marriage of Two Worlds
A woman who married a member of the Canadian Armed Forces while he was serving overseas during wartime was known as a “war bride.” During and after the Second World War, the high number of these wartime romances led the federal government to provide the new spouses with transportation to Canada and information about their adopted country. Between 1942 and 1948 over 40,000 women, accompanied by some 22,000 children, mostly from Great Britain, landed at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as wives of Canadian servicemen stationed abroad. Across Canada, war bride clubs helped the women adapt to new customs and surroundings. In the generation to follow, the war brides helped strengthen many Canadians’ emotional links with Britain.
“My roots are deep and I still am able to visit my homeland, Edinburgh, Scotland, but now I am a Canadian and proud to be in the finest country.” – Muriel (Micki) More, Scottish war bride who arrived in Halifax aboard the ship Aquitania in September 1946. Written submission. Pier 21 National Historic Site of Canada, 2005. Georgina Fane Pope1862-1938
Georgina Fane Pope was Canada’s first Nursing Matron. Prince Edward Island’s “Florence Nightingale” When Georgina Fane Pope decided to become a nurse, the profession was only beginning to gain recognition. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, she trained and worked as a nurse in the United States before being selected in 1899 to supervise Canada’s military nurses in the South African War. She was the first Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross for her dedication to superior-quality nursing care. She became Canada’s first Nursing Matron in 1908, in charge of all Canadian military nurses, and played an essential role in the development of military nursing in Canada. Georgina Fane Pope served overseas briefly during World War I before returning to Charlottetown, where she was laid to rest, with full military honours, on June 9, 1938. “My hair is now white...but the sight of soldiers or sailors marching, a bugle call, the sound of the drums or military band has power still to stir in me the old enthusiasm and once more I long to minister to such cheery, grateful patients as the Soldiers and Sailors of the King.” – Georgina Fane Pope Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association (NONIA)1924-present
NONIA brought professional health care to Newfoundland’s outports. Many Hands Make Health Care Happen Medical services in Newfoundland were very limited until after the First World War for many people living along lengthy stretches of its coastline. Founded in 1924, the Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association (NONIA) brought professional health care to Newfoundland’s outports. Outstanding among nursing organizations serving isolated communities across Canada, NONIA used the production and sale of handicrafts to finance its work. It recruited British-trained nurse-midwives to train lay midwives, deliver babies, pull teeth and transport the sick along hazardous routes to distant hospitals. Although its nursing service became part of Newfoundland’s health system in 1934, NONIA remains to this day a leader in the promotion of handicraft production. “It was without a doubt, one of the cleverest woman-helping-woman schemes ever thought up. The nurses kept their jobs, the women earned a little income, and everybody in the outports got health care.” – Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, authoress Mary Electa Adams1823-1898
Mary Electa Adams paved the way for women to be accepted into Canadian universities. A Role Model in Education In the period just before women gained access to university-level studies, Mary Electa Adams served as a wise and trusted advisor to hundreds of young women. A model of female leadership, she brought major reforms to women’s education and raised the standards of the ladies’ colleges where she presided as principal or chief instructor, including the one at Mount Allison Academy in Sackville, New Brunswick. She insisted on a rigorous academic curriculum, proving that women were capable of receiving the same instruction as men, and pioneered the study of modern languages and literature. Through her work, Mary Electa Adams paved the way for women to be accepted into Canadian universities. “No Canadian educator of Canadian women has surpassed Miss Adams either in the perfection of her work or in her far-reaching influence in the development of larger opportunities for higher education for the women of Canada.” – Nathanael Burwash, The History of Victoria College (Toronto: Victoria College Press, 1927), p. 56
Ladies’ Seminary1878 The Ladies’ Seminary stands as a reminder of changing attitudes towards women’s education in the 19th century. Attitudes Can Change
The reasons for, and methods of, training girls and women were subjects of intense debate in the 19th century. Seminary House, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, was built in 1878 to house the Acadia Ladies’ Seminary, a finishing school created to give young women more educational opportunities. It was modelled after a well-organized Christian home and was designed to develop proper, cultured young ladies. Some graduates sought further education, and in 1881 they were cautiously allowed to enrol in classes at Acadia College. Their success helped slowly remove barriers in post-secondary education for women. The building now stands as a reminder of changing attitudes towards women’s education in the 19th century. Grace Annie Lockhart1855-1916 Grace Annie Lockhart was the first woman to earn a university degree in the British Empire. First in the Empire
Founded originally for the education of men, universities in Canada in the 19th century gradually began opening their doors to women. In 1872, New Brunswick’s Mount Allison College began to admit both male and female students. Grace Annie Lockhart, a native of Saint John, completed most of her courses while enrolled at the Mount Allison Ladies’ Academy, and attended the university in her last year of studies. Graduating with a degree of Bachelor of Science and English Literature on May 25, 1875, she was the first woman to earn a university degree in the British Empire. “Wow, how college campuses have changed since the days of Grace Annie Lockhart! From being one or two, the focus of stares, disapproval and sometimes taunts, women now form the majority of students in many Canadian undergraduate programs.” – CoolWomen Lucy Maud Montgomery1874-1942
Lucy Maud Montgomery was the creator of one of the most lovable children in English fiction. From Cavendish to the World Internationally celebrated author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in New London, Prince Edward Island. After her mother’s death in 1876, she lived with her maternal grandparents in Cavendish until 1911, when she married and moved to Ontario. While living in Cavendish she wrote her first novel, Anne of Green Gables (1908). Her way of capturing the experience of childhood and creating characters who became instant role models, especially for young women, appealed to audiences young and old. A series of popular sequels and other successful novels followed, but the lasting fame of Lucy Maud Montgomery comes from her creation of Anne, one of the most lovable children in English fiction. “We must have ideals and try to live up to them, even if we never quite succeed. Life would be a sorry business without them. With them, it’s grand and great.” – Excerpt from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Avonlea (1909) Edith Jessie Archibald1854-1936
Edith Jessie Archibald stood up for the right of women to vote in Nova Scotia. Empowering Women Edith Jessie Archibald spent 18 years in Port Morien, Cape Breton, where she worked to improve the living conditions of the miners’ families and to expand the educational opportunities available to girls in the district. For more than thirty years, she stood up for the right of women to vote in Nova Scotia, a goal that was finally achieved on April 26, 1918. She also worked tirelessly to improve health and education services as president of both the Maritime Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Halifax Local Council of Women, and as a member of the National Council of Women of Canada. Her spirited speeches and convincing essays greatly helped women strengthen and expand their role in public life. “One of the most outstanding women in the province, and a leader in the economic and social advancement of women and their causes.” – The Chronicle (Halifax), 12 May 1936, referring to Edith Jessie Archibald, at her death in 1936. L’Hôtel-Dieu de Saint-Joseph de Tracadie1896
L’Hôtel-Dieu de Saint-Joseph de Tracadie was the only institution to treat leprosy in 19th-century North America. Caring for the Forgotten Over a period of 121 years (1844-1965), facilities in Tracadie and, initially, Sheldrake Island, New Brunswick, served as a lazaretto, a place where people with leprosy were treated. The lazaretto, which cared for over 300 patients from near and afar, was the only institution of its kind in 19th-century North America. At first unattended in wretched conditions, victims of leprosy, after 1868, received care from an order of nuns called the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph and were housed in an isolation wing of Tracadie’s general hospital, l’Hôtel-Dieu de Saint-Joseph de Tracadie, after its completion in 1896. By the time the last quarantined patient left and the lazaretto was closed, the sisters, who were mostly Acadians, had devoted close to 100 years of service to the care of people with leprosy. Portia May White1911-1968
Portia May White was the first African-Canadian woman to become an international celebrity. Bringing Pride to Canadians The first African-Canadian woman to become an international celebrity, singer Portia White had a remarkable career on the concert stage. Born in Truro, Nova Scotia, to a musical family, she was taught to sing by her mother and sang in the choir of the church where her father was pastor. Her talent was nurtured by the Halifax Ladies’ Musical Club and “The voice is silent, but as long as those she touched remember, the essence of her greatness will survive.” Canada’s System of National Historic Sites
Since 1919, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) has advised the Government of Canada on the designation of subjects of national historic importance. The usual form of commemoration is by means of a plaque explaining the reasons for the designation. Parks Canada supports the HSMBC by installing these plaques across the country to tell us about the places, people and events that have shaped Canada’s history. This “collection of stories” is known as Canada’s System of National Historic Sites. The HSMBC and Parks Canada realize the importance of involving Canadians in making sure that this system represents all the parts of Canadian history. To do this, the HSMBC and Parks Canada seek the participation of individual Canadians from across the country, of non-profit organizations, the private sector and Aboriginal and ethnocultural communities. Parks Canada invites you to help make sure that women who have made a difference are not forgotten. How you can participateCurrently, more work remains to be done to acknowledge the role of women, Aboriginal peoples and ethnocultural communities in the building of this great country. If you would like to nominate a person, place or event that you believe has left a mark on our history, please contact: The Executive Secretary Telephone: (819) 997-4059 For the teacherCurriculum correlations (for more detail please refer to the “Who Will Remember Us?” lesson plan):
This booklet and its lesson plan, along with other curriculum-linked learning activities on women’s history, can be found at www.pc.gc.ca/education. The story of how our country became what it is today is told in part through the national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas of Canada. Parks Canada works to protect and present our natural and cultural heritageso that it may continue to be enjoyed by present and future generations of Canadians. For more information Note: To read the PDF version you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system. If the Adobe download site is not accessible to you, you can download Acrobat Reader from an accessible page. If you choose not to use Acrobat Reader you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or ASCII text by using one of the conversion services offered by Adobe.
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