[OPEN QUOTE] “Never complain, never explain, get the thing done and let them howl.” [CLOSE QUOTE]. Nellie McClung: an iconic legislator, author, and women’s rights activist. During a time of drastic social change and revolutions, Nellie McClung is considered to be one of the many female heroes that brought us where we are today. Being a minority, Nellie rose to the top and was able to witness monumental changes in the lives of all women in Canada.
Nellie McClung was born as Nellie Letitia Mooney on October 20th, 1873 in Chatsworth, Ontario. At seven years old, she moved to Manitoba, where she was raised. Here, Nellie became a part of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), a group dedicated to stopping the problems associated with alcoholism.
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In 1896, Nellie married Robert Wesley McClung and raised five children with him. In 1911, Nellie and her family moved to Winnipeg. Along with being active in the WCTU, Nellie joined the Winnipeg Political Equality League, a group dedicated to helping the female wage earners of the city. In the Liberal campaign of 1914, Nellie McClung went against Sir Rodmond Roblin’s Conservative party, who strongly opposed giving women the right to vote.
Though Roblin’s Conservative government won the vote, they were shortly defeated in 1916. The Liberal government took over and the vote was given to Manitoba women. Nellie moved to Edmonton before she could see the Liberals win.
In Alberta, Nellie continued fighting for women’s rights. She joined the Edmonton Equal Franchise League which fought for women’s rights, prohibition and factory safety legislation. In 1921, Nellie was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Liberal member. Here, she fought for mother’s allowances, public health nursing, free medical and dental care for children, divorce laws, and improved property rights for married women. Unfortunately, Nellie was defeated in 1925 after serving one term.
In 1927, Nellie joined Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise Crummy McKinney, and Irene Parlby in what would eventually be known as “The Person’s Case.” These Five went to the Supreme Court to have women be declared as "qualified persons.” Although the Supreme Court decided against the Five in 1928, the British Privy Council overturned the decision and in the following year, women were officially declared as “persons.” Today, these brave women are known as “The Famous
Five.” Nellie passed away in Victoria, British Columbia, on September 1, 1951. She was commemorated for her contributions to feminism during her day. During the early 1900s, Nellie broke through the social norms and stood up for herself as a minority. With her actions and contributions to equality for women, many people looked up to Nellie. Nellie was a supporter of women's right to be ministers in the United Church of Canada, a delegate to the League of Nations, and was the first woman appointed to the CBC's Board. Though she was forgotten for a decade following her death, she was rediscovered by feminists in the 1960s. As Nellie’s life unfolded, more people became aware of her contributions to today’s society. In October 2009, the Senate voted to name Nellie McClung and the rest of the Five Canada’s first “honorary senators.” Nellie McClung is one of the most exemplary female heroes in Canadian history. She remained determined despite the prejudice that came with being a woman in the 1900s. Through the cause that Nellie fought for, the women of today are able to vote, receive a full education, work, and live up to their full potential.
died on September 1, 1951, in Victoria, British Columbia. She was part of an important social/political change in Canada because her contributions helped achieve woman suffrage and the advancement of women rights, including the eligibility to become a Senator. She was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1921 and was the first woman on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Board of Governors. In addition, she was a delegate to the League of Nations. In 1927, McClung and four other women: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louis McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Emily Murphy came together to be known as the “Famous Five”. Emily Murphy’s authority to preside as a judge was challenged by a lawyer on the basis that women were not considered to be "persons" under the British North America Act. As a result, they launched the "Persons Case”. They asked the question, “Does the word persons in section 24 of...
Lucille Mulhall was born on October 21, 1885 in Oklahoma and died December 21, 1940 in Oklahoma when she got in a terrible vehicle accident. She is the first born child of Zach (1847-1931) and Mary Agnes Mulhall (1859-1931). Her sister’s name is Margaret Reed (1906-1925) and she was the last child born. She married her first husband in 1916 and his name was Martin Van Bergen. Lucille then divorced this man and married a man named Thomas Loyd Burnett (1871-1939). He was born in Denton County, Texas and died in Wichita County, Texas on December 26, 1938. Lucille Mulhall was a soft spoken and beautiful young lady. She was very feminine and had a very good education. When she was a teenager, she was known as one of the top cowboy performers in
In Canada, women make up slightly more than half of the population. However, throughout Canadian history and modern day, women are needing to stand up for themselves and other women to bring about change. Canadian women are strong and have the power to work together and bring about change. Jennie Trout stood up for Canadian women that wanted to be in the medical field, women during WWI made a difference in their lives by entering the workplace and standing for their right to work, Nellie McClung was a leader for women’s suffrage, and The Famous Five campaigned and won The “Persons” Case allowing women to be considered persons under the Canadian Constitution. These women were instigators of change. Change for women only occurs when ambitious and courageous women stand up for a difference that they deserve.
The election was the first in which the majority of Canadian women were allowed to vote.
The Golding Sisters lobbied for women’s rights to equal pay and employment. Annie Mackenzie (1855-1934) and Isabella Therese (1864-1940) began their careers teaching in both public and catholic schools (Kingston, 2013). Annie worked with infants and girls and later shifted to teaching at the Asylum for Destitute Children (Kingston, 2013). She was also a member on the State Children Relief Board. Belle left teaching early to pursue a career as the first female government inspector in 1900 (Lemon, 2008). With their sister Kate Dwyer (1861-1949), Labour leader and school teacher, the sister’s began the Womanhood Suffrage League in 1893 and the Woman’s Progressive Foundation in 1901 which aimed to combat the inability for women to work in certain industries and sit on juries (The Sunday Morning Herald, 1933). Belle’s research skills assisted in preparing the sister’s persuasive speeches and statements (Fawkner & Kelly, 1995). In 1921 Kate became a female Justice of Peace (Gallego, 2013). Kate also wrote extensively about politics, industries and women’s questions.
In 1911, the Dower Act was finally passed in Alberta, which gave women the right to own one-third of their husband’s property.1 Emily Murphy's important decision to help amend the law in a way that it was beneficial to women showcases her determination to make sure women got their rights. Even though the law was not totally fair, it still shows that Emily Murphy took an initiative and helped women reach a step closer to their goal. Before Murphy took this essential action, many women were left homeless, since they had no right over their husband's property, and if she had not done so, many more women would fall victim.
Cameron, Jamie. "Justice in Her Own Right: Bertha Wilson and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The Law Society of Upper Canada. N.p., 2008. Web. 29 Dec. 2013. .
The famous five brought the persons case upon the supreme court of Canada in 1927, which was finally determined by Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council in 1929. The “persons” case involved women not legally being “persons”. After the famous five won the case, women were legally considered “persons” then women began to join important jobs such as members of parliament and the senate. Along with becoming “persons”, women were beginning to get their right to vote in provinces slowly. In 1916, four provinces gave women the right to vote provincially and, finally, in 1940, the last province (Quebec) gave women the right to vote provincially.
After many years of battling for equality among the sexes, people today have no idea of the trails that women went through so that women of future generations could have the same privileges and treatment as men. Several generations have come since the women’s rights movement and the women of these generations have different opportunities in family life, religion, government, employment, and education that women fought for. The Women’s Rights Movement began with a small group of people that questioned why human lives, especially those of women, were unfairly confined. Many women, like Sojourner Truth and Fanny Fern, worked consciously to create a better world by bringing awareness to these inequalities. Sojourner Truth, prominent slave and advocate
...me a major feminist voice for women across the country and, still to this day, her influence on our country and our values resonates deeply.
Towards the end of the 1960s a new era in equal rights took place. Following the example of the race movement earlier in the decade, women decided they needed the same gender equality as men. Up to this time in history women were known to society as house wives, and homemakers. According to David Farber, almost every decent-paying job was strictly held by men. With the increase of support for equal gender rights, Hon. Shirley Chisholm came to the rescue. Being the first woman in congress, she knew the hardships and troubles faced due to gender. When she delivered her speech to congress, it was a stepping stone for the history of women’s rights. With her help and focus on the Equal Rights amendment, it was later passed in 1972.
Her ideals were perfect for the times. In the mid-1960s the civil rights movement was in full swing. Across the nation, activists were working for equal civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race. In 1964 Chisholm was elected to the assembly. During the time that she served in the assembly Chisholm sponsored fifty bills, but only eight of them passed. One of the successful bills she supported provided assistance for poor students to go on to higher education. Another provided employment insurance coverage for personal and domestic employees. Still another bill reversed a law that caused female teachers in New York to lose their tenure (permanence of position) while they were out on maternity
„h Nellie Letitia Mooney Mclung(1872-1951) was an activist and a campaigner for female suffrage. She was a nationally known feminist and social reformer. Mclung was the first woman member of CBC¡¦s Board of Governor¡¦s and deserves great thanks from Canadian women for her contributions to the women¡¦s movement in Canada.
Due to the a sentence of working men's, women were suggested to do men’s work, such as making clothes for oversea men, filling bullets and shell bombs with materials, and many more occupations and works that were once the ‘privilege’ only to men. After WWI ended, women were forced to leave their occupation and return back to their life as typical ‘house maids’. This did not only cause the women’s anger and rebellion due to the fact that their jobs were taken away from them, but it also planted seeds deeply within women’s hearts of the consciousness of gender inequality. Before women in Canada had ever taken on jobs before, their lives were all about pleasing their men and baring, caring for their children. Women did not have a life of their own before the famous The Person’s case, led by Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edward; however , that is to say after the women in the prairies had granted votes for them. To resume, the newly funded experience for the women due to their new jobs had sparked the courage and anger in them. This can also explain the year of women first received their rights to vote in 1916, barely two years after the outbreak of WWI. While women’s men were away fighting during WWI, votes were given to women during conscription so that the wives could vote in place of their husband.
“Honey, you’re not a person, now get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” If a husband were to say these words to his wife today, he would likely receive a well-deserved smack to the face. It is not until recently that Canadian women have received their status as people and obtained equal rights as men. Women were excluded from an academic education and received a lesser pay than their male counter parts. With the many hardships women had to face, women were considered the “slave of slaves” (Women’s Rights). In the past century, women have fought for their rights, transitioning women from the point of being a piece of property to “holding twenty-five percent of senior positions in Canada” (More women in top senior positions: Report). The Married Women’s Property Act, World War I, The Person’s Case, and Canadian Human Rights Act have gained Canadian women their rights.