With Women’s History Month in Canada coming to an end, it is important to learn about and celebrate those who advocated for the rights of women and shaped our society for the better.
Jeanne Mance (1606-1673)
Jeanne Mance was a French nurse, New France settler, and one of the founders of the city of Montreal. She knew that this new city would need a hospital. In 1645, she founded L’Hotel-Dieu de Montreal and personally provided care at the hospital. To sustain the hospital, she traveled to France twice to advocate for funds and recruited sisters from Religieuses Hospitalieres de Saint-Joseph to aid at the hospital in Montreal. Though L’Hotel-Dieu was moved in 1861, it still remains one of three principle hospitals in Montreal.
Mary Shadd Cary (1823-1893)
Born in Delaware, Mary Shadd Cary moved to Windsor, ON, to teach in 1851. While in Canada, she became the first black woman to be a newspaper editor in North America. She found the Provincial Freeman which was dedicated to abolitionism, temperance, and women’s political rights. Additionally, she was a tireless advocate for universal education and black emancipation. During the American Civil War, she traveled back to the United States to become a recruiter of African American soldiers for the Union army and later became the second black woman in the United States to earn a law degree.
Jennie Trout (1841-1921)
Jennie Trout was one of the first women admitted into the Toronto School of Medicine. She later transferred to the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania, where she received her M.D. In 1875, she became the first licensed female physician in Canada. She opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto where she treated women and offered a free dispensary for individuals who could not pay for medical care. After retirement, Jennie focused on advocating for medical education for Canadian women. She became a trustee and benefactor for the Women’s Medical College, affiliated with Queen’s University, by donating $10,000 for its creation.
Emily Murphy (1868-1933)
Emily Murphy, an activist for women’s rights in Alberta, was the first woman appointed as magistrate in both Canada and the British Empire in 1916. Her first conviction was appealed, saying her judgment was not valid because women were not legally persons at the time. She recruited four other women’s rights activists to aid in her mission to advocate for women to be considered persons at the Supreme Court of Canada and Britain’s Privy Council. In 1929, her Persons Case was a victory and women in Canada were officially declared persons under law.
Elsie MacGill (1905-1980)
Elsie MacGill was the first Canadian woman to receive a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1927, and later became the first woman in North America to receive a Master’s degree in the subject. She became Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry in 1938. This was an incredible feat as she was the first woman in the world to hold such a position. She was later selected to build Hurricane aircraft for Britain’s Royal Air Force, for which she was praised for her design and fast production.
Viola Desmond (1914-1965)
Viola Desmond was a black woman and accomplished business owner who challenged segregation practices in Nova Scotia. In 1946, she attended a movie showing at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow. After taking her seat, she was told that the main floor was reserved for “whites only” and her inexpensive ticket only offered a place in the balcony. She offered to pay the difference of the movie ticket to sit on the main floor, but was denied. When she refused to move, she was forcibly removed from the theater and charged. Despite her many appeals, the court refused to acknowledge the racist seating policy, but her case is considered one of the many significant civil-rights cases of the mid-20th century.
Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911-1996)
Mary Two-Axe Earley was an Indigenous woman who lost her Indigenous status in Canada after marrying an Irish-American man. Because she lost her status, she was barred from going back to live on her reserve after her husband had passed. For more than 20 years, Mary lobbied to have this discriminatory law erased and her effect paid off in 1985. Bill C-31, an amendment to the Indian Act, was passed to reinstate Indigenous status to women who had lost their status through marriage to men without status. Her efforts benefited nearly 16,000 women and 46,000 first generation descendants.
Hide Hyodo Shimizu (1908-1999)
Hide Hyodo Shimizu was a vocal advocate for the enfranchisement of Asian immigrants and their Canadian-born children. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, Canada detained citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps. Shimizu wanted to ensure detained children would receive education so she organized a school system within internment camps. She recruited 120 Japanese-Canadians and trained them as teachers. Thanks to her work, 3000 children were able to receive education in internment camps.
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