AWI President's Newsletters

              ALBERTA WOMEN'S INSTITUTES
THE STORY OF THE ALBERTA WOMEN'S INSTITUTE 1909 to 1985
A l b e r t a Women" s I n s t i t u t e s have come a long way in 76 y e a r s of
I n s t i t u t e work.
In 1897 the f i r s t Women's I n s t i t u t e was o r g a n i z e d at S t o n e y Creek,
O n t a r i o , by A d e l a i d e H u n t e r H o o d l e s s . I t ' s aim was to improve the knowledge
of r u r a l women i j n a r e a s of homemaking and c h i l d c a r e . Mrs. H o o d l e ss
w a n t e d to e d u c a t e r u r a l women so they w o u l d not have the same m i s f o r t i on
of l o o s i n g a baby do to impure m i l k.
The f i r s t Women's I n s t i t u t e b r a n c h in A l b e r t a was formed at Lea Park
( n e a r Edmonton) in 1909. As e a r l y as 1909 the D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u re
s e n t d e m o n s t r a t i o n t r a i n s t h r o u g h the p r o v i n c e g i v i n g l e c t u r e s to the
f a r m e r s and M i s s e s Nora T r e n c h and R o b e r t a McAdam spoke to the l a d i es
on foods and c o o k e r y . L e c t u r e s on Women's I n s t i t u t e work and a number of
b r a n c h e s were o r g a n i z e d by S u p e r i n t e n d e n t of Women's I n s t i t u t e s M i ss
S t i v e n and M i s s McAdam.
A p p r e c i a t i o n must be e x p r e s s e d to a Government w h i c h set t h i s whole
o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t o m o t i o n and showed such a keen i n t e r e s t in t h e w e l f a re
of r u r a l women. On December 1 s t , 1912, Mr. C. E. L o u i s p r e p a r e d a c i r c u l ar
e n t i t l e d , I n c e p t i o n o f Women's I n s t i t u t e work i n A l b e r t a . The e n t h u s i a sm
shown by the women i n d o m e s t i c and a g r i c u l t u r a l c o u r s e s seem to i n d i c a te
t h e need f o r a permanent p r o v i s i o n to a s s i s t women's work on the farms
and in the homes. A c o n s c i o u s e f f o r t w i l l be made to promote the h i g h e st
i d e a s of home and the b e s t s t a n d a r d s of corrmunity l i f e . This was f o r c a st
n e a r l y four y e a r s a f t e r the f i r s t Women's I n s t i t u t e had begun to f u n c t i o n.
F o r the year e n d i n g December 1912, the f o l l o w i n g I n s t i t u t e s q u a l i f i ed
to r e c e i v e the Government G r a n t of $ 5.00 w i t h a m e m b e r s h i p of 25 members.
C a r d s t o n , LEA PARK, M a g r a t h , Raymond, P i h c h e r C r e e k , V e r d a n t V a l l ey
( D r u m h e l l e r a r e a ) . Among those too l a t e to q u a l i f y f o r the g r a n t were
W a l s h , T a b e r , and C r o s s f e i l d . Verdant V a l l e y and W a l s h b o t h have 73 y e a rs
of c o n t i n o u s s e r v i c e to f a m i l i e s , homes, r u r a l c o m m u n i t i e s and c o u n t r y.
In the same year the Women's I n s t i t u t e Handbook was d r a f t e d and
number of members needed to o r g a n i z e was reduced to 15 by the time of
p r i n t in 1915. E s t a b l i s h m e n t of t r a v e l i n g l i b r a r i e s and a s t a r t was
made on the loan c o l l e c t i o n of m a t e r i a l s for p r e p a r i n g p a p e r s on a
v a r i e t y of s u b j e c t s of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t to r u r a l women.
In J a n u a r y 1915 the Women's I n s t i t u t e s were i n v i t e d to j o i n the
U n i t e d Farm Women of A l b e r t a and e l e c t a P r o v i n c i a l B o a r d f o r t h i s new
body. At t h i s c o n v e n t i o n a r e s o l u t i o n p a s s e d r e q u i r i n g one to be the
w i f e or d a u g h t e r of a farmer i n o r d e r to b e l o n g to U n i t e d Farm Women of
A l b e r t a . This ment that women i n s m a l l towns, v i l l a g e s and h a m l e t s were
l e f t out. Many s t i l l wanted to b e l o n g to I n s t i t u t e s so the M i n i s t e r of
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