October: Women’s History Month

Many of us grew up learning and believing that history was made exclusively by men. History was about discovery, war, conquering peoples, geopolitical decisions all of which involved men but very few, if any, women.

Women’s History Month in October every year gives teachers a chance to change that perspective so that students begin to appreciate women’s contributions to history, and as part of that history, women’s fight for equality as a powerful social movement.

The following sections provide resources and ideas for putting women in their rightful historical place.

Women’s History Month Poster: Never Take No For An Answer

October is Women’s History Month.  This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Persons Case, a landmark in the struggle for Canadian women’s equality.  ETFO has co-sponsored the creation of a poster, created by Green Dragon Press, that celebrates this anniversary by telling the stories of some Canadian women who followed the “famous five” of the persons case, fought for women’s rights, and never gave up.

Themes for Women’s History Month

 Status of Women Canada celebrates Women’s History Month and provides resources and historical documentation based upon a specific theme.

The following have been themes for Women’s History Month since 1992:

1992 - Living History: Talk to your Foremother about HERstory

1993 - HERstory of Work: Recognizing Women’s Contributions

1994 - Creating a World of Equality

1995 - Leaders, Scholars, Mentors: The History of Women and Education

1996 - Women in the Arts: A Cultural Legacy

1997 - Discovering Women in Science and Technology

1998 - The Business Woman

1999 - Women and the Law

2000 - Making History, Building Futures: Women of the 20th Century

2001 - In Praise of Canadian Women Volunteers

2002 - Women and Sports—Champions Forever!

2003 - What do you mean women couldn't vote?

2004 - Yes, Women are "Persons"

2005 - Women and War: Contributions and Consequences

2006 - Aboriginal Women: The Journey Forward

2007 - Celebrating Immigrant Women in Canada

2008 - Women in the Lead

2009 - Women in the Lead: Winter Sports

Why Celebrate Women's History Month?

“We want women leaders today as never before. Leaders who are not afraid to be called names and who are willing to go out and fight. I think women can save civilization. Women are persons.
- Emily Murphy (1931)

Every October since 1992, Canada celebrates Women's History Month, with the highlight being Person's Day on October 18. October has been selected because of the historical significance of the "Persons Case" decision of 1929, a landmark victory in the struggle of Canadian women for equality.

For several years, Judge Emily Murphy and other women fighting for women's equality, urged the Government of Canada to appoint a woman to the Senate - without success. The Government cited Section 24 of the British North America Act (BNA Act) which said that only "qualified persons" may be summoned to the Senate. Declaring that women were not "qualified persons", and women were therefore ineligible for the Senate.

In August 1927, Emily Murphy and four Alberta women - Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, later known as the "Famous Five" - petitioned the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain, for clarification on women's eligibility for appointment to the Senate.

On October 18, 1929, the Committee ruled that Section 24 of the British North America Act should apply equally to women. With that decision, women became eligible for nomination to the Senate. One year later, Cairine Reay Wilson became the first woman to take her place in the Senate of Canada.

This historic decision created a new precedent for women in gaining access to sectors of society previously reserved only for men. With women now eligible to sit in the Senate, the country's highest male-dominated institution, they could no longer be denied access to other institutions and establishments reserved just for men.

Therefore, Women's History Month represents an opportunity to highlight the past and present contributions of women to Canadian society and to recognize the achievements of women from all walks of life as a vital part of our Canadian heritage. It also provides an opportunity to highlight how we all benefit today from the achievements of the original Famous Five and other women activists in the quest for women's equality. And, foremost, it represents an ideal opportunity to instill a sense of pride in our historic origins as well as to provide role models for all Canadian women - young and less young.

October 18: Persons Day

The Famous Five achieved not only the right for women to serve in the Senate, but they and their many contributions paved the way for women to participate in other aspects of public life.

The assertion of women's rights is now honoured by the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case.

Recipients of these awards continue the tradition of courage, integrity, and hard work which the Famous Five of the Persons Case inspired. Their effectiveness and courage has advanced the cause of equality for girls and women in significant and substantial ways that have enriched their communities.

Five awards are given annually in October to candidates chosen from across Canada, in addition to one Youth award.

Nomination forms and complete awards eligibility criteria are available from  Status of Women Canada.

Source: Status of Women Canada

Women's History Month Suggested Activities 

• Hold an event to honour the contributions of individual women in your community.
  Draw parallels with the achievements of women in earlier times to emphasize how women have built upon the work of their foremothers.
  
• Organize a fundraiser with the proceeds going to a women’s group or shelter.
  
• Use your imagination! Get a group together and perform a skit, recreating an event in women’s history, such as the Persons Case, or just "a day in the life of a women" in the last century.
  
• Ask your foremothers about their stories. Talk to your mother, aunts, or grandmother about their lives as women. Capture the stories on audio or videotape, or write them down before they are lost forever. Share these stories with your children, your local newspaper or radio station, historical society, or archives.
  
• Launch a creative writing or poster competition in your community, school or library on the theme of Women’s History.
  Ask participants to illustrate the roles that women have played over the years.
  
• Your local public library or archives is an important resource for community history.
  Urge them to create a display on the contributions of women to history, or hold a series of readings on books by or about women.
  
• Ask your local municipality or school board to declare the month or October as "Women’s History Month".
  Simply call the office of the mayor or a trustee of the school board and explain you are interested in having a proclamation issued. Follow up with a letter, using "Why Celebrate Women’s History Month?" as rationale and sample wording for the proclamation.
  
• Spread the word in newsletters and articles, as well as in your personal letters.
  Send your local newspapers a quiz on women’s history or write an article for your neighborhood newspaper, etc., using the background materials in this package.
  
• Organize a lunchtime or evening discussion on how women shaped Canada.
  You could invite a "living woman of history" in your community to speak about her life, or ask your local historical society or archives for speakers.
  
• Highlight an important historical event related to the advancement of women, for example the Persons Case of 1929 or the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (1970).
  
• Organize a walking tour of historic sites related to women’s achievements in your community, for example, pioneer homes, schoolhouses, business, farms, hospitals, museums, gravesites, etc.
  
• Visit a senior citizen’s residence or nursing home to talk to older women about their lives and experiences. This is valuable oral history. You may want to ask permission to tape record these stories or to submit the resulting histories to community newspapers.
  
• Show a film or video on women and their roles in history.
  
• Invite a speaker and follow up with a discussion or question and answer period on how women’s lives have changed, and why their contributions have received less recognition.
  
• Host a "Women’s History Month" potluck dinner, using family recipes from the past.
  Invite guests to talk about women in their history and inspiring women in their lives, sharing photos, diaries, letters, scrapbooks, or other memorabilia. Try answering the quiz!
  
• Contact local women’s studies programs, the history department at a nearby university or community college, or your local historical, or genealogical society for information and speakers. However, don’t feel limited to having only academics speak.
  
• Suggest that children’s story hours in your local school or public library during the month of October focus on biographies of women, or stories with strong women as central characters.
  
• Organize a workshop on how to teach women’s history: demonstrating how and where the Ontario curriculum lends itself to the teaching of women’s history, and sharing the wealth of resources available.

Source: Status of Women Canada

Do you have suggestions for other classroom activities? Let us know by e-mailing Carol Zavitz at czavitz@etfo.org.

Reading List

Bradford, Karleen. With Nothing but our Courage: the Loyalist diary of Mary MacDonald. Scholastic Canada, 2002.

Brandis, Marianne. The Tinderbox. Porcupine’s Quill, 1982.

Brandis, Marianne. The Sign of the Scales. Porcupine’s Quill, 1990.

Brummel Crook, Connie. Nellie L. Stoddart, 1994.

Ellis, Sarah. A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: the immigrant diary of Ivy Weatherall. Scholastic Canada, 2001.

Little, Jean. Orphan at my Door: the home child diary of Victoria Cope. Scholastic Canada, 2001.

Lunn, Janet. The Hollow Tree. Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 1997.

Matas, Carol. Footsteps in the Snow: the Red River diary of Isobel Scott. Scholastic Canada, 2002.

McGovern, Ann. Wanted Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman. Scholastic, 1965.

O’Dell, Scott. Sarah Bishop. Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Sullivan, George. Harriet Tubman. Scholastic, 2001.

What books do you use? Let us know by emailing Carol Zavitz at czavitz@etfo.org 

Resources On Women's History

 Status of Women Canada

Status of Women Canada is a federal government agency promoting gender equality and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural, and political life of the country. SWC provides resources and an organizer’s handbook for Women’s History Month.

 Green Dragon Press

Green Dragon Press publishes books, videos, curriculum materials, and posters on women's history and equity issues. Materials designed for teachers, librarians, and everyone who wants to know more about women's stories and harassment prevention.

 PAR-L Network

PAR-L (Policy, Action, Research List) is a bilingual, electronic network of individuals and organizations interested in women-centred policy issues in Canada. They have compiled a list of milestones in Canadian Women’s History.

 National Film Board

The National Film Board of Canada has an extensive catalogue of films/videos on women’s history.