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Return to the
Introduction |
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My goal was to have at least one name
for each day of the year! Believe it or not, it took 20 years. But hey, I
made it!
Want to know who was born the same year as you?
Check out the
Famous
Canadian Women's Historical Timeline!
Want to find out about other Canadian women of achievement?
"On-The-Job". Has over 3100 mini profiles of Canadian Women
Use your mouse pointer to touch a
date on the calendar below
to see which Famous Canadian Woman has a birthday on
that date.
|
Copyright © 1998-2023 Dawn E. Monroe. All rights reserved |
ISBN: 0-9736246-0-4 |
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March 1 |
Anne
Kahane. Born
March 1, 1926, Vienna, Austria. Anne immigrated
to Montreal with her parents when she was 5
years old. It was at the Montreal Ecole des
beaux arts that she took her early formal art
lessons. This sculptor emigrated from Austria
with her parents in 1925. During the mid 1940's
Anne studied at Cooper Union School, New York
City, U.S.A. In 1953 she was the only Canadian
winning international prizes for
her3-dimensional figures carved in wood, works.
Her woodcarvings are the decorative panels for
the Winnipeg airport, Winnipeg General Hospital,
and Montreal’s Place des Arts. Her work
has been shown nationally and internationally,
representing Canada at the Canadian Pavilion at
the Venice Biennale, the Canadian Pavilion at
the Worlds Fair, Brussels, and at Expo 67 in
Montreal Abandoning
wood in the late 1970's she began to work with
sheets of aluminum with her first showing of
this new medium at McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario in 1980-1982. |
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Monique
Bégin. Born March
1,1936, Rome, Italy. Monique was born in Europe while
her French-Canadian father was working overseas.
The family escaped to Portugal and back to
Canada at the breakout of World War 11. Monique
earned a teacher's certificate and then went on
to study sociology at the Université de Montreal
before living in Paris, France for two years.
She began working as executive secretary to the
Royal Commission on the Status of Women once
back in Canada. . She was 1st
woman from Québec to be elected to the House of
Commons in Ottawa in 1972. She
distinguished herself as the executive
secretary-general of the Royal Commission on the
Status of Women. During her political Career she
would serve as Minister of National Revenue,
then as Minister of National Health and Welfare.
She was responsible for increases in old-age
supplements for needy senior citizens and the
child tax credit and a new health law which
strengthened the health insurance system.
Leaving politics in 1984 Monique taught at the
University of Ottawa. In 2004 she participated
in a play celebrating the 100th anniversary of
the Canadian Women's Press Club. In 2017 she
earned the Maclean's Magazine lifetime award at
the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. |
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March 2 |
Evelyn 'Lynne' Beatrice Blyth
Marvin Tyrrell.
née Marvin. Born March 2, 1920, London,
England. Died May 25, 2013, Toronto, Ontario.
Lynne began her working career as a stenographer
during World War ll (1939-1945). Around 1944 she
married Ron Tyrrell and the couple settled in
Brighton, England running guest house and a
clothing consignment ship. In 1947 the family
moved to Jamaica to run an hotel. By 1950 they
were in Toronto where their fourth child was
born. Lynn apprenticed with Toronto couturier
Rodolphe Liska. Opening her own shop called The
Baroness she sketched her own designs. The shop
was eventually located on Scollard St. in the
hippie Yorkville area. The Baroness dressed
brides, wedding parties and Miss Canada
contestants. Trans Canada Airlines asked her to
design their uniforms. The shop closed in the
1980's. (2022) |
| |
Ghitta
Caiserman-Roth. Born
March 2, 1923, Montreal, Quebec. Died November
25, 2005, Montreal, Quebec. Ghitta attended the Parsons School of
Design, New York, U.S.A. from  1939-1943.
Returning to Montreal in 1947 she opened the
Montreal Artists School. She served as school
principal with the school accommodating many
returned war veterans until it was sold in 1952.
At the beginning of the 1960's she studied at
the Ecole des beaux arts, Montreal. Here she
mixed her appreciation of art she had seen
during trips to Mexico where she studied
murals. A very talented artist she is
considered an outstanding example of creativity
of women artists that have characterized a
century of art in Montreal. She was a member of
the Royal Canadian Academy. She was part of the
Jewish Painters of Montreal which have left a
legacy depicting expressionistic images of
social realism of the 1930's and 1940's. She
received the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967
and in 1975 she earned the Purchase Prize and
Best Graphic Image Award from the Ontario
Society of Artists. In 2000 she became the 1st
artist to win the Governor General's Award. |
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March 3 |
Marie-Madelaine Jarret de Verchères. Born
March 3, 1678, Verchères. Quebec. Died August 8,
1747, Sainte-Anne –de-La Pérade, New France. She and her family lived in a “fort”
which had been built as protection against
marauding bands of Iroquois. Her mother had
“held the fort” successfully fending off attacks
in 1690. On October 22, 1692, while her parents
were away in Montreal, she was in charge of her
home. She was 14 years old
when she, with only a handful of helpers, would
successfully defend the family fort against
attack. She was outside the
walls of the fort when the attackers approached
causing her to scramble and ran for the
fortifications and safety. There was only one
soldier at home at the time and Madelaine donned
a soldiers hat and made motions of being in
charge of a larger group of defenders. She had
the cannon fired as a warning not only to the
attackers but to other “forts” along the river
that there was danger. By the time help arrived
from Montreal the attackers had fled. There are
various written reports about the successful
defence that day. No doubt recalled in the
aftermath of the events and in later years the
reports may have exaggerated or did they? Her
exploits have been written up in several books,
plays, and even movies, extolling the young
Madelaine as one of Canada's first youth
heroines.
Even though it was not unusual for girls to be
married in their early teens, Madeleine married
only on September 1706 to Pierre Thomas Tarieu
de La Pérade (1677-1757). The
couple would have Five children. It seems that she
summoned her courage again in 1722 saving her
husband from attack of two Indians. In turn her
son, Charles-Francois, who was ten at the time,
fended off four native women who came to help out
the male attackers. It seems that both Madeleine
and her husband were not held in high esteem as
landlords. They were involved in numerous law
suit concerning land ownership and Madeleine
even sailed to France in attempts to have courts
solve the disputes. In 1923 the Canadian
Government designated Madeleine as a Person of
National Historic Significance. Source: André
Vachon, “JARRET DE VERCHÈRES, MARIE-MADELEINE,”
in D C B
vol. 3( accessed July 27, 2014), |
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Menaka Thakkar. Born
March 3, 1942, Bombay, India. Died February 5,
2022, Toronto, Ontario. Menaka studied
dance as a child in Bombay and performed with
her older sister. She learned classical styles
of Indian danced and Japanese dance. In 1963 she
earned her BA in visual arts. She came to Canada
in 1972 to visit her brother and to perform
classical dance of India. Her acceptance was so
warm that she made Canada her home. In 1974 she
founded the Menaka Thakkar dance company and
was director of Nrtyakala: the Canadian Academy
of Indian Dance. She been a major influence in
the development and appreciation for Indian
classical dance in Canada. In the 1980's
students at York University, Toronto could earn
credits for taking her dance classes. She soon
became an adjunct professor of dance. She has
taught dance across Canada. Her dance company
has traveled to Asia, Europe and Australia. She
has been the recipient of numerous awards for
her work both in Canada and in India including
the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in
Performing Arts from the Canada Council of the
Arts in 2012. The following year she received
the Governor General's Award in Performing Arts.
(2022) |
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March 4 |
Nellie J. Cournoyea.
Born March 4, 1940, Aklavik, Northwest
Territories. Nellie grew up traveling and
hunting in the traditional manner of her people.
She married a Canadian Forces officer and the
couple were posted in Halifax and Ottawa prior
to heading back to the Northwest Territories
with their 2 children. Shortly after the couple
divorced. In the 1960’s she worked as an
announcer for the CBC radio. In 1969 she
co-founded with Agnes Semmler a political
association to help the people of Inuvialuit
which gave her an active role in the 1984 land
claim. In 1979 she
was elected to the Legislature of the Northwest
Territories and served on various cabinet
positions prior to becoming the 1st
native woman to lead a provincial territorial
government in Canada. She
served as Premier of the Northwest Territories
from November 14, 1991 to November 2, 1995.
Nellie was awarded the Woman of the Year for NWT
in 1982 and in 1986 she received the Wallace
Goose Award. She was recognized with the
National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1994.
In 2004 she received the Energy Person of the
Year from the Energy Council of Canada. In
2008 the Governor General of Canada awarded
Nellie Cournoyea the Northern Medal in
recognition for her significant contributions to
the evolution and reaffirmation of the Canadian
North as part of our national identity. She
volunteers as Director of the Ingamo Hall
Friendship Center in Inuvik and is a founding
member of the Northern Games Society. She is
also a volunteer in Inuvialuit historical and
cultural activities. In 2008 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada and the
Aboriginal Businee Hall of Fame. In 2016 she
received the Order of the Northwest Territories. Sources: The
Canadian Encyclopedia Online (accessed
2006); Nellie J. Cournoyea, Collections
Canada. National Library of Canada, (accessed
2006). |
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Carroll Ann Baker. Born
March 4, 1949, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Carroll
was performing at the age of 4. At 16, Carroll
and her family relocated to Toronto. Carroll had
her 1st single song hit in 1970. She
dominated the country music scene in the 1970's
winning several Juno Awards as Country Female
vocalist in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In
1976, she won a Big Country Award for best album
of the year, and in 1978 and 1977 she was named
top female country singer at the same awards.
She produced over 20 albums of her music. In the
summer of 1983 she hosted her own television
show and was always a welcome guest on the long
running Tommy Hunter show. She decided to take
partial retirement in the early 1990's. She was
inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of
Fame in 1992. In 1997 she received a lifetime
achievement award from the Nova Scotia Country
Music Association. In 2010 she became a Member
of the Order of Canada for her singing and
songwriting. |
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Catherine Anne O’Hara. Born
March 4,1954, Toronto, Ontario. She was a
waitress at the Firehall Theatre in Toronto when
she convinced Canadian actor John Candy to
listen to her comedy routine. She joined the Second
City TV troupe in 1973. She began her film
career in 1980 and has appeared in such films
as Beetlejuice, Dick Tracey, Home
Alone, and such TV series as Tales From
the Crypt. In 1981 she won a Primetime Emmy
Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety
Series. In 1988 she had the staring role in Tim
Burton's Beetlejuice. In 1992 she married
production designer Bo Welch and the couple have
two sons. She has also stared in additional Tim
Burton productions including the Nightmare
Before Christmas and Frankenweenie. In
2000 she won a Genie Award for Best Performance
by a Leading Actress in the film the Life
Before This. She played the mother in the
two Home Alone movies. After 2000 she has
done mainly voice over work for animated
stories. In 2001 she won the Funniest Supporting
Actress in a Motion Picture from the American
Comedy Awards. In 2006 she won the National Film
Board Review for Best Supporting Actress in For
Your Consideration. In 2016 she was playing
in the series Schitt's Creek. and won the
Canadian Screen Award for Bst Performance by an
Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role for
this series. Her role also garnered her an ACTRA
Toronto Award for Outstanding Performance. She
has won two Canadian
Screen Awards for Best Lead Actress
in a Comedy Series, at the 4th
Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 and
the 5th
Canadian Screen Awards in 2017. |
|
March 5 |
Phyllis
Dewar-Lowrey. Born
March 5, 1916, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Died
April 8, 1961, Toronto, Ontario. As a young
swimmer she earned the nickname 'Moose Jaw
Mermaid'. In 1934 & 1935 she held every single
Canadian freestyle swimming record from 100
yards to one mile! She set records and won a 4
gold medals at the 1934 British Empire Games in
London, England. That same year she won the
Velma Springstead Trophy as Canadian female
athlete of the year,. She returned to the
British Empire Games in Australia 1938 for
another gold medal in the 4 X 110 yard freestyle
relay. She married Murray Lowery and the couple
have 4 children. In 1967 she was inducted into
the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and in 1971
she was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall
of Fame followed in 1972 with a membership in
the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Sources: Who’s
who in Canadian Sport by Bob Ferguson,
(Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1977; Phyllis Dewar
(1916-1961), The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan,
Online, (accessed March 2016) |
| |
Pauline
Donalda. née Lightstone.
Born March 5, 1882, Montreal, Quebec. Died
October 22, 1970. Pauline was educate at Ro yal
Victoria College, McGill University, Montreal.
In 1902 she went to study at the Conservatoire
de Paris, France on a grant from Donald Smith
(1820-1914), Lord Strathcona. It was here that
she adopted the stage name Donalda in honour of
her patron. In 1904 she made her singing debut
in Nice, France. In November 1906, Returning to
Montreal with her husband Paul Seveilhac, to
make her North American debut. In December 1906
she began a season with Oscar Hammerstein's
Manhattan Opera House in New York City, U.S.A.
By 1907 she was once again singing in Europe.
She remained in North America during World War l
returning to Paris in 1917 to marry her second
husband, Mischa Leon in 1918. 1n 1922 she opened
a teaching studio in Paris, France returning to
Montreal only in 1937 to open her studio there.
She founded the Montreal Opera Guild in 1942
where she served as president and artistic
director until 1969. In 1967 she became an
Officer in the Order of Canada.
Photograph public domain |
|
March 6 |
Mary Tkachuk.
née Janishewski.
Born March 6, 1912, Mundare, Alberta. Died April
23, 2003, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After
graduating high school in Edmonton, Alberta Mary
attended Normal School (teachers' college). In
1935, she and her husband Paul Tkachuk
(1903-1976), settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
where they established a well known music store.
Mary soon became active in the Ukrainian Women's
Association of Canada and was a founding member
of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. In 1964 she
helped found the Saskatoon Fold Arts Council and
later became Saskatchewan's director for the
National Fold Arts Council. She also served as
the first president of the National Ukrainian
Self-Reliance League from 1990 through 1996. As
you may realize Mary had an interest encouraging
music in her community. She was conductor of
adult and children's choirs over six decades.
She received the Saskatoon Century Award, the
Ukrainian Canadian Congress Centennial Medal,
the American Association for State and Local
History Award of Merit.
Source: Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
online (accessed 2022); Find a grave Canada
(accessed 2022) |
| |
Olive Patricia Dickason.
Born
March 6, 1920, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died March
12, 2011, Ottawa, Ontario. A child of an English
father and Métis mother, Olive was raised in the
remote Northern Manitoba woods. Completing her
high school via correspondence, she continued
and received her B.A. at Notre Dame College,
Wilcox, Saskatchewan. She became a journalist
and a reporter, working her way to women’s
editor for the Montreal Gazette and the Toronto
Globe and Mail. At 50 years of age, with her
three daughters grown, she returned to academic
studies earning a Master's of Arts and then in
1977 her Doctorate Degree (PhD) in history. She
then became a professor and scholar, and is
considered one of Canada’s foremost historians
contributing greatly to understanding of
Aboriginal and Métis peoples. The prestigious
work Canada’s First Nations: a history of
founding peoples was in its 4th edition in 2009.
In 1996 she became a member of the Order of
Canada and in 1997 she received the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal
Achievement Foundation in 1977.In
2021 Darren Prefontaine published Changing
Canadian History: The Life and Works of Olive
Patricia Dickason.
Source: Personal knowledge also Obituary, The
Ottawa Citizen March 2011. (2021). |
|
March 7 |
Ada Maud Boyer McAnn Flemming.
née Ada McAnn.
Born March 7, 1896. Died January 25, 1994. Aida
changed the spelling of her name after the Verdi
opera Aida. Her mother died just a few
months old. The family lived in British Columbia
until the death of her father when she was just
eleven. Aida returned to New Brunswick to live
with her uncle. Aida earned her Bachelor of Arts
from Mount Allison, University, and then earned
her Certificate in Education at the University
of Toronto. She would later earn her Master' of
Arts from Columbia University, New York City,
New York, U.S.A. She
taught at Mount Allison University and then at a
private secondary school in New York City. She
then worked as a freelance writer of advertising
copy in New York before she returned home to New
Brunswick to work as a writer for the Department
of Tourism. In 1938 she published The New
Brunswick Cookbook. She also directed
a cooking program on local radio. By 1944 she
was working as a reporter for the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick. On August 20 1946 she
married Hugh John Flemming (1899-1982), a
business man and future premier of New Brunswick
and future Member of Canadian Parliament. After
her marriage Aida became active volunteering for
the local Red Cross and helped establish the
local school library. In Fredericton from
1952-1960 as the wife of the Premier, she
continued to support libraries serving as the
patron of Young Canada Book Week in 1953 and
helping to establish the Fredericton Public
Library. She served on the Library Board from
1955-1958. She was appointed to the Board of the
Beaverbrook Art Gallery and was also on the
board of the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (S P C A) and the Children's
Aid. In 1959 she founded the Kindness Club to
teach children to love and be kind to animals.
The Kindness club would grow with chapters
throughout North America and England. In 1962
and again in 1976 the Fredericton Chamber of
Commerce named her as their Atlantic Woman of
the Year. In 1964 she the Humane Society of the
United States named her Humanitarian of the
Year. By 1978 she had been made a member of the
Order of Canada. In her will she left property
near Woodstock, New Brunswick to create a
wildlife sanctuary.
(2020) |
| |
Diane Jones
Konihowski.
Born March 7, 1951, Vancouver, British Columbia.
As an athlete, she competed in pentathlon and
track and field internationally in 1967. She
would go on to win gold medals in the 1975 and
1979 Pan-American Games, as well as gold in t he
1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games. After leaving
competition she continued her career as an
amateur sports administrator. Her work included
working with the Alberta Sports Council until
1994. She is a Member of the Order of Canada. |
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March 8 |
Charlotte
Elizabeth Hazeltyne Whitton. Born
March 8, 1896, Renfrew, Ontario. Died January 25,
1975, Ottawa, Ontario. Charlotte attended Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario, where she enjoyed playing
hockey and was editor of the Queen's Journal in
1917 as the 1st female editor of this newspaper
while she earned a Master’s of Art degree. This
social worker, politician, and feminist was a
colourful, energetic, outspoken, and flamboyant
individual. In the 1920’s she was a relentless
crusader for professional standard s
of juvenile immigrants and neglected children.
She was the spark that ignited the Canadian
Council on Child Welfare. She was in demand
across North America as a lecturer on social
programs. In 1934 she was named a Commander of
the British Empire. In 1943 she published two
books, The Dawn of Ampler Life and A
Hundred Years A-fellin;1842-1942, a History of
Logging. When she became mayor of
Ottawa in
1951 she was the 1st woman in Canada to be a
mayor of a major metropolitan area.
In November 1950, Whitton entered Ottawa City
politics when she won a seat on what was then
called the board of control. When the elected
mayor died in office the next year she
succeeded him as mayor. She was elected mayor in
1952, 1954, and 1960 serving until 1964. In 1964 she
was named by the Toronto B'nai Brith as Woman of
the Year. Later she served as an alderman until
1972. As mayor she pioneered communications with
the electorate by hosting her own TV show and
her own newspaper column. In 1967 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada. Charlotte
never married but lived for 32 years with her
companion, Margaret Grier (1892-1947), a friend
from her university days.
She did not have a life without
controversy and there are accusations of
anti-Semitism and that she was a racist
preferring only British immigration to Canada.
In 2011 her name was kept off the new Archives
building in Ottawa due to her life
controversies. Numerous biographies about
Charlotte have been published over the years.
(2022) |
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Janet Wight.
Born March 8, 1945, Farnborough, England. Died
November 14, 2016, Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Wright family immigrated to Canada and
settled in Saskatchewan when Janet was just a
child. She married Brian Richmond and the couple
had two children. In 1974 she and her sister
Susan (died 1991), co-founded the Persephone
Theatre Company in Saskatoon. Janet appeared in
such popular TV shows as The Beachcombers and
the King of Kensington. In Vancouver she worked
at the Vancouver Arts Club where she appeared in
and directed over 40 productions. She also had
roles in other live theatre productions across
Canada including the Stratford Theatre in
Ontario. In 1992 she earned the Best Actress
Genie Award for her role in the film Boardertown
Café. In 1995 she became the first woman to take
the role of King Lear in the Shakespearian play
in Toronto. In 2003 she took Best Supporting
Actress in a dramatic program or miniseries in
Betrayed. In January 2004 her daughter Rachel
Davis (1981-2004) her was fatally shot while
intervening for a stranger being beaten in
Vancouver. Janet and her husband Bruce Davis,
founded the Rachel Davis Foundation to recognize
bravery in young people. From 2004 to 2009 she
played on the comedy TV show Corner Gas as Emma
Leroy for which she won the 2006 Canadian Comedy
Award for Pretty Funny TV Female.
Source: Obituary (accessed 2022)
|
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March 9 |
Flavia
Elliott Redelmeier. née Elliott. Born
March 9, 1926. Flavia received her BA in 1948
from the University of Toronto, on the same day
as her mother received her degree. On December
29, 1950 she married Ernest Redelmeier and the
couple had two sons. Her wedding dress
was the adapted gown from her grandmother's
wedding in 1897. By 1951 she had graduated with
a Masters degree. This volunteer has donated
her life time to such organizations as the Girl
Guides of Canada where she was an executive
member and camping commissioner for Canada. She
has served on hospital and museum boards
including as a board member at the Canadian
Museum of Nature. May 8, 2013 Flavia was
honoured by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with
the Distinguished Service Award tor the
incredible impact and support for the ROM. |
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Marlene Streit. née
Stewart. Born March 9, 1934, Cereal, Alberta. A
powerful golfer she would win the Canadian
ladies champion title 11 times between 1951 and
1973. She was the Canadian Female Athlete of the
Year in 1951 and 1956. In 1967 she was inducted
as an officer in the Order of Canada. In 1971
she was inducted into Canada's Sport Hall of
Fame followed by the Ontario Sport Hall of Fame
in 1995. During her golfing career she would win
24 Canadian Ladies Golf Association
Championships and by 2003 she had a career total
of 30 national or international championships
with at least one championship each decade . She
claimed her third U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in
2003, the oldest person to ever triumph in that
event. She is the
only person to have won the Australian, British,
Canadian and United States womens’ amateur
championships! In
2004 she became the first Canadian member of the
World Golf Hall of Fame. In 2006
she became a Member of the Order of Ontario. |
| |
Marilyn C. Bodogh. Born
March 9, 1955, Toronto, Ontario. A business woman
who managers her own lumber yard and has owned
several businesses including a funeral home and
flower business. She is a well known
motivational speaker. In her spare time she
found time to be a member of the 1986 and 1996
Canadian and World Championship Curling teams.
She has also co-authored a book on the sport of
curling. in the late 1990's she became a colour
commentator on Rogers Sportsnet and Roger's TV in
Ontario. She is a member of the St Catherines
Ontario Hall of Fame. In 2006 she tried her hand
a politics with an unsuccessful bid to be mayor
of St Catherines, Ontario.
(2017) |
|
March 10 |
Julia
Catherine Hart. née
Beckwith. Born March 10, 1796, Fredericton, New
Brunswick. Died November 28, 1867, New
Brunswick. She
wrote the 1st work of fiction by a native born
Canadian to be published in Canada. Her novel
was called:: St Ursula’s Convent or The Nun of
Canada, Containing Scenes from Real Life”
published in 1824. It
took her 10 years to find this publisher and
only 165 copies were made. Almost all original
copies have been lost. She wrote this book when
she was only 17 years old! In 1820 shortly after
her father's death she relocated to Kingston,
Upper Canada (Now Ontario) to live with family.
Here she met and married George Henry Hart and
established a boarding school for girls. She
would continue publishing with two additional
novels while she raised a family of six
children! It was not until the turn of the
century in 1900 that she was recognized.
(2017) |
| |
Emily Pauline Johnson. Born
March 10, 1861, Six Nations Indian Reserve,
Canada West (now Ontario). Died March 7, 1913,
Vancouver, British Columbia. Her Mohawk name was
Tekahionwake, meaning double life. Her mother
was from England and her father a Mohawk
hereditary clan chief. She was raised learning
both English and Mohawk languages and was
home schooled until she was 14 when she attended
Brantford Central Collegiate graduating in 1877.
In 1884 she published her 1st full length poem,
My little Jean in Gems of Poetry magazine out of
New York, U.S.A. It was during this decade that
she began to be published regularly in the
Toronto Globe, Saturday Night magazine
and the Week. She became Canada’s 1st
renowned native poet she was also the 1st native
born cultural ambassador. She worked towards
unity for all peoples and the land when most
settlers were only thinking of human unity. She
took her poetry all over Europe where she
performed her readings in her native dress. In
1912 a collection of her poems was published,
Flint and Feather which as been one of the
best-selling titles of Canadian poetry
republished many times. She retired from th e
stage in 1909 and moved to Vancouver, British
Columbia where she wrote of the Squamish people
of North Vancouver. In
1922 a cairn was
erected at the burial site in Vancouver's
Stanley Park , with an inscription reading in
part, "in memory of one whose life and
writings were an uplift and a blessing to our
nation". In
1945 Pauline Johnson was designated a Person of
National Historic Significance. On the
Centennial of her birth in 1961 Canada Post
issued a commemorative stamp with her image
making her the 1st woman, other than the Queen,
the 1st author, and the 1st aboriginal Canadian
to appear on a Canadian stamp. There are 4
schools named in her honour and her birth home,
Chiefwood is listed as a National Historic
site. Her biography by Charlotte Gray was
published in 2002 and may be available at your
public library. That same year Tekahionwake:
Collective Poems and Selected Prose was
published containing all of Pauline's poems
found to that date. (2021)
Photograph © Canada Post
Corporation used with permission
|
| |
Avril 'Kim' Phaedra Campbell. Born
March 10, 1947, Port Alberni, British Columbia.
Known as “Kim” since a teen, she attended the
University of British Columbia and went on to
earn a PhD at the London School of Economics,
London England. Entering politics as a member of
the Vancouver School Board from 1980-4. She
moved to the British Columbia Provincial
Legislature, 1986-88 and was elected to the
Canadian House of Commons in 1988. In 1989 she
was appointed Ministe r of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development. The 1st woman to serve as
Minister of Justice, February 1990, by January
1993, she also became the 1st woman Minister of
Defense of a NATO country. In June 1993 she
became the 1st woman elected leader of the
Progressive Conservative Party and the 1st woman
Prime Minister of Canada. She resigned after
election defeat in, November 1993. Appointed
Consul General to Los Angeles, California from
1996-2000, she was also chair, 1999 – 2003, for
the Council of Women World Leaders. Working with
a group of national leaders to strengthen
democracy in the world, she was founder and
acting President of the Club de Madrid, and was
appointed Secretary General in 2004. A lecturer
of public policy at Harvard, she currently
describes herself as a teacher and recovering
politician. Sources: Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(accessed 2004); Canadian Who's Who.
Photograph © Famous Canadian
Women |
| |
Debbie Brill. Born
March 10, 1953, Mission British Columbia. She
began competitive track and Field in 1966 when
she was just 13 years old and appeared in her 1st international
event at 15. At 16 she became the 1st North
American woman to cleat 6’ in the high jump. She
used a style of jump that became known as the
“Brill Bend”. It was a style that revolutionized
this event. Debbie has held the Canadian high
jump record since 1969. That year she won a gold
medal at the 1st Pacific Conference
Games. She took gold again at the 1977 games. In
1970 she earned gold at the Commonwealth games
and in 1971 gold at the Pan Am Games. She was
disillusioned in the 1972 Olympic Games and
retired from competition. In 1975, confidence
returned and she returned to place 4th at
the 1977 Pan Am Games and a bronze medal at the
World Cup. In 1978 she earned a silver at the
Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1979
she took a gold at the World Cup in Montreal and
was ranked #1 in the world. Canada boycotted the
1980 Olympics so Debbie continued to compete and
in 1982 jumped 1.99 meters at the World Indoor
High Jump Record just 5 months after giving
birth to her son and went on to earn gold in the
Commonwealth Games that year. In 1983 she was
presented with the Order of Canada. She set her
final outdoor record 1.98 meters (6’6”) in
September 1984. In 1989 she was inducted into
the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. During
her days of competition she would attend 65
National and International competitions. In
1999 she broke the World Masters (athletes over
45 years) record and in 2004 she broke the over
50 Masters record in Australia. Source:
British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame Online
(accessed March 2014) |
|
March 11 |
Eva Von Gencsy.
Born March 11,1924, Hungary. Died April 11,
2013, Montreal, Quebec. She studied ballet at
the Trognoff Russian Ballet Academy as a young
girl. She won a scholarship to study at the
University Mozartium Saltzberg in 1924. The next
year she made her solo debut. In 1948 as she
entered Canada a customs officer, seeing she was
a dancer, suggested she move to Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Working as a domestic servant to
fulfill the requirement of working for a year in
order to stay in Canada she studied with the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 1954 when the RWB was
destroyed by fire she moved to Montreal to
continue dancing. She worked in Banff and taught
jazz dance for 13 years. Often summers vacations
were spent in New York City taking ballet and
jazz classes. She specifically loved jazz-ballet
as a celebration of the soul. In Montreal she
formed a jazz ballet group Les Jazz-Ballet
Contemporaines but left in 1978 after a
disruptive collision of ideas with others in the
group. She spent the next 35 years as a
freelance teacher. In 2003 Mireille Dansereau
completed a documentary feature EVA about the
talented dancer. She had married at one time but
did not relish the role of homemaker and
definitely loved dance more than married life
which also carried the treat of motherhood. She
had a love of learning often taking courses at
local institutions. At 80 years of age she
discovered and embraced life with a computer.
Source: Her legacy is all that
bale-jazz by Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail,
April 30, 2013. |
| |
Leslie
G. Cliff. Born
March 11, 1955, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Leslie was a strong competitor in the 1970
Commonwealth Games and showed future promise.
She studied at the University of British
Columbia. In the 1971 Pan-Am Games she won 3
gold 2 silver. 1971 to 1973 British Columbia’s
Swimmer of the Year and in 1971 she was British
Columbia’s Junior Athlete of the year. In the
1972 Olympic Games, Munich, Germany she won a
silver medal in the 400 meter individual
medley. In 1971-2 she was inducted as an
Officer in the Order of Canada and in 1972 she
was presented with the Beatrice Pines Trophy as
Canada’s Outstanding Female Swimmer. In 1974 she
won 2 gold medals, one in the 200 meter
individual medley and one in the 400 meter
individual medley at Commonwealth Games. During
her competitive swimming career she received a
total of 33 medals! After retiring from
competitive sport she co-founded the Zajac
annual swim camps organized by the alumni of
Canada’s Swim Team. In 1976 she was inducted
into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1984 she became a member of the Canada Sports
Hall of Fame. In 1989 she founded a financial
management firms, Genus Capital Management. In
1997 she entered the Canadian Olympic Hall of
Fame. Source:
Canada Sports Hall of Fame. Online. Accessed
February 2016. |
|
March 12 |
Mary Dyma.
née Sawchak,
Born March 12, 1899, Ukraine. Died October 12,
1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba. By the end of World
War l (1914-1918) Mary was an orphan and in 1920
she immigrated to Canada to live with her aunt,
Joanna Westlake, in Winnipeg. To learn English
she attended St. Mary's Academy. By 1923 she had
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from
the University of Manitoba (U of M). After
graduating from U of M she taught school and in
1924 she became principal at Ethelbert School.
In 1925 she married Dr. Bronislaw Dyma
(1897-1966) and the couple had two sons. In 1928
she organized the Ukrainian Handicraft Guild.
In 1932 through 1935 she was a trustee with the
Winnipeg School Division. She served as
president of the League of Women Voters and in
1936 she ran as a Liberal-Progressive in the
Provincial election but was defeated. In 1945
she was a founding member and first national
president of the Ukrainian Canadian Women's
Committee. In 1950 the Ukrainian Canadian
chapter of the Imperial Order of Daughters of
the Empire (I O D E) was established in her
honor. In 1953 after attending the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth ll in England she visited
Ukrainian families in displaced persons camps.
In 1967 she was awarded a Canada Centennial
Medal. In 2001 Mary Dyma was listed as a
Manitoba Woman Trailblazer by the Nellie McClung
Foundation. Source:
Memorable Manitobans online (accessed 2022);
Find a Grave Canada (2022) |
| |
Susan
Musgrave. Born
March 12, 1951, Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.
Susan published her 1st book of poems, Songs
of the Sea-Witch, at 17. She would find her
personal life embroiled in a love affair that
would end in a marriage in prison. Susan married Stephen
Reid, a writer, convicted bank
robber and former member of the
infamous band of thieves known as the Stopwatch
Gang. Their relationship was
chronicled in 1999 in the CBC TV
series Life
and Times. She
continues her prolific writing which
includes poetry, fiction, children's literature
and song lyrics from her family tree house in
Victoria, British Columbia. She teaches creative
writing at the University of British Columbia.
(2017) |
|
March 13 |
Helen Callahan.
Born
March 13, 1923,
Vancouver,
British Columbia. Died
December 8, 1992,
Santa Barbara,
California, U.S.A. Coming from an avid and
supportive sports loving family she left home to
join the All American Girls Professional
Baseball League (AAGPBL). Within a few months
her concerned father sent her older sister
Margaret to join the league and look after the
younger Helen. The girls played successfully in
the league for several years from 1944. The left
handed out fielder did not play in 1947 due to
illness but returned after a marriage and the
birth of a child to play in 1948 retiring in
1949. The original “boys of summer” had left the
playing fields to join the fighting in World War
ll were now coming home and reclaiming the
baseball fans back to the all male games. The
sisters never spoke of their life on the road
with the league with family. However when son
Kelly found his aunt’s old scrapbook he used it
to produce a Public Broadcasting Service
documentary on the girls. Hollywood director
Penny Marshall was taken with the documentary
and the well-known movie A League of Their Own
was released in 1992. In 1998 all 64 Canadian
Women who had played in the AALGBL were inducted
into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Helen’s
Grandson Casey Candaele has played for the
Montreal Expos, the Houston Astros, and the
Cleveland Indians. |
| |
Judie Barbara Alimonti.
Born March 13, 1960, Kelowna, British Columbia.
Died December 26, 2017, Ottawa, Ontario. Judie
became interest in Jazz music and was a keen
jazz musician all her life. Judie began her
working career as an massage therapist in
Kelowna, British Columbia with her husband Alan
Giesbrecht. They met at massage therapy school
in Ontario. She was soon a full-time mature
student at university earning a Bachelor of
Science-Microbiology at the University of
British Columbia in 1991. She went on to earn a
PHD in immunology at the University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Saskatchewan. Her doctoral thesis was
the basis for an article published in Nature
Biotechnology in 2000. In 2005 Judie began
working on contract at the Public Health Agency
of Canada where she took on the role of project
lead for the Ebola vaccine from 2010 to 2015.
She was instrumental in the development of the
vaccine and involved in every decision. The
World Health Organization (W H O) used the
vaccine, called VSV-EBOV, for historic clinical
trials near the end of the 2013-2016 West Africa
outbreak. The vaccine was used in 2017 during
another outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. In 2015 she moved to work at
the National Research Council in Ottawa where
she worked on a vaccine against the Zika Virus.
Judie just wanted to do her job, she never
sought or needed grand acknowledgement for her
work. It was enough for her to know that she had
helped people. Source: Obituary:
Judi Alimonti was one of Canada's Unsung Heroes.
Ottawa Citizen, July 14, 2018. online
(accessed 2022); Obituary Castanet,
online (accessed 2022) |
|
March 14 |
Abigail Becker
Rohrer. née
Jackson. Born March 14, 1830. Died 1905. At
eight she married a widower who was a trapper by
profession and lived at Long Point Island, Lake
Erie. In November 1854 she became a heroine when
she was instrumental in saving the lives of the
master and the six crew members of the schooner,
Conductor, which was wrecked off of Long Point
Island. The story of her heroism was reported
in the Atlantic Monthly in 1869
and in 1899 a book entitled The story of
Abigail Becker was published.
Since the turn of the 20th century her story
seems to have been forgotten by most. (2017) |
| |
Emily Gowan Murphy. née
Ferguson. Born
March 14, 1868, Cookstown, Ontario. Died October
27, 1933. Emily attended Bishop Strachan School
in Toronto. In 1887 she married Arthur Murphy
and the couple had four daughters. In 1903 the
family relocated to Swan River, Manitoba and in
1907 settled in Edmonton, Alberta. Once her
family was grown she became active in organizing
women groups and spoke openly about the
disadvantaged and poor living conditions in her
area. She successful pressured the Alberta
government to pass the Dower Act allowing a
woman legal rights to one third of her husbands
property. She became the 1st
woman in the British Empire to become
a judge when she was appointed a police
magistrate for Edmonton, Alberta in 1916. In
her first case in Alberta on July 1, 1916, she
found the prisoner guilty. The prisoner's lawyer
called into question her right to pass sentence,
since she was not legally a person. The
Provincial Supreme Court denied the appeal.
In 1919 Emily presided over the inaugural
conference of the Federated Women's Institute of
Canada which called for a women to be appointed
to the Canadian Senate. Emily was actually the
preferred senate Candidate. She also had the
support of the National Council of women and the
Montreal Women's Club. She was a member of the
Famous Five (also called the Valiant Five) a
group of Canadian women's rights activists who
would be part of the famous Persons Case in 1929
that went to court in England that declared
women were indeed persons. .This case would have
women declared "persons" in the eye of the law
and led the way to the appointment of the 1st
woman to the Canadian Senate in 1931, Cairine
Wilson. Emily also did not like non-white
immigrants, blaming the Chinese in Canada for
much of the drug problems of her day. She was
also a strong supporter of eugenics supporting
selective breeding and compulsory sterilization
of supposed mentally deficient individuals. She
lived and wrote in a time when racism was
typical. In 1958 she was recognized as a Person
of National Historic Significance and in 1997
the Persons case was recognized as a National
Historic Event. Historical Moments which
appear on Canadian TV tell her story. In 2004
the Famous Five, including Emily, were featured
on the back of the Canadian 50 dollar bill. In
October 2009, the Senate voted all the Famous
Five, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung (1873-1951),
Henrietta Muir (1849-1931), Irene Parlby
(1868-1925), Henrietta Muir Edwards (1849-1931)
as Canada's 1st honorary senators. Her Edmonton
home is on the Canadian Register of Historic
People and Places. |
| |
Megan Elizabeth
Laura Diana Follows. Born
March 14, 1968, Toronto, Ontario. Megan began her
career when she was nine years old and earned a
spot in a Bell Canada commercial. She went on
with TV roles and in 1883 she starred in a short
film, Boys and Girls which won an Academy
Award for Best short Subject. In December 1985
Megan became a household name in Canada as six
million viewers tuned in to the CBC to watch her
Gemini Award winning performance as Anne Shirley
in Anne of Green Gables and two of its
sequels. Since then she has appeared in numerous
TV and screen movies, as well as live theatre
and documentaries .In 1990 she earned a Genie
Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a
Leading Role. In 2000 she returned to the role
of Anne in a controversial adaptation of the
life of the adult Anne in a CBC mini series.
That same year she took on live stage rolls with
the Toronto Soulpepper Theatre Company. She
married Christopher Porter in 1991 and is the
mother of a son and a daughter. She has been in
a long term relations ship with Stuart Hughes
which broke up in 2010. She has been active as a
spokesperson for World Vision Canada and in 2007
she was in Cambodia to film Small Voices:
Stories of Cambodia's Children documenting
children living on the street and in garbage
dumps. From 2013-2017 she stared in the TV
series Reign. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 she
was awarded from the Canadian Screen Awards,
Best performance by and Actress in a Leading
Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series and
Best Performance by and Actress in a Continuing
Leading Dramatic Role. |
|
March 15 |
Rita Joe.
née Bernard. Born March 15, 1932, Whycocamagh,
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Died March 20,
2007, Sydney, Nova Scotia. Her mother died when
she was only five years old and she began to
live in various foster homes. When she was ten
her father died and she left Cape Breton to
attend Shubenacadie Residential School. Here she
was told that she was no good. Years later she
would publish a book on her life at the school.
After school she returned to live on the
Eskasoni First Nations Reserve. In 1954 she
married Frank Joe and the couple would raise 8
children and two adopted sons. In 1978 her 1st
book of poetry was published. She would continue
to produce books of poetry and stories and her
works were included in anthologies. Her writings
earned her the unofficial title of Poet Laureate
of the Mi’kmaq people. In 1989 she became a
Member of the Order of Canada. In 1992 she was
called to the Queen’s Privy Council, one of the
few non-politicians to be appointed. In 1993 she
was the subject of a National Film Board
Documentary “Song of Eskasoni”. In 1996 she
wrote her autobiography. In 1997 she was
presented with the National Aboriginal
Achievement Award. Source:
The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(accessed January 2014) (2020) |
| |
Mary
Pratt
née West. Born March 15, 1935, Fredericton, New
Brunswick. Mary studied Fine Arts at Mount
Allison University It was while at university
she met Christopher Pratt. The couple married
September 12, 1957 and relocated to Scotland
were their first two children were born. Upon
returning to Newfoundland Mary completed her
Fine Arts Degree and two more children rounded
out the family. This artist is perhaps best
described as a photo realist. Her paintings of
common household items look so real, you might
think that there were a photograph! Many of the
subjects of her works are thins found in the
kitchen of her home, like the work entitled
”Christmas Turkey” (1980). Her works have been
exhibited since 1967 in major Canadian galleries
and form part of the collections of the National
Gallery of Canada, the Rooms, the Art Gallery of
Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick Museum,
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery,
the Art Gallery of Ontario and Canada House,
London England. Her works have often toured
including the 2013-2015 solo exhibition simply
entitled Mary Pratt. Mary has served her
community by holding positions on the Government
Task Force on Education in 1973 Newfoundland,
the Federal cultural Policy Review Committee.
She chaired the Sir Wilfred Grenfel College,
Corner Brook, Newfoundland Committee to advise
the creation of the School of Fine Arts. She has
also held position on the Canada Council
1987-1993 and being a member of the Board of
Regents of Mount Allison University 1983-1991.
In 1996 Mary was inducted a Companion of the
Order of Canada. Sadly she and her husband
Christopher separated in 2004. In 2007 Canada
Post honored Mary with a series of postage
stamps. In 2013 she became a member of the Royal
Canadian Academy of Arts. |
|
March 16 |
Patricia Irene Rideout-Rosenberg. née
Rideout. Born
March 16, 1931, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died
September 2006, Cambridge, Ontario. She was an
opera singer who has performed exclusively in
Canada. She performed major choral works with
most of Canada’s leading orchestras and choral
societies. .She specializes in contemporary
Canadian music. Bruce Mather wrote Madrigals
Three for her. She also appeared in movies
from the mid 1950's to 1960. (2017) |
| |
Kate Patricia
Colleen Nelligan.
Born March 16, 1950, London, Ontario. Kate began
studies at York University but switched to the
Central School of Speech and Drama in London,
England. . She was born in London, Ontario, and
studied at York University and in London,
England. She began her stage career in Bristol,
England. and appeared in the British TV series The
Onedin Line. In 1974 she joined the Comedy
Theatre and later the National Theatre
Company. As an actress, she has appeared in
films for over 30 years. She is at home in both
cinema and TV. In the movie Up Close and
Personal she worked along side of leading
actor Robert Redford. A count shows 29 movies
and TV productions since 1990 alone! In 1991 she
earned a British Academy of Film and Television
Arts (BAFTA) for Best Actress in a Supporting
Role. In 1993 she won a Gemini Award. She has
also received Toni nominations for her work on
Broadway. She has also worked on several TV
specials including the mini series A Wrinkle
in Time in 2002. |
|
March 17 |
Clara Morrison. née
La Montagne. Born March 17, 1848,
(sometimes recorded as 1846)
Toronto, Ontario. Died November 20, 1925, New
Canaan Connecticut, U.S.A. As a youth
Clara studied ballet moving to Cincinnati, Ohio
and finally settling in New York, U.S.A. in 1870
to play in the Fifth-avenue Theatre. It was hear
that her stage career took off. Her stage name
was Clara Morris also known as the “Queen of the
Melodrama”. She is said to have had the ability
to bring a whole audience to tears with her
acting. From 1885 through 1910 she devoted her
talents to writing, publishing some 12 books.
She wrote actively after retiring from the stage
contributing articles on acting to various
magazines and wrote a daily newspaper column for
ten years. She became blind in 1910 and after
her home was sold she moved to Long Island, New
York, U.S.A. She would later write her life
story in three volumes of memoirs. |
| |
Lillian H. Smith. Born
March 17, 1887, London, Ontario. Died
1983. Graduating with her BA from the University
of Toronto in 1910 Lillian trained as a
children's librarian at he Carnegie Library in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In 1911 she
worked at the Children's Department of the New
York Public Library and within three weeks of
being hired she was in charge of the children's
room at the Washington Heights Branch Library in
New York City, U.S.A. The following year in 1912
she was hired to organize the children's
department for the city of Toronto. She would
devote the next 40 years of her working life to
the development of the children's collection
within the Toronto Public Library. Lillian was
the 1st trained children's librarian in Canada.
Lillian also led the idea of the importance of
libraries in schools. In 1928, when the
University of Toronto established its post
graduate Library School, Lillian was on staff to
teach Children's literature until she retired in
1952.In the early 30's she served on the
Executive Board of the American Library
Association and chaired it's Children's Services
Division thorough the 1940's. In 1930 she
developed a special classification system fitted
to children's books. This system was in use for
some 30 years before it was accepted that the
Dewey Classification would be used in the
Toronto Board of Education. Up until 1999 some
public libraries still used the Smith
classification for picture books. Retiring in
1952 her legacy was in print with her book The
Unreluctant Years. The book was also
translated into Italian and Japanese. In 1962
she was the 1st Canadian to earn the Clarence
Day Award. It is in her honor that the Toronto
main children's library is named; The Lillian H.
Smith Library. It houses an electronic resource
center, the Osborne Collection of Early
Children's books, the Lillian H. Smith
Collection, the science fiction fantasy and
horror collection (known as the Merrit
Collection), the Bagshaw collection of puppetry
and children's drama, videos, CD's and lots and
lots of children's books to be read and loved. Sources:
Personnel Toronto Public Library 2002 |
| |
Pat Messner. Born
March 17, 1954, Hamilton, Ontario. This former
Girl Guide was the first Canadian woman to win a
world championship in waterskiing in 1979. She
is also the first Canadian woman to win an
Olympic medal in her sport. Pat won a bronze
Olympic medal in the 1972 Olympic Games in
Munich, Germany. She holds 19 Canadian titles
and 20 national records. She is also the first
Canadian woman to have won the United States
Master’s waterskiing title. She is the founder
of the Water Ski and Wakeboard Canadian Hall of
Fame. In her spare time she has a career as a
high school teacher, musician and paramedic. She
was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1980,
the youngest Canadian woman to ever receive this
honour.
Photograph
© Famous Canadian
Women |
|
March 18 |
Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott. née
Babin. Born March 18, 1869, St. André Est,
Quebec. Died September 2, 1940, Montreal,
Quebec. Her father abandoned Maude after the
death of her mother and the child was legally
adopted and raised by her maternal grandmother,
Mrs. William Abbott. Maude was one of the 1st
women to receive a BA from McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec in 1890.Four years later she
earned Medical Degree with honours from Bishop's
University, Lennoxville, Quebec as the only
woman in her class. She opened her own medical
practice in Montreal where she also worked with
the Royal Victoria Hospital and was elected as
the 1st woman to be a member of the Montreal
Medico-Chirugical Society. She went on to post
graduate medical studies in Vienna, Austria. In
1906 she co-founded the International
Association of Medical Museums with fellow
Canadian, Dr. William Osler. In 1907 she served
as the secretary and spent years editing the
institution's articles. This doctor wrote a
successful medical paper on heart murmurs, but a
male friend had to present her paper since women
were not admitted to the hall where the paper
was presented! In 1910 she became a lecturer in
pathology at McGill University even though the
university did not accept female students.
Leaving McGill she worked at the Women's Medical
College of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. in 1923. In 1924
she founded the Federation of Medical Women of
Canada. By 1925 she was once again at McGill
working as an Assistant professor. Later she
would specialize on heart disease and eventually
published the “Atlas of Congenital Cardiac
Disease" in 1936 for which she gained a good
deal of respect. She also wrote a history of
nursing, a basic text for Canadian nursing
schools. She was even made an honorary member of
the all-male Osler Society. In 1958 the
International Academy of Pathology created the
Maude Abbott Lecture. In 1993 she was declared a
f National Historic Person of Canada and the
following year she was inducted into the
Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. In
2000, a bronze plaque was erected in her honour
on the McIntyre Medical Building at McGill
University. In the same year, Canada
Post issued a forty-six cent postage
stamp entitled The Heart of the Matter in her
honour |
| |
Mary Evelyn Gannon.
Born February 11, 1900, Fredericton, New
Brunswick. Died January 3, 1975, Fredericton,
New Brunswick. Mary was a delightful child with
a marvelous wit. She loved the stories her
grandparents told and enjoyed even more sharing
her own stories with her students where she
taught school. In 1935 Mary began to tell her
stories on C F N B, Fredericton Radio. Her
Just Mary and Maggie Muggins stories
soon were available on books for children to
enjoy over and over again. The CBC soon came to
call and offer Mary a Toronto position as head
of the CBC Children’s broadcasting. In 1954 her
characters made their TV debut with national
exposure. By the time she had retired and moved
back to her beloved Maritimes in 1962 she had
written over 30 books and over 4,000 scripts for
children’s programs. In 1947 the CBC presented
Mary Gannan with the Beaver Award and in 1951
she was made an honorary member of the Mark
Twain Society. Source:
Marilyn Brinell, Memories of Mary Online
(Accessed November 2012) ; Andrea Bell, “Mary
Gannon”, New Brunswick Literary
Encyclopedia Online (accessed November 2012)
|
|
March 19 |
Marie Morin. Born
March 19, 1649, Quebec City, New France. . Buried
April 8,1730, Montreal, New France (Now Quebec).
At the age of 13 she became an novitiate of a
convent in Montreal. She took her vows as a nun
with the Religious Hospitallers of Ville, Marie,
Montreal. on October
27, 1671. She was the 1st Canadian born woman to
become a religious sister. She
would become bursar and superior of the
Hospitalièrs of Montreal. In
1693 through 1698 she was the 1st Canadian born
superior of the Hôtel-Dieu
de Montréal. Sister
Morin oversaw the rebuilding of the Hotel Dieu
beginning in 1689 and again when the new
structure burned on February 24 1695. She served
a second time as superior of her order from 1708
to 1711. She was also one of the 1st women
writers in New France. She wrote the annals of
the Hotel Dieu (1697-1725) and her own memoirs.
She was a heroic woman, a true product of the
early days of New France. (2017) |
| |
Betty Roodish Goodwin. Born
March 19, 1928, Montreal, Quebec. After
graduating High school she studied design at
Valentine's Commercial School of art, Montreal.
By the 1940's she had a career as a painter and
printmaker. In the 1960's she studied
printmaking at Sir George William University,
Montreal. She went on to represent Canada at
leading international events. Even after
participating in numerous exhibitions and solo
shows of her art she became dissatisfied with
her own work she destroyed much of her pieces
and began in 1968 to limit herself to drawings. Betty
received several awards, including the Prix
Paul-Émile Borduas in 1986, the Gershon Iskowitz
Prize of the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation and the
Art Gallery of Ontario in 1995, the Victor
Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award of the Canada
Council for the Arts in 1981, the Harold Town
Prize in 1998, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
Fellowship in 1988. She married a civil engineer
Martin Goodwin and the couple had one son. An
artist who trained in Canada and Europe, her
works are represented in the collections of the
National Gallery in Ottawa. In
1996 Goodwin donated 150 of her works to the Art
Gallery of Ontario, which has the largest
collection of her work. That same year she
earned the Harold Town Prize. In 2003, she was
honored with the Governor General's Award and
was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. |
|
March 20 |
Caroline
Brunet. Born March 20,1969, Quebec City, Quebec. In March
1998, Caroline became the recipient of the Velma
Springstead Award to become Canada's Outstanding
Female Athlete of the Year. Her recognition
began in 1995 when she won a gold and 2 silver
medals at the World Championships. In Atlanta's
Olympic Games in 1997 she claimed the silver
medal. She swept the World Sprint Canoe
Championships in 1997 when she won three gold
medals which represented "a best ever" Canadian
Kayak team performance. She gold medal also
represented a first for a Canadian woman in a
singles event. She also won a Bronze medal in
the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece before
taking her retirement. In 2009 she was inducted
into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. |
|
March 21 |
Jehane
Benoit. née
Patenaude. Born March 21,1904. Died November 24,
1987. She is best remembered as Madame
Benoit. This food consultant turned to TV as a
medium to explain Canadian cuisine to her home
and native land. She also published some 30
books to generate interest in her field. She
studied at the Cordon Bleu and held a degree as
a food chemist from the Sorbonne in France. She
opened her own cooking school in Montreal,
Fumet de la Vieille France. She also opened one
of the 1st Canadian vegetarian restaurants, the
Salad Bar in 1935. She became a proponent of
microware cooking and was hired as salesperson
for Panasonic microwaves. In 1973 she became an
Officer of the Order of Canada. |
|
March 22 |
Jane Mackenzie. née
Sym. Born March 22,1825. Died March 30, 1893.
On June 17, 1853 Jane would become the second
wife of Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892), second
Prime Minister of Canada married June 17, 1853.
She had no children but was stepmother to her
husband's daughter from his prior marriage. The
Toronto Globe newspaper described her as
"the best-known woman of Canada... and one of
the most admired and respected." It was a role
she did not really enjoy but she supported her
husband and entertained all of Ottawa's politicians. (2019) |
| |
Gabrielle Roy. Born
March 22, 1909, Saint Boniface, Manitoba. Died
July 13, 1983. After high school she attended
Winnipeg Norma School (teacher's College) and
taught in rural schools before  she
was appointed to Provencher School in Saint
Boniface. Just prior to world war ll she
traveled in Europe before the war forced her to
return home. Settling in Quebec she earned her
living as a sketch artist finding time to write
while working. Her 1st novel Bonheur d'occasion
appeared in 1945 and won for her the Prix Femina
in 1947. The book was translated and published
in English as the Tin Flute winning the 1st of
three Governor General's Award in Literature.
The book also won the Lorne Pierce Medal from
the Royal Society of Canada. Wish to avoid the
publicity of her successful book Gabrielle
returned to Manitoba. In August 1947 she married
a Saint Boniface doctor, Marcel Carbotte. A 3
time winner of the Governor General’s Award in
Literature as well as international award
holder, she is one of the most important
Canadian writers of the Post World War II Era in
Canada. Some of her works have been translated
into 15 different languages. In 1967 she became
a Companion of the Order of Canada. Her
autobiography, La Détresse et l'enchantement was
published posthumously and translated in 1984. The
movie Tramp
at the Door is dedicated to her
and supposedly depicts her childhood. On
September 29, 2004, the Bank
of Canada issued a $20
bank note in the Canadian
Journey Series which included a
quotation from her 1961 book The
Hidden Mountain (La Montagne
secrète), and its English translation by Harry
Binsse: "Could we ever know each other in the
slightest without the arts?" |
|
March 23 |
Amanda Michael Plummer. Born
March 23, 1957, New York, New York, U.S.A. Amanda
is the daughter of Canadian actor Christopher
Plummer. Amanda attended Middlebury College and
as a young adult she studied acting at the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in
New York City. Following her fathers love for
acting she won a Tony in 1982 in Agnes of God.
She has starred in such films as The Fisher
King, The World According to Garp, Pulp
Fiction, Dallmake, The Last Angel, and Triggerman. In
1996 she won a Cable Ace Award for The Right
to Remain Silent and an Emmy Award for her
guest appearance on The Outer Limits TV
show. With movies and TV she has had some
9 appearances in 2002 alone! In 2005 she was
awarded a second Emmy for her appearance on in Miss
Rose White, a Hallmark made for television
film. She has also had success on
Broadway and off Broadway stage performances. |
| |
Marta Neilson.
Born March 23, 1961, Ottawa, Ontario. Died April
29, 2014, Toronto, Ontario. Evan as a child
Marta wanted to be a filmmaker, rather than a
formal institutional education Marta choose to
become apprentice with Bruce Nyznik and Peter
Tilley. In 1991 her 1st film, The Train of
Thought, appeared just after Via Rail cancelled
the last regularly scheduled transcontinental
passenger train in Canada. In 2006 she brought
out Shattered Dreams, a documentary about
disadvantaged youth in Toronto. This was
followed by Saviour of Ceylon showing the
heroism of RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force)
officer Leonard Birchall. There was also a seven
part TV series, Being 80 with Jean Vanier. In
all she edited or directed 30 films with Jean
Vanier the founder of the international
Organization, L’Arch that assists
developmentally handicapped. Diagnosed with
cancer she faced her disease with courage and
face on. Marta had one son with Peter Hastings.
Source: Richard Nielson, Lives
Lived, Martha Nielson, the Globe and Mail, July
8, 2014.
|
|
March 24 |
Agnes Campbell
Macphail. Born
March 24, 1890, Preston Township, Grey County,
Ontario. Died February 13, 1954, Toronto,
Ontario. Like many young women of her era she
attended Normal School (Teacher’s College) after
high school. She taught in numerous schools  in
Ontario and Alberta. She
was the 1st and only woman elected to
the Canadian parliament in 1921 when women
finally had the right to vote. A
pacifist she was a member of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom and
in 1929 she became the
1st woman nominated to the Canadian
delegation to the League of Nations (forerunner
to the United Nations). As
the 1st woman to inspect Kingston Penitentiary, it left
her a lifelong advocate for better conditions of
women in prison. In 1935 the Royal Commission to
Investigate the Penal System in Canada and the
1939 Penitentiary Bill with 88 recommendations
for change were no doubt influenced by her
efforts. She became a founding member of the
C.C.F., Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(forerunner of the National Democratic Party).
Losing her federal seat in the 1940 election,
she toured giving lectures and wrote for the
Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper before
turning her attention to provincial politics. In
1943 she was 1 of 2 women elected to the Ontario
Legislative Assemble where
she continued to support farmers, industrial
workers, prison inmates and women’s rights. In
1951 she saw the passage of the 1st equal
pay legislation in the province. She
was also the founder of the Elizabeth Fry
Society of Canada which even today works to give
help to women in need. She died just prior to
have been offered a seat in the Canadian
senate. Sources: The
Canadian Encyclopedia Online Accessed
2001); Agnes Macphail website Online
(accessed 2003) |
| |
Joy Roberts White.
Born March 24,
1910, England. Died January 3, 2013, Edmonton,
Alberta. Privately educated she decided against
any of the accepted career choices and took off
to be a reporter. She worked during her career
for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
Reuters and the Canadian Television (CTV) She
worked with Reuters from 1935 through 1944
interviewing such notables as Emperor Haile
Selasie. During the war she was a member of the
U.S. Air Force. From 1948-1954 she owned a PR
organization serving such notables as the
actress Deborah Kerr. She immigrated to Edmonton
Alberta when she was 44 where she owned and
operated an accessories and hat shop while she
continued to serve as a reporter, playwright and
a theatre reviewer and taught Radio and TV Arts
at the University of Alberta! In the 1960’s she
hitch hiked to the Distance Early Warning Line
(DEW LINE) that was set up as defence for the
north during the cold war, to interview Canadian
troops. She was a proud member of the Canadian
Woman’s Press Club.
Source: Joy Roberts-White
1910-2013, The Ottawa Citizen January 26,
2013. |
|
March 25 |
Ethel Dorothy Blondwin-Andrews. Born
March 25, 1951, Tulita, Northwest Territories.
Ethel attended various schools including
residential school and Grandin College
Leadership Program at Fort Smith. She followed
this with a teacher certificate from Arctic
College prior to earning her Bachelor of
Education from the University of Alberta in
1974. She was one of the 1st accredited
Aboriginal teachers in the North, teaching in
Tuktoyaktuk, Délįnę, Fort Providence, and
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. From
1984-1986, she served as a Senior Public Servant
with the Public Service Commission in Ottawa and
before returning to the north to join the
Government of the Northwest Territories as
Assistant Deputy Minister for Culture from 1986
to 1988 where she served on the Arctic Institute
of North America for two terms as well as the
Assembly of First Nations Language Committee and
worked on the Special Committee on Education for
the Government of the Northwest Territories. In
1988, Ethel was elected as a Liberal from the
District of the Western Arctic to the Canadian
Parliament, the 1st aboriginal woman
elected to the House of Commons. She went on to
win the next four federal elections in 1993,
1997, 2000, and 2004. Under Prime Ministers Jean
Chrètien and Paul Martin she would be appointed
to the Cabinet as Secretary of State, then
Minister of State for Children and Youth. She
returned to the North to work as Chairperson for
Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated the organization
created by the Sahtu region’s seven land
corporations to ensure the Sahtu land claim
(signed in 1994) is properly implemented. Sources:
Ethel Blondwin-Andrews. Canadian House of
Commons. Online (Accessed 2004) ; Ethel
Blondwin-Andrews, Biography. Sahtu Secretariat
INC. Online (accessed July 2015) |
| |
Elizabeth Legge.
Born March 25, 1952. After university studies in
Toronto and England she became a curator of Fine
Arts and worked at in Winnipeg before returning
to the University of Toronto (U of T) to teach
post 1945 art and be curator at the U of T Art
College. She is also and author and editor in
her field. Her personal recreation is to create
soft sculpture caricatures.
(2017) |
|
March 26 |
Marie Catherine Pélissier
Sales Laterière. née
Delezenne. Born March 26, 1755, Quebec. Died
1831. As a young woman she was forced to marry a
man more than twice her age, Christophe
Pélissier, in 1775. During her arranged marriage
she continued her affair with the man she really
loved, Sale de Laterière. The lovers eventually
signed a marriage contract for which she was
excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In 1779
Laterière was imprisoned for treason. Marie
visited him in prison until his release in 1782.
They became legally married in 1799 with the
death of Pélissier. She is perhaps a true symbol
of one who fought for the rights of
individuals. |
| |
Phyllis Marion Boyd. Born
March 26,1946. In 1968 Marion graduated from
Glendon College, York University, Toronto,
Ontario. She was elected to the Ontario
Legislative Assembly in 1990. She has held
several cabinet posts including Minister
responsible for Women's Issues and
Attorney-General for the Province of Ontario. She
is the 1st woman and the 1st non lawyer to have
been Ontario's Attorney General. She
has been honoured many times for her work on
behalf of battered women, an area in which she
still serves with great zeal. |
|
March 27 |
Elizabeth Muriel Elsie Gregory MacGill. Born
March 27, 1905, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died
November 4, 1980, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
U.S.A. She became Canada’s 1st
 woman graduate
to hold a degree in electrical engineering. She
also held a master’s degree in aeronautical
engineering from the U.S. During WW II her
primary responsibility was the production of the
Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. Her staff of
4,500 people produced more than 2000
aircraft. In 1937 she was the 1st woman to be
admitted corporate membership in the Engineering
Institute of Canada. In the 1940 an American
comic book featured Elsie by her nickname Queen
of the Hurricanes referring to her role in the
production of the Hawker Hurricane fighter
aircraft. In 1943 she married an aviation
project works manager E. J. 'Bill' Souls and the
couple opened an aeronautical consulting
business. In 1946 she became the 1st woman
serving as a Technical Advisor for the
International Civil Aviation Organization. The
following year she became the 1st woman to chair
a United Nations Committee becoming chairman of
the UN Stress Analysis Committee. In 1953
she was one of only 50 people, and the only
woman, to have her picture in the Gervaert
Gallery of Canadian executives honour her
contributions and influence. That same year she
published the biography of her mother: My
Mother the Judge: A Biography of Judge
Helen Gregory MacGill. She became an
honourary member of the American Society of
Women Engineers and was named Woman Engineer of
the Year becoming the 1st woman out of the
United States to earn this award. In 1967 she
received the Canadian Centennial Medal and in
1971 she received the Order of Canada. for her
accomplishments as an engineer and for being a
member of the Royal Commission on the Status of
Women, the National Action Committee on the
Status of Women and the Ontario Status of Women
Committee. . She is a member of Canada’s
Aviation Hall of Fame and in 1992 she was among
the 1st to be listed in the Canadian Science
and Engineering Hall of Fame. |
| |
Jann Arden. Born
March 27, 1962, Calgary, Alberta. Her full name
is Jann Arden Richards. As a youth she wanted to
be a teacher but preferred life as a musician.
She would fight off alcoholism at age 26 and use
her talents to release her first album in 1993.
She has been recognized with 19 Juno Award
nomination and received 8 including Songwriter
of the Year in 1995 and 2002, and Female Artist
of the Year in 1995 and 2001.
In 2006 she received a star on Canada's Walk of
Fame in Toronto. November that year she received
the National Achievement Award from the Society
of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of
Canada (SOCAN) for having six singles
reach the 100,000 airplay mark on Canadian
radio. In November 2007, Arden was inducted into
the Canadian
Association of Broadcasters Hall of
Fame, and was the winner of the International
Achievement Award at the 2007 Western
Canadian Music Awards. December 29,
2017 she became a Member of the Order of Canada
not only for her music but also in recognition
of her extensive charitable works. She has
published her memoirs several times in 2002,
t2004, 2011 and 2017. |
|
March 28 |
Frances Ramsey Simpson.  née
Simpson. Born March 28, 1812, London, England.
Died March 21, 1853. (Lady Simpson) She
married her cousin, George Simpson, February 24
1830. His career a Governor with the Hudson Bay
Company would bring her to Canada. She and her
companion, Catherine Turner, wife of another HBC
employee, were the first white women to travel
to remote Hudson Bay Company areas. After a
visit to Rainey Lake ( in modern Ontario) the
settlement was named Fort Frances in her
honour. Living in Red River she became homesick
and lonely and remained semi invalided after the
birth and death of her first child. Eventually
the family settled permanently in Lachine Quebec
in 1845 and raised their five Canadian born
children.
Public domain |
| |
Karen Kain. Born
March 28 1951, Hamilton, Ontario. Karen trained
at the National Ballet School, Toronto, Ontario.
She joined the Corps de Ballet of the National
Ballet of Canada in 1969. A prima ballerina,
Karen has won international recognition for her
dancing. At 19 years of age she was the
principal dancer of the National Ballet of
Canada. In 1973 she earned the silver medal in
the Women's category at the International Ballet
Competition in Moscow, Russia. In 1983 Karen
married Ross Petty, a stage and film actor. In
1991 she was elevate to the level of Companion
of the Order of Canada. In 1997 after her fair
well tour she became Artist-in-residence at the
National Ballet. She has been named an Officer
of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. In
1997 she received a Governor General's National
Arts Centre Award and received a Governor
General's Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award in
2002. From
2004 to 2008, she was Chair of the Canada
Council for the Arts. In 2007, she was presented
with the Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award for
demonstrating excellence and professionalism in
the performing arts. In 2008, the Karen Kain
School for the Arts officially opened,She
is the founding president and president for life
of the Dancer Transition Centre which is
dedicated to helping retrain retiring
professional dancers. In 2005 she was named
Artistic Director of the National Ballet. In
2011 she received the Distinguished Artist Award
from the International Society for the
Performing Arts. Her Biography Movement
Never Lies may be found at your library. |
| |
Carol Ann Cole.  Born
March 28. She has written 5 of books including Comfort
Hearts; a personal memoir. She is the
founder of Comfort Heart Initiative which raised
over a million dollars for Cancer Research. Maclean's Magazine recognized
her as one of 12 outstanding Canadians in 1998.
Among the many awards she hold are the Terry Fox
Citation of Honour, the YWCA Women's Recognition
Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in
2002. In 2001 she became a Member of the Order
of Canada. In 2005 she was listed as one
of 1,000 Great Women of the 21st Century from
the American Biographical Institute.
(2018) Photograph
used with permission |
|
March 29 |
Amelia
Yeomans. née
Le Sueur. Born March 29,1842. Died April 11,
1913. In 1878, after the death of her medical
doctor husband, Amelia and her daughter Lillian
decided to study medicine. Since there were no
schools in Canada accepting women as students
the two women studied in the U.S. Both
specialized in midwifery (birth of children) and
diseases affecting women and children in the
Canadian Midwest. Soon they were joined by
another daughter Charlotte who was a nurse. The
medical trio became champions of woman's
suffrage ( votes for women), temperance
(stopping excess drinking of alcohol) and
crusaded against prostitution and the diseases
of prostitution. Amelia had a great speaking
presence and lectured successfully for social
equality and improvement of life. Modern
Canadian women owe a lot to these social
pioneering women. |
| |
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace.
Born March 29, 1943, London, England. She
studies and did research at Oxford and London,
England. In 1970 she earned her PhD at the
University of British Columbia. In 1974 she
organized the first ultrafast laser laboratory
at the University of Toronto. In 1979 she earned
a Killam Senior Research Fellowship. In 1983 she
earned a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1984 the
E. W. R. Steacie Fellowship. She has taught at
Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France, Yale
University, U.S.A. and Stratford University,
U.S.A., the University of Toronto and done
research in Japan. She has served as the chair
of the Science Counsel of Canada, and is a
Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada. From 1990
to 1995 she was appointed president of McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario. |
|
March 30 |
Laurie Graham. Born
March 30,1960. Ski racing since the age of nine,
Laurie Graham made the national Ski team in
1978. The 1985-86 season was her most
successful. She recorded two World Cup Downhill
victories along with 2 second and 3 third place
finishes. The winner of a total of 6 World Cup
races, Laurie also represented Canada at the
Olympics in 1980, 1984 and 1988. Graham retired
after an eleven-year career. In 1991 she was
inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and
in 1993 the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In
1998 she became a Member of the Order of Canada.
In 2015 she was inducted into the Ontario Sports
Hall of Fame. (2017) |
| |
Céline
Dion. Born
March 30, 1968, Charlemagne, Quebec. Céline is
an internationally known recording artist and
superstar. She began performing with her family
when she was only five years old! Her first
song composed whe n she was 12 caught the eye of
manager René Angelil who financed the recording.
Her career advanced with the Gold Medal at the
Yamaha World Song Festival in 1982. There was
no looking back. She became the first Canadian
to receive a Gold Record in France. She recorded
the sound track for Disney's Beauty and the
Beast which would win and Academy Award and
a Grammy. Other movie hit songs have been in Sleepless
in Seattle and Titanic. She married
her manager and has chosen to slow her career to
have private time devoted to her family. She
returned to the stage to do her own show in Las
Vegas. She is a member of the Order of Canada. photograph
© Famous Canadian women |
|
March 31 |
Ethel Blanche Ridley.
Born March 31, 1874,
Belleville, Ontario. Died July 18, 1949,
Belleville, Ontario. Ethel graduated from St.
Hilda's College, University of Toronto with a
Bachelor of Arts in 1895. She followed this in
1899 by graduating from the New York Training
School for Nurses in the U.S.A. She served in
the Philippines during the Spanish American War
with the United States Army. Later she served as
a Medical Missionary in China. Returning to the
United States she worked at the Hospital for
Ruptured and Crippled in New York. September 16,
1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served
as Matron for the No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, and was posted to Le Touquet, France.
Returning to England she served in Granville,
Ramsgate and Buxton. In 1918 she was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire C B
E. After the war she worked as Directress of
Nursing at the Vancouver General Hospital,
British Columbia but soon left the position due
to ill health. Relocating to the United States
she worked at the New York Orthopaedic Hospital
as Director of Nurses until she retired in 1942
when she settled in Belleville, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online
(accessed 2021) |
| |
Beverley Rosen Simons. née
Rosen. Born March 31, 1938, Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Beverley studied at the Banff School of Fine
Arts, Alberta, McGill University, Montreal,
Quebec and the University of British Columbia. A
playwright of dramatic works she drew from her
own background for some of her play
settings. She also wrote of women elders,
studies of life in retirement homes and of the
contemporary human condition. She is considered
a Canadian playwright of significance. (2017) |
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