Famous Canadian Women's Historic Timeline - 1920-1929

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1920 AD to 1929 AD
Events listed relate to Canadian women with a few extra items added to give the timeline perspective.

This timeline is not all inclusive.

The timeline was fun to prepare and hopefully it will be fun to read. Perhaps it will even be useful.

Events listed are drawn from various sources including those listed on other areas of http://famouscanadianwomen.com

If you wish more information on the women listed in this timeline be sure and check out the birthdays listed in
"Do you share a birthday with a famous Canadian woman?"

LAST UPDATED September 2009

DATES	EVENTS
1920	Esther Marjorie Hill (1895-1985) becomes the first woman architect in Canada when she graduates from the University of Toronto. Canada joins the League of Nations. July 1 - The Dominion Elections Act, uniform franchise is established and the right for women to be elected to parliament is made permanent. Source: Dominion Elections Act Statues of Canada C 46 S 38. June - The Catholic Women's League is formed in Montreal. Source Jean Bannerman Leading Ladies Canada. Belleville, ON: Mika Publishing, 1977 pg 39 The Canadian Food and Drug Act protects Canadians against heal hazards and fraud from sale of food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices. Eaton's Department Stores open a regional mail order headquarters in Moncton, New Brunswick. Eaton's mail order business peaks at 60 million dollars! Source: Before e-commerce : a history of mail order catalogues http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/catooooe.html December 2004. Births: Born Mae Ames (1920- ) stage actor who has kept active with a seniors travelling troop. Born Mary Ierullo ( 1920- ) first Italian Canadian woman real estate broker and tireless worker for new immigrants to Canada. Born Mary L. Richmond (1920-2002) teacher of nursing and nursing history advocate. January 7 - Born Margaret Anne Wilson Thompson ( 1920- ) leading researcher in the field of muscular dystrophy. May 6 - Born Ethel Viola Bieber (1920-1988) national and provincial swimming champion of the 1930's. May 7 - Born Laddie Dennis (1920 - 2009) the first Canadian woman to appear on Canadian television. Deaths: September 5 - Died Susan Agnes Bernard Macdonald (1836-1920) , Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe, second wife of Sir John A. Macdonald and Canada's firs "first lady".
1921	Mary Ellen Smith (1863-1933) is appointed to the provincial legislative Cabinet in British Columbia. She the first woman Cabinet minister in the British Empire. Source: British Columbia Federation of Labour. http://bcfed.com/issues/women/history February 1 - Jenny Dill ( - 1941) leaves Halifax to star out on a cross Canada walk with her husband. They finished their walk in Vancouver June 14, 1921. Source: The Great Hike Suite101.com/article.cfm/ultra_distance_running/7936 (accessed May 2005) December 6 - Agnes Campbell Macphail. (1890-1954.) She was the only woman elected to the Canadian parliament in 1921 when women first had the right to vote for parliament. She is the first woman to sit in the Canadian Parliament. The first ladies 5 pin bowling league is stated in Toronto by Marion Dibble Source: 5-pin Bowline History http://www.cvnet.net/burnstd/ located May 2005. British Columbia passes the first maternity leave legislation granting women 6 weeks leave. March 26 - The bluenose is launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The Canadian government publishes and distributes the Canadian Mother's Book. Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : Women of the Great Whit North by Anne Douglas Toronto, McArthur & co, 2002. The Toronto Ladies Athletic Club, the first all-women's multi-sports club in Canada is established by Alexandrine Gibb. Source: Status of Women Canada. Adult fact Sheet Women and sports in Canada: an historical overview. (Ottawa, 2002) Women are 16% of the total number of undergraduate students enrolled in Canadian universities. Women professors are 15% of the total number of professors. Source: Canadian Chronology Http://tdi.uregina.ca/~,agiorec/chron.html (accessed April 28, 2003) Quaker Oats Company introduces quick-cooking oatmeal. It is one of the first 'Convenience foods. Source: Culinary Journey. A Retired cookware executive from New York invents a tea kettle that whistles when the water comes to a boil. Source: Culinary Journey. Births: Born: the commercial figure: Betty Crocker. Born Jean Edmonds, first female executive in the Federal government in 1966. Born Mae Harman (1921 ?- 2005) social activist for seniors. Born Rosaleen Diana Leslie Dickson ( 1921- ) Journalist p, publisher, author, web mistress. Born Kay Martin Snelgrove (1921-2005) heroine spy and code runner during World War ll. April 30 - Born Marion Bell Macrae. historical architect and teacher at the Ontario College of Art. June 25 - Born Celia Franca, Prima ballerina and founding artistic director of the national Ballet of Canada. August 11 - Born Ellen Burka, sport coach who is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. September 16 - Born Ursula Martius Franklin, (1921- ) specialist and pioneer in the structure of metals and alloys. Deaths: January - Died Beatrice LaPalme (1881-1921) Opera singer. May 23 - Died Flora Macdonald Denison (1867-1921) Journalist and suffragist and successful Toronto businesswoman. October 4 - Died Mary Augusta Reid (1854-1921) landscape painter, interiors and murals. November 10 - Died Jenny (Jennie) Trout,(1841-1921) pioneer medical doctor, the first Canadian woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada.
1922	*January 16- Violet Guymer* (1885-1955)** becomes the first woman to be a licensed Funeral Director in Canada when she is granted her embalmers license in Manitoba. Source: Quite and undertaking: the story of Violet Guymer, Canada's firs female licensed funeral director by Elizabeth Lycar and Lorrie Guymer Hutton, (Kelowna, B.C. : Nip and Tuck Publishing, 1966) May 3 - Prince Edward Island women win the rights to vote and to hold provincial office. The Blender is invented but used only for bartending or for blending malts. It would have to wait until 1936 before it made it appearance as a domestic appliance. Source: Culinary Journey. Dr. Frederick Banding and Dr. Charles Best along with researcher John. MacLeod and chemist James Collip discover insulin as a medical application for Diabetes. Births: Born Madeleine Hinchey (1922-2005) former secretary general to the National Research Council January 3 - Born Anne Szumigalski (1922-1999) Poet and winner of the Governor General's Award in poetry 1995. January 11 - Born Mabel McIntosh ( 1922- ) noted North American Ornithologist. January 21 - Born twins Rhona and Rhoda Wurtele Champion swimmers and female athletes of the year 1944. February 25 - Born Molly Reilly, the first Canadian woman to be a corporate pilot. April 18 - Born Elizabeth Hillman Waterston ( 1922- ) educator, author and critic. April 26 - Born Jeanne Sauvé,(1922-1993) journalist and politician, the first woman to be appointed Speaker of the House of Commons and the first woman to be Governor General of Canada. August 11 - Born Mavis Gallant and author and playwright, Companion of Order of Canada. September 1 - Born Yvonne De Carlo, actress best know for the Munsters. Deaths: July 22 - Died Sara Jeanette Duncan ( 1862-1922) Journalist and author of some 20 books. August 20 - Died Emma Graham (? - 1922) Journalist and author. November 8 - Died Jane Elizabeth MacDonald (1864-1922) author and poet.
1923	*February 10 - Winnifred Blair* (1903-1983)** of Saint John, New Brunswick, becomes the first "Miss Canada" at the Montreal Winter Fair. Source: The Fairest Girl by David Goss in The Beaver Feb./March 2003 vol. 83.1 pg. 29 March 8 - Winnifred Blair (1903-1983), Miss Canada, is the first woman to sit on the 'floor', of a Canadian parliament when she attends the opening of the New Brunswick Legislature, sitting just off to the side of the 'Throne'. Source: The Fairest Girl by David Goss in The Beaver Feb./March 2003 vol. 83.1 pg. 29 Kellogg's develops the firs "Test Kitchen". GRRRREAT! Births: Born Jean Southworth (1923-2008) pioneer newspaper journalist and musician. February 3 - Born Helen Lawrence (1923- ) Buckley economist and writer. March 2 - Born Ghitta Calserman-Roth, renowned artist. April 25 - Born Melissa Hayden, internally renownd prima ballerina. May 5 - Born Cathleen Morawetz award winning mathematician. July 13 - Born Hélène Brodeur, educator and award winning author. September 18 - Born Bertha Wilson, first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. September 27 - Born Jocelyne Binet (1923-1968) composer, pianist, teacher. September 30 - Born Thérése Gouin Decarie, professor of Psychologie and author. Deaths: Died Ada May Courtice (1860-1923) founder of the Home and School Movement. Died May Sexton social activist for technical education for women. May 7 - Died Florence Carlyle (1864-1923) outstanding portrait artist. October 8 - Died Gertrude Moffatt (1884-1923) poet. October 9 - Died Lily Dougall (1868-1923) novelist and religious writer. November 2 - Died Minnie Caroline Forsyth-Grant ( ? -1923) author.
1924	Phyllis Munday (1894-1990.) and Annette Buck become the first women to reach the summit of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Cecile Eustace Smith, a 15 year old figure skater, is the frist Canadian woman to represent Canada in an Olympic Games. She skated in both the Ladies individual and in the pairs events. at the first official Olympic Games, Chamonix, France. Source: Status of Women Canada. Adult fact Sheet Women and sports in Canada: an historical overview. (Ottawa, 2002) Angelina Napolitano (1883?- ????) is released from Kingston Penitentiary after serving some 12 years of a life sentence for killing her abusive husband in 1911. She had originally be sentenced to hang but British and North American wide protests got the original sentence changes. She dropped from site once out of prison. Frozen foods are invented by Clarence Birdseye Source : Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : women of the Great White North by Ann Douglas Toronto, McArthur and Co., 2002. pg 14. January 26 - an Order-in Council mandates the use of the Canadian Red ensign on Canadian Government buildings outside Canada. It is is the first officially allowed use of the Red Ensign flag on land, although it has been used unofficially for many years. April 1- the Royal Canadian Air Force is formed. The Popsicle is Patented. Source: Culinary Journey. Slurrrrrrp! Births: Born Mary Clark Payne. Medical missionary with the United Church of Canada. Born Lucille Johnstone (1924-2004) volunteer social worker and entrepreneur who is in both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada. January 10 - Born Ludmilla Chairiaeff, Riga, Latvia. (1924-1996) Founder of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. January 20 - Born Marcelle Ferron, a member of a group of artists known as Les Automatistes. January 29 - Born Lois Catherine Marshall (1924-1997) international Opera singer. February 2- Born Geneviève Salbaing (1924- ) co-founder of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal. March 11 - Born Eva Von Gencsy founder of Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal. June 2 - Born June Callwood, author and officer of the Order of Canada. Deaths: Died Margaret "Miggsy" Graham (1870-1924) journalist. January 24 - Died Ellen Mary Knox (1858-1924) founding principal of Havergal Ladies College, Toronto, Ontario. March 2- Died Adeline Margaret Teskey (1853-1924) author. November 24 - Died Blanche Lucile Macdonald (1853-1924) author.
1925	April 13 - Newfoundland women won the rights to vote and to hold provincial office. The Federal Divorce Law allows women to obtain a divorce on the same grounds as men, simple adultery. Births: April 1 - Born Tobie Thelma Steinhouse, artist and printmaker. June 10 - Born Francoise Sullivan, renouned artist. October 5, Born Charlotte Johnson ( 1925 - ) National President of the Women's Institutes and community volunteer. Deaths: Died Josephine Dandurand (1862-1925) journalist who used the pen name "Josette" Died Dr Lenora King (1851-1925) first doctor to serve in China, she was made a Manderain by the Chinese. April 27 - Died Norah Mary Holland , (1876-1925) poet. May 8 - Died Pamela Anne McDougal, diplomat and public servant November 20 - Died Clara Morrison (1848-1925), stage actress known as the "Queen of the Melodramas".
1926	November 18 - The Balfour Commission declares all British dominions as autonomous and equal in status. Mlle Thais Frémont founds the Conservative Women's Association for Quebec City. The memorial in honour of nursing sisters of World War I, located in the Hall of Honour, centre block Parliament Buildings, Ottawa is unveiled. Source: Canadian Nurses in World War I. Trent University Archives: Fowlds Exhibit http://www.trentu.ca/library/archives/ffowldswelcome.htm (accessed July 22, 2005) The Women's Amateur Athletic Federation (WAAF) of Canada is formed . Source: Status of Women Canada. Adult fact Sheet Women and sports in Canada: an historical overview. (Ottawa, 2002) Lela Brooks,( 1908- ) a speed skater, wins the world title Saint John New Brunswick…Canada’s first woman to be a world champion. Dr. Allie Vibert Douglas (1894-1988) is the first woman in Canada to graduate with a PhD in astrophysics. Source: Historical figures in Astronomy by Carmen Rush, Royal Astronomy Society of Canada http://www.ottawa.rasc.ca/astronomy/history/av_douglas/ (accessed July 28, 2005) Four new vitamins are identified by the mid 1920's. Cod Liver Oil is recommended for children as a suplement for vitamin D. It is administered in a liquid form and has its original fish flavour, no "taste good" flavourings are added. Shudddder! Births: Born Betty Kennedy (1926- ) well know radio and Television personality, appointed to the senate in 2000. Born Margaret Beckman (1926-2008) internationally acclaimed modern pioneer in Library Science. February 3 - Born Winnie Roach-Leuszler (1926-2004) acclaimed international swimmer who was the first Canadian woman to swim the English Channel. March 1 - Born Anne Kahane, international prize winning sculptor. March 9 - Born Flavia Elliott Redelmeier, social volunteer. March 17 - Born Marjory Shedd, champion badminton player who also excelled in volleyball and basketball. May 25 - Phyllis Fay Gotlieb, author. June 3 - Born Flora MacDonald, politician and first woman to hold a major cabinet post as secretary of State for External Affairs. July 14 - Born Doreen Hume, operatic soprano. July 18 - Born Margaret Lawrence, (1926-1987) award winning author. July 26 - Born Erminie Cohen, respected businesswoman recognized with an award from the United Nations and Senator. August 9 - Born Mabel M. DeWare, appointed to the Canadian Senate 1990. November 9 - Born Mary Louise Morrison (1926- ) acclaimed soprano and Officer of the Order of Canada Deaths: March 31 - Died Janet Carnochan (1839-1926) Teacher and historian.
1927	The first coast-to-coast radio network broadcast celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. *Mary Travers (La Bolduc)* (1894-1941) is asked to sing to replace an ailing colleague at an event. The audience appreciated her talent and she began an successful singing career. Source : 100 Canadian heroines : Famous and forgotten faces by Merna Forester. Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2004. Everyday an average of four Canadian women die from childbirth. Source: http://www.niagara.com/`merrill/trivia.html *Mazo de La Roche* (1897-1961) publishes her first novel and begins a series called Jelna. Births: Born June Kander (1927-2004) educator and humanitarian. Born Gisele Mackenzie (1927-2005) accomplished violinist, singer and star of TV and the movies. January 24 - Born Phyllis Lambert, accomplished architect and founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture. January 27 - Born Edith Firth (1927-2005) librarian, bibliographer and author. February 14 - Born Lois Maxwell, (1927-2007) actress February 15- Born Marketa Gotz-Stankiewicz, award winning educator. April 7 - Born Elsie Dorothy Knowles, internationally acclaimed water colour artist. April 8 - Born Lois Miriam Wilson, the first woman to be president of the Canadian Council of Churches and the first woman to be Moderator of the United Church of Canada. - Born Phyllis Webb (1927- ) prolific Canadian poet. May 2 - Born Budge Wilson award winning author June 25 - Born Patricia Bates, a highly innovative artist. July 3 - Born Thèrése Renaud, author, poet, and painter. August 27 - Born Juliette (Juliette Sysak) , Well known singer and entertainer and TV personality. October 3 - Ashevak Kenojuak, Inuit artist famous for her native prints. Deaths: January 24 - Died Agnes Maule Machar (1837-1927) author, biographer and poet. January 27 - Died Margaret Smith Polson Murray (1844-1927) a social activist and founder of the Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire. July 2 - Died Annie Rothwell Christie (1837- 1927) author.
1928	March 14 - The "Famous Five", Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir *Edwards* and *Louise McKinney,* ask the Supreme Court of Canada if the word "person" in Section 24 of the British North America Act included persons that were female. *March 28 - Chatelaine Magazine* is published for the first time. Eileen Vollick (1908) of Hamilton Ontario becomes the first Canadian woman to earn a private pilot's license. April 24 - The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decides in the famous "Persons Case" that women were not "persons" who could hold public office as Canadian senators. (In 1929 the British Privy Council will reverse this decision.) Rose-Anna Vachon begins baking individual snake cakes that she will name for her sons=Joe-Louis. Source: http://www.vachon.com/ (accessed may 23, 2004) Women are allowed to compete in the modern Olympic Games for the first time. Canada sends a team that brings back gold medals!! Births: January 31 - Born Gathie Falk. A Canadian artist working in multimedia. February 26 - Born Monique Leyrac first great international star from French Canada. March 19 - Born Betty Goodwin, artist. April 21 - Born Joan Weir, author of novels for youth. May 9 - Born Barbara Anne Scott, winner of the gold medal in ladies figure skating in the 1948 Olympics. May 23 - Born Pauline Julien, actress, singer and songwriter. July 18 - Born Nora A. Cebotarev (1928-2007) professor and renowned sociologist October 31 - Born Diane Foster, (1928- ) accomplished television actor. December 4 - Born Marianne Florence Scott, first woman to be appointed as National Librarian (1984). Deaths: Died Rosa Portlock (1839-1928) author. March 4 - Died Victoria Grace Blackburn, journalist and noted dram critic. August 15 - Died Isabel Ecclestone MacKay (1875-1928) author, poet and playwright. October 4 -** Died Elizabeth Annie McGillivray Knowles (1866-1928) nature study artist.
1929	October 18 - The British Privy Council reverses the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the "Persons Case" and Canadian women become "Persons" with all rights accorded to the definition of persons including the right to sit in the Senate of Canada. Agnes Macphail (1890-1954) is sent to Geneva, Switzerland as Canada's first woman delegate to the League of Nations. Fewer than 4% of Canadian women work outside the home. Source: The Timechart of Canadian history by Meredith Macardle (2004) Sophie Strub's ( -1949) husband trades a barrel of her homemade pickles for food during the Great Depression. A family pickle business is born. Source: I know That Name by Mark Kearney & Randy Roy (Toronto: Hounslow, 2002) Births: Born Hilary Corbett (1929- ) costume designer for theatre and television. Born Shirley M. Stinson, nursing teacher, researcher and administrator Born Ernestine van Merle (1929-2006) Social activist who has a January 4 - Born Marion Loretta Reid (1929- ) the first woman to be appointed Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island ( 1990) February 8 - Born Thelma Chalifoux, Aboriginal member of Canadian Senate appointed 1997. February 12 - Born Marion Dewar, politician who was a mayor of Ottawa and social activist. May 10 - Born Antonine Maillet, a novelist and supreme storyteller. May 29 - Born Fernande Chiocchio (1929 - ) Mezzo-soprano, pianist and teacher. June 9 - Born Louise Maheux-Forcier, award winning novelist. August 26 - Born Madeleine Bernier (1929 - ) Pianist and accompanist. September 10 - Born Mimi Matte (1929- ) artist of popular works unique in their image. Deaths: May 10 - Died Aletta Elise Marty (1865-1929) Canada's first woman inspector of schools and author.