The
Famous Five: Canada’s Crusaders for Women’s Rights
Author:
Barbara Smith
Publisher:
Heritage House Publishing
Company Ltd.
138
pages, including: Prologue, Timeline, Acknowledgements, Notes,
Bibliographical Essay And References, Index, paperback
Reviewed
by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
Most
Canadians, I hope, have heard of the Famous Five. There
are statues of them in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
These
five women, although born and raised in various places, eventually
all ended up living in Alberta. They were socially active and
politically
progressive for their time; which is a bit of an irony in that
Alberta is one of the more conservative provinces in comparison with
some of the others.
Emily
Murphy was perhaps the most outspoken of them, and regarded as the
leader. Ironically, she was appointed as a judge, even though she was
not trained as a lawyer. However, she did develop significant
knowledge of the law and was most instrumental in getting the Persons
Case to the Privy Counsel—which ruled that women were persons under
the BNA Act, and hence entitled to the
same political positions as men, including to sit in the Senate.
Shortly after Lord Sankey’s ruling, Prime Minister Mackenzie King,
in February 1939, appointed Cairine Wilson to the Senate. Emily
Murphy, deeply desiring to be appointed to the Senate, was never
chosen. It was not until 1979 however, that Alberta’s first female
senator was appointed by Prime Minister Joe Clark, she was Martha
Bielish. In 1979, to mark
the 50th
anniversary of the Persons Case decision, October 18 is now observed
as “Persons Day” in Canada.
All
five women Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards,
Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby were committed advocates for
women’s right to vote,
more just legal rights for women concerning marriage, divorce,
adoption, property rights, dower rights, protection of children,
minimum wage agreements, widow’s allowances, and the temperance
movement. Another woman and feminist who may be considered “the
sixth member of the Famous Five” was Alice Jamieson, a Calgary
judge.
Of
the five women, three were elected to Alberta’s legislative
assembly—Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Nellie McClung. McKinney
was the first female parliamentarian in the British Empire. Irene
Parlby was reluctant to
become involved in politics, yet she was a well-respected MLA from
1921 to 1935.
Henrietta
Muir Edwards helped in founding the National Council of Women of
Canada, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and the Young Women’s
Christian Association.
Nellie
McClung was the author of over a dozen books, went on travelling
tours promoting them, a church elder, the only female delegate at the
1938 League of Nations convention in Geneva, Switzerland, and was
appointed to the first board of directors of the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation.
There
is, of course, a propensity to idealise people who are famous.
However, according to Smith: “...the Famous Five were staunch
supporters of eugenics.” (p. 101)
Smith
has provided readers with a valuable history of the Famous Five, her
Bibliographical Essay and References are most helpful for those who
would like to do further reading and research—including Books by
the Famous Five.
