People
nation builder: Martha Johanna Keski Antila
by | Aug 13, 1998
Nation-building can mean the undertaking of major national projects, like building the railway, food production, mining and lumbering. There’s another kind of nation-builder – mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend and citizen. read more
Ideas
August 2: Lammas celebration
by | Jul 29, 1998
What could be sweeter? Like all pagan beliefs and practices, the Celtic celebration of Lammas on August 2 revels in the abundance and the first harvest of summer. It is also a time to remember that not all peoples of the world experience the abundance that we in the west do. read more
People
entrepreneur: Rose Fortune
Jul 17, 1998
Rose Fortune goes down in mid-19th century history as one of Nova Scotia’s outstanding personalities. A real go-getter, she ran the Cartage Company of Annapolis Royal – a wheelbarrow service between the town dock and the hotels – and became the town’s self-appointed police officer. read more
People
Nova Scotia singer: Portia White
Jul 9, 1998
Portia White, when asked what made it possible for her to have a singing career, said “First you dream.” This is the name of a new play about Portia White, the Nova Scotia-born contralto, about to open in Halifax-Dartmouth at Eastern Front Theatre. Portia White was a gifted singer who combined a love of singing on the concert stage with a career as a teacher to gain renown as having one of Canada’s finest voices. She gained fame in the late 1930s and 40s, singing in recital halls. read more
People
writer: Nellie Letitia Mooney McClung
by | Jun 5, 1998
“Never retreat, never explain, never apologize – get the thing done and let them howl.” Nellie McClung not only said that, she acted on it. Nellie McClung has been described as epitomizing the first wave of feminism in Canada. She represented female factory workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and founded the Winnipeg Political Equality League responsible for winning the vote for women in Western Canada in 1916. Manitoba was the first province in Canada to do so. read more
People
Japanese dressmakers
by | Jun 1, 1998
Very few Canadians know much about the history of the Japanese in Canada, or the important role Japanese women played. They virtually started their own industry using and developing skills that they brought from Japan. They knew these skills could lead them to independence here. Now – with mechanization and cheap, exploited labour in Canada and around the world – these skills have all but disappeared, but for a time the Japanese were the dressmaking industry in British Columbia. read more
Ideas
the feminist bookmobile: CORA
by | May 29, 1998
If you lived in Southern Ontario in 1974, your summer days may have been enlivened with a visit from CORA, the bright red converted school bus that barreled through 31 towns with Judith Quinlan, Boo Watson and Ellan Woodsworth behind the wheel. Named after pioneer suffragist and writer E. Cora Hind, this travelling library, bookstore and women’s resource centre was the real deal on wheels. read more
People
activist: Gloria Greenfield
by | May 22, 1998
Do we ever see the ripple effect of our actions? In 1970 – the year the Royal Commission on the Status of Women reported – there were no shelters for battered women. No attention was paid to women’s health issues. There weren’t supportive places for women writers to meet. Then, Gloria Greenfield – a modest, hard-working Vancouver, British Columbia, woman – spearheaded the Vancouver Women’s Bookstore and the first fully residential transition house – changing the quality of women’s lives forever. read more
People
writer: Evelyn Lau
by | May 15, 1998
Evelyn Lau published the book, “The Diary of Evelyn Lau,” when she was 18. It documents the two years she spent on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, as a drug addict and teenage prostitute. The book explored the realities of a world on our streets that many Canadians had never thought about. Sixteen years after her book was published, young women and men still struggle with addiction and sexual exploitation. How can they break the cycle? How can we? read more
People
Mary Ann Shadd and Mary Bibb
by | May 4, 1998
Both were abolitionists with strong anti-slavery views. Both were teachers, involved in publishing. Both were strong Black women. And, apparently, both disliked each other intensely. Mary Bibb and Mary Ann Shadd had a vision of improving the lives of Black people in Canada and the U.S. That they weren’t crazy about each other, and may have wanted to get each other into a boxing ring, is testimony that a truly strong individual never loses her individuality, even when fighting for a common cause read more
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Seasonal Feature
February 2: Imbolc – Groundhog Day
by
Groundhog Day, is the modern version of St. Brigid’s Day and Imbolc (or Candlemas). A time of intuition and looking forward, it is held that the groundhog comes out of her hole and looks for her shadow. If she sees it, she knows there will be six weeks more of winter. The spirit of life is born at the winter solstice when the sun begins its gradual return. In February, at Imbolc, the earth, the physical, has its first experience of life stirring deep within, waiting to appear in the spring. read more