Women in Canadian History Education Guide

1. Dividethe classinto ffive groups, with each group assigned a me mber ofthe Fa mous Five. 2. Read the articles Fa mous Five a n d Persons Case , and the article on your me mber on The Canadian Encyclopedia , and use other sources as needed. 3. Each group should explore the perspective of their subject on one of the follo wing key aspects of the suffrage move ment: • The right of so me wo men to vote • The right of so me wo men to hold public o fice • Te mperance and prohibition • I mprove mentsin wo men’srights,including property, mothers’rights, equal pay, etc. • I mprove mentsin public health 4. Each group willresearch, write, and present a petition. Be creativein your three- minute presentation, during which all me mbers must participate. The petition will be no morethan 300 words and must be groundedin evidence. 5. Questionsto addressinthe petition: • What values orideas doesthe wo man you chosere fiect, speci flcallyin relation to your chosen aspect? • Ho w were her understandings of the rights and role of wo men different fro m those of suffrage opponents? Sho w the other side, but stay on m e s s a g e. • Ho w would you atte mptto convince your opponentsthat suffrageis an essential right of all wo men and that the area you exa mined must be r ef or m e d ?

Write a petition fro m the perspective of one of the Fa mous Five. Atthe end ofthe First World War, most wo men were grantedtherightto voteinfederal elections and stand for elected o fice. H o wever, under Canada’s c o nstit uti o n, t h e 1867 British North A merica Act , wo men were not o ficially“persons” andthus could not be appointed to the Canadian Senate. Alberta’s Fa mous Five challenged this exclusion. E mily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Henrietta Muir Ed wards, andIrene Parlby, all white wo men, petitionedthe Supre me Court of Canada, butin 1928itruledthat“persons” did notinclude wo men. The Five appealed to Canada’s highest court, the British Privy Council, whichin1929 overrodethe earlier decision and declared wo menlegal persons underthela w.It was not until muchlaterthat all Indigenous and Asian-Canadian wo men were given the funda mental rights of full citizenshi p, but the Fa mous Five did not concern the mselves with this exclusion. 2 Teacher Ti p: Students may need extra research to ans wer the questi ons. Pro p ose further res ources, assign this as ho me work, or give groups extra ti me. MODIFICATION: WITHIN YOUR CHOSEN GROUP, CREATE A COMIC STRIP OF SIX PANELS TOILLUSTRATE HO W YOUR FA MOUS FIVE LEADER VIE WED THE TOPIC YOUR GROUP RESEARCHED.

Learn more about suffrage and t h e ri g ht to vote wit h t h e Wo m e n's Suffragein Canada Education Guide, availa bl e o n t h e E d u cati o n Portal .

A model ofthe“ Wo men Are Persons!” statue, honouringthe contributions of the Fa mous 5. The sculpture by Barbara Paterson was unveiled on Parlia ment Hillin 2000 (courtesy Fa mous 5 Foundation).

Explorethe moral dile m mas weface when we co m me morate controversial historical figures, and write aresearch-based persuasiveletter. Experiences, values, worldvie ws, and beliefsrefiectthe erain which peoplelived. The way people vie wedthe worldinthe past, andthe choicesthey made, were a product of manyinfiuences and cannot belabelled si mply“good” or“evil.” We usuallyre me mberthe Fa mous Fiveforthe positive changethe Persons Case broughtfor wo men, andtheir co m mit mentto equal payfor equal work andjoint custody of children. These wo men, h o wever, su p p orted p olicies that m ost Canadians n o w consider discri minatory and wrong, such as the forced sterilization of people with develop mental disabilities(a key ele ment ofthe eugenics move ment, which supported controlled selective hu manreproduction),the denial ofthe voteto mostIndigenous and Asian wo men, andraciallyrestrictivei m migration. Ho w should modern Canadians make sense of this, and ho w should we re me mber these wo men?

Henrietta Muir Ed wards, ca.1890 (courtesy Glenblow Archives/ Pitta way/ N A- 26 07-7). Nellie Mc Clung,1914 (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/Cyril Jessop/PA-030212). Irene Parlby, ca.1910-1918(courtesy Glenbow Archives/NA-273-1). E mily Murphy (courtesy Provincial Archives of Alberta/A3460). Louise Mc Kinney,1925 (courtesy Glenbow Archives/NA-825-1).

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2 Tolearn abouttherestrictions on votingrights appliedto wo men,read Indigenous Wo men andthe Franchise,Rightto Votein Canada (Asian Canadians section), Black Voting Rightsin Canada , and Wo men’s Suffragein Canada o n The Canadian Encyclopedia .