Browse "Women"

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  • Memory Project Archive

    30 Years Later: On the Founding of Indigenous Veterans Day

    “It’s been a labour of love, pain, racism, and happiness!”Randi Gage, Vietnam era veteran and long-time advocate for Indigenous and women veterans, reflects on her role in establishing November 8th as Indigenous Veterans Day 30 years ago. She was approached by the National Aboriginal Veterans Association in 1992 to designate a day of recognition for Indigenous veterans.Gage is a speaker with the Memory Project Speakers Bureau.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/9fb65c63-3dd7-4071-904b-c2aa7a9d1e99.jpg 30 Years Later: On the Founding of Indigenous Veterans Day

  • Article

    Adelaide Sinclair

    Adelaide Sinclair, OC, OBE, naval officer and public servant (born 16 January 1900 in Toronto, ON; died 19 November 1982 in Ottawa, ON). Adelaide Sinclair was the first Canadian director of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (1943–46). Following the Second World War, she became Canada’s delegate to UNICEF. She was UNICEF’s deputy executive director of programs from 1957 to 1967.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/Adelaide-Sinclair-tweet.jpg Adelaide Sinclair

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    Bertha Clark-Jones

    Bertha Clark-Jones (née Houle), OC, Cree-Métis advocate for the rights of Indigenous women and children (born 6 November 1922 in Clear Hills, AB; died 21 October 2014 in Bonnyville, AB). A veteran of the Second World War, Clark-Jones joined the Aboriginal Veterans Society and advocated for the fair treatment of Indigenous ex-service people. She was co-founder and first president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Clark-Jones devoted her life to seeking equality and greater power for women in Canada.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/home-page-images/Bertha-clark-jones.jpg Bertha Clark-Jones

  • Article

    Bonnie Henry

    Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer of British Columbia (2018 to present), epidemiologist, physician (born 1965 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island). Dr. Bonnie Henry is best known for leading British Columbia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked to eradicate polio and to contain Ebola and SARS. Henry is a family care physician and a specialist in preventative medicine. She is the first woman to serve as BC’s provincial health officer. Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BonnieHenry/Bonnie_Henry.jpg Bonnie Henry

  • Article

    Canadian Army Medical Corps Nursing Sisters

    More than 2,800 trained civilian nurses enlisted with the Canadian army during the First World War, becoming the first women in the modern world to hold military commissions as officers. As members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), the nursing sisters treated and cared for wounded soldiers overseas and at home. At least 58 died from disease or enemy action during the war. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/271eb18d-51cb-46d8-b660-42a54e9557c5.jpg Canadian Army Medical Corps Nursing Sisters

  • Article

    Canadian Women in the Cold War Navy

    Women served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) throughout the Cold War. Known for much of this period as “Wrens,” they played an important role in RCN missions and operations, including antisubmarine warfare. In 1951, the Canadian Naval Reserve began recruiting women into the service. Women could join the regular navy beginning in 1955; the RCN was the first Commonwealth navy to integrate women into the permanent force. For many years, Wrens served in shore-based branches and trades, including stores, communications, intelligence, submarine detection and in the medical services. By the end of the Cold War, all naval trades and occupations, except submarine service, were open to women. (See also Canada and the Cold War; Women in the Military.)

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/ColdWarWrens/WRCNS rad plot.jpg Canadian Women in the Cold War Navy

  • Article

    Canadian Women's Army Corps

    During the Second World War, Canadian women, for the first time, were mobilized for service in the Canadian Armed Forces. Of the roughly 50,000 women who enlisted, more than half served in the Canadian Army. Most were assigned jobs involving traditional female work such as cooking, laundry and clerical duties, but women also pioneered roles in the mechanized and technical fields. The Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) performed essential services, both at home and overseas, that helped bring about Allied victory.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/ec5e5580-dff7-487c-bb43-afdf7b0b8543.jpg Canadian Women's Army Corps

  • Article

    Edith Monture

    Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture (often known simply as Edith Monture), Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) First World War veteran, registered nurse, (born 10 April 1890 on Six Nations reserve near Brantford, ON; died 3 April 1996 in Ohsweken, ON). Edith Monture was the first Indigenous woman to become a registered nurse in Canada and to gain the right to vote in a Canadian federal election. She was also the first Indigenous woman from Canada to serve in the United States military. Edith broke barriers for Indigenous women in the armed forces and with regards to federal voting rights. A street (Edith Monture Avenue) and park (Edith Monture Park) are named after her in Brantford, Ontario.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/Edith Monture 1.jpg Edith Monture

  • Article

    Isabel Macneill

    Isabel Janet Macneill, OC, OBE, naval officer and correctional system supervisor (born 4 June 1908 in Halifax, NS; died 18 August 1990 in Mill Village, NS). Isabel Macneill was a pioneering woman in nontraditional leadership positions. She was the first female commanding officer of a navy ship in the British Commonwealth and the first female prison superintendent in Canada.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/home-page-images/Isabel-Macneill-crop.jpg Isabel Macneill

  • Article

    Isabelle Garcia Phillips

    Isabelle Garcia Phillips, Second World War veteran (born 11 March 1921 in New Westminster, BC; died 21 August 2000 in Surrey, BC). Garcia Phillips was one of thousands of Canadian women who volunteered for service during the Second World War. She worked briefly as a riveter for Boeing Aircraft of Canada during the war, before enlisting in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC). She is one of the few women of Filipino heritage to serve in the CWAC. Her father, Peter Garcia, also served in the Canadian army, while her brother Don Garcia later became a prominent figure in the labour movement. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/991d368d-fde0-4933-afce-ced8fedca0fc.jpg Isabelle Garcia Phillips

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    James Barry

    James Miranda Steuart Barry, FRS (probably born Margaret Anne Bulkley), military surgeon, physician (born c. 1789–99; died 25 July 1865 in London, England). Posted across the British Empire, Barry reformed medical standards in the British army. His final and highest-ranking position was as inspector-general of military hospitals in the Province of Canada in the 1850s. After his death, it was reported that Barry’s assigned sex at birth was female. This has sparked significant debate about his identity. Note on pronouns: This article refers to James Barry with masculine pronouns, as this was how Barry referred to himself throughout his life. Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/JamesBarry/Barry portrait 1810s.jpg James Barry

  • Article

    Jean Flatt Davey

    Jean Flatt Davey, OC, OBE, physician, air force officer (born 16 March 1909 in Hamilton, ON; died 13 March 1980). Davey was the first woman medical doctor to become a commissioned officer in the Canadian armed forces. From 1950 to 1965, she was chief physician in the department of medicine at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/JeanFlattDavey/InstructionStaff-Toronto-1941.jpg Jean Flatt Davey

  • Article

    Josée Kurtz

    Marie Thérèse Josée Kurtz (née Boisclair), naval officer, rear admiral, maritime commander (born 2 October 1968 in Joliette, QC). A career naval officer, Kurtz has achieved many firsts as a woman in both the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Kurtz was the first woman to command a major warship (HMCS Halifax, 2009), Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG2, 2019), and RCN coastal formation (Maritime Forces Atlantic, 2023). Kurtz was also the first female commandant of the Royal Military College (2021).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Josee-Kurtz/SNMG2-2-2019.jpg Josée Kurtz

  • Article

    Lillian Freiman

    Lillian Freiman (née Bilsky), OBE, benefactor, community activist, organizer, civic leader and Zionist (born 6 June 1885 in Mattawa, ON; died 2 November 1940 in Montreal, QC). Lillian Freiman used her high social status and wealth to help those less fortunate, both within and beyond the Jewish community. For her work assisting First World War soldiers and leading the Poppy Campaign, the Canadian Legion made her an honorary life member in 1933. Freiman was the first woman to receive this honour.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/Lillian-Freiman-tw.jpg Lillian Freiman

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    Margaret Brooke

    Margaret Martha Brooke, MBE, dietician, naval officer, war hero, paleontologist (born 10 April 1915 in Ardath, SK; died 9 January 2016 in Victoria, BC). Brooke was a nursing sister during the Second World War and survived the torpedoing of the SS Caribou. For her heroism immediately after the sinking, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), the first Canadian nursing sister so recognized. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/margaretbrooke.jpg Margaret Brooke