The history of International Women’s Day
By Tasha Falconer
International Women’s Day (IWD) originally came out of the labour movements in the early 1900s. During this time, there was a growing movement for women to participate equally in society.
1909
The first National Woman’s Day, designated by the Socialist Party of America, was held in the United States on Feb. 28, 1909. The day was inspired by women’s marches in New York City the year before which focused on working conditions for women in factories.
1910
The Socialist International held the Second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. During this conference, two German women, Clara Zetkin and Luise Zietz, suggested an International Women’s Day. All those in attendance — over 100 women from 17 different countries — agreed.
1911
The first International Women’s Day was held March 19, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Over one million people attended rallies in support of women’s rights.
1913
Women started using the platform of IWD to protest the war. Also in this year, Russian women observed IWD for the first time as part of the peace movement, and the official date was changed to March 8.
1917
Russian women once again held a protest on IWD, this time called “Bread and Peace.” Soon after this movement, the provisional government granted women the right to vote.
1975
This year was declared International Women’s Year by the United Nations (UN). This was also the year the UN started celebrating IWD.
1996
The UN began designating themes to International Women’s Day in 1996. The 2018 UN theme is “Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives.”
2011
The 100th anniversary of IWD. United States President Barack Obama declared March to be Women’s History Month.
2018
Today, IWD is celebrated around the world, with many countries considering it an official holiday. The day is one of recognition and a call to action to support women’s rights and gender equality. This year’s IWD theme is #PressforProgress, and the Canadian theme is #MyFeminism.
Adelaide Hoodless: Women’s advocate before it was even cool
By Cat Cooper
Macdonald Institute at the University of Guelph was founded in 1903 as a school of “domestic science” for women. Originally, the program consisted of a three-month “diamond-ring” diploma course, so called because many of the women enrolled would get engaged to farmers attending the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).
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One of the greatest advocates for the college was a woman by the name of Adelaide Hoodless, who had been lobbying for the education of rural women and inclusion of domestic science in schools for years before the creation of the Macdonald Institute.
In 1889, Hoodless was involved in the creation of the first Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). That same year, her youngest child died from ingesting contaminated unpasteurized milk. She blamed herself and her lack of knowledge for her child’s death, but instead of letting her grief consume her, she embarked on a lifelong crusade for education.
In 1894, she opened a school of domestic science at the YWCA in Hamilton. She also co-founded the National Council of Women of Canada, became the president of the National YWCA, and participated in the creation of the Women’s Institute, which has since expanded to include women from all around the globe. In 1897, the public schools yielded to Hoodless’s lobbying and Ontario became the first province in Canada to offer domestic science courses. A year later, Hoodless wrote Canada’s first domestic science textbook, and two years after that, in 1900, she founded the Ontario Normal School of Domestic Science and Art, replacing the previous domestic science school at the YWCA in Hamilton. Hoodless was a well-known figure at this point, and in 1903, she oversaw the founding of Macdonald Institute here at the University of Guelph, which was co-founded and paid for by Sir William Macdonald. Adelaide Hoodless died the day before her birthday at the age of 52, midway through a speech at St. Margaret’s College in Toronto. She was a strong advocate and leader, right up until her very last breath.
Building bridges: Event connects community while celebrating Women’s Day
By Tiann Nantais
Each year on International Women’s Day, women’s advocacy groups in the greater Guelph community come together to organize an event called “Women on the Bridge.” This year, the event will begin with a community panel organized by the University of Guelph’s College of Social and Applied Human Sciences and Guelph’s Canadian Federation of University Women. The panel will focus on local women’s issues and is entitled “Bridging the Gap: Exploring municipal policy through a gendered lens.”
Other prominent groups including Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis and TD Bank will also be on site to present their work and offer support. Public educator from Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, Jessica St. Peter, says, “Women are the bridge, when we reach out to each other, support one another, and extend a hand to support in the rising of women during difficult times. Women are also the bridge between generations, and celebrating and uniting to remind ourselves that power is crucial to our continued work.”
Guelphites are encouraged to “join us on the bridge” every year on March 8.
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Honouring International Women’s Day: Research & Revolt!
By Amy McBride
The University of Guelph’s Research Facility for Women’s Health and Wellbeing (psychology department) is hosting its Second Annual International Women’s Day Conference on Thursday, March 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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The purpose of the conference is to honour Women’s Day by highlighting interdisciplinary student research focusing on issues pertaining to women and girls. It’s important for Guelph to facilitate these kinds of conferences so that the campus populace is provided with more opportunities to widen their scope of knowledge by engaging with the research of others.
As a conference that is geared towards the history of women and the problems that women have faced, and continue to face, it enables the attendees to educate themselves on the issues at hand. It also helps to create awareness of many issues pertinent to women and enables us to learn about the ways that we can help support women on campus and in the wider community.The conference will cover a variety of topics, including an address by keynote speaker, Jessica St. Peter, a public educator who works with Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. There are also quite a few men scheduled to speak throughout the day, but the majority of the presentations will be by women.
I feel privileged to be presenting my own work on women’s liberation of the 1970s at the University of Guelph, as women are still fighting for liberation in many areas of their lives. There are 23 presentations that have been arranged, along with three special appearances by Guelph Spoken Word poets, Truth Is and Elise, and a choir performance over the lunch break.
Nicole Jeffrey, the conference organizer, has ensured that the day will address a variety of women’s issues, including women in war, women’s issues in China, representations of gender in Hollywood, women in science, and many other topics that pay tribute to the revolt and resistance of women in Canada and all over the world. It will be an enlightening and informative day as we gather together to discuss and show our support for women.
Image by Frances Esenwa/The Ontarion