Women | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • List

    30 Notable Women’s Rights Activists in Canada

    To celebrate its 30th anniversary, The Canadian Encyclopedia created 30 lists of 30 things that make us proud to be Canadian, from famous people and historic events, to iconic foods and influential artists.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/a7c708ef-3e7b-4890-a1ad-f637397985a6.jpg 30 Notable Women’s Rights Activists in Canada
  • 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://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/!feature-img-thumbnails/Adelaide-Sinclair-tweet.jpg Adelaide Sinclair
  • Article

    Afua Cooper

    Afua (Ava Pamela) Cooper, educator, historian, performance artist, poet (born 8 November 1957 in the Whithorn district of Westmoreland, Jamaica), is considered one of the most influential and pioneering voices in the Canadian dub poetry and spoken word movement. Her poems are published in numerous regional, national and international journals and anthologies. Afua Cooper also has CDs of her performances that make her work well known to the global community. In addition to her renown as a performance artist, she is an internationally-ranked historian. She has taught Caribbean cultural studies, history, women's studies and Black studies at Ryerson and York universities, at the University of Toronto and at Dalhousie University.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/e307e1f0-7269-4f09-93dc-b01b813d2270.jpg Afua Cooper
  • Article

    Angela Chalmers

    Angela Frances Chalmers, world-class distance runner from Birdtail Sioux First Nation (born 6 September 1963 in Brandon, MB). Chalmers is one of the most accomplished Indigenous athletes in Canada. She won three gold medals in total at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 and 1994. An advocate for Indigenous issues, Chalmers has made efforts to connect with and inspire Indigenous youth from across Canada. Among many honours and awards, Chalmers was inducted into Athletics Canada Hall of Fame in 2019.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/AngelaChalmers/AngelaChalmers1.jpg Angela Chalmers
  • Article

    Angela Sidney (Stóow Ch’óonehte’ Máa)

    Angela Sidney (née Johns), (Stóow Ch’óonehte’ Máa), CM, Elder, storyteller, author (born 4 January 1902 near Carcross, YT; died 17 July 1991 in Whitehorse, YT). Of Tagish and Tlingit descent, Sidney was one of the last fluent speakers of the Tagish language. A storyteller, Sidney recorded and preserved the stories, traditions, languages, place names and genealogies of her people. She was the first Indigenous woman from Yukon to be appointed to the Order of Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/AngelaSidney/86_61_331.jpg Angela Sidney (Stóow Ch’óonehte’ Máa)
  • Article

    Anna Brownell Jameson

    Anna Brownell Jameson, née Murphy, author, artist, art historian and feminist (born 19 May 1794 in Dublin, Ireland; died 17 March 1860 in London, United Kingdom). Anna Jameson spent the winter and spring of 1836–37 in Toronto with her husband, Robert Sympson Jameson, attorney general of Upper Canada. She travelled extensively in southern Ontario during the summer of 1837, recording her impressions through her sketches, watercolours and writing in Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada (1838).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/Anna_Brownell_Jameson.png Anna Brownell Jameson
  • Article

    Anne-Marie Huguenin (Madeleine)

    ​Anne-Marie Huguenin (née Gleason, pen name “Madeleine”), writer, journalist and editor (born 5 October 1875 in Rimouski, Québec; died 21 October 1943 in Montréal).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/bbf6b82e-747e-460d-a168-08f3d4652dc2.jpg Anne-Marie Huguenin (Madeleine)
  • Article

    Annette av Paul

    In 1973 av Paul moved to Montréal, joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens as principal dancer. Her beauty, artistic maturity and versatility won her a wide-ranging repertoire in both purely classical and neo-classical works and she created many roles in new ballets including several by Macdonald.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/41fda2ba-8a42-4b7f-9321-662ea52b1f1f.jpg Annette av Paul
  • Article

    Annie Buller

    Annie Buller (married name Guralnick), political activist, union organizer (born 9 December 1895 in Ukraine; died 19 January 1973 in Toronto, ON).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/39a8a973-c75a-47c0-8833-41c7aebe54c2.jpg Annie Buller
  • Article

    Autumn Peltier

    Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe water-rights advocate, Anishinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner (born 27 September 2004 in Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory, Manitoulin Island, ON). Autumn Peltier is a world-renowned water-rights advocate and a leading global youth environmental activist. In April 2019, Peltier was appointed Chief Water Commissioner by the Anishinabek Nation and has spoken about the issue of contaminated water on Indigenous reserves in Canada at the United Nations. For her activism, Peltier was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/CP14560596AutumnPeltier.jpg Autumn Peltier
  • Article

    Becky Buhay

    Rebecca (Becky) Buhay, political activist, educator (born 11 February 1896 in London, England; died 16 December 1953 in Toronto, ON).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Becky Buhay
  • Article

    Bella Hall Gauld

    Bella Hall Gauld, labour educator, political activist, pianist (born 31 December 1878 in Lindsay, ON; died 21 August 1961 in Montreal, QC).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Bella Hall Gauld
  • Article

    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://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/home-page-images/Bertha-clark-jones.jpg Bertha Clark-Jones
  • Article

    Bessie Starkman

    Besha (Bessie) Starkman (Perri), organized crime boss (born 14 April 1889 or 21 June 1890 in Poland; died 13 August 1930 in Hamilton, ON). During the Prohibition era she became known as Canada’s first high-profile female crime boss. With her common-law spouse, mobster Rocco Perri, she ran a bootlegging and drug-smuggling enterprise. Starkman was gunned down in the garage of her home and her murderers were never caught. Her funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Hamilton.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BeshaStarkman/Besha_Starkman.JPG Bessie Starkman
  • Article

    Black Cross Nurses in Canada

    The Black Cross Nurses (BCN) is an auxiliary group intended for female members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The BCN was modeled on the nurses of the Red Cross. Its first chapter was launched in Philadelphia in May 1920. Under the leadership of Henrietta Vinton Davis, the BCN quickly became one of the UNIA’s most popular and iconic auxiliary groups. Offering a safe and inviting place for the Black community, UNIA halls became important cultural hubs in many cities and towns across Canada, where BCN divisions were also established. Although they were not professionally trained nurses, members of the BCN were expected to provide care and advice on matters of health and hygiene.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BlackCrossNurses/Black Red Cross march, Harlem , 1924 by James Van der Zee.jpg Black Cross Nurses in Canada