a biography of the day-henrietta muir edwards (women's rights activist [one of the "famous five"])

[niyad]

Henrietta Edwards
Born 18 December 1849
Montreal, Quebec
Died 10 November 1931 (aged 81)
Fort Macleod, Alberta
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Suffragist, Author
Known for Women's rights activist

Henrietta Muir Edwards (18 December 1849 – 10 November 1931) was a Canadian women's rights activist and reformer.[1]
. . . . .

As a young woman, she exposed various feminist causes, Edwards and her sister Amélia founded a Working Girls’ Club in Montreal in 1875 to provide meals, reading rooms and study classes. They also published a periodical, The Working Women of Canada, which helped to bring working conditions into the public eye. This project was undertaken at their own expense, and was funded from their earnings as artists. They also founded the Working Girls’ Association (precursor to the YWCA).[3]

Henrietta Edwards was married to Dr. Oliver C. Edwards in 1876 and they had three children. They moved to Indian Head, North West Territories (now Saskatchewan) in 1883. Dr. Edwards was the government doctor for the Indian reserves there. Henrietta continued to pursue women’s rights and feminist organizations on the prairies.

In 1890, Edwards’s husband fell ill so they returned to Ottawa, where she “took up the cause of female prisoners and worked with Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General, to establish the National Council of Women in 1893” and the Victorian Order of Nurses in 1897 National Council of Women of Canada. Henrietta served for 35 years as the chair for Laws Governing Women and Children. Also with Lady Aberdeen, she helped establish the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in 1897 and was appointed chair of the Provincial Council of Alberta.[4]
Holding tea cup, Famous Five statue, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King unveiled plaque to the Valiant 5 in the Person's Case
. . . .

Edwards wrote two books about women and the legal problems she was trying to overcome, Legal Status of Canadian Women (1908) and Legal Status of Women in Alberta (1921). She worked with Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Emily Murphy to “lobby the Alberta government for recognition of dower and matrimonial property rights.”[5] This friendship and collaboration would be called upon again to fight for the Persons Case in the late 1920s, which established that Canadian women were eligible to be appointed senators and more generally, that Canadian women had the same rights as Canadian men with respect to positions of political power. She was quite an amazing lady. As an artist, the Canadian government commissioned her to paint a set of dishes for the Canadian exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.[2]

Edwards was one of "The Famous Five", along with Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby.
Among other honours, in October 2009, the Senate voted to name Edwards and the rest of the Five Canada's first "honorary senators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Edwards




Henrietta Muir Edwards
Photograph of Henrietta Muir Edwards

(1849-1931)

Reformer and feminist activist

Source

Henrietta Muir Edwards, a modern woman, used her determination, perseverance and dedication to help improve the plight of the women of her time. Throughout her career, her concerns were transformed into direct involvement in women's rights.

Born in Montreal in 1849, in her early years Henrietta Louise Muir developed an interest in women helping women. Raised in an affluent, cultured and religious family, Henrietta joined the women's movement, becoming actively involved in different religious organizations and coming face-to-face with the injustices of old traditions, where the exclusion of women was widely accepted. In Canada, the United States and Europe, she pursued studies in the field of arts, which strengthened her determination to ensure recognition for women in activities to which little consideration had previously been given.

Her involvement in women's causes took root in Montreal, where, in 1875, she and her sister Amélia founded the Working Girls' Association (the precursor to the YWCA). During the same era, she launched the first Canadian magazine for working women, aptly entitled Working Woman of Canada, which she and her sister edited. She financed the magazine with the proceeds from her artwork, which consisted of paintings and miniatures. Following her marriage to Dr. Oliver C. Edwards and the birth of their three children, the Edwards family moved to Saskatchewan. There, Henrietta discovered her true passion for women's rights, and became even more involved in feminist organizations.

In 1893, Henrietta Muir Edwards, together with Lady Aberdeen, founded the National Council of Women, and for nearly 35 years served as chair for Laws Governing Women and Children. Also in collaboration with Lady Aberdeen, she founded the Victorian Order of Nurses and was appointed chair of the Provincial Council of Alberta, serving in this capacity for many years. Throughout these experiences, Henrietta Muir Edwards championed many of the accomplishments of different feminist organizations and was an avid supporter of equal grounds for divorce, reform of the prison system, and allowances for women. Her major contribution to the review of provincial and federal laws relating to women earned her a reputation for knowing more about laws affecting women than even the chief justice of Canada.

In 1927, she joined forces with Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby to sign a petition requesting that the Supreme Court of Canada reinterpret the law concerning the term "person" in the British North America Act. It was not until October 18, 1929, after taking their cause to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, that a reversal of the Supreme Court decision granted Canadian women the right to be appointed to the Senate. By joining the "Famous Five", Henrietta Muir Edwards brought to the cause of "women not officially recognized" her determination, extensive knowledge of the Canadian legal system and the prestige of having fought so many battles aimed at re-defining the position of women in Canadian society.


https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/030001-1106-e.html

(a very good bio at the following link)
http://www.wineglass-ranch.com/henrietta-muir