CFUW Kanata
Politics in a Political Town
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
7:00 p.m. on ZOOM*
* If you are not a member of CFUW but would like to join us for this presentation, please email cfuwkanata.president@gmail.com to request a link to our ZOOM meeting. We welcome new members.
First Meeting of CFUW Members
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Charlotte Whitton |
Marianne Wilkinson |
Organizational Meeting of Canadian Federation of University Women, Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, August 26, 27, 1919 - Photo Provincial Archives of Alberta |
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Female educational pioneers in higher education founded CFUW to offer each other friendship, community engagement, and lifelong learning. With these goals always in mind, CFUW grew from its formation in 1919 into the dynamic organization it is today.
Following her extensive research into CFUW's 100 years, Dianne posed this question: Why has CFUW, which has an official stance against partisanship from which it never wavers, produced so many impressive advocates and politicians?
Dianne's presentation examines the question in relation to powerhouses behind feminist reforms such as geologist Alice E. Wilson who shook up the civil service in the 1920s; Charlotte Whitton whose political career at City Hall in Ottawa challenged limitations on women’s voices in public life in the 1950s and 1960s; Linda Souter who organized advocacy trips to Parliament Hill and worked internationally; and Marianne Wilkinson, whose lifetime of political service to Kanata has earned her the title, “Mother of Kanata.”
Dianne Dodd, PhD - Historian, Author
Our First 100 Years - the Canadian Federation of University Women
Dianne completed her doctorate in Canadian history at Carleton University in 1988, specializing in women’s history. Since then, she has published in the fields of birth control, health, and domestic technology. She worked for more than twenty-five years at Parks Canada where she did research and wrote plaque texts for the federal commemorative program.
After retirement, Dianne continued her efforts to make women proud of their history by writing the centennial history of CFUW. Her book Our First 100 Years was published by Second Story Press, in 2020. And just for fun, she has joined CFUW clubs in Kanata and Ottawa.
We are delighted to welcome Dianne as a new member of our Kanata club and our speaker for October.