Women's Institute 1897 Constitution, Bylaws, and First Minute Book, 1897-1900

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Creator

Erland Lee Museum, Creator

Media Type

Text

Item Type

Minute books

Description

This document consists of the 1897 Women's Institute Consitution and Bylaws and the first Meeting Minutes for meetings between 1897 and 1900.

The Women's Institute Constitution was hand-penned by Janet Lee, wife of Erland, in the dining room of their Saltfleet (now Stoney Creek) home, which is now the Erland Lee (Museum) Home.

Janet Lee penned this document with the assistance of her husband, Erland, as well as E.D. Smith (whose wife, Christina Armstrong Smith, was the first President of the Women's Institute), and Major F.M. Carpenter (whose wife, Catharine, was a Charter Member). The Constitution was written in response to the first Women's Institute meeting, held on February 19th, 1897. At this meeting, Adelaide Hoodless spoke to 100 women about creating an education society for women. The Constitution was ratified by the women at the next meeting, on February 25, 1897. This remarkably simple and effective constitution remains largely intact even now, over a century later.

The Women's Institute Constitution, Bylaws, and first Meeting Minutes are incredibly significant because the Women's Institutes were the first group to represent the concerns of rural women in government, and for most of the 20th century, the WI was the principal voice of rural women in Canadian government.

Date of Original

1897-1900

Subject(s)

Constitutions
Meetings
Organizations
Women's Institutes

Collection

Erland Lee Museum

Language of Item

English

Geographic Coverage

Stoney Creek

Ontario, Canada

Latitude: 43.207295274124 Longitude: -79.7220038138199

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