2026-05-23T19:58:41+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://historicnovascotia.ca/ Historic Nova Scotia https://historicnovascotia.ca 2019-01-09T15:15:23+00:00 2020-02-13T15:14:24+00:00 https://historicnovascotia.ca/items/show/69 Janet Guildford By the 1890s, women in Halifax and across Canada had created a plethora of organizations devoted to serving and reforming society. From the middle of the nineteenth century, women had been working through church and community organizations to improve the often-harsh social conditions faced by women, children, and the poor. As the century unfolded, improved communications and transportation made it possible for women to link their organizations across provinces, regions, and the country as a whole. National church societies and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, for example, kept women in touch with one another and aided in the struggle for reform. In August of 1894, Lady Ishbel, Countess of Aberdeen, visited Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lady Ishbel was an ardent feminist, wife of Canada's new governor general, and president of the newly established National Council of Women in Canada (NCWC) in Toronto. Lady Ishbel invited women's organizations in Halifax to gather together. On August 30, 1894, representatives from 44 women's groups met at Government House - Protestant and Catholic organizations, charities, cultural groups, sporting clubs, and more. From that meeting, the Local Council of Women of Halifax (LCWH) was formed. Emma MacIntosh was named their first president and Edith Archibald was appointed the Council's secretary. The membership represented the multi-faith, non-partisan character of the NCWC, which the Halifax Council emulated. The founding of the Local Council of Women of Halifax opened the door for what Edith Archibald called "the magnificent services of women." Led in its early years by a group of determined and energetic women, the LCWH campaigned successfully for women's right to vote, to serve on the city's School Board and City Council, and to represent the women of the city on a host of other public and charitable boards and agencies. In 1897, they founded the local Victorian Order of Nurses, and campaigned for a wide range of public health reforms. Members demonstrated their special concern for children by establishing the first supervised public playgrounds in Canada in 1906. Their efforts were began a movement across of North America – the Playground Movement – to establish similar safe places for children. In its first two decades, the LCWH campaigned tirelessly to improve conditions for women and children in Halifax. The reform causes the Council embraced reflected the concerns of many women across the country, and tell us a great deal about the difficulties Nova Scotian women faced at the turn of the last century. The Halifax Council is unique among local councils in Canada because of the "Council House," a special Victorian villa with an unusual story. The house, designed by prominent architect, James C. Dumaresq, was built in 1903 for Halifax businessman, reformer, and philanthropist, George Wright. Wright was an admirer of the work of the LCWH, so, in 1912, while in England, he drew up a will that named the Council as the heir to his beautiful 14-room house. Two days later, Wright boarded the Titanic to sail back to North America, and lost his life on that fateful voyage. The house's historical significance has been recognized by the City of Halifax and is the site of the Canada Parks and Monument Board plaque commemorating the women’s suffrage movement in Canada and Edith Archibald's contribution therein. For more, view the original article. 2019-01-09T14:57:07+00:00 2019-12-18T14:53:00+00:00 https://historicnovascotia.ca/items/show/68 Janet Guildford In April 2001, the Canada Parks and Monuments Board declared Edith Archibald a "person of national historic significance" for her role in the first wave of feminism in Canada. A reformer and woman of influence, Archibald was instrumental in the women’s suffrage movement in Nova Scotia and held several leadership positions in the Local Council of Women of Halifax. Edith Archibald (1854-1936) was born in St. John’s Newfoundland but raised in New York City, where her father served as the British Consul General. At the age of 20, Edith married her second cousin, Charles Archibald. The couple lived in Port Morien, a small Cape Breton mining village then known as Cow Bay, where Charles managed a coal mining company. They had a large house and property that overlooked the bay, and there raised four children. It was in Cow Bay that Edith became active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which, like its sister organizations across the country, campaigned for prohibition and women’s suffrage. In 1892, the Cow Bay WCTU raided three illegal saloons in the area! Edith was also an active member of the provincial and national branches of the WCTU, and devoted herself to the suffrage cause both within and outside that organization. In 1894, the Archibald family moved to Halifax, where Charles Archibald became a director of the People's Bank (later the Bank of Nova Scotia). Later that year, the Local Council of Women of Halifax (LCWH) was formed. Its first meeting was chaired by the Lady Ishbel, Countess of Aberdeen, from the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC). Lady Aberdeen described Edith as an "able and wise woman." Edith served as the Council's secretary for the first year, and then Vice President. In 1896, Edith was elected President of the LCWH. Edith was a staunch Protestant, and fought to have the Lord's Prayer recited at the start of Council meetings. This sparked controversy, since the LCWH was open to women of all religions. With no resolution in sight, Edith resigned as president soon after she was elected. Despite the disagreement, Edith returned as president in 1899, and remained in the position until 1905. As president, Edith helped found the Victoria Order of Home Helpers (later Victoria Order of Nurses) in 1897, and between 1910 and 1912, she led the Council's campaign to gain representation for women on the Halifax School Board. Edith was also a leader in the women's suffrage movement in Nova Scotia, working tirelessly for decades to win women the right to vote, which they were grated in 1918. Edith Archibald was a founding member of the Halifax Ladies' Musical Club, and strongly supported opportunities for women as composers - she herself was a composer of patriotic music. And like all leaders of the LCWH, she threw herself wholeheartedly into the work of the Red Cross Society during the First World War. After the war, Edith turned her attention to history and literature, writing several books, including a history of the Nova Scotia Branch of the Red Cross. She was active in charity and health reform and played a key role in the establishment of the Halifax Children's Hospital, which later became part of the Isaac Walter Killam (IWK) Hospital. Edith Archibald died in May, 1936, which made front-page news. Her influence is commemorated by a plaque at the Council House for the Local Council of Women Halifax. For more (including 2 images), view the original article.