The women did whatever was possible to get their word across on equality of men and women. They scuffled with the police from time to time, smashed the windows of the prime Ministers, chained themselves to Buckingham Palace, they went on many protests trying to convince the government. Many women even went to prison for these acts. Emily Davison, a militant activist who fought for women suffrage in Britain she was in fact jailed nine times. She was most popular for jumping in front of King George V’s derby horse, on June 4th 1913. She later died four days after the accident on June 8th 1913. Nellie McClung (1873 – 1951) was a novelist, she led the fight for women’s rights, and her hard effort led Manitoba to be the first province to be the first to let women vote in 1916. She then moved onto Alberta and Saskatchewan giving women the vote soon after. Nellie soon after became the first female Director of the Board of the Governors in Edmonton. Adelaide Hoodless was an educational reformer, who founded the International Women’s Organization; in 1889 her son drank contaminated milk and later died. After the tragedy she devoted herself to education for new mothers. She became the second president of the Hamilton branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), she taught classes and wrote books about domestic science. In 1897, after a very long fight, Clara Brett Martin became Canada's first lawyer and the first woman to practice law in the entire British Empire; she was taunted and made fun of by the media, male classmates and professors for attending a law school. Many more women contributed, including, Helena Gutteridge insured equal pay for both men and women, and many more. These women put their own lives on the line to raise awareness for them and other women’s rights. What if none of these amazing women stood up for what they believed in? Where would we be today? |