May 2013
Thursday May 9th
May 9 Meeting Revised to 7:30 p.m. at MacLaren Art Centre in the Education Room (main floor), 37 Mulcaster Street, Barrie
Unfortunately we did not have enough ticket sales to have the Dinner as part of the May 9 meeting so the dinner component has been
cancelled. Refunds will be given at the May 9 meeting.
The good news, however, is that we were able to get the Education Room at the MacLaren Art Centre and the café will be open for you to purchase a beverage, etc. of your choice. The agenda includes the Annual Meeting (about 15 minutes to approve prior year’s minutes, financial statements, and elect 2013/14 Board of Directors) AND the highlight of the evening – the presentation by Ken Weber.
Attendees at last year’s Dinner & Annual General Meeting will remember Ken’s very entertaining presentation about the women who accompanied our prime ministers to Ottawa.
Ken retired from the University of Toronto in 1996 to continue his developing career as a writer. His fiction series, Five Minute Mysteries, became a bestseller in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, and is now published in twenty-two different languages, having sold copies in
the millions. A passion for history has taken Ken into a most enjoyable third career: convincing Canadians through Power Point lectures that their history is fascinating. At retirement, U of T honoured Ken by naming him ‘Emeritus’, one of the youngest professors ever to be awarded this title by the university. The students at his faculty also named him Teacher of the Year. Ken and his wife Cecile live in Caledon,
and are trustees of the Bruce Trail. His speaking fees are donated to the Bruce Trail for preservation of the Niagara Escarpment.
This year, Ken will be presenting “The Naughty Nineties (1890s) – A First Stab At Women’s Lib”. In 1890, when a “proper” Canadian lady dressed to go out, custom dictated her waist be squeezed by a corset to two-thirds its normal size. She was regularly prescribed horrendous medications by male doctors. She couldn’t vote (unless she was ‘redundant’, i.e., a spinster) and if she married, was legally barred from
owning property. Once married, a woman’s freedom of movement, expression and even intent became limited for she was now subject to what judges called “moderate correction” by her husband. Under the criminal code, the penalty for kidnapping a young single woman living independently was less severe than the penalty for stealing a cow. And a woman of 1890 usually had to forget about higher education because of the prevailing wisdom that advanced education would render her flat-chested and sterile.
A number of developments turned these restrictions upside down in the “Naughty Nineties”, in the first truly effective thrust of feminism in the western world since biblical times. The 1890s saw the launch of the “New Woman Era”, and the world changed forever. The role played by Canadian women in this movement had a lasting, world-wide impact far beyond what might have been expected from a thinly-populated country barely three decades old.
2013/14 MEMBERSHIPS
Your current 2012/13 membership ends at our May 9, 2013 AGM.
The term of your 2013/14 membership will start May 10 and end at next year’s AGM. We will start collecting 2013/14 memberships at the March 14 meeting, via mail or Click here for new or renewal. Thanks to those who have already paid. The annual dues are still $10/person.
Unfortunately we did not have enough ticket sales to have the Dinner as part of the May 9 meeting so the dinner component has been
cancelled. Refunds will be given at the May 9 meeting.
The good news, however, is that we were able to get the Education Room at the MacLaren Art Centre and the café will be open for you to purchase a beverage, etc. of your choice. The agenda includes the Annual Meeting (about 15 minutes to approve prior year’s minutes, financial statements, and elect 2013/14 Board of Directors) AND the highlight of the evening – the presentation by Ken Weber.
Attendees at last year’s Dinner & Annual General Meeting will remember Ken’s very entertaining presentation about the women who accompanied our prime ministers to Ottawa.
Ken retired from the University of Toronto in 1996 to continue his developing career as a writer. His fiction series, Five Minute Mysteries, became a bestseller in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, and is now published in twenty-two different languages, having sold copies in
the millions. A passion for history has taken Ken into a most enjoyable third career: convincing Canadians through Power Point lectures that their history is fascinating. At retirement, U of T honoured Ken by naming him ‘Emeritus’, one of the youngest professors ever to be awarded this title by the university. The students at his faculty also named him Teacher of the Year. Ken and his wife Cecile live in Caledon,
and are trustees of the Bruce Trail. His speaking fees are donated to the Bruce Trail for preservation of the Niagara Escarpment.
This year, Ken will be presenting “The Naughty Nineties (1890s) – A First Stab At Women’s Lib”. In 1890, when a “proper” Canadian lady dressed to go out, custom dictated her waist be squeezed by a corset to two-thirds its normal size. She was regularly prescribed horrendous medications by male doctors. She couldn’t vote (unless she was ‘redundant’, i.e., a spinster) and if she married, was legally barred from
owning property. Once married, a woman’s freedom of movement, expression and even intent became limited for she was now subject to what judges called “moderate correction” by her husband. Under the criminal code, the penalty for kidnapping a young single woman living independently was less severe than the penalty for stealing a cow. And a woman of 1890 usually had to forget about higher education because of the prevailing wisdom that advanced education would render her flat-chested and sterile.
A number of developments turned these restrictions upside down in the “Naughty Nineties”, in the first truly effective thrust of feminism in the western world since biblical times. The 1890s saw the launch of the “New Woman Era”, and the world changed forever. The role played by Canadian women in this movement had a lasting, world-wide impact far beyond what might have been expected from a thinly-populated country barely three decades old.
2013/14 MEMBERSHIPS
Your current 2012/13 membership ends at our May 9, 2013 AGM.
The term of your 2013/14 membership will start May 10 and end at next year’s AGM. We will start collecting 2013/14 memberships at the March 14 meeting, via mail or Click here for new or renewal. Thanks to those who have already paid. The annual dues are still $10/person.