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The Famous Five: Heroes for Today
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Timeline

Heritage Community Foundation, Albertasource.ca and The Famous Five Foundation
 
         
1875 - Grace Annie Lockhart graduated from Mount Allison University and was awarded the first university degree to a woman.

1876 - A British common law ruling states that "women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges."

1876 - Dr. Emily Howard Stowe and her daughter Augusta Stowe Gullen form the Toronto Women's Literary Club, a screen for suffrage activities.

1881 - Dr. Charlotte Ross becomes the first woman to practice medicine in western Canada.

1883 - Dr. Augusta Stowe Gullen becomes the first woman to graduate in medicine from a Canadian university, Victoria College, Cobourg.

1885 - In Alberta, unmarried women property owners gain the right to vote and hold office in school matters.

1895 - The Local Council of Women (Edmonton Chapter) is organized by Lady Isabel Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General.

1897 - Clara Brett Martin becomes the first woman admitted to the profession of law in the British Empire.

1906 - Katherine Hughes joins the staff of the Edmonton Bulletin as a journalist. She also becomes the first provincial archivist for Alberta.

1908 - Gertrude Watt, women's editor and columnist for the Edmonton Saturday News, forms the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Women's Press Club.

1909 - At a joint convention, the Alberta and Saskatchewan provincial Woman's Christian Temperance Union pledges to work more actively for women's right to vote.

1910 - The Canadian government passes a new Immigration Act that gives Cabinet the power to restrict the landing of immigrants based on their "race . . ., class, occupation or character".

1912 - The United Farmers of Alberta endorse women's suffrage.

1916 - Manitoba becomes the first province to give women the right to vote and hold provincial office.

1916 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in Saskatchewan provincial elections.

1916 - The Alberta Equal Suffrage Act gives women 'absolute equality' with men in provincial, municipal, and school affairs, and thus permits women to vote and run for office in all Alberta-based elections.

1916 - Emily Murphy, Edmonton, becomes the first woman appointed as a magistrate in the British Empire.

1916 - The United Farm Women of Alberta is formed with Irene Parlby as president.

1917 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in British Columbia provincial elections.

1917 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in Ontario provincial elections.

1917 - Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams from Alberta become the first women elected to a provincial legislature.

1917 - Under the Wartime Elections Act, women in the armed forces or with military relatives were given the right to vote while citizens of 'enemy alien' birth were disenfranchised.

1917 - The Dower Act is passed in Alberta providing a wife with a life interest in a homestead that cannot be disposed of without her consent.

1918 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in Nova Scotia provincial elections.

1918 - The Canada Elections Act gives all women over 21 the federal vote.

1919 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in New Brunswick provincial elections.

1921 - Nellie McClung is elected as a Liberal member in the Alberta Legislature.

1921 - Irene Parlby is appointed Minister without Portfolio in the United Farmer's government, and thus becomes the first woman in Alberta and the second woman in the British Empire to serve as a cabinet minister.

1921 - Agnes McPhail of Ontario becomes the first woman elected to the House of Commons.

1925 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in Newfoundland elections.

1927 - Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Nellie McClung meet at Emily Murphy's house in Edmonton to sign her petition regarding appointing women to the Senate.

1928 - The Alberta government passes the Sexual Sterilization Act, permitting a Eugenics Board to order the sterilization of any person deemed to be "mentally defective".

1928 - The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decides that women were not persons who could hold office as Senators in Canada.

1929 - The British Privy Council reverses the Supreme Court's 'Persons' Case decision.

1930 - The Honourable Cairine Wilson of Ontario becomes the first female Senator in Canada.

1940 - Women gain the right to vote and run for office in Quebec provincial elections.

1951 - Charlotte Whitton is elected Mayor of Ottawa and the first female Mayor in Canada.

1957 - Ellen Louks Fairclough is the first woman appointed to the federal cabinet.

1967 - A new point system immigration policy eliminates discrimination based on race, religion or national origin.

1967 - Prime Minister Lester Pearson establishes a Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

1971 - The federal government creates the cabinet portfolio of Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

1972 - The Alberta government overturns the Sexual Sterilization Act. Since 1928, over 3,000 people have been sterilized under the Act.

1974 - Pauline McGibbon, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, become the first woman appointed Lieutenant Governor in Canada.

1982 - The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is adopted, including Section15, the Equality Clause.

1984 - Jeanne Sauvé becomes the first woman appointed Governor General of Canada.

1989 - Audrey McLaughlin, Member of Parliament from the Yukon, is elected as the leader of the federal New Democratic Party and becomes the first woman ever to lead a national political party in Canada.

1991 - British Columbia's Rita Johnston becomes Canada's first female premier, although not elected.

1993 - Catherine Callbeck is elected Premier of Prince Edward Island. She becomes the first female Premier elected in Canada.

1993 - Following a party leadership convention, Kim Campbell becomes the first female Canadian Prime Minister.

1995 - Christine Silverberg, Calgary Chief of Police, is the first female police chief in a major Canadian city.

1999 - The Famous 5 monument is unveiled at Olympic Plaza in Calgary.

2000 - The Famous 5 monument is unveiled at Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

2001 - Lieutenant Governors in seven Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and the Governor General of Canada are women.

2002 - Approximately one third of the Canadian Senate are women.

2004 - The 75th Anniversary of the Persons' Case is commemorated.

2004 - To celebrate the leadership of the Famous 5, the Bank of Canada unveils a new $50 bill that showcases the Famous 5.

 
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