Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Women's Institute has its organizational roots in rural Ontario. The first branch was formed in 1897, at a time when rural women lived in isolation and often with little or no education. Farmers had organized as the Farmers' Institute but there was nothing similar for their wives.
The beginnings of Women's Institutes in Nova Scotia are due also to the influence of Nelville Cumming. In 1911, Dr. Cumming, then principal of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and Secretary of Agriculture for the province, visited Ontario. Upon returning to Nova Scotia, he recommended to the provincial government that the organization be established here. In 1913, Miss Jennie Fraser of New Glasgow, a graduate of MacDonald College, was appointed superintendent of the Women's Institutes of Nova Scotia.
With the assistance of Mrs. Laura (Rose) Stephen of Ontario, the first Institute was organized in Salt Springs, Pictou County on 17 July 1913. In 1919, Miss Helen J. MacDougall took over the position of superintendent and remained with the organization for the next 26 years. Also in 1919, the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) was formed to coordinate the work of the provinces and became the national voice for rural women in Canada.