AWI President's Newsletters

              In the same year the f i r s t A l b e r t a Women's I n s t i t u t e e x h i b i t was sent to
the C. N. E. T h i s was known as " The A l b e r t a P a n t r y " and d i s p l a y e d a
w o n d e r f u l v a r i e t y of canned n a t i v e f r u i t s , v e g e t a b l e s , m e a t s , game, p o u l t ry
as w e l l as jams, j e l l i e s and p i c k l e s from A l b e r t a grown p r o d u c e . Made-i
n - A l b e r t a commercial p r o d u c t s were g e n e r o u s l y donated f o r t h e e x h i b i t .
The 1926 e x h i b i t c o n s i s t e d of d e m o n s t r a t i o n s in t h e u s e o f eggs and
da i r y p r o d u c t s .
The A l b e r t a Women's I n s t i t u t e P r e s i d e n t was a p p o i n t e d to a c o m m i t t ee
by the P r e m i e r f o r t h e p u r p o s e of o u t l i n i n g and p l a n n i n g p r e p a r a t i o n s,
p r o v i n c e wide to c e l e b r a t e the 6 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y of C o n f e d e r a t i o n.
The e a r l y y e a r s were y e a r s of s t r a i n and s t r e s s , the w a r , t h e
i n f l u e n z a epedemic and d r o u g h t but a c h i e v e m e n t s were m a g n i f i c e n t.
Thousands of d o l l a r s were r a i s e d a n n u a l l y , t h o u s a n d s of s o c k s were
k n i t t e d , numberless h o s p i t a l s u p p l i e s were made. L o c a l h o s p i t a l s,
m a t e r n i t y homes, community h a l l s , l i b r a r i e s and r e s t - r o o m s sprang up
t h r o u g h the i n i t i a t i v e and s u p p o r t of the Women's I n s t i t u t e s where needed.
In 1927, f i f t y y e a r s a f t e r the s i g n i n g of t h e P e a c e T r e a t y at
B l a c k f o o t C r o s s i n g ( 1877), r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e Women's I n s t i t u t e s i n
the G l e i c h e n C o n s t i t u e n c y , assembled at the h i s t o r i c spot to h o n o r t he
memory of C r o w f o o t and e r e c t a c a r j i n.
In 1928 on the s u g g e s t i o n of t h e Women's I n s t i t u t e s , the A d v i s e r y
B o a r d i n c o - o p e r a t i o n w i t h the D e p a r t m e n t of E d u c a t i o n , a r r a n g e d f o r
a v o t e of the s c h o o l c h i l d r e n f o r a f l o r a l emblem f o r A l b e r t a . T h e ir
p r e f e r e n c e was the w i l d rose and e n d o r s e d by an A c t p a s s e d i n 1930.
Dwto the d e p r e s s i o n the 1932 C o n v e n t i o n was c a n c e l l e d and
b i e n n i a l c o n v e n t i o n s in t h e f u t u r e . This 3i^ nlt5more work f o r the
C o n s t i t u e n c y Convenors and c o m m i t t e e s t h r o u g h o u t a l l t h o s e d i f f i c u l t y e a r s.
F i r s t h a n d i c r a f t e x h i b i t s judged and d i s p l a y e d , 1933 C o n v e n t i o n.
Home and C o u n t r y m a g a z i n e s t a r t e d c i r c u l a t i o n i n a b o u t 1936.
I t was at the 1937 C o n v e n t i o n that funds were c o n t r i b u t e d to frame
the p o r t r a i t s of the f i v e " famous women" of A l b e r t a , who w e r e i n s t r u m e n t al
i n a c h i e v i n g the r e c o g n i t i o n of women as as p e r s o n s . The p o r t r a i t s hang
i n one of the m a i n h a l l w a y s i n t h e L e g i s l a t u r e b u i l d i n g . The f i v e were
Judge E m i l y Murphy, M r s . O. C. Edwards, M r s . N e l l i e M c C l u n g , M r s.
L o u i s M c K i n n e y and Hon. I r e n e P a r l b y.
In 1936 a r e s o l u t i o n at D i s t r i c t 4 C o n f e r e n c e p a s s e d , to s e c u r e a
s u p p l y of r a d i u m f o r f r e e use o f a l l ' in need. The S o u t h e r n A l b e r t a
A s s o c i a t i o n was formed i n May w i t h D i s t r i c t 4 D i r e c t o r , M r s . M. L.
Thompson as P r e s i d e n t w i t h 28 a f f i l i a t e d s o c i e t i e s . In 1938 a p r o x i m a t e ly
65 m i l l i g r a m s and a n o t h e r 44 m i l l i g r a m s i n 1940 was p u r c h a s e d and a l l
k e p t at the G a i t H o s p i t a l , L e t h b r i d g e . At the 1954 A s s o c i a t i o n ' s
a n n u a l m e e t i n g i t was r e p o r t e d as h i g h as t h r e e p a t i e n t s were b e i ng
t r e a t e d every week s i n c e the s u p p l y had been p u r c h a s e d . A p r o v i n c i al
p r o j e c t neted $ 2,000 and was p r e s e n t e d to t h e M i n i s t e r o f H e a l t h to
p u r c h a s e a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50 m i l l i g r a m s of r a d i u m and t r e a t m e n t must be
f r e e to a l l s u f f e r e r s.
A S u p e r v i s e r of Home E c o n o m i c s E x t e n s i o n S e r v i c e was a p p o i n t e d i n
1S40. S i n c e then D i s t r i c t Home E c o n o m i s t s have g i v e n t h e i r s e r v i c es
g e n e r o u s l y to a l l women's o r g a n i z a t i o n s w i t h s p e c i a l emphasis i n
r u r a l commun i t i e s.
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