In mid-1800s Canada, there existed the core ingrained settler values of independence and self-reliance that dissuaded municipalities from lending financial assistance to the poor in rural areas. As urban populations grew, the incidence of poverty and crime escalated. Poor laws, like the ones that obligated England’s municipalities to assist impoverished locals, did not exist in Canada. With no effective welfare infrastructure, communities responded by “auctioning off” able-bodied poor children and adults who had neither family nor local relations to help them.
Continue reading “Indentured Servitude in Canada”
Among my favourite girlhood books was the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Late 1800s pioneer life captivated me. Kathryn Adam, a scholar in midwestern women’s history and literature, regards Wilder’s female characters as historical resources that reveal “role expectations and feelings of western women”.
In her essay, Laura, Ma, Mary, Carrie, and Grace: Western Women as Portrayed by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Adam says that Wilder shows us “women engaged in the rigors of homesteading, women building community and culture on the frontier, women working to preserve the family in the face of bitter adversity (…) in a series of vividly realized frontier landscapes.”
Continue reading “Women of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House””
One of the pleasures of October is attending the fall fairs so prevalent across Ontario. After discovering archived images of fairs held in the early 1900s, I became curious about the origins of such events. These curated details will find their way into my writing one day.
Agricultural Societies appeared in Upper Canada as early as 1793 when the first one began at Niagara. In the eighteen-thirties and forties, the societies grew in popularity. Their membership activities provided an opportunity for socializing among farmers. The farmers’ wives, however, were disallowed from participating in the society. Women rarely broke the monotony of their daily routine except to visit a neighbour or a general store. To join in men’s activities was considered improper.
Continue reading “Fall Fairs in Upper Canada: A Brief History”
Twelfth century philosopher, Ibn Khaldun wrote that, “God created man in such a way that the veil of the senses could be lifted through sleep, which is a natural function of man. When that veil is lifted, the soul is ready to learn the things it desires to know in the world of Truth.” What a beautiful and comforting thought.
His idea couples well with the commonly held wisdom of sleeping on it when faced with a critical dilemma. Instead of making an on-the-spot decision, we use the period of sleep to separate our emotion from the issue. Sleeping on it is more than allowing ourselves an overnight cooldown period. Science shows that during slumber, instead of powering down like a computer, our minds work to synthesize the information and scenarios we’re wrestling with.
Continue reading “Dream Life, Creativity, Self-knowledge”
Nahneebahweequay—a woman of courage and tenacity—was born in 1824 to the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe First Nation. Her name means upright woman. She became an activist for Indigenous land rights with her feet planted firmly in both her native heritage and the English world in which she was known as Catherine Sutton. Her fight for justice led her to meet with Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace.
Continue reading “Nahneebahweequay (1824-1865)–A Champion for Indigenous Land Rights”
In the early 1900s, Georgina Binnie-Clark lobbied for women farmers’ equal right to claim government land grants and she educated new generations of women agriculturalists. Her story is particularly interesting in light of the present-day women’s farming movement and also because she campaigned for justice during an era that disapproved of outspoken women.
Continue reading “Women’s Farming Activist: Georgina Binnie-Clark (1871-1947)”
Here in Canada, October is Women’s History Month. I’d like to celebrate by sharing the story of a woman journalist who, in the late 1800s, embarked on a career in journalism and gave a voice to women’s issues. She proved to Canadians that women’s interests reached beyond the kitchen and childrearing.
Continue reading “Kit Coleman: Trailblazer for Women Journalists”
I recently came across the term pop-feminism. It refers to the enthusiastic hearting and sharing of feminist slogans on social media posters–but without investing oneself in learning about the highlighted issue. I may or may not have been guilty of that time to time. (Cough!) A certain level of self-awareness urges many of us to look beyond our own bubble and grasp what’s going on in the Continue reading “Goal: Informed Feminism”
This growing stack of index cards will become my third novel. I recently posted on social media about how I’ve been writing plot points, research references and character profiles on them. A sweet friend commented, “Oh, that’s how you write a book.”
It is part of how I write a book—this time around. My approach to writing earlier books was different. During The Last Hoffman years, it came as a complete surprise that I was writing a book. The story began with inspired doodles, Continue reading “Novel Writing–Refining My Process”