tn
women
the 1920's
Becornin-c a 'Person'
:;'o s:zes .l ar;e: c.:a.? E,:eg 're:e
ly'onan's f eet a:e now
ii-a
PYao-t'
f c
-.li^naala
20 yea.rs d9o, d L L v - s - i. v r^L v
man's
ijlL
shoes?
tl:is because she has been l:!i1ng to
14acLedn's Magaz.!ne, L929
0n 0ctober 19, 1929, at three o'clock"in the morning,
the telephone rang in an Edmonton'foY:ehold' The I
message conveyed, Emily Hurphy replatid the re'
ceiver and triumphantly announced, "l'Ie've vton!
Fle,ve vtonr.,,The day befOre, the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council in London, England, had delivered
the decision "...that the word Persons includeswomen
members of lhe male and f ema'l e sex" 'and that
are el igible to be summoned and become members of the
Senate of Canada."
lnJune,lgl5,EmilyHurphyhadbeensworninasthe
irsr woman in the British Empire to hold the post
in courtr
of poiice magistrate' During her first day
jurisdiction
her
challen-Qed
defendant
ior
one
the counsel
the
on the ground thar a women was not a Person under
it
was
not
Howevero
1857.
Act
of
America
North
Brirish
lrene
HcLung'
Nellie
Hurphy,
Hrs.
1927,
that
until Augusty
l-lcKinney
Louise
and
lluir
Edwards
Henr'ietta
Parlby,
challenged the Supreme Court'of canada tO make a ruling
on the issue
The Crown said thal since women held no public office
in canada when the BNA Act was passed in 1867, the women
Fathers of Confederation had not meant to include
Senate'
as ,,personstrqualified to be appointed lo theSupreme
the
and
ive
one
persuas
was
the
Thi s argunent
BNA Act'
Court .rt"C in April, 1928, that, under the
senate.
Ehe
to
apPoinlment
igible
for
inel
Homen were
f
.:.. a..
o"rli
Hurphy and her
The ruling was disappointing for Emiiy
f inal course
colleagues. Nevertheless, there was one
.:,'r:.,.of actlon oPen to them. They apPealed to His Hajesgy's
in London' The Privy Council accePted the
"1.-i.i;;.Council
of Emily Hurphy and her fellow Plaintiffs'
Flrs t Homen'as H.P.
to the political hopes of
fn. t*on,a'i., had seen a set-back began
women were
Canadi an women. klhen the decade
At its end'
were
comins'
sreat chanees
;;;;;itirl-th.at
as women
frustration
way
to
io*."ur, optimisir had given
realized their position in the political system was still
,?*',f+i#E"+-.:!+a"9Fi#F
l{t
Vomen
in Ihe
192C's
(Cont'd)
had 5een one
NeverIheless' theref jrst
woman to
a SeconCary one'
of the
small victory - th; election
the House of Commons'
of the 6O Progresslves
A9:res Campbe)'l Hacphail:t'?n" From lhe beginning' she was
member
elected in Dece*0""'-tgi]
lne f ir""' tnd only ' f emale
ic
scrutinY
pub-l
conscious of beinn
being under
in the fbuse' ThJ o'At"t of
;''
wa5so9reat.n".-,i.lostl2pouiasin.herfirstmonth
'i5'''
Parliament'
of
as a Hember
the fee'l could never escape
she
hard.work'
her
Despite
intr.uder in a male doan
was
she
that
many
ing among
Canadian magazrne'
tjint'
??pu)ar
main' Satu rdag
"
I n"s :ver til:^t-",1:::tl:ni:'
remarked, "i f niss-f{acphai
discussion of any maJor
contribution to the
toot.trre "?l::tedenled
nor on record.,., And when she
stepofreturnrng'Si'5ooofhersalarY'insisIrng
that92'5O0wasenoughincomeforanybody'shewasan action by her male
such
f;r
criticized
roundly
colleagues'
Wo
-
r I d Ho rk
her
FortheaverageworkingwomalinCanadaduringthe,20s
rhe thought was "J. o"" of 9ivin9.:?,0"1^t':f
'salarybutofi";;;asingit'-gy'tg2l"paidwomenworkers
These
f orce '
tn"
or
t;it
'*trk
about
made uP
''*ol;- stuck i'n';out ac:otllln to strict
how"""i'
were,
women
!,;:
*I,.or. srer"otvi:;
car
_l:..::i:?1"i",!;rl"i3lln.,"ri
the
or
Bv the end
::'n"::0,,-:::",13!';;.;
ilj:::i::::80 per
cent of the teachers in publicallyo
o
Se)
{,ti'r",.1..
*,"'; ,
': 'i.'-:
a"..lt,
,.:
';"'
jl
:i ' : :
I:
i: :3
:; ? :; ;: ,.:: T ": I ; ;comprised
'
"
" '.
I : ::
also
leges were.women' Homen
col
business
,-,,'.i:lolteachers'
priY:tu
;' :..;.,,;ll
of a;" pupi ls attending on)y JU F
cenr
eer
;-'rirlr.Per l'"'";^^tf
in 1929
irantly.
..'.';colleges.Signiri."ntly,iniiigJl'''30,percentof
.,.,;11,,.i!:: :
|' i
",
.'
:::
thefull-time""a;;;;l;unive"iti"t"ldcolleseswere
were graduating wirh a
cent
25
Per
only
and
womern',
oacIE'lor's de-9ree'
the '20s
work force'during legislation'
the
into
women
of
influx
The
proiective
resulted l" 9o;;;iiuol. i"!'oaucing u'o:11^tn" cleanins of
in which
Laws were or,"; ;;ohibitini"linr'i
in' tne :?:: room
e1tii9
and
were
machin'erY'
Homen
certain
\'sa' ttking place' 6 a'm' and
Piocess
acturing
manuf
the
mi dni thr and
'
columbia
protected from w6rki ng but*utn
i'n-rgir' British
tr''" n,,in*ll"
from emplovt"nt"in
p:::l^:?-':":i;:
became the o"rv
Ix w
law, wh i ch geve vdotnen 3
I
t/.
;,T:::i?;'1r::.rlli:i;il--
--
Hor,en in the 1920's
{ con t' d )
and after
having a babY'
however, that women
l! was with wages and saiaries,
between men's
fferences
The di
were most concirned.
andwomen'SwagesreSultedin]imitedacIionbygovernment, which was re'l uctant to challenge the f ree-enterprise system. Nevertheless, in every PFovince a
rales of wages
board was set uP to examine existing
wofkilg ful I
women
for
and to recommend minumum rates
parl,
inef fecrual'
time. This action was' tor lhe sost
ln 0ntario, the minimurn wage For women in 192\ was
This'
stores
S12.50 per week in most factories andwomen
l8
over
experienced
ied
to
however, only appl
yearsof"-ou..Theminimumwagelegislationdidnot
garment
apply to farm workers, domestic servants and
paid
female
piece workers who made uP a third of the
working PoPulation'
The
,r ',: 'i'
Law
i ty between
. The law was another area i n whi ch i nequalthe-'20s'
a
At the beginning of
tne sexes existed'
tted
wi
fe
commi
di vorce woul d be granted to 3 man i f hi s
adultery,nomatter..whatthecircumstances.However,
awifecoulddivorceherhusbandfor.adulteryonly fences' This
if it was associated with some orher of
double standard was removed in 19?5' Yet' if the
womanwa5givenadivorce,shewouldnotreceive
maintenanc"irshehadcommittedadultery.Also,the if the
courts could order the maintenance stopped
divorced wife didn't remain sexually faithFul to her
ex-husband
':ll-:::.'
.,-'
,:,i,r
,,;,),
double
In the courts, won€n were facing anotherA woman
charged
standard, depending uPon the charges'
was
likely
with tnuit, drunkenness, arson or bootlegging
juries
jud-oes,
to be treaied more leniently by masculine
however' the
and prosecutors than thei r fel low men' theI f'woman
h/as ro
sexual one then
r;.al ieged offence was a
'be b lamed:
Golden Age of
SPo,r,t
and Canadars
The 1920s was thp "Golden Age of Sport"'
been in women's
has
since,
ind
most';uaa.'rrfrt team t,hen,
During the period' lgll{ to 1929' the
5*.
l"t*.tball.
'---j'F"!''*-Grads plaied 308 league, championship and
;;;;";""
teams of
exhibi tion games against the ieadi ng
They won the
them'
America and Europe, and won 3Ol of
1928.
in
it
worldis title in lg2t+, and retained
|
'+,
in";t success raised objections that
under me.n's rules was too
,rirls playing blskerball
This
their health'
damage
liable to
strenrour'.nl
in
sPorts
parlicipate
icness
lo
deDaie over women's f
Page'
Percy
decade'
was to continue throughout the
the
only
poinred
that
oUt
Coach of t'he Grads,
stron-ce5landfitresrgir,lswereallowedto-Participare.
trainOnce ti-,ef were members of a team..the compulsory
A
shape'
physical
ing kept rhem in excellent
basketbail inj'Canada offered
direcLor of girls'
that three former captains were morhers
the testi"oni"i
of three, and tvro children resPectively'
f .o"l..ttO,
SUig,HARY
In summarY, the 1920s revealed that the attitudes
Past had not yet
values of a. rurai and egricultural
comet'oterm5withanurbanandindust'rializedpresent'.
characterized
For women, Ehe decade seemed to be best
her efforts
Despite
f1
urphy'
by what hapPened to Emiiy
inhavingwomenrecognizedaspersonsandthuseligible
she was Passed over as 'Canada's
for Senate aPpointt"'nt'
one male Senator commented
As
first femal.'!.nator'
t'0h
we never could have had F{rs ' lturphy in
at the !ime,
rroublel"
the Senate: 5he would have caused too much
and
Ques I ion,s
{
Emi I y
l'turPhY's
P
rob I em was :
she was the f irst ladY Protester
she was not accepted as che f irst
she couid no! vole
a
According to one interPretation
was charqed with:
police magistrate
of rhe
BNA
Act,
Emi
ly
l'lurphy
not being a Person
stealing moneY
doing a Poor job
h
The Privy Counci
considered:
in London decided Emily Hurphy should
a good worker
a person
a women
The ii rst woman elected to the House of
be
h
I{.
Agnes Campbel I l{acPhai
dl
ri
.t
Commons was:
i
Nellie
f{cLung
Louise "ficKinneY
Anne Hurray
Although woinen of
roles in societY,
in terns ^F.
thF
.l920's b',ere beginning tA eh:nac
rhi r
9.'9,'5
continued
Eo
think
end even some women,
Homen in the 192C's
0 "a < t inn
<ev
Emi
r
!J
vi
c?
ly hurphy's problem was:
d
h
she was the f irst lady protester
she was not accepied as the f irst
she couid not vote
According to one interpretation
was charged with:
police magistrate
of the
BNA
Act,
Emi
ly tiurphy
a) not being a person
b) steallng money
c) doing a poor job
).
The Privy Council in London decided Emily ilurphy should
considered:
h
a good worker
a Person
a wome
The
first
a
4.
€l
h'\
.)
d)
woman
elected to the House of
Agnes Carnpbel I t4acphai
Nellie
be
Commons was:
I
HcLung
Louise,.hcKinney
Anne flurray
Although woinen of the 1920's were beginning to change their
roles in society, men, and even some women, continued to think
in terms of :
:
con f us ion
stereotYPes
chang
ng occupat i ons for women i n 1921?
).
\dhar 2 changes in laws during the i920's helped women in their
Wha r
were three
I
1
I ead i
A'
z.
Not ali !,iomen cou ld co l lect lhe minimum wage of S12.50 in 192U.
l{ame 3 types of woments jobes which were ,not covered by this law.
a
I
x
?
1.
Explain 2 waVs in which the laws treated
r--:aair.,*6r4gttffiS6&€t
: -*]i6iR#:tr*','
wor
'-l ;''
10.
i
r.. ;. . - - frtp-v.6P
--
Did the work
tor women of
Fae
eh:nnc
tha
sr.s
no.ia.'l?
l,v | | vY
women di
fferentiy
from
me
a
in,the 1920's make any real dif ferences
I
'
1J-
iTryffi
-*
*a,r<gq3;,tg.-6.r$*:E*.- .' :i
. :r-
- *!'Aia