Casting your ballot in an election was not always a right for everyone in Canada. Fighting for the right to vote is exactly what five determined Alberta women did over 90 years ago.

On August 27, 1927, Emily Murphy and 4 of her closest friends, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby, met for tea and they all signed a petition which was later submitted to the Supreme Court of Canada asking the question, " Does the word "persons" in section 24, of the British North America Act, 1867, included female persons?"

After 2 years and 1 appeal to the to the Privy Council in England, these five Alberta women fought and won the right for all Canadian women to be counted as persons.

The Okotoks Museum and Archives celebrated these women on Friday by hosting a Pink Tea with presentations and a glimpse into Canadian history.

Museum and Archive Specialist, Kathy Coutts, says these women were a relentless force that changed everything for women in Canada.

Coutts says, "October 18th, 1929 a landmark legal decision was made affecting Canadian women. Women were legally recognized as 'persons' under the British Common Law." (BNA Act 1867" )

Fifteen years earlier these warriors for women's rights had already fought and won the right for women to vote in Alberta.

Coutts says, prior to changing the definition of a qualified person, women did not have all the rights and privileges that men had.

The driving force behind the Famous Five was Emily Murphy. She longed to run for the senate but under the law at the time she was ineligible to run.

Coutts says, "There is a well known quote that says, 'Well behaved women seldom make history', and for all intents and purposes these five women were not 'well behaved', but they certainly made history. "

She says the efforts of these women had a lasting impact and she sees that same determination in Alberta women today.

The Okotoks Museum and Archives has displays and more history on these amazing Alberta women. (click here)

 

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