Born in Ontario, Adelaide Hoodless sought to release the full potential of women for social action. An outspoken educator and social reformer, she successfully pressed for acceptance of domestic economy as a subject for study in Canadian schools, and was largely responsible for founding the Institutes of Household Science at Guelph, Ste. Anne de Bellevue and Toronto. Active in forming the Young Women's Christian Association, the National Council of Women, and the Federated Women's Institute, she also aided in establishing the Victorian Order of Nurses. She died in Toronto.