First Women's Institute National Historic Event
Stoney Creek, Ontario
Location of HSMBC plaque
(© Parks Canada / Parcs Canada, 2000)
Address :
552 Ridge Road, Erland Lee (Musem) Home National Historic Site of Canada, Stoney Creek, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1937-05-20
Other Name(s):
-
First Women's Institute
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Foundation of the first women's institute in Canada in 1897
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Erland Lee (Musem) Home National Historic Site of Canada 552 Ridge Road, Stoney Creek, Ontario
This 19th-century farmhouse is the birthplace of the Women's Institutes (WI), an organization that played a vital role in thousands of small communities. Inspired by domestic science reformer Adelaide Hoodless, and supported by her husband Erland, Janet Lee drafted the constitution of the Stoney Creek Women's Institute here in 1897. From these roots emerged a movement that spread throughout Canada and the world. In meeting halls across the country, the WI brought women together to learn diverse skills and to promote civic reform, helping them break the grinding isolation of rural life.