|
Home
Social Landscape
While traditional historical study emphasizes important people and events,
social history takes a layered approach and encourages the exploration of all
facets of people’s lives. Historical events simply become markers on the human
journey, which is seen as having social, cultural, economic, political,
spiritual and other dimensions. This larger social landscape provides a context
through which the lives of individuals and groups can be viewed and better
understood.
The Women of Aspenland Virtual Exhibit takes a particular view of
women’s history. It includes not only the biographies of individual women and
the network of relationships from family, to church, to community, but also the
ways in which women were shaped by their society in a particular historic era.
The particular experience of women in central Alberta is similar to that of
women throughout the Canadian West and within the present-day province of
Alberta. The trials of early settlement and the impact of geographic isolation
and harsh economic realities are not unique to the region. But given these
similarities, the particular stories of these women and their work have a colour
and flair of their own. After WWII, significant social and economic
changes have broadened the context in which the lives and work of women have
taken place in Central Alberta. Increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse,
new voices and experiences have emerged in the makeup of the region.
Place the lives of central Alberta women in a Social Landscape and be
prepared to have your assumptions of the great moments and events of Albertan
and Canadian history challenged. Understand their lives within the following
contexts:
|
Fur Trade Society—The role of First Nations
and Métis women is an important part of the social and cultural landscape of
Aspenland. It has only been in the past 20 years that the importance of these
women has been recognized in terms of political and economic life during the
Fur Trade and Mission Eras and into the current development of contemporary
communities. While the lives of some of these women are included here, many of
them remain nameless and faceless in the historic record. Women’s role in
carrying cultural memory within families is particularly important in First
Nations’ communities and examples include
Nancy Samson.
|
|
Home and Family— After signing of Treaties
and settlement, the rural frontier provided a unique opportunity for some of
the women who arrived. The struggles of pioneering, shared by both women and
men, supported women’s claim for full participation in the new society. The
presence and work of the United Farmers Women’s Association, at the forefront
of rural and farm family issues, and the Alberta Women’s Institutes are a part
of this. A large range of service and community organizations provide
community support and opportunities to gather and discuss common concerns.
Many women belong to several organizations and attend to the elderly, children
and those without immediate family. Examples include
Barbara Cormack, Helen Morgan, Bessie
Damberger and Jacqueline Jevne.
|
|
Religion—Religious life has been an important
aspect of Central Alberta communities. Many religious denominations have found
a rich seedbed for their beliefs and women have played a significant role in
the spiritual, social and community service aspects of religion. Some examples
pertain to the work of missionaries and include Margaret Nissen and Halla
Budvarson.
|
|
Social Activism—Alberta women have a long
history of activism and those of Aspenland have been prominent in influencing,
changing and creating their communities. They did this as individuals but also
working through organizations such as the United Farmers of Alberta and the
Women’s Institutes. The exclusion of women from public life encouraged early
activity through attaining the vote and other reforms. Examples include Irene
Parlby, Marjorie Bowker and Muriel Estrick.
|
|
Work—While the era of settlement required women
to assist in the work of breaking the land, women soon involved themselves in
the range of the building of rural and urban communities. While teaching was a
profession suitable for women, they also made inroads in other areas,
particularly since WWII. |
|
Education—As in all pioneer societies, for
many women, extended formal education was a luxury. However, a brave few
initially pursued higher education. This trickle became a stream in the
post WWII period. Examples include Molly Tofte and Bertha Munn. |
|
Health Care and Science—While the
traditional role of care-givers appeared to fit women for work in the area of
health care, work in related occupations involving science education proved
more challenging. Examples include Ester Laidlaw, Amy Conroy and Jane Daines. |
|
Culture and Recreation—In the early part of
the 20th century, women played an important role in the cultural and
recreational life of their communities. Prior to the institutionalization of
these activities, the individual and the group were the means of creating
leisure-time activities necessary to balance work and play. An example is
playwright Elsie Park Gowan, who began her career as a teacher in Lacombe and
who wrote about prairie women from homestead to the workplace.
|
|
|