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• The Way of Hope: The Vonin Ladies' Aid Society
  by Dorothy Murray

Vonin is the Icelandic word for ‘hope.’ The Vonin Ladies Aid Society was founded in 1891 by women of Icelandic ancestry who had arrived in Alberta and were destined to settle near Markerville. The work and concern of Vonin Ladies Aid Society shows the intimate connection between language, culture, religious life and community service. Dorothy Murray describes the work of the Society in historical perspective.

• Ways of Working: Labour and Manual Training at Canadian University College
  by David Ridley

While religious communities are viewed by some as being preoccupied with ‘otherworldly’ concerns, these communities are more likely to show concern for the demands of everyday living. Founded in 1907, Canadian University College has involved students in work and manual training as well as a formation within the denomination’s religious ideals. David Ridley looks at the history of this labour training and how it is connected to the religious understanding of Seventh-day Adventists, through the writing of Ellen White, the 19th century American co-founder of denomination.

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• Encountering Emily: Alberta Women's Correspondence with Magistrate Murphy

Magistrate Emily Murphy is arguably the most compelling heroine of the early women’s rights movement in Alberta and Canada. Murphy inspired hope and optimism about the ability of the law to change women’s circumstances and rights. In this essay, Annalise Acorn contrasts the hope with Murphy’s harsh sensibility and lack of compassion, particularly in relation to her correspondence with a woman just released from the hospital for the mentally ill at Ponoka.

• Meaning and Modesty: Women in Alberta Local Histories
  by Nanci Langford, Ph.D.

One of the contributions of the more than 3,000 local histories published to date in Alberta is in documenting the lives of women, in terms of community activities, organizations and day-to-day life. Nanci Langford looks at how these histories also distort the diverse realities of women’s lives and often obscure the presence and participation of women in community life.

• Their Own Schools of Democracy
  by Roger Epp

The rural community hall may evoke images of dances and potluck dinners, but more importantly, such structures were meeting places for the radical-democratic and agrarian populist politics in rural Alberta. Roger Epp looks at the decline of this political practice since the 1920s and the health and vitality of political activity in rural Alberta to present.

• Myrtle Raivio: Alberta’s First Woman Guide and Outfitter
  by Annette Gray

Known as the ‘Lady Guide of the Foothills’ Myrtle Raivio worked as a guide and outfitter for fifty years. While her ability to organize camps and guide hunters and back country travelers was renown in a male-dominated field, Annette Gray reflects on the gentle and feminine presence of Myrtle in the roughness of outdoor life.

• Ruth Dearing and L.E. Maxwell: Free to Minister
  by Ruth Dearling and L.E. Maxwell Enns

Religious organizations are often regarded as being restrictive for women, Ruth Dearing’s work and life at Prairie Bible Institute run contrary to this notion. In this article by James Enns, Ruth Dearing’s work as teacher, preacher, professor and administrator and her affiliation with L.E. Maxwell, the founder of Prairie Bible Institute, reflects both the discipline and freedom co-existing within religious life.

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