**March is Women’s History Month**Mona Louise Parsons was born on February 17, 1901, in Middleton, Nova Scotia and married Dutch businessman Willem Leonhardt in 1937. For two years, Mona and Willem enjoyed marital life together in Holland until September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and then later, Holland.Once the Nazis invaded she worked in the Dutch resistance to get Allied airmen out of occupied Holland. She and her husband were betrayed and they were arrested in 1941. She was one of the only women to be tried by Nazi tribunal in the Netherlands. She was nearly executed but she impressed the judge with her poise under pressure.She then spent the rest of the war in German Nazi prisons until near the end of the war the compound she was staying in was bombed and many of the female prisoners escaped. She walked from Germany to unoccupied Holland with a Dutch baroness, where she was coincidentally received in Allied territory by her own countrymen, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.Her story was spread by Canadian troops and served to lift their spirits in the final days of the war. She received commendations from both Britain and the United States for helping Allied airmen escape from or evade enemy capture.Mona never fully recovered from the trauma of her wartime experience, but her resilience ensured her ability to carry on. She was reunited with her husband, and they lived in Holland until his death in 1956. She moved back to Nova Scotia the following year and later remarried. In 1976, Mona fell ill with pneumonia and died on November 28, at the age of 75. Sadly she's buried in a family plot where she's only recognized as her second husband's wife.www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/blogs/personal/perspectives/mona-parsons-wwii-hero/... See MoreSee Less
Did you know that March is Womens' History Month? ...here's a link to an interesting site that focuses on women who have made a difference in STEM - makes for interesting reading. Enjoy 😊 ... See MoreSee Less
Brainpower: Women Mathematicians Who Changed Our World Ten years ago, when I started the Women In Science Archive, we as a civilization were still residing
as we reflect on the last week, leading up to IWD, let's remember some of the many women, and men who made this happen, and listen to a very movimg rendition of 'Bread and Roses'www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEffTvbVqmc... See MoreSee Less
Tomorrow is **International Women's Day** (March 8), a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. Organisations, groups, and individuals worldwide can all play a part - in the community, at work, at home, and beyond.The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2024 is **Inspire Inclusion**. When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. To truly include women means to openly embrace their diversity of race, age, ability, faith, body image, and how they identify. Worldwide, women must be included in all fields of endeavourIWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first recognised IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation specific. ... See MoreSee Less
IWD has a long and interesting history - here are some interesting facts on how it came to be:**History of International Women's Day**International Women's Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900's - a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Unsurprisingly, its roots developed in parallel in Europe and the AmericasWomen's oppression and inequality were spurring them to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change, in **1908**, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on February 28, **1909**. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.In **1910** a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day, proposing a celebration every year in every country - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs - and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament - greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.International Women's Day was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March **1911**. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. Less than a week later on March 25, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions; and labor legislation became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's Bread and Roses campaign.On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on February 23 **1913**, the last Sunday in February. In **1914**, further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.On the last Sunday of February** 1917**, Russian women began a strike for "Bread and Peace" in response to the death of over 2 million Russian soldiers in World War 1. Opposed by political leaders, the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.International Women's Day was marked for a first time by the United Nations in **1975**. Then in December **1977**, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.**Why 8 March?**19 March; the last Sunday of February; 15 April; and 23 February are among the key dates for the International Women’s Day movement. *But where, then, did the 8th of March come from*?Ask Julius Cesar and Pope Gregory XIII! Before the Revolution, Russia still used the Julian calendar, which owes its name to the Roman emperor, who had chosen it 46 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It had not yet adopted the Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 to mitigate the errors of the Julian System. The Gregorian calendar is used today in the large majority of countries.In 1917, 23 February in Russia corresponded to 8 March in the other European countries. It’s as simple as that!www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day/background... See MoreSee Less
Our CFUW story - something to celebrate for IWD.Continuing with our theme of International Women's Day, here is the history of our own organisation, the Canadian Federation of University Women, established in 1919. After the First World War, increasing urban populations and consequent industrial growth led to more opportunities for women. By 1918 women were reasonably well established in the teaching profession and starting to enter medicine, law, journalism, nursing and social work in larger numbers.Leaders among university women in Canada started local University Clubs but the impetus to found a national federation came from Great Britain early in 1919. Dr. Winifred Cullis, professor of physiology at the University of London, had lectured at the University of Toronto during the war years, and suggested that women in Canada might wish to organize a national federation so Canada might become one of the first countries to join in the emerging International Federation of University Women.The response was immediate. In March 1919 at a conference of four university club leaders in Toronto - Mrs J.A. Cooper, President of the Toronto Club; Mrs. R.F. McWilliams, President of the Winnipeg Club; Miss May Skinner, then representing Canada on the American Association’s committee on International Affairs; and Miss Laila Scott - it was decided to create the Canadian Federation of University Women.A constitution was drafted and a meeting was held in Winnipeg in August 1919. Delegates from the attending clubs (Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Victoria, McGill Alumnae) adopted the proposed constitution and set the federation on its way by selecting the first officers and Chairs of Committees. A photograph of these remarkable women, in Winnipeg in 1919 is shown below.**Education in all its phases was declared to be the first interest of the new federation.**…and the rest is History! ... See MoreSee Less
Women stepped up, not only in the UK, as seen here, but all over North America. Returning veterans claimed most of their jobs in heavy industry back after the war, but it proved to be a catalyst for eventual change.Women Working in #Woolwich Arsenal Factory in WW1This photograph shows women at work making armaments in a munitions factory during WW1. With men away at war, women filled the labour #shortage, competently doing all kinds of jobs they had previously been denied access to. #vintagephoto #fyp #womeninwar #womeninhistory ... See MoreSee Less