Emily Spencer Kerby, Protestant Social Activist
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2000 In the religion of womenEmily Spencer Kerby, Protestant social activist White, Anne Maureen White, A. M. (2000). In the religion of womenEmily Spencer Kerby, Protestant social activist (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/22404 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/39865 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY In the Religion of Women Emily Spencer Kerby, Protestant Social Activist by Anne Maureen White A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA MAY, 2000 O Anne M. White 2000 National Library Biblioth&que nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services sew ices bibliograp hiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your hb VWrefetsnoe Our fib letre releren~e The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada dc reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, priter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be p~tedor othewise de celle-ci ne doivent Etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT Emily Spencer Kerby was a leading social activist in Western Canada during the first three decades of the twentieth century. She frequently mentioned Galatians 3:28 - a New Testament verse which declared equality in Christ. Her use of this verse reflects a traditional source of authority claimed by earlier Protestant females in Canada, Britain and the United States. On examination of these historical antecedents a distinct women's religious tradition within Protestantism emerges. This dissertation will trace the tradition through the centuries and identify its influence within the development of women's social activism, philanthropic organizations, and missionary societies during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The life and writings of Emily Spencer Kerby as a representative of that distinct female religious perspective will be presented to demonstrate that in her commitment to social activism, female religious equality, and ecclesiastical rights, she was a modern conveyor of that tradition. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge with gratitude the challenges and the guidance given to me by my supervisor Dr. Morny Joy. Thank for your patience and encouragement but, most of all, for your willingness to share wisdom. I wish to thank the Department of Religious Studies for giving me the opportunity to be part of the PhD program. Thank you also most sincerely for your generous support over the years and for providing me with the wonderful opportunity to teach. To every professor who shared their knowledge and expertise with me, I am especially grateful. I do not think you are aware of how much you helped me. Finally, a special acknowledgment goes to my family for their support during my studies. Thank you for all your help and understanding. DEDICATION To Maggie Elizabeth O'Dwyer, my maternal great-grandmother. To Julia Elizabeth West, my mother. To Emily Spencer Kerby, a respected lady. Three very different women, from three very different cultures, who, by their life examples, taught me that irrespective of class or creed, the human spirit can indeed be truly noble. TABLE OF CONTENTS ApprovalPage .................................................. ...ii Abstract ..................................................... III Acknowledgments ............................................... iv Dedication ...................................................... v Tableofcontents ................................................vi Epigraph .................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................. I Overview ................................................. 1 Research challenges regarding methods of examination ............ 5 Research results from three sources of analysis ................... 9 Analyzing the tradition and Emily Spencer Kerby within it ........... 12 CHAPTER TWO: THE LIVING FEMALE PROTESTANT TRADITION ...... 15 Introduction .............................................. 15 Pre-Confederation female religious and social activism ............17 Religion as a public forum for women .......................... 25 Development of women's organizations after Confederation ......... 29 The Canadian female tradition ................................41 An inheritor of the tradition: Emily Spencer Kerby ................. 42 Conclusion ............................................... 44 CHAPTER THREE: CANADIAN TIES TO BRITISH AND AMERICAN RELIGIOUS CULTURE .....................................45 Introduction .............................................. 45 Social and religious transatlantic connections .................... 45 The British foremothers ..................................... 55 Development of the Americar? tradition ......................... 70 Conclusion ...............................................82 CHAPTER FOUR: THE LIFE OF EMILY SPENCER KERBY ............. 84 Introduction .............................................. 84 Ancestry. early life and marriage .............................. 85 Revivals and church life ..................................... 92 The Young Woman's Christian Association ...................... 96 Teacher and mentor at Mount Royal ........................... 99 Women's rights and the Calgary Local Council of Women ......... 102 Significance as pioneer clubwoman ........................... 117 The death of Emily Spencer Kerby ........................... 118 Conclusion .............................................. 119 CHAPTER FIVE: A CREEDAL EXEGESIS .......................... 121 Introduction .............................................121 Historical and theological developments ....................... 123 Definition of the Kingdom of GodfHeaven ...................... 130 Canadian development of the social gospel concept .............. 133 Analysis of My Creed ......................................138 Conclusion: A woman's reflection of Canadian religious thought .... 171 CHAPTER SIX: THE CITIZENSHIP OF WOMEN ..................... 174 Introduction .............................................174 Interpreting the Western Canadian mosaic ..................... 176 Social issues and written opinions ............................192 Marriage. motherhood. birth control. sex education. the double standard. STDts and companionate marriage ......... 193 Women's working conditions. equal pay and poverty ............. 215 Representation in the courts. female Magistrates. the female accused and female jurors ................................ 221 The professions. attractive. comfortable clothing and the freedom to play sports ................................... 227 Immigration. racism. Canadianization. eugenics ................. 231 Women. the church. and ordination ........................... 246 Conclusion .............................................. 259 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION ................................262 Information contained in each chapter ......................... 264 Contribution of research to women's religious and social history .... 265 EPIGRAPH There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28. By permission of Central United Church, Calgary, Alberta. Emily Spencer Kerby Leader of the Anti-Knockers Bible Class of 1912 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION How seldom it is given to men and women to see the dawning of a new day - sleep closes their eyes, and paralyses the brain so that as the first rays appear above the horizon, it comes all unconsciously and unappreciated by the world at large. But day breaks. So too the dawning of the New Day for Woman, came all unnoticed, till the sun was far up in meridian glory. Constance Lynd' OVERVIEW The dawning of the New Day for women, which Emily Spencer Kerby (1859?- 1938), under the pseudonym Constance ~ynd,*believed had arrived in the 1920s was the culmination of what had proved to be a long and arduous process. Historical sources indicate that several British women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were among the first to protest against the misogyny and discrimination expressed towards women within the English Protestant tradition and English ~ociety.~These early champions for women's equality under God, wrote their works 'Constance Lynd, The