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2016 'How Kola': The Wauneita Society at the University of Alberta, 1908-1930
McFadyen, Ursula
McFadyen, U. (2016). 'How Kola': The Wauneita Society at the University of Alberta, 1908-1930 (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26392 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3337 master thesis
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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
‘How Kola’: The Wauneita Society at the University of Alberta, 1908-1930
by
Ursula McFadyen
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY
CALGARY, ALBERTA
SEPTEMBER, 2016
© Ursula McFadyen 2016
ii
Abstract
This thesis deals with the creation of campus culture in one of Canada’s first universities to be formed as a co-educational university. Using predominantly primary source material derived from university, student, alumni, professor, and administrative accessions at the University of
Alberta, this thesis explores how men and women managed to create a campus culture at a time when women were just being introduced to college campuses in Canada. Certain difficulties such as maintaining respectability while in close proximity to men, finding a place for women on campus, and exploring roles for educated women in Canadian society are some of the challenges the female students faced while trying to create an educational environment that was both instructive and meaningful. The solution for the women at the University of Alberta was the formation of the Wauneita Society. The Wauneitas gave women a voice and a presence on campus that as a distinct minority, they would have otherwise been without.
iii
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I am grateful to my thesis supervisor Paul Stortz for his patience and
encouragement. He suggested when I was an undergraduate student that grad school would be an
engaging and fulfilling experience and he was absolutely right. I would also like to thank Lisa
Panayotidis for entrusting me with the task of assisting with her research; working with her has
been informative and inspirational. The defence committee, George Colpitts and Lorry Felske,
provided very interesting conversation and helpful feedback. Also Chris Hyland (PhD student
and good friend) has been a wonderful source of encouragement, support and information.
The University of Alberta Archives in Edmonton has a knowledgeable and enthusiastic
staff and I received a great deal of help with my research from Jim Franks and Alicia Odeen.
I have been blessed with an amazing family who have provided a great deal of moral
support throughout my Master’s program. My Aunt Gwen and Uncle Terry provided a place to stay when I visited the archives in Edmonton doing my research. My sister Hope Sommerville has been an inspiration with her perseverance and strength throughout her own journey. My partner Eric Lemieux has always provided a sympathetic ear and ice cream should the need arise.
Finally, the greatest support and encouragement has come from my grandmother Dorothy Baptist who has raised me and nurtured the academic in me. She has taught me not to back down from a challenge or turn away from an opportunity and I would not have been able to do this without her.
iv
CATION
To my Grandmother who was denied the opportunity to pursue an education because she was a woman.
v
Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………….. iii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………... iv
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………… v
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………….. vii
List of Figures and Illustrations………………………………………………………….. viii
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………… 1
I.1 Learning from the Past – Bluestockings and Women’s Education……………. 2
I.2 The Growing Secularization of Education and Beginning of Co-Education in 7 Canada I.3 Placing Women in Early Education in The West……………………………... 13
I.4 The Seven Independent Spinsters……………………………………………... 14
I.5 Important Debates in Secondary Literature…………………………………… 16
I.6 The Study……………………………………………………………………… 22
I.7 Chapter Summary……………………………………………………………… 28
Chapter 1: “Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” (“Each for All, All for Each”), 1908-1912……………………………………………………………. 31
1.1 Early Women on Campus……………………………………………………... 33
1.2 Gendered Interaction on the New Campus……………………………………. 41
1.3 The Creation of the Wauneitas: Sisterhood and Imagery……………………... 46
1.4 Wauneita Symbolism………………………………………………………….. 50
vi
Chapter 2: Keeping up with the World: 1911-1914……………………………………… 59
2.1 The Wauneitas Finding a Social and Political Place on Campus…………….. 60
2.2 Relationships on a Gendered Campus………………………………………… 68
2.3 A Renewed Purpose in Education: Lectures, Debates, and International Perspectives…………………………………………………………………….. 72
Chapter 3: The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns: 1914-1919………………… 82
3.1 Women on the Wartime Campus and The University Soldiers’ Comfort Club 86
3.2 Women Still Feeling Constrained by Gender Boundaries…………………… 93
3.3 The Changing Image of Women……………………………………………… 98
Chapter 4: The Wauneitas in the 1920s………………………………………………….. 106
4.1 Gender Confusion in Post-War Canada: The Pressure to Pick a Side………… 108
4.2 The Wauneitas: Still Relevant? The Post War Gendered Culture…………….. 112
4.3 The Changing Face of the Wauneitas…………………………………………. 124
Conclusion: The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century………………… 133
C.1 Future Directions……………………………………………………………... 136
Selected Bibliography……………………………………………………………………. 140
vii
List of Tables
Table 3.1 - Table of Enrolment numbers divided by gender…………………………83
viii
List of Figures and Illustrations
Figure 1.1: “WS” Logo as published in Co-eds Corner………………………………. 52
Figure 1.2: Invitation for Miss J. Stewart to the 1916 Alumni Banquet with an Aboriginal woman painted on it……………………………………………………… 58
Figure 1.3: Invitation for Miss A. Iddings to the 1921 Alumni Banquet with cat tail plants painted on it …………………………………………………………………… 58
Figure 2.1: A mock timetable depicting the average day of a symbolic male student in which he is obsessed with a female student…………………………………………... 70
Figure 2.2: A mock timetable depicting the average day of a symbolic female student in which she is focused on socializing rather than school…………………………… 72
Figure 3.1: Picture of Miss Katie McCrimmon and Miss Clara May Bell in the University Weekly Newsletter………………………………………………………… 91
Figure 4.1: “To The Front” comic in which a housewife, a career woman, and a young flapper race……………………………………………………………………………. 109
Figure 4.2: Junior Promenade Program of Dances, November 1919…………………... 117
Figure 4.3: Wauneita Pin, Mascot and Sweatshirt……………………………………... 124
Introduction 1
Introduction
“We, a growing body of girls are beginning traditions in our University that will of necessity be
permanent and it remains to us to start them right.”1 Western-Canadian universities had the
distinction of being formed as co-educational institutions; as a result they had an exciting
opportunity to create a distinctive campus culture rather than being pressured to integrate women into an established male campus as was the case in Eastern Canadian institutions. Henry
Marshall Tory, president of the University of Alberta 1908-1928, encouraged both male and female students to participate in extracurricular activities such as clubs and student government.
Without a cultural precedent in Canada it was up to the students to create a campus culture that suited both men and women and maintained social standards of respectability.
The women of the University of Alberta were given a unique opportunity to establish the campus culture alongside men although their chances to interact socially with men were extremely limited. Women in the early 1900s were expected to be passive and submissive to men. This made it difficult for women to participate in co-ed campus societies that included public speaking, competition, or leadership; in theory the women had equal access to clubs but their participation was limited. Even though the men and women of the University of Alberta entered their university with equal access to classes and extracurricular activities, social factors and traditional gender roles prevented the women from having the same university experience as the men.
The women on the University of Alberta campus were also highly outnumbered by the men. As a distinct minority on campus, the women of the university had to figure out how to
1 Unsigned. “Wauneita Banquet Held on Friday Last,” The Gateway, January 24, 1918, 1.
Introduction 2
have a voice on campus without appearing too assertive. To have a fulfilling university
experience, the women of the University of Alberta formed the Wauneita Society in the fall of
1910. Inside the closed doors of the Wauneita lounges the women could participate in extracurricular activities in a way that was less ornamental and restrictive than the regular university clubs such as the Literary Society and Debate team.
The Wauneita Society evolved over time beginning as a social club very similar to a sorority and progressed into a more prominent voice for women in the university student government bodies such as the Students’ Union. The focus of the club changed over time to meet the changing needs of women on campus. This thesis will explore the evolution of the Wauneita
Society during its early years from 1909 through the First World War and into the 1920s and examine some of reasons for these changes using the perspective of the women themselves through Wauneita Meeting Minutes, Club Notes, and other university material that provide
insight into the club and its role in the university.
I.1. Learning from the Past: Bluestockings and Women’s Education
Women’s societies who advocated for the education of women created more than just future opportunities for education; they also provided a framework around which they could establish
themselves on campus and shape their academic experience without fear of becoming
unfeminine. One of the most famous of these organizations was a group of upper- and middle-
class women in London in the mid-eighteenth century who wanted to discuss intellectual topics
such as literature, politics, and current events the way that their husbands did without being
accused of abandoning their innocence and femininity. While it had no formal name, the
Introduction 3
members of the society were nicknamed “Bluestockings.” During this time, women’s education was mainly considered a culture-building experience consisting of “ornamental knowledge” such
as drawing, dancing, modern languages, and other endeavors that could be easily abandoned in
marriage.2 Bluestocking women were unhappy with the frivolity of these topics and wanted to
openly and critically discuss what they thought to be more important issues. Bluestocking
women held their own “salons” in the privacy of their parlors to avoid the stigma of entering a
public salon. Men who were interested in these parties were invited as well since the idea of the
“salons” was to overlook gender and fashion guidelines dictated by society and focus on intellectual discussion and personal growth.
Elizabeth Montagu (Queen of the Blues), Elizabeth Vesey, and Frances Boscawen were
some of the original hostesses of the London Bluestocking gatherings. These ladies hosted events
until the 1780s after which a new generation took over such duties.3 Intellectual conversation
was considered a male activity; however it was the focus of Montagu, Boscawen, and Vesey’s
gatherings as a form of moderate activism that both men and women could discuss various topics
openly and freely within the particular confines of the parlors.4 The “Bluestocking” nickname came to symbolize the group’s emphasis on more deep conversation over established social and fashion conventions. One of the most popular stories regarding the Bluestockings discusses a man named Benjamin Stillingfleet who was invited to a Bluestocking event by Vesey.
Stillingfleet rejected an invitation to one of Vesey’s parties on the basis that he did not have formal attire. Silk stockings were the fashion for upper-class men attending parties but
2 Evelyn Gorden Bodek, “Salonieres and Bluestockings: Educated Obsolescence and Germinating Feminism,” Feminist Studies 3.3/4 (Spring - Summer, 1976): 194. 3 Nicole Pohl and Betty A. Schellenberg, “Introduction: A Bluestocking Historiography,” Huntington Library Quarterly 65.1/2 (2002): 2. 4 Bodek, “Salonieres and Bluestockings,” 187.
Introduction 4
Stillingfleet only had blue wool stockings which were considered too casual for a formal affair.
Vesey was quoted as saying: “‘Pho, pho,’ looking at Stillingfleet inquisitively, ‘don’t mind
dress! Come in your blue stockings!’”5
Ultimately, the “Bluestocking” nickname was a gendered insult to those who partook in
these intellectual salons. Distinguished male members of London’s social elite were seen not to
engage in things that were considered improper such as intellectual debates between men and
women or women debating topics that were considered off limits for them to even think about.
Men in the eighteenth century were allowed to engage in politics and business because they were
considered by social expectations to be rational thinkers who would not allow themselves to be
corrupted by the “immoral” aspects of public life. They could confidently debate topics while
women were considered too morally and intellectually weak to engage in discussions about the
world of business and politics. Women in England in the late 1700s were often seen to be
irrational and easily persuaded to sinful behavior such as smoking, drinking, and pursuit of
materialism. Respectable women relied on the guidance of men to stay moral and limited the time they spent in the company of other women as they would inevitably lead each other to abandon humility and covet material goods.6
Bluestocking women in London were instrumental in serving as role models for
promoting the intellectual authority of women. One such activist was Elizabeth Carter who was a
notable “woman of words” in London in the 1700s. Carter’s father, Revd. Dr. Nicholas Carter,
gave his daughters the same education as he gave his sons. “Elizabeth learned Greek, Latin, and
Hebrew with her father. She resided with a French Protestant family in Canterbury for a year to
learn French. She also learned German at her father’s urging. She taught herself Italian and
5 Pohl and Schellenberg, “Introduction: A Bluestocking Historiography,” 3. 6 Hannah More, “Dissipation,” in The Lady’s Pocket Library. (Philadelphia: Matthew Carey 1809), 13.
Introduction 5
Spanish. In later years she worked on Portuguese and Arabic.” Carter’s father encouraged her to
be independent and follow her own judgment. She earned a name for herself contributing poetry
and translations of texts to the Gentleman’s Magazine in London from as early as 1731 when she
was only 17 years old until the 1740s when she began new writing projects with a revitalized
sense of self partially due to her close friendships. “The friendship with fellow bluestocking
Catherine Talbot, which began in 1741, was to be especially important in reinforcing her sense
of her own interests and in getting her started on a new project.” Which specific writing project
to which the quote was referring was not mentioned but the spirit of Bluestocking collectivism
and mutual support was at the heart of the success of these great women. Carter left London in
1739. “Her father’s gift of a classical education had created for Elizabeth Carter an unusual but
interesting way of life. If there was not really a place for her in London as a learned woman, then
she was determined to fashion her life in her own way in a kind of retirement.”7
Educated women supported each other in their intellectual and scholarly endeavors. They
provided other women with a safe environment to show their intelligence.8 Mutual support was
very important; older and more accomplished women served as role models for younger or less
experienced members of the group.9 Carter served as a role model and mentor for younger
Bluestockings such as Hester Chapone who was an activist and advocate for women’s continuing
education. She was the author of Letters on the Improvement of the Mind which was highly
praised as “the most widely read work of the first generation of bluestockings. It was reprinted at
least sixteen times in the eighteenth century in separate editions, and appeared in a 1776 Dublin
edition of Chapone’s works.” Letters was reprinted and recirculated throughout the 18th and 19th
7 Myers, The Bluestocking Circle, 46-60. 8 Hilary Brown, “The Reception of the Bluestockings by Eighteenth-Century German Women Writers,” Women in German Yearbook: Feminist Studies in German Literature & Culture 18. (2002): 112. 9 Bodek, “Salonieres and Bluestockings,” (1976), 192-193.
Introduction 6
Centuries: “There were at least fifteen editions of the Letters between 1800 and 1829 with many
used in schools.”10 Chapone believed that it was a woman’s duty to train her mind as knowledge would help her run her household better.11 She argued that if a woman found the right friends
who shared the same goals and could motivate one another to develop their minds and grow
intellectually, they could help each other both stay moral and express their ideas effectively. In a
letter to an unknown recipient dated September 11, 1749, Chapone discusses her excitement in
beginning correspondence with Miss Carter:
I shall still find in her that amiable condescension, and unreserved benevolence,
which endears her conversation, and enhances the value of her understanding;
which teaches her how to improve her companions without appearing to instruct
them, to correct without seeming to reprove, and even to reprove without
offending.12
In similar fashion, Bluestocking women mentored each other to work towards their goals and
inspire other women with their writing.13 This mutual support that resonated in households in and around London and later in urban centers in Canada into the 1800s encouraged the ladies to share their passion for education and encourage other women to educate themselves. Ideas travelled to Canada and America by way of literature and immigration from the “old world.” The families of Bluestocking women published women’s writing in books such as The Ladies Pocket
10 Sylvia Harcstark Myers, The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth- Century England. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990), 231. 11 Hester Chapone, Letters on the Improvement of the Mind: Addressed to a Young Lady (Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank in Market Street, between Second and Third Streets, 1786), 135-140. 12 Hester Chapone, The Posthumous Works of Mrs. Chapone (London: A. Constable and Co., 1807), 18. 13 Mathew Carey, The Lady’s Pocket Library (Philadelphia: Published by Mathew Carey, 1809), 13.
Introduction 7
Library and other works that encouraged women’s intellectualism. These books were still being
distributed in the early 1900s throughout the English-speaking world when Canadian female
university students were carving out their niche on well-established and traditionally male
institutions such as the University of Toronto or McGill University.14 Within the tradition of
private intellectual social gatherings, the Bluestockings established a pattern by which university women in Canada could pursue intellectual endeavors while maintaining a sense of respectability and decorum. Female students could practice public speaking and debating through the creation of university societies and could foster relationships similar to that of the Bluestockings in their
own private space within the public sphere of early university campuses. The Bluestockings
made it so that it was acceptable for women to seek intellectual development in their own private
spaces, but a crisis of faith in the late 19th Century pushed women into the universities.
I.2. The Growing Secularization of Education and Beginning of Co-Education in Canada
In the early 1800s, educational institutions were to serve society’s elite. In 1827, efforts to establish a provincial post-secondary institution in Upper Canada met with a great deal of tension when the British government founded “King’s College,” an Anglican institution in York.
Tensions rose as few Anglicans were in York at the time in the midst of multiple popular denominations such as Methodists, Presbyterians, and Catholics. In 1850, the non- denominational University of Toronto (U of T) was established allowing denominational colleges such as Queen’s or Victoria to affiliate themselves with the U of T for theologically- focused programs. This created a moral outrage as this was seen as a “Godless institution.” The
14 Carey, The Lady’s Pocket Library.
Introduction 8
Anglicans responded by establishing the University of Trinity College in the hopes that it would
take all of the prospective students away from the U of T which would lead the new university to fail.15
This plan met with only limited success as the U of T experienced a slow start in the
shadow of the Anglican College but eventually saw enrollment numbers grow. The university
was not allowed to teach theology but had three viable faculties: Arts, Law, and Medicine. It
eventually became University College which was to be the university’s main teaching body;
using the University of London as a model, the U of T became an examining body alone.16
Societal changes allowed for the prosperity of a non-denominational university as science and reason began to become important aspects of a university education, and Christianity became a personal matter that involved everybody getting a sound moral education. In 1859, Charles
Darwin published On the Origin of Species. This book and other intellectual ideals that sprung from contemporary scientific exploration led to a mass criticism of religious orthodoxy characterized as a “crisis of belief” for protestants in Canada, America, England, and other predominantly Christian countries. “Virtually every issue of the Canadian Monthly and National
Review, the leading intellectual quarterly of late Victorian Canada, provided illustrations of that crisis” in which prominent Canadian intellectuals would discuss science and religion.17
15 Robert Craig Brown, Arts and Science at Toronto: A History, 1827-1990 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013), 6-7 16 Ibid., 6-9. 17 Ramsay Cook, The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985), 8. The scholarship on the rise of new ideas of philosophy and science in Canadian society and institutions during the nineteenth and early twentieth century is large. For example, also see A.B. McKillop, A Disciplined Intelligence: Critical Inquiry and Canadian Thought in the Victorian Era (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1979); David B. Marshall, Secularizing the Faith: Canadian Protestant Clergy and the Crisis of Belief (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992); Michael Ruse, The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw, second edition (London: University of Chicago Press, 1999); and David C. Lindberg and Roland L. Numbers editors, When Science and Christianity Meet. (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
Introduction 9
A widely-studied result of this crisis was the social-gospel movement. New ideas
regarding evolution through natural selection led to anger at the notion that rather than people
being a “special, separate creation of God,” they were no different from animals. As science
became more prominent as a methodological and academic discipline in Canadian universities,
the new ideas associated with it started to challenge the notion of God’s ultimate authority in all
matters physical and meta-physical. The implications on morality and social order made new ideas even more dangerous to conservative Christians who saw Darwin’s theory and other new scientific ideas about biological science disturbing. With God now in the role of designer, a moral panic arose: if God is not present in our day-to-day lives, what existed now to keep the social and moral order? “The denial of God’s place in the natural order undermined his role in the social order and promised social chaos.”18
At the same time, a social crisis was pushing people to action in urban centres around
Canada where some people lived in impoverished conditions and upper- and middle-class people could no longer justify ignoring the need for social change. Urbanization and industrialization prompted new thinking on the utility and power of a strict adherence to God’s will. The usual
Christian appeal to suffering in life for a destiny of eternal happiness in the afterlife seemed less and less ideal. Christianity did not end the suffering of destitute people and they began to look for an answer. A more secular approach based on science and reason was preferable to some as it
seemed to allow for deeper thought and better answers to these new problems, and allowed social
critics to speak openly and think critically about the social order without being stifled by religious dogma. Few advocated outright atheism, however: “Indeed, in Canada criticism of society was rooted in criticism of religion. Yet in contrast to Marx, Canadian critics of religious
18 Cook, The Regenerators, 8-32.
Introduction 10
orthodoxy were rarely advocates of atheism, nor would many of them have admitted that their goal was a thoroughly secular society.” Social criticism was structured as a reinterpretation of scripture.19
Doctrine had been reinterpreted: “rather than sanctioning the social order, social critics argued, Christianity properly interpreted should provide the standard against which society should be judged.” This created a moral imperative of reformers to do what they could to end the suffering of the poor and the sick through social works. In an age of new problems created by massive urbanization, rather than destroying religion and social order, a reinterpretation of religion allowed for earthly concerns to be addressed through social activism. New scientific ideas were proving that human intellect was capable of much more than previously thought.
Christians were now encouraged to learn and think freely, a sort of democratization of education in which ordinary people get educated to improve themselves and use critical thinking and the sciences to solve these new problems.20
The new Christianity was concerned with the real world as “the kingdom of God was on
Earth.”21 Religion itself became much more individual and democratic as salvation became a personal issue rather than one mandated by the church only. A popular example of personal religion was Methodism: “Methodism presented an approach to spirituality which manifested itself distinctly in the religious experience to which its practitioners aspired, guidelines for personal and public morality, the articulation of religious ideas, and the associational forms by which piety was cultivated.”22
19 Ibid., 7-10. 20 Ibid., 8-76. 21 Ibid., 76. 22 Phyllis D. Airhart, McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion: Serving the Present Age: Revivalism, Progressivism, and the Methodist Tradition in Canada (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992), 17.
Introduction 11
This sense of religious activism and a reframing of the role of religion in some people’s
lives created vast opportunities for women. For women, social involvement became central to
their Christianity. They were no longer expected to retreat from social life but rather plunge
themselves into public Christian works. It was not a movement of women into traditional
employment but rather a movement into volunteer social work intended to improve the lives of
the poor and sick in the Canada’s urban centres. “Their work in Sunday schools, missionary
societies, reform movements, and charitable organizations gave them opportunities to influence
life outside the domestic sphere.” The goal for men and women in the new worldly idea of
religion was to achieve “Christian perfection.” For children, religious education became of
paramount importance: “Sunday schools were organized to teach poor children basic literacy,
morals and manners.” 23
With the increasing importance of reason and critical thinking in society, education
became even more integral to a child’s moral growth making the teaching profession all the more crucial to a sound and functioning society. Since the 1850s, public school systems were
expanding rapidly in each province, “especially at the primary school level.” These schools
required trained teachers and women who were interested in the professional opportunities that
this opened up there was now a rising need for new teachers.24
Similar to education, social work was beginning to secularize and women were becoming more concerned with helping the poor than preaching to them. While the causes and messages were still very much evangelical, the focus was not on the spiritual well-being of the poor and new immigrants but on their physical well-being and education on the general ideals of a democratic society. In this way, social work had taken on a secular tone and was seen as a
23 Ibid., 5-29. 24 Brown, Arts and Science at Toronto, 18.
Introduction 12
“distinctly female profession.” 25 The professional push for trained teachers as embodied in the
perceived need for more deeply educated women in society coupled with a growing urgency in
some cities for mitigating the conditions of some of the destitute and unemployed galvanized the
recognition of women to be given greater access to post-secondary education. Post-secondary
institutions were expensive and separate ladies colleges were unrealistic in an environment
where theological colleges consumed most of the tight university budgets. Co-education was the
economical solution to granting women access to universities.
This was a highly contested idea at established institutions such as the University College
at the University of Toronto where university president Daniel Wilson asserted that “mixing
young men and women in their most excitable years would only distract their attention from their
studies.” Wilson argued that women should have their own separate college, although he had no
interest in helping to create it. Some saw co-education as a fad, similar to the temperance
movement. The editor of The Varsity student newspaper at the University of Toronto wrote:
“Many of our modern movements . . . are based on over-wrought sentimentality. We believe Co-
education to be just one of those movements, and therefore dangerous and to be resisted.”26 In
1884, a motion was passed to admit women into the University College. The women would stay
in a separate section of the college but would have access to lectures alongside the male
students.27 The changes in education in Eastern Canada in the late 1800s had a massive impact in
how Western Canadian universities were formed since these principles of progress and social-
gospel were dominant with those who settled the West.
25 Sara Z. Burke, Seeking the Highest Good: Social Service and Gender at the University of Toronto, 1888-1937 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 40-42. 26 Brown, Arts and Science at Toronto, 19-20. 27 Ibid.
Introduction 13
I.3. Placing Women in Early Co-education in the West
By the turn of the twentieth century, the ideas that percolated years before from the
Bluestockings combined with the growing awareness of women’s growing instrumental position in society. As the spirit of co-educational spaces in universities was slowly making its way into academic life in the early Canadian higher education institutions, women were nonetheless still marginalized. A widely-held belief was that women were not equipped to achieve the same level of greatness that men had the capacity to achieve. In an article republished in the Edmonton
Journal from The University of Michigan, Dr. Otto Charles Glaser, a Zoology/Biology professor, argued that: “From the standpoint of the male, the female is an instance of arrested development.” He went on to suggest that women were mediocre while men were extraordinary both physically and intellectually. 28
The article was ultimately in favor of women’s higher education and suffrage but was
heavily against perpetuating any belief that women and men were equally capable of greatness. It
followed the idea that somebody needed to do the supportive and organizational work while men
dreamt big and created new things. This was analogous to the “separate spheres” argument that
arose in the latter part of the nineteenth century in Canada and in many other countries that
women belonged in the domestic realm of household work and family upbringing while men
guided the various political and economic power structures in society.29
An article in the Strathcona Evening Chronicle sets the problem of educated women in a different way. The title of the article asked the question; “If Your Wife was Famous, Would You
28 Unsigned, “Women As Man’s Equal,” Edmonton Journal, October 14, 1911, 14. 29 For a recent discussion of the “separate spheres” ideology as a “dual constant” in nineteenth-century Canadian society and elsewhere, see the Introduction in E. Lisa Panayotidis and Paul Stortz, eds., Women in Higher Education, 1850-1970: International Perspectives (New York: Routledge. 2016), 5, 21-22.
Introduction 14
Like to Pass into History Merely as Her Husband?” The article discusses six famous literary
women and how their fame affected their husbands. In some cases, their husbands were already
famous themselves and the marriage was a good one. A female author in Metuchen, N.J. is
mentioned in the article and it is implied that she could have been responsible for her husband’s
entry into politics. In yet another example discussed in the article, a man divorced his wife
because he was ashamed that she was famous and he was not. Yet another story was of a woman
who stopped working when she was married as to not outshine her husband.30 This article was
replete with examples of women vis-à-vis their husbands, ultimately acknowledging women’s
potential but did not seem to be sure if it will be good or bad for society.
The growing debate over the course of several years from pre-World War One to the
1920s of whether women should be educated was replaced with debates about what the purpose
and goals of women’s education ought to be. Much like the Bluestocking women in the 1700s,
university women in the late 1800s, many of whom were from middle-class backgrounds, would be watched closely to see if they could maintain decorum in the classroom alongside men. It was
in this era of these evolving debates, dating back over a century with the Bluestockings, imbued
with a rising sense of the role and empowerment of women in Canadian society and a push for
co-education in some eastern universities, that the University of Alberta opened its doors.
I.4. The Seven Independent Spinsters
In 1908, the year of the establishment of the University of Alberta, 45 students were enrolled,
seven of whom were women. In that same year, the women of the university organized a secret
30 Unsigned, “If Your Wife was Famous, Would You Like to Pass into History Merely as Her Husband?” Strathcona Chronicle, December 4, 1908, 5.
Introduction 15
society called the Seven Independent Spinsters (S.I.S.).31 The women of the S.I.S. refused to be
bashful about their choice to pursue higher education alongside men. The S.I.S. took ownership
of the word “spinster” in their name thereby disarming those who would use the word against
them. The S.I.S. activities were shrouded in secrecy. Little is known about what members did in
their time together. The secrecy was a form of exclusivity for the girls outnumbered in the
student body. The S.I.S. needed to create a comfortable social circle. It is telling that their first
order of business was to plan initiations. Initiations can be seen as a quick way of bringing new members into the fold. Women prioritized initiation ensuring that the new female students could gain a sense of belonging quickly.
The Seven Independent Spinsters valued inclusivity and friendship. The name was problematic as inevitably more than seven female students would be on campus. In their second year, with a total of fourteen female students, the women of the University of Alberta got together to discuss the creation of their women’s Society opting for a name that reflected their
uniqueness and sisterhood. The women chose what was to be known as “The Wauneita Society.”
“Wauneita,” the Cree word for “Kind-Hearted,” immediately conjured feelings of unity and mutual support while the Aboriginal language used gave a sense of mystery and uniqueness to the Society. The connection of the Cree to the Canadian prairie west was also important as the
University of Alberta liked to be known as a frontier university on the edge of western settlement. The name change and the symbolism around the Wauneitas will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 1.
31 University of Alberta Archives (hereafter cited as UAA), Ruth Bowen Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, 79- 112-5-MG, 1969, 5.
Introduction 16
I.5. Important Debates in the Secondary Literature
In the late nineteenth century, the debate about co-education was a key issue for university
administrators in Canada. A great deal of discussion among university administrators
concentrated on whether co-education of men and women would lead to a blurring of socially-
accepted gender roles. A selection of some of the important works in the field of the history of
higher education inform this study of women in the early years at the University of Alberta. The focus of most of the literature has been on eastern universities, the University of Toronto in particular. Much research of first-generation co-eds tends to focus on University College at
Toronto as the first Canadian co-educational university. While some of the smaller denominational colleges adapted co-education earlier, University College was the first of
Canada’s major universities to adapt co-education and is still considered by historians to be the institution that opened the door for co-education in Canada.
As discussed in Martin L. Friedland’s University of Toronto: A History, the Ontario
Legislative Assembly voted to admit women into the University College on March 5,1884. The build-up to and fallout of this controversial decision was substantial. University education for women was becoming more of a necessity with the increasing demand for teachers that women were available to fill. As a result, women needed a place to study and the government could not afford separate gender-specific colleges. During the 1880s, growing support was seen for women’s education but co-education was still not desirable as students were considered to be at an “excitable age” between 18-22 and some people feared what would happen outside of the classroom especially as it pertained to women. Friedland focuses on the arguments put forth by
Introduction 17
the administration, the public, and the student newspaper both in support of and opposition to co-
education during this time.32
In “New Women and Old Romans,” Sara Z. Burke, a historian of co-educational cultures
in Canada, sheds some light on the first generation of co-eds at the University College at the
University of Toronto. Burke focuses on how women were received and how they felt about their experience on the University College campus. Initially, women experienced a favorable welcome from male students who treated them as respected guests; they held doors open, gave women the good seats, and were overall pleasant and congenial. As time went on and the population of female students grew, however, men began to resent the presence of women on campus. They saw the accommodation of female students as a waste of useful space and resources and treated the women with cat calls and chauvinistic behavior. The tensions stemmed from the attitude that women were not serious students and school resources should be reserved for men because they actually needed to be there.33
Burke ends her article by showing how women thrust themselves into the affairs of the
university by joining the men in a boycott of classes to protest what they saw as corruption in the
university administration. This showed that despite the tension on campus, women were willing
to stand up to injustice alongside the men and confirmed in the minds of some of the
administrators that men were a corrupting influence on women. Some argued that co-education would make the women masculine.34 While both male and female students coexisted on campus
in the early 1900s, women’s presence in previously all-male universities had a major effect on the culture and created a great deal of tension and animosity for both parties.
32 Martin L. Friedland. The University of Toronto: A History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002), 85-95. 33 Sara Z. Burke, “New Women and Old Romans,” in Schooling in Transition: Readings in Canadian History Education, eds. Sara Z. Burke and Patrice Milewski (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012), 166-182. 34 Burke, “New Women and Old Romans,” 172.
Introduction 18
Catherine Gidney’s A Long Eclipse: The Liberal Protestant Establishment and the
Canadian University, 1920-1970 discusses the changes in university culture in terms of morals
and liberal Protestantism leading to the secularization of universities from 1920 into the 1960s.
She focuses on tensions between traditional and modern ideas that affected students’ lives on campus. University was seen as one big moral community and students needed to be inculcated with good moral behavior to carry into their adult lives. Hard work through the study of literature and science provided good moral guidance for the student body. Gidney focuses on the uneven standards and expectations between males and females in terms of behavior that led to different gendered rules especially in residence, and on student self-government and the increasing desire for autonomy expressed by the student body. Gidney shows how women had more restrictions placed on them in residence such as having to sign out when leaving campus and needing to have visitors approved by the parents before the women were allowed to leave even if just for an evening out. Men could come and go as they pleased but were nonetheless watched closely for different types of immoral behavior such as drinking, gambling, and smoking. This showed a
divergent student extracurricular life between the sexes under the watchful eye of university
administrators.35
Cultures, Communities and Conflict: Histories of Canadian Universities and War edited
by Paul Stortz and E. Lisa Panayotidis contains a series of essays on the history of Canadian universities during the First and Second World Wars. Sara Z. Burke’s article continues to look at
the history of co-education in her article “Dancing into Education: The First World War and the
Roots of Change in Women’s Higher Education.” It further discusses the moral panic centered around co-education with increased dancing and flirting among university students. Burke’s
35 Catherine Gidney, A Long Eclipse: The Liberal Protestant Establishment and the Canadian University, 1920- 1970 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2004), 3-36.
Introduction 19
analysis focusses on the gap between generations as the 1920s “modern women” began to
demand greater autonomy and visibility on campus. While female students became more audacious, administrators worried about how this would affect male students. The assumption was that male students were serious students and female students were at university for fun.
Female students wanted autonomy, more women’s spaces, and greater respect but these requests
were answered with sarcasm and derision that led to open hostility on campus. Women’s
societies such as the Levana Society at McGill University became safe havens for women to
explore their ideas and socialize outside of the watchful eyes of the administration.36
Ideas of womanhood in society and on campus in Canada started well before the 1920s as women were long struggling with new notions of the need for more feminized autonomy. A Not
Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada, 1880s-1920s, edited by Linda Kealey, discusses how Canadian women took part in a nationwide movement towards reform as early as
the late nineteenth century. Women challenged traditional ideas about womanhood and gender
roles to become what would be known as the “New Woman.” In his essay, “Rocking the Cradle
for the World: The New Woman and Maternal Feminism, Toronto 1877-1914,” Wayne Roberts defines the “New Woman” as “brash, irreverent and independent.” Women’s ideals towards independence and work was argued to be a moral force to “tame the chaos of industrial life.” The draw of independence prompted an increasing number of women to enter university only to be faced with the chauvinism of male students and professors. This was especially true in programs with higher academic status such as medicine.37
36 Sara Z. Burke, “Dancing into Education: The First World War and the Roots of Change in Women’s Higher Education,” in Cultures, Communities and Conflict: Histories of Canadian Universities and War, eds. Paul Stortz and E. Lisa Panayotidis (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012), 95-104. 37 Wayne Roberts, “Rocking the Cradle for the World: The New Woman and Maternal Feminism, Toronto 1877- 1914,” in A Not Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada, 1880s-1920s, ed. Linda Kealey (Toronto: Women’s Press, 1979), 15-34.
Introduction 20
Professional women struggled to gain legitimacy both in university and later in their working life. Some women managed to gain access to some of the higher status careers but they were systematically kept subservient and dependent on men. Suffrage and social reform are popular topics in early 1900s women’s history; Roberts expands on this by discussing the struggle of the average middle-class career woman. By the 1920s, the fight for workplace equality was not yet won, indeed a struggle that continues to this day. The “New Woman,” however, made inroads into the professional world for herself and those who followed.
The “New Woman” asserted herself and her independence by breaking social expectations. Through historian of education Sharon Anne Cook’s work, the gendered society extended from campuses into feminized commercialism, comportment, appearance, and leisure.
According to her study, working-class women challenged social conventions through smoking which was still rejected by middle-class propriety and prohibition. Smoking strongly played a role in defining what Cook called the “modern woman.” Cook’s Sex, Lies, and Cigarettes:
Canadian Women, Smoking and Visual Culture 1880-2000 discusses how ideas about the benefits of smoking for women prompted women to take up the habit despite the existing social stigma. Cook argues that smoking helped women claim spaces and create social relationships. As a way to foster an active social life and embolden self-esteem, smoking seemed like the ideal tool for a modern woman to redefine herself. The gendering of smoking took place through a rebranding of tobacco products that saw cigarettes as smaller than cigars and they had a filter to make them appeal more to women. Cigarette filters were colored to match lipstick and nail polish, all of which helped women in the pre-war era define conventions laid upon them by
Introduction 21
prohibitionists. The role of tobacco in defining the modern women was overlooked by social
gospel and suffrage efforts to make women look like moral paragons in society.38
Although neither of these works offers much discussion on the rise of women’s groups
and activism and very little mention of the Wauneita Society between 1908-1930, two integral
University of Alberta histories stand out in terms of providing well-rounded and interesting accounts of the student experience. Ellen Schoeck’s, I Was There: A Century of Alumni Stories about the University of Alberta, 1906-2006 is an institutional history of the University of
Alberta.39 Schoeck offers a new prospective on university histories by using alumni stories to
add a personal touch to archival sources. Schoeck combines oral histories with archival research
to create a truly unique view of the institution using individual student stories. He does not go
into great detail about some of the big events like most University of Alberta histories tend to;
however in combination with more traditional histories such as Rod MacLeod’s All True Things,
A History of the University of Alberta, 1908-2008, he creates a rich picture of university life.40
While being thorough and informative, All True Things offers a more traditional university history. It focuses more on the university administration and big events of the school and gives
an elucidating account of the early years of the university and the intention of the administration.
Together, MacLeod and Schoeck’s books facilitate analyses of the social atmosphere that the women of the University of Alberta faced upon entering the post-secondary world.
38 Sharon A. Cook, Sex, Lies, and Cigarettes: Canadian Women, Smoking and Visual Culture 1880-2000 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012), 5-39. 39 Ellen Schoeck, I Was There: A Century of Alumni Stories About the University of Alberta, 1906-2006 (Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press), 2006. 40 Rod Macleod, All True Things, A History of the University of Alberta, 1908-2008 (Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press), 2008.
Introduction 22
I.6. The Study
Understanding changing ideas about femininity and higher education places the Wauneita
Society in a broad social context and explains the attitudes towards the Wauneita through their
first few decades at the university. The variety of viewpoints on university youth culture and the
creation of more socially independent women at the end of the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries help in revealing the lives and experiences of women on campus. A discussion of the
Wauneita Society will add a different perspective: it focuses on how women at the University of
Alberta conceptualized and met their needs on campus and created an inclusive and beneficial campus culture among themselves. A look at the Wauneitas provides a view of how women worked within their prescribed gender roles to assert a sense of independence for women at the university. To ensure a respectable image and operate within the expected behaviors and comportment as consigned to women at the time, the Wauneitas maintained their feminine subservience and passivity but advanced their more radical gendered ideas through, for example, learning skills of debate and public speaking at their group meetings and conspicuous representation on the Students Union.
This study relies on a number of archival sources from the University of Alberta and
Edmonton newspapers that help to uncover the activities and cultures of the Wauneitas. The
Wauneitas left sparse notes regarding their activities in their 64 years of existence from 1909 to
1973. They include the Wauneita Minute Book from 1909-1918 which was originally lost but found in 1923: “An old minute book, resurrected from the limbo of forgotten things, has brought many interesting facts to light concerning the early days of our warlike tribe.”41 The minute book
41 Wauneita Society, Evergreen and Gold: The Annual Publication of the Students of the University of Alberta, 1922/1923, 11.
Introduction 23
provided a great deal of information regarding the structure of the society and the activities at
Wauneita Meetings, but did not portray the thoughts, opinions, and feelings of the Wauneita members. Helping out in this regard, however, and a useful source for examining the Wauneita
Society was the Wauneita Scrapbook. While published outside of the date range of the study
(1968) the scrapbook gives a retrospective glance at how the Wauneitas saw themselves and their society throughout the years.
The main source for the lived experiences of the student body was the student newspaper
The Gateway which featured articles and letters contributed by the students themselves, including a Wauneita section as well as a section on humour and jokes that revealed the general tone on campus. By far the most useful resource, it was also the most consistent as it was published throughout the timeframe of the study weekly and monthly and all digitized on Peel’s
Prairie Provinces archive from the University of Alberta Libraries. Evergreen and Gold, student yearbook, was also instructive to consult, but due to the publication dates — 1920 onward — its usefulness was limited. The Evergreen and Gold provided a more emotional retrospective summary of the year with a Wauneita section and a section for each class. The yearbook also provided elucidating pictures of Wauneita activities and members of the executive and council along with student names and positions.
Memoirs, articles, and interviews left by alumni and former staff such as Maime Shaw
Simpson available through the University of Alberta Archives (UAA) provided greater insight
into the girls’ daily lives and educational experiences overall. Letters to the university president
reveal some of the disciplinary standards and common problems at certain times as most were to and from parents or community members regarding student discipline. Meeting minutes from
other clubs such as the Soldiers Comfort Club and Students’ Union filled in information about
Introduction 24
other things going on in the school, provided information about women’s activities during the
war, and helped illustrate the hierarchy of student clubs such as the Men’s Athletic Association and the Literary Society on the Students’ Council. Presidents Reports filled in student numbers to give an idea of the ratio of men to women. Where possible, images are used to show native
depictions upon which the Wauneitas depended to give the women a sense of exclusivity and
gendered connectedness.
This study ends in 1930 when the ban on fraternities and sororities was lifted allowing
women other social outlets. Rich resources at the University of Alberta Archives regarding the
beginning and organization of fraternities and sororities proved to be useful in understanding the
decline of activity in the Wauneitas. Another very helpful source was contributed by Ruth
Bowen who assisted Walter Hugh Johns, a former president of the University of Alberta, in conducting research for his book A History of the University of Alberta, 1908-1969.42 Bowen’s
contribution to the archives can be seen as both a primary and secondary source as it was based
on interviews with various students and staff conducted in 1969-1970 along with her notes on the
university which were based on her substantial research.43 This study contains quotes from her
interviews which were integrated into her notes. Bowen’s notes have been used in other works
such as Schoeck’s, I Was There and Heather Marshall’s By Degrees: The First 90 Years of the
Canadian Federation of University Women Edmonton.44
As the social, intellectual, and academic landscape for this study the University of
Alberta campus provides a place of unique development as one of the first Canadian universities
42 Walter H. Johns, A History of the University of Alberta, 1908-1969 (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press), 1981. 43 UAA, Ruth Bowen Interviews and Notes organized in various folders, organized by names of those interviewed, in one box: 79-112. 44 Schoeck, I Was There; Heather Marshall, By Degrees: The First 90 Years of the Canadian Federation of University Women Edmonton (Edmonton: Canadian Federation of University Women, 2002).
Introduction 25
to open as a co-educational institution as well as having a university president who was focused
on integration and access of women to promote a sense of gendered inclusion despite women’s
numerically—and indeed in terms of power—minority status in comparison to the men. Sections
of the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Bulletin often reported on university activities; they
give insight into how female students were welcomed into the city of Edmonton and how the city perceived them. These primary sources are complemented by the secondary sources that look at
student life help in identifying strategies for researching and interpreting the student experience
and provide an effective window on students’ intimate lived experiences and thinking on various
related social, intellectual, and academic topics.
The study is focused on the University of Alberta women and their ability to create a
campus culture over time that was beneficial to them. It also explores how outside social factors affected the university by imposing traditional social standards on the female students while expecting women to operate, at least in theory, with a certain level of empowerment and to experience university ideally on the same terms as men. The question was, why did the women at the University of Alberta decide to form a women’s society? Unlike the University of Toronto, for example, these women were not entering a predominantly pre-established male atmosphere nor were they entering an officially-sanctioned environment that was set against their equal access to the school; however, they still saw the obvious need to have an all-women’s society.
As this study argues, conformity to hegemonic socially-accepted gender roles was always
in the forefront of the debates over the place of women on campus and in the various levels of separation that existed between women and men at the university. The decisions that the women at the University of Alberta made were not a response to the awkwardness of coming into a formerly all-male university culture similar to what was experienced by eastern university
Introduction 26
women of the late 1800s and early 1900s; rather these decisions were a response to the pressure
on these women to establish a university culture along with the male students that would
nonetheless maintain traditionally-accepted gender roles. The women chose to follow the
established tradition of their educational predecessors by creating a society that encompassed
both the sisterhood of a sorority — thus, in a sense, conforming to entrenched social and
academic values of women on campus — but also hold the collective power and authority that
was arguably a more powerful position than seen at many other Canadian universities at the time.
Due to president Tory’s goal to make the University of Alberta accessible and all students
equal, he gave the Wauneitas the power to run their own Society. Dr. Tory also ensured that the
Wauneitas had a space that was their own where they felt free to do what they wanted to; the
women were not restricted to their own lounge as they had a number of activities out and around
the university and often met outside of the Wauneita lounge in classrooms in Athabasca Hall.
The Wauneitas were able to create an effective society because they felt supported and respected.
The result was a woman’s society patterned on the “New Woman” that was versatile and
effective in creating a campus culture that would be helpful and beneficial for the female students who would follow in its footsteps.
The goal of this study is to give a detailed picture of the Wauneita Society partially as a social and political hub for the women of the university that gave guidance to women who have left home for the first time and were trying to navigate their way through the new social dynamics of living on campus. The Society also acted as a safe haven to discuss the changing status and role of women in society and the women’s roles on campus. As a distinct minority on campus, the women needed to have a presence and a voice to articulate their needs and have a mentally and socially fulfilling university experience. This thesis will argue that throughout
Introduction 27
change on campus before, during, and after the war, the Wauneita Society was instrumental in
providing this voice. This was a first for many women: being around men with no parental supervision and in an atmosphere where they were under the microscope in terms of their conduct and overall morality. As the first generation of Canadian women to partake in co- education, the women were under a lot of pressure to establish an image of the female student that was positive and feminine, independent and strong, but only to a point. This boundary of acceptable behavior and comportment of women co-eds was constantly moving from just before the war into the 1920s.
This study will shed light on additional topics such as the social anomalies created by the war where men and women tried to move past their gender roles to contribute to the war effort, and how a greater number of senior women on campus and as members of the Wauneita Society assumed leadership opportunities that allowed women to agitate for social integration and change on campus. Soldiers’ Comfort Club notes, The University Weekly Newsletter, and various other sources are used to discuss the war effort. This study breaks down the development of the
Wauneitas into three distinct eras:
1) In establishing a campus culture, the emphasis was on creating a space on campus
based upon a sense of sisterhood following the values of a traditional woman’s society;
2) Moving forward into the early decades of the twentieth century, after the development of a woman’s society on campus, the women focused on defining their role on campus through exploring the international female student community and promoting discussions about the future for women in Canada in terms of equality and opportunity; and
3) The war thrust women out of the Wauneita rooms and broke down many of the established gender boundaries to energize women’s outlook and optimism about the future. Calls
Introduction 28
among women for a greater sense of equal power and responsibility were heard, through, for example, debates about adapting the “Dutch treat” system where women would pay for themselves during dates and dances and in the Wauneitas’ attempts to become part of combat
training programs.
I.7. Chapter Summary
The first chapter: “Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” (“Each for all, all for
Each”), discusses the aspects in which the Wauneitas were similar to a sorority. This chapter
focuses on the development of the university and of the Wauneitas between 1908-1912. On a
highly genderfied campus women and men were kept socially separated and the women were watched very closely. It was up to the women to find a way to experience a fulfilling social life at the university while maintaining a respectable distance from the men. This chapter discusses the ideas around sisterhood and mentorship. It focuses on how the Wauneitas used their society to fill their social needs and create a space on campus where they could be themselves and enjoy the sisterhood of a woman’s Society without breaking President Henry Marshall Tory’s rule against sororities (sororities were banned until 1929). It also discusses the use of Aboriginal stereotypes to create a sense of exclusivity similar to Greek letter societies and their use of Greek stereotypes.
The second chapter: “Keeping up with the World,” discusses the Wauneitas’ quick
movement from a predominantly social function to a more exploratory one between 1911-1914.
Between the first and second chapters are two overlapping years, 1911 and 1912. It was important thematically to show these years as a period of transition while the Wauneitas were
Introduction 29
getting established on campus and then beginning to discuss their role and find their voice. While
taking a step back chronologically, it was important to keep these two themes separate and
distinctive in order to get a clear sense of the way the Wauneitas grew and developed in their
first years on campus. During this time, the girls debated the changing role of women in society
and advocated for a greater role on campus. The women used their society as a collective voice
for change that advocated for a woman’s athletic society and representation on the Students’
Union. The women were known as “The Wauneitas” rather than “co-eds,” in contrast to the male
“eds,” the significance of which was in deciding not only how they would be referred to, but
taking ownership of their image.
The third chapter: “The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns” focuses on the
campus during and immediately after the First World War. The chapter explores how the departure of the male senior students from campus allowed the women on campus to move into
an increasing leadership position not only in war work but in some of the university’s core
societies — the Students’ Union and the Literary Society, as examples. It also discusses the
movement towards greater social equality and integration including advocating for integrated
social time and space in the gender-neutral students’ lounge where schedules had been previously created for men and women to use the lounge separately. During the war, a movement was underway towards sharing power and responsibility between male and female students in order to provide comforts to those fighting in Europe. The result of spending more time together was that men and women on campus were able to carry on casual friendships in a way which was respectable. This chapter will also discuss the Wauneitas rise in status on campus with their integration into the Students’ Union, as well as the creation of the Wauneita Council which was
Introduction 30
given equal authority as the Men’s Disciplinary Committee to penalize women who broke
university and residence rules.
The fourth chapter: “Wauneitas in the 1920s” attempts to highlight the problems after the
First World War of social integration and equality of women on campus as men returned to
campus and women were expected to go back into the Wauneita Lounges. By refusing to do so
they caused tensions among students that heightened throughout the 1920s while the Wauneita
Society took on the role of warriors and disciplinarians, lamenting in a way the loss of some of
the importance the society used to play in women’s social lives and finding new strategies to
justify their existence in an increasingly gender-integrated environment.
The Conclusion briefly discusses the Wauneitas after the 1920s and future directions for
research into the history of women students on campus and the possibility of comparative studies
of women’s university experiences on other campuses such as Oxford University, the University of Toronto, and the more socially-liberal American universities.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 31
Chapter 1: “Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” (“Each for all, all for
Each”), 1908-1912
“Far o’er the campus, See the fires of Pembina, Home of the Wauneitas. “Payuk uche Kukeyow,
Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” (“Each for All, All for Each”). This is the ancient battle-cry of the
Wauneita, Bound by a common tie.”45 For the women at the University of Alberta 1908-1912 was a period of social development and exploration. The first few classes of female students set the social standards for the generations to follow. These women used the examples of other women’s societies from eastern Canadian universities, as well as sororities from American universities and the advice of students who were transferring from other universities, as a framework to establish a campus culture that was both beneficial and socially fulfilling. Initially, the women planned to start a sorority named “Upsilon Upsilon.” The president of the university,
Dr. Henry Marshall Tory, was reluctant in allowing sororities on campus but had no objections to a useful woman’s society that could help the women of the university feel included.46
Fraternities and sororities were banned on campus until 1929. The Wauneita Society,
while not a sorority, was still imbued with the redeeming values of Greek letter societies that
included sisterhood, mentorship, and a feeling of exclusivity which benefited them as a minority
on campus. The main difference between a sorority and what was to be the Wauneita Society
was open membership and the affiliation to the school. A sorority is usually affiliated to an external sorority chapter. Membership in sororities was exclusive and earned by passing through the rites of membership as a pledge. The Wauneita Society membership was automatic to all
45 UAA, “Wauneita Song Sheet,” Theresa Alta Iddings (later Wilson), Class of ’24 Student Memorabilia, 89-55- Items 1-28, 1918-1924. 46 Schoeck, I Was There, 79.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 32
female students of the University of Alberta. Also, the range of the Wauneita Society extended
into every aspect of female campus life including athletics, residence, and female student
discipline. Rather than feeling excluded or limited due to their gender, the Wauneitas could feel
distinctive as an integral part of campus culture. The Wauneitas defined themselves in the
student newspaper The Gateway: “The object of the society is to promote a spirit of mutual
helpfulness among the women of the University” and to “increase the happiness and usefulness
of every member.”47
Importantly, the women had to remain accountable to each other and to the
administration as their conduct was under close scrutiny. The University Act of 1906 stated that:
“The senate shall make all provision for the education of women in the university in such manner
as it shall deem most fitting, provided however that no woman shall by reason of her sex be
deprived of any advantage or privilege accorded to male students.”48 The commitment to equal
access could be read to allow women the same university experience as men; however, equal
access for women which extended from curricular to extracurricular activities was compromised
when the social lives of men and women were kept mainly separate. Social norms of the age did
not permit men and women the privacy to socialize casually on campus. Social integration could
be elusive.
Working within women’s-only circles to plan for the role women wanted to assume on
campus made sense. The women of the University of Alberta needed to carve out a space for
themselves. Similar to Greek letter societies/sororities, the Wauneitas drew on cultural
stereotypes, this time by using ideals based upon Aboriginal warrior culture and tribal solidarity
47 J.F. Montgomery (Secretary of the Wauneita Society), “Wauneita Society,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 23. 48 “An Act to Establish and Incorporate a University for the Province of Alberta, 1906, Chapter 42 Article 44, Education of Women,” University of Alberta Centenary Page, accessed March 26, 2016. http://www.ualbertacentennial.ca/history/pdf/act1906.pdf
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 33
rather than Greek culture. The Wauneita name and motto were both in Cree, the latter being
translated by a fellow student named Roy Taylor.49 In Feverish Frolics of the Frivolous Frosh,
E. Lisa Panayotidis and Paul Stortz discuss the feelings of uniqueness in Western Canada. They make the point that eastern universities were set up in a traditional British mould; western-
Canadian universities sought to be distinct from their eastern counterparts by refusing to simply adopt eastern university traditions in favour of creating their own.50 The early Wauneitas likely
felt that Aboriginal culture was better aligned with the belief that western Canada had a unique and pioneering frontier culture. This chapter will explore the aspects of the Wauneita Society that were similar to a sorority without being formally sanctioned as one and how the Society allowed the women to establish in part their own social norms in the early years of the university.
Some of the reasons that made creating a Women’s Society necessary will also be examined, as will the Wauneitas’ use of Aboriginal stereotypes to portray an identity in a province that was in many ways still considered part of the Western frontier.
1.1. Early Women on Campus
Henry Marshall Tory was dedicated to accessibility on the University of Alberta campus.
Spurred on by ideas related to Canadian progressivism and Alberta as a frontier province, Dr.
Tory was dedicated to breaking from traditional denominational universities to create a university based on social progress and scientific inquiry. In his first convocation address in
1908, Tory discussed the excitement he felt in creating a new university, free from the
49 UAA, Interview with Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 6. 50 E. Lisa Panayotidis and Paul Stortz. “Feverish Frolics of the Frivolous Frosh” in Women in Higher Education, 1850-1970, 185.
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constraints of imperial traditions. In it, he shared his optimism that the University of Alberta
would be different from the eastern universities and English tradition: “Tradition has usually
marked a way, a path, well[-]trodden by other men which it is fairly safe to follow. But seldom is
it given to a man or a group of men to lay the foundations of great institutions, and while doing so, to blaze a path into which an established order will compel other men to walk.” Rather than a seat of elitist culture, Tory saw the university as an inclusive place for the people: “The people demand that knowledge shall not be the concern of scholars alone. The uplifting of the whole people shall be its final goal.”51
Tory’s dedication to co-education was not as clear. Many factors might offer insight into
why he encouraged the female students at the University of Alberta to be active members of the university campus. Likely, Tory’s childhood played a role in his views towards women on campus as his mother was the source of strength and discipline for his family.
She had a firm hand with her children, and while other young people were scattering
to the United States to work in factories she kept her family together and at school.
The result was that all her daughters became school teachers and her sons laid the
foundations for prominent and useful careers in Canadian life. 52
Dr. Tory was surrounded by strong and powerful women all of his life; first his mother and his sisters, and later his wife Annie Tory who was generous in mentoring female students at the
University of Alberta. The strong, well-educated women with whom he associated early and then
51 E. A., Corbett, Henry Marshall Tory, A Biography,with a new Introduction by Doug Owram (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2000), 99-100. 52 Ibid., 21.
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later on in his life into his career as university president may have had some, and likely a strong
impact on him.
As Victoria Lamb Drover points out in Presbyterian Professor on the Prairies: President
Walter Murray, the Co-Education Debate and the Role of Personal Faith in Creating an
Inclusive University Culture, 1907-1921, Tory was not the only Western Canadian university
president to value progressive ideas and ideals. The University of Saskatchewan (established
1907) was also founded on similar principles regarding equal gendered access. Dr. Walter
Charles Murray, first president of the University of Saskatchewan, discussed his stance on this in
his 1909 Presidents Report: “A third fundamental principle of the University Act is equality of
opportunity for men and women. The state recognizes its obligation to provide equal facilities for
the sexes.” However, unlike Dr. Tory, Murray’s dedication to co-education was motivated
partially by economic factors: “The state recognizes its obligation to provide equal facilities for
the sexes. This does not necessarily mean co-education; but until the wealth of the province, the
number of students and the conditions of education warrant a change, it [equal access] will mean
co-education.”53
From the beginning, the culture at the University of Saskatchewan was supportive and encouraging for female students and the university supported the academic interests of the women even if that led them to enrolling in traditionally male programs such as agriculture.
Similar to the University of Alberta, the equal-access culture at the University of Saskatchewan, at least in intention, extended to all races, faiths and backgrounds.54 Dr. Tory and the University of Alberta are notable because of Tory’s genuine commitment to co-education, not as an
53 Victoria Lamb Drover, “Presbyterian Professor on the Priairies: President Walter Murray, the Co-Education Debate and the Role of Personal Faith in Creating an Inclusive University Culture, 1907-1921,” Journal of Religious History, Vol. 38, 4 (December 2014): 566. 54 Ibid., 566-568.
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economic imperative that drove part of his reasoning, but due to a belief that women and men could flourish both socially and academically in a co-educational environment. Drover suggests that as with many of his contemporaries including Tory, Murray was an avid supporter of female education, but not necessarily co-education: “When asked about his views on co-education for university-aged students, Murray stated that he did not believe it was an ideal solution but that
‘without it I do not believe women would have equal chances with men.’”55
The first students of the university were charged with the task of creating a campus culture even while the campus was only partially constructed. In 1908, the first buildings of the university were just being designed. The early years of the university were modest with classes taking place in available rental spaces, particularly in the upper level of Duggan Street School.
The first class consisted of only 45 students, seven of whom were women. For each of the next four years only seven new women students entered the school.56 The students had four months in
the attic of Duggan Street School before moving to Strathcona Collegiate Institute. Agnes
Wilson Teviotdale (B.A. 1912) remembers the university moved “by one truck first from
Duggan Street School to Strathcona Collegiate Institute and then home to its own campus.”57 As
no residence and Dean of Women had yet existed, female students were left on their own to answer questions related to conduct and cultural development on campus.58 Early women of the
university had begun to establish a campus culture, but having only the companionship and
mentorship of the other students from which to draw. They formed a woman’s society to create a
culture that was full and instructive — that would not only give women a good social experience
55 Victoria Lamb Drover, “A Place for Everyone, but Everyone in Their Place: The Inclusion of Female Students, Staff, and Faculty at the University of Saskatchewan, 1907-1922” (Master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2009), 48. 56 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen, Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 5. 57 UAA, Interview of Mrs. Agnes Wilson Teviotdale, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-15, 1969, 1. 58 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen, Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 6.
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but also served to train them for a professional future that many were gradually believing women
were realizing and perhaps deservedly so.
Teviotdale, a resident of Edmonton, was the first woman to sign up for the university.
She was recruited straight out of grade 11. Dr. Tory recruited from local high schools as a
creative way to fill up the university roster. “In the beginning we thought we were there by
strategy. Dr. Tory had visited the school board and persuaded the high school to relinquish grade
XII to the university.”59 Students took matriculation examinations before entering school. Those
who had a grade 11 education or equivalent were admitted into first year and those who passed
grade 12 were admitted into second year. Women did not have a great deal of space to socialize
because the university was in such a small location. Teviotdale recalls the first years of university in the temporary schools as women tried to get acquainted and establish a campus culture. “We had for a meeting place only the corridors and cloak-rooms. Even the latter provided no freedom of speech: if our hilarity penetrated the adjoining class-room, as it
frequently did, we were ignominiously put to flight.”60
While helping to develop women’s education in Alberta, Mrs. Eleanor Broadus, wife of
English professor Dr. Edmund Kemper Broadus, founded the Alberta Women’s Association
(A.W.A.) in 1909, a year after the University of Alberta was established. Mrs. Annie Gertrude
Tory and Mrs. Mattie Rutherford, wives of the University of Alberta president and Alberta
Premier respectively, acted as Honorary Vice Presidents. Most of the original executive were
University of Toronto graduates or wives of professionals in the field of education, listed as non-
grads who may or may not have attended university themselves.61
59 UAA, Interview of Mrs. Agnes Wilson Teviotdale, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-15, 1969, 1-2. 60 Laurie Mook. “Women at University: The Early Years,” Alberta History 44,1 (Winter 1996), 9-10. 61 Marjorie W. Buckley; University Women’s Club of Edmonton, As it happened: The University Women’s Club of Edmonton, the first 60 years (Edmonton: University Women’s Club of Edmonton, 1973), 7-8.
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The A.W.A was not affiliated with the University of Alberta. Its focus was on the broader
community and the advancement of co-education and women’s rights throughout the province.
Many of the university professors and administrators’ wives were members, some of the most
prominent comprising the A.W.A. executive. Shortly after creating their constitution and electing its executive, the A.W.A. invited female students from the university to “three small teas” to get acquainted with the club and its members. It also sent a letter to the Senate of the University, and local and provincial governments to let them know of its objectives. The A.W.A. strove “to assist in giving the women students of the university. . . a social life that will be both cultural and wholesome” as well as to offer scholarships for high achieving female students. It sponsored a gold medal to Junior and Senior students who achieved grades higher than 85%.62
The Association helped create a viable social space for the female students at the university to get to know one another and receive advice from other women with experience in higher education elsewhere in Canada, mostly Toronto.63 Its important work from outside of the university was to help and guide female students and alumni with a particular view to offer
advice and support for women who were thinking about entering a profession.64 One of the
objectives of the A.W.A. especially before the university campus was fully ready for classes and
accommodation was to provide a place for female students to gather; however, the association
did not have a direct impact on the day-to-day lives of the female students at the university itself.
The Wauneitas would be the group to set and maintain the social standards on campus and
provide a social program and beneficial extracurricular experience for the female students.
62 Buckley, As it happened, 8-9. 63 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 6. 64 Mook. “Women at University,” 11.
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In 1917, the A.W.A. changed its name to the Women’s University Club. Mrs. Broadus wanted to establish “a club of purely university women.” After some debate, in order to accommodate university and non-university members the club created two kinds of membership:
Federation (graduates) and Associate (non-graduates). Federation members were given a vote in
decisions regarding club affairs and Associate members were not given a vote. An International
Federation of University Women (IFUW) was being formed in London and it encouraged
Canadian university women’s clubs to create a national federation as to not miss out on the first
meeting. As a result, the separate university women’s clubs in Canada combined to create the
Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW). The CFUW formed in time to attend the
first IFUW meeting in July of 1920 and has been active in the federation ever since.65
Although the early culture of women students at the university was embracing and
supportive, the competition among the female students could have the potential to be a source of tension. In Women at University, Decima Robinson Mitchell (B.A. 1911; M.Sc. 1912) recalls that on the first day “we eyed one another warily and, I am sure, summed each other up.”
Fortunately, the first women of the university chose to work together despite some minor
tension. “We had a great four years together and have kept up our companionship ever since.”
This camaraderie ensured women could have an impact on school affairs and establish a culture that was equally beneficial for both men and women on campus.66
65 Buckley; As it happened, 16-17. The International Federation is now called Graduate Women International and has over 62 national affiliates, and holds a special consultative status with the United Nations Social and Economic Council. The CFUW currently includes over 100 university clubs across Canada and continues to work to “improve the status of women and promote human rights, public education, social justice, and peace.” “Graduate Women International,” last modified, 2016, http://www.fcfdu.org/whoweare/ourstructure/graduatewomeninternational.aspx; “CFUW and the United Nations,” last modified, 2016, http://www.fcfdu.org/whoweare/ourstructure/graduatewomeninternational.aspx 66 Mook. “Women at University,” 9.
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The women of the University of Alberta were in a position that was almost unprecedented in Canada. “There was no tradition among the students, except from what we learned from those who had attended other universities.”67 As the university was new, the
women did not have an established culture to come into. They had to do the work of creating the
campus culture. Other universities had models of social behaviour and expectations for women
to follow but most of those examples were from eastern-Canadian universities in which women
carved out a place for themselves but on a well-established campus that was used to being all-
male. The challenges facing western-Canadian students were different since they were entering a
new university alongside men and had a clean slate upon which they could establish a culture.
This meant that women could only draw so much from examples of existing university women’s
Societies as their university had no established history either in its institutional development or
social atmosphere.
Students Stella Ruttan (B.A. 1912) who transferred from Queen’s University, and
Decima Robinson, having moved from a university in London, as well as the five university professors: Henry Marshall Tory, university president, Luther Herbert Alexander, professor of
Modern Languages, William Muir Edwards, assistant professor of mathematics and lecturer of
Civil Engineering, William Hardy Alexander (not related to Luther) Head of the Department of
Classics, and Edmund Kemper Broadus, professor of English, guided the female students in their task to establish a campus culture that was inclusive of women. Teviotdale saw her first-year in
university as an adventure of discovery. She acknowledged President Tory’s unorthodox strategy
of recruiting from high school: “They could also acknowledge the great advantage of a year at
the University of Alberta rather than the final year of high school, the advantage of taking
67 UAA, Interview of Mrs. Agnes Wilson Teviotdale, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-15, 1969, 2.
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lectures from the scholarly, sophisticated staff.” She had a great deal of adjusting to do as
university demanded more from her than had high school. Students had a heavy workload
writing “reams” of essays along with final exams at Christmas-time and in spring. “We were
busy. We wrote two sets of final exams a year, at Christmas and in the spring, as well as all our
essays.”68 Among the challenges of academic life the women relied on each other for guidance
and support, but also for study help.
1.2. Gendered Interaction on the New Campus
In 1911, Athabasca Hall, the first building erected on the University of Alberta campus, was
completed.69 A year earlier, Mrs. Helen Sheldon became the Dean of Women although her position did not officially begin until 1911 when the residence was established. Because the female students were largely left to create their own sense of fraternity, when the campus first opened, the newly-appointed Dean of Women helped the students adapt to a gendered campus.
The wife of a young new mathematics professor, Ernest Wilson Sheldon, Mrs. Sheldon had
experience in mentorship of younger women from a Massachusetts ladies seminary. She was
barely older than the ten women in residence whom she advised. The women were given the
second floor of Athabasca Hall as their residence space. Below them on the first floor lived the
professors and their wives.70 In The Gateway, the women welcomed Mrs. Sheldon into her new
role and showed their excitement to finally have dorms. “Most of our girls have their homes in
Strathcona or Edmonton, but those from distant points are not to be pitied. They are now
68 Ibid., 2-8. 69 UAA, Transcript #3, Development on Campus, CKSR Radio Transcripts, 60+ - History of the University of Alberta 1908-1970, 74-128, July 12, 1977, 3. 70 Ibid.
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comfortably settled in their pretty rooms, and are fortunate in having Mrs. Sheldon to act as
‘guide, counselor and friend.’”71
In establishing norms and rules of conduct in residence, the women of the university were
given a great deal of guidance, most of which came from Sheldon. She played an important
mentoring role along with her supervisory role as head of women’s residence. She supervised the
women’s organizations and gave vocational advice. She also guided the women in their social
conduct both in lectures and in their extracurricular lives especially those parts involving interaction with men. Eventually, the guidance and supervision of the Advisor to Women’s
Students was extended to all women, even those who did not live on campus.72
Women and men on campus had a number of opportunities for contact as the campus was
still being built and the school activities were limited to two buildings. Dr. Cecil Burgess, professor of Architecture, recalls arriving on campus as late as March 1913: “The campus was
bare except for two buildings, Athabasca and Assiniboia halls where everything [was] centered,
[with] teaching, living quarters for staff and students.”73 Students ranged from young students straight out of high school to older students looking to advance their education. The female
student body was varied spanning all ages and backgrounds. Dr. William Hardy Alexander, the
head of the Classics department, was 30 years old when he began his career at the University of
Alberta.74 Miss Ethel Anderson (class of 1912) recalls that some students were even older than
the staff. “Some of us were pretty young and silly, but years later, Dr. Alexander told me how
astonished he was to realize some of his students were as old as, or older than he.” In 1908,
71 J.F. Montgomery, Lady Editor. “Co-Eds Corner,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 22. http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/GAT/1911/10/01/22/ 72 UAA, Letter to the Dr. Tory from Advisor to Women’s Students, Students – General, 68-9-306, September 25, 1919. 73 UAA, Interview of Dr. Cecil Burgess, Ruth Bowen, Interviews, 79-112-8, 1969, 1. 74 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 3.
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twenty-two of the hundred and eighty-five students were as old or older than Dr. Alexander. The
age of students ranged from fifteen years old to forty-three with the average being twenty-three years old.75 They also varied from urban to rural students. “Some students came from Calgary
but others came from neighboring towns. They were very countrified, careless about manners.”76
The women soon found that their university experience would be more constrained than
the men. Many of the students in residence were living co-ed which was an unusual development
compared to Eastern-Canadian universities that took years to establish residences where both
men and women resided. The excitement about the social opportunities with the opposite sex
was electric. Mrs. Sheldon could be one of the women in terms of social camaraderie but she
could also be strict when needed. She established a rule that the women could not visit the town
of Edmonton after 9 pm.77 The women saw this curfew as discrimination as men were not bound
by such a rule. Dr. John Malcolm MacEachran, the school Provost, recalls that the women formed a committee led by Miss Joyce Thatcher to appeal Mrs. Sheldon’s rule. He suggested for the women to bring the issue before both the Students’ Council and Dr. Tory after which they should discuss the issue with each of their mothers. After this ultimatum, Dr. MacEachran said,
“I never heard another word about it.”78
The regulation of women’s social lives was unpopular as women on campus loved to
explore relationships with their male counterparts. “Men attending university outnumbered the
women six to one in the year ’11, but any invitation from [across town] never failed to cause a co-ed flurry.” The construction crew who camped out on campus held a dance and extended an invitation to the co-eds. Sheldon denied the women permission to go as the dance was in town.
75 UAA, Board of Governors Reports, 69-129-2, 1912. 76 UAA, Interview of Dr. Cecil Burgess, Ruth Bowen, Interviews, 79-112-8, 1969, 1. 77 UAA, Interview of Mrs. E.W. Sheldon, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-13, June, 1969, 2. 78 UAA, Interview of Dr. J.M. MacEachran, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-11, 1969, 7.
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“Such episodes were by-the-way in the day-to-day adventure of launching a co-educational institution at ‘the end of the line.’”79 Dr. Tory also did his part to regulate what he saw as
potentially inappropriate situations; he personally escorted students if they had no chaperone.
Teviotdale recalls Tory escorting a male and female student who were on a date to a hockey match “as a matter of propriety.” On another occasion he asked Teviotdale if her mother knew that she had accepted an invitation to attend a hockey match with a young man.80
The students were not entirely comfortable with the idea of social integration of male and female students. This led to awkward interactions revolving mainly around the Students’ Unions’ annual Conversazione, the principal event of the year, and the act of dating. Both the
Conversazione and dating not only allowed for social integration for the students but, in terms of the former, also for the general public to interact with the university. In 1912, the guest list was approximately 500 attendees that included students from Alberta College and Robertson College as well as “prominent politicians and members of the professions, officers of Convocation and
Professors in full academic robes, students in gowns, and the many beautiful frocked women.”81
With this chance for posterity, that students conducted themselves properly was of paramount
importance.
Outside of such ostentatious formal public events that melded the university and
community, The Gateway writers highlighted the awkwardness between men and women on a
daily basis trying not to cross social barriers while also trying to enjoy their college experience.
Letter from a Son at College to his Dad was a series of satirical letters depicting the experience
of Bob the freshman in his first year at the University of Alberta. Published in The Gateway on
79 UAA, Interview of Mrs. E.W. Sheldon, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-13, June, 1969, 3-4. 80 UAA, Interview of Mrs. Agnes Wilson Teviotdale, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-15, 1969, 8. 81 Unsigned, “The Conversazione,” The Gateway, February 1, 1912, 23.
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November 21, 1910, the article refers to how unprepared freshmen were to share their social
space with women. Bob recounts his efforts to maintain a respectable distance from women at a school promenade. “I was enjoying the program immensely until imagine my embarrassment when upon looking up, I discovered that I was only six seats from a girl. I hastily rose and withdrew to a seat where I would not be the subject of scandal.”82
Despite living and studying in close proximity, a wall of mystery existed between the
sexes that prompted excitement whenever they could catch a glimpse into the others’ lives. In
1912, students’ rooms were open to the public on the night of the promenade. “Never before was
there such care taken in the appearance of the rooms. A competition . . . to have the most attractive room suddenly developed.” Still getting used to living in close quarters, the women took full advantage of this rare glimpse into their male colleagues’ lives. “The ladies present seemed to be particularly interested in this phase of University life, and under the guidance of some of the residents many groups were escorted through the different corridors and had the mysteries explained to them.”83
The limited chances for men and women to socialize likely added to the awkwardness
and excitement when they did get the chance to interact. Many men and women did not learn
how to socialize casually because of such a stigma built around social integration. According to
some students, because of the moral atmosphere of the time that was also indicative of campus
life at the early university, the few times male and female students communicated with each
other could even be too much. This was a morally-charged social environment. In The Gateway,
for example, a student shared his embarrassment regarding vulgar music: “The world is suffering
with an epidemic of vulgarity; it has ceased to feel; it has ceased to have any imagination. Surely
82 B. [no full name given], “Letters From A Son At College to His Dad,” The Gateway, November 21, 1910, 7. 83 Unsigned, “Life in Athabasca Hall,” The Gateway, February 1, 1912, 22.
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the men and women of the universities are called to lead the world in the path of finer feelings and keener imagination.” The expectation that university students live up to a high level of thought and behaviour reflected the idea that morality increased with education. This was a notion perpetuated by the Bluestockings and become prominent in the early twentieth century when the efficacy of co-education was still under question in some Canadian institutions and when separate women’s colleges were still being promoted as a viable alternative. The article criticizes men and women singing songs with sexualized lyrics: “A group of college men and women are gathered around the piano lustily singing the following words: ‘Honey Bunch! Lift the lid. Slip me a loving kiss, Oh! You kid.’ They are not to be excused: they [should] know better.”84
1.3. The Creation of the Wauneitas: Sisterhood and Imagery
As briefly discussed in the Introduction, the first Society of women on campus in 1908 was the
Seven Independent Spinsters. The women of the S.I.S. initially wanted to create a sorority
“Upsilon Upsilon,” but fraternities were banned on campus until 1929. Instead the women of the
university decided to create a society that advocated for their needs and usefulness on campus.85
The first meeting of the Society was on November 17th, 1909 to elect officers. The next matter to
be addressed was the issue of naming the club. The first class of women at the University in
1908 referred to themselves as the Seven Independent Spinsters. Fourteen women were at the
university so that name no longer worked. Meeting minutes announced Agnes Wilson as the first
84 Unsigned, “The Popular Song,” The Gateway, April 1, 1912, 22. 85 Schoeck. I Was There, 79.
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president of the club.86 During their second meeting of 1909, the women voted to drop the name
Seven Independent Spinsters and decided that, “the new name be of such a character, that it may be handed down to posterity.”87 The S.I.S. was subsequently renamed “The Wauneitas.” Sources
disagree on who came up with the new name. In an interview, Ethel Anderson suggested that it
was one of the students, Mrs. Stella Ruttan, who coined the name “Wauneita.” Ruttan acted as a
mentor to the less experienced women of the university as she had an understanding of women’s
societies from her experience at Queen’s University which she attended before coming to the U of A.88 Contrary to the suggestion that Ruttan came up with the Wauneita name, in The Gateway
the Wauneitas thanked Dr. Tory for suggesting the unique name. Either way, the group
enthusiastically adopted the name “Wauneita,” which was Cree for “kind hearted, and at the meeting the motion was carried.”89
A great deal of diversity was in the early club’s activities. Activities took the form of
meetings or events such as an undated 1910 meeting referred to in the Minute Book as the “Fifth
Meeting” that seemed more like a strange party than a meeting. The Wauneita president and vice-president dressed in “Indian Costume” and fortune-telling was done by a “somewhat gruesome looking squaw.” Afterwards the women wrote: “’Time Letters’” to be opened at some future date.”90 The “Sixth Meeting” took place on May 1910 was held in a park on blankets. The
meeting included a flower search in which a prize was awarded to the person who got the largest
number of flowers.91
86 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 17, 1909. 87 UAA, Second Meeting, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, n.d. 88 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 6. 89 Miss J.F. Montgomery (Lady Editor,) “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, November 1, 1911, 19; UAA, Third Meeting, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, n.d. 90 UAA, Fifth Meeting, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, n.d. 91 UAA, Sixth Meeting, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, May 1910.
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In November 1910, the club planned theatricals and adapted the Daffodil as their club flower. They held their meeting in a tent which had been “painted for the occasion.”92 The
Wauneitas planned fundraising events such as a fundraising bazaar where they sold refreshments, college pennants, cushions, and calendars that they made for the sale; they made
$89.60. They used this money to buy an electric heater.93 The women also discussed the steps needed to join the Students’ Council. They appointed two representatives to “consult the executive of the Students’ Council about the terms by which we would join the Council; If it should be necessary to give our money over to the Council, that we rescind our resolution to join.”94
In December 1910, a further change to the name of the group of women saw the
“Wauneita Club” becoming the “Wauneita Society,” a move that reflected the larger and more ambitious agenda and outlook of the women that the group, that included all the women students on campus, should be far more active in promoting co-education and female needs on campus.95
Very few extant records exist of the debates and discussions that took place to change the name of Wauneita Club to Wauneita Society. One could speculate, however, that the term “Society” denoted more than what a club was intended to be—not only a leisure organization but a stronger socio-political one as well. In 1911, the Society set out to create a Constitution with their newly- defined values of inclusivity and sisterhood. The executive was elected at the first meeting of the year and consisted of a president, vice president, secretary-treasurer and an advisory committee of four members—one from each academic year. Members were also required to pay a fee of
92 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes,77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 7, 1910. 93 Ibid., December 2, 1910. 94 Ibid., December 14, 1910. 95 Ibid., December 2, 1910.
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seventy-five cents. This fee applied to all female students as membership in the Wauneita society
was automatic upon entering the university.96
Typically, a student society would invite a professor or administrator to act as honorary
president; the honorary president offered guidance to the club or simply acted as a figurehead.
The Wauneitas added this position in 1912 and decided that the first honorary president should
be the university presidents’ wife Mrs. Annie Tory.97 Many of the faculty wives were themselves
former university students, so they were in a prime position to provide guidance and mentorship
to the Wauneitas. The faculty wives also hosted teas for the women after meetings and acted as
moderators for debates. Also in 1912, the Society added a social committee of three women to
“take charge of any social functions in connection with the Wauneita Society.”98
As the Wauneita Society continued to meet, the social and academic needs of female
students at the University of Alberta become more of the crucial focus of the organization.
Meetings included event planning, debating, lectures from professors, musical concerts
performed by students, and the planning of fundraisers. On December 12, 1912, the Wauneitas
had a meeting entitled “Symposium: A Morning’s Lectures”; a program in which four members
made presentations on various topics. The first presentation was a paper giving an account of the
presenters’ experience in “entering an English lecture late.” The next presentation took the form
of a short play in which the Society members acted as a class with the presenter as a professor; the presenter did humorous impressions of the professors addressing the audience in a classroom scene. “Had some of the professors been present they would have enjoyed the wholesome experience of seeing themselves as other . . . students’ benches see them.” The third presenter
96UAA, Wauneita Constitution, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, n.d. 97 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, October 22, 1912. 98 Ibid., November 18, 1912.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 50
read a poem which was later published in The Gateway. It was described as a “touching poem on
the efforts of some members of the faculty to guide our feet in the way of learning.” The fourth
invited the women to partake in some light refreshments after consulting the dictionary and finding that symposiums were “some kind of feast.”99
The multifaceted nature of the Society revealed the freedom of the women to create their
own organization to challenge the boundaries of gendered roles and activities and discuss their
own educational experience to start to discover their place on campus and establish norms for
those female students yet to come. This freedom allowed the Wauneitas to create a unique
Society that met their needs as female students. They were a minority group — in 1911, out of
129 total students, 30 were female. By 1912, out of a total 185 students, only 29 were female.100
The Wauneitas saw a need for a respectable and serious voice while also allowing the women to
have fulfilling college experiences with social events and casual time with friends. The Society
also created opportunities for the women that would otherwise have not been available to them.
Seeing that the Wauneitas could conduct meetings in a productive, effective, and engaging way,
in 1911, the Literary Society invited the Wauneitas to run their own meeting on Friday
November 24.101
1.4. Wauneita Symbolism
The Society’s heavy use of symbolism may offer clues as to the original tone and intention of the
group. The women identified themselves as the “Tribe Wauneita,” drawing on Aboriginal
99 Ibid., December 12, 1911. 100 UAA, Henry Marshall Tory, “President’s Report” Board of Governors Report, 69-129-2, 1911 and 1912. 101 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 7, 1911.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 51
stereotypes to create rites and ceremonies that would add a greater feeling of camaraderie to the
Society. A.E. Ottewell, first editor of The Gateway before eventually becoming a professor of
Classics at the university, created the society’s motto: “Payuk Uche Kukeyow: Mena Kukeyow
Uche Payuk” which translated to, “Each for All and All For Each.”102 This motto was later
etched into a stone above the north and south entrances of Pembina Hall. Everything about the
Society centered on the idea that the Wauneitas approached things as a tribe: united, strong, and willing to help each other meet their goals. Women in the Society were urged to speak candidly and Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior appointees were elected every year to represent the point of view of their respective classes. In 1911, the Wauneitas gave a mission statement in
The Gateway: “The object of the society is to promote a spirit of mutual helpfulness among the women of the University” as well as to “increase the happiness and usefulness of every member.”103
In an early edition of the women’s section of The Gateway, the Wauneitas presented a
logo of an Aboriginal woman with a “WS” underneath her (Figure 1.1).104 The women drew
strength and a feeling of unity from the native imagery which was reminiscent of Amazon
warriors, and fighters. The idea of collective responsibility was expressed through the idea of the
Wauneitas as a tribe. The fact that women were such a distinct minority on campus could have
created a sense of exclusivity in their group. In All True Things, Rod Macleod writes that the
Wauneitas honored Aboriginals by portraying an idealized form of their culture, “but no more so
than the Greek notions of the fraternities and sororities…It represents an interesting attempt to honour indigenous traditions at a time when the Canadian government was working hard to
102 UAA, Interviews of Dr. Cecil Burgess, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-8, 1969, 4. 103 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, Fall 1911; J.F. Montgomery, “Wauneita Society,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 23. 104 J.F. Montgomery, “Co-eds Corner,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 22.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 52
stamp out aboriginal languages and culture.”105 The act of creating a Society based upon a
Western Canadian Aboriginal culture also spoke to the sense of the university as being a pioneer institution combined with the image of Alberta as a frontier province, connected with the people who originally lived there.
In the first issue of The Gateway, one of the columnists shared the sentiment that the university is a sort of Gateway to the West. As Alberta had only recently become a province, it was still seen as a western Canadian frontier and as such was considered to be wilder and less established than the east. “There is something unique about our position in this institution, the university farthest north in America and farthest West in Canada standing at the portal of a great undeveloped and practically unknown region, rich in potentialities of future greatness.”106
Figure 1.1: “Co-eds Corner” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, p. 22
University of Saskatchewan professor Moira Day analyses writings from female
playwrights including Wauneita Clara May Bell who wrote about female student experiences
during the First World War. Early co-eds saw themselves as pioneers in education: “Co-eds were very much aware of their status as the ‘torchbearers’ for their gender not just in an immediate but
105 Macleod, All True Things, 29-30. 106 Unsigned, “What We Think,” The Gateway, November 21, 1910, 8.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 53
a world context.”107 Western Canadian universities were established with a feeling that the people were pioneers and their university reflected a progressive attitude towards co-education.
The Wauneitas were aware of their special position in regards to the support they felt in being in university compared not only to people in western Canada but women in England.
The Alberta co-eds similarly noted that their British sisters had to battle
‘nine hundred and fifty years of masculine tradition’ to gain entrance at
Oxford and even now could only attend lectures. Western Canadian
women, by contrast, had the progressiveness of ‘this new country where
we ourselves are forming the traditions’ to thank for not only being able to
attend classes alongside the male students, but graduate beside them with
the same degrees.108
Female students felt they were making progress. They had established for themselves a Society
that they could use to guide and enhance the extracurricular lives of female students and give
them a supportive and inclusive college experience.
Perhaps no clearer was this kind of college experience as was seen in initiations
organized by the Wauneitas. All the women who attended the University of Alberta were
admitted into the Society and this entrance was invariably signaled by initiations. “When the new
term arrived the first seven plotted dire things for initiation of seven others. They rolled the
107 UAA, Women at War (Theatre), unpublished version, General Reference, n.d., 5. This archival accession includes study notes about Clara May Bell by Day under the archival title: “‘The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly,’ Clara May Bell’s Psyche: Preserving “the bright torch” at the University of Alberta, 1914-1918.” General Reference, n.d., 5. A later version of Moira Day’s papers was published in Diversity and Change in Early Canadian Women’s Writing. ed., Jennifer Chambers, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. 108 Ibid., 5-6.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 54
innocents in a barrel down a short flight of stairs at Strathcona Collegiate Institute.”109 The
women debated the merits of such events in the annual inter-year debates between the
Sophomores and Freshmen classes. The decision was that initiations were not beneficial to
Freshmen but they were continued regardless.110 Men and women were initiated separately; the
men were initiated into the university as Freshmen while the women were later initiated into the
Wauneita Society as “Freshettes.”
Initiations were mostly a secret affair. They were acknowledged in The Gateway by the
Wauneita Secretary but not discussed in much detail. In 1912, all that was said was that, “on the
evening of Tuesday, Oct. 10, the Freshettes were, with mystic and awful rites, admitted to the
privileges of membership.” The article mentions that “Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors were
frequently observed to be overcome with emotion, especially when the Freshettes proved slow to
learn, and the officers in charge had gently but firmly to repeat instruction.” In 1914, the
Wauneita meeting minutes mentioned that Freshettes were not allowed to wear gowns of certain
colors before initiation but did not mention exactly what colors those were.111
The Wauneita Scrapbook includes some details of initiation. Initiations were held in
Convocation Hall or in the woods behind Pembina Hall. “When held in Convocation Hall, leaves were scattered on the floor, and a definite atmosphere was created with Indian tents here and there, cauldrons of hot soup or pork and beans, and all upper-class Wauneitas wore Indian costumes.”112 Some of the regalia made by the Wauneitas in 1911-1912 “were very elaborate,
others were very simple.”113 As described in The Gateway as late as 1922: [The initiations were]
109 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson, Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 5. 110 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes,77-149 Ref# R.G.17, December 3, 1912. 111 J.F. Montgomery, “Wauneita Society,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 23; UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, October 1, 1914. 112 UAA, Wauneita History and Reorganization, Small Accessions, 77-102 Ref #M.6, n.d. 113 UAA, Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52,1967-68, 4.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 55
the “annual gathering of the mighty chief and brave warriors of the Wauneita tribe to create new
braves.” The chief wore a “Navajo blanket and head-dress of feathers,” as did the rest of the
women performing the ceremony. “With only the sound of crackling leaves each new Indian was
brought impressively before the Chief, her weaknesses made known—then with a low-voiced
assent from the braves, she was sent to undergo the tortures which should test her courage and
endurance as a warrior.”114
The elaborate initiations were a heavily symbolic form of association and rite of
academic and intellectual passage. They also served to introduce women at the University of
Alberta into a society and culture partially expected of them but of their own choosing as well.
Initiations in this case was not just into the University of Alberta but into the “Tribe Wauneita,” and rife with images and symbols of western region and Aboriginal culture. In her memoir
Taking A Backward Look: Memoirs of a Dean of Women, Maimie Shaw Simpson recalls finding an invitation to her initiation upon entering Pembina Hall:
“‘How Kola!’
On The 18th day of the Month of Falling Leaves, at the Hour of Sunset,
you are summoned to appear before the Chief and Braves of the
Wauneita Tribe in the Council Chamber of the Wise.”
Simpson notes that the “invitation” was “hand-printed on real birch bark, stripped most likely
from trees along the south bank of the Saskatchewan River, rolled like a little scroll, and tied with a piece of green ribbon.” She describes it as “one of her fondest and most vivid memories of
114 Unsigned, “Description of Wauneita Initiation,” The Gateway, October 24, 1922, 6.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 56
my introduction to the University of Alberta.”115 “How Kola!” was the Wauneita greeting.
Having their greeting and Motto in Cree allowed the Wauneitas a sense of exclusivity. If you
were in the Society you would understand these words and feel accepted; if you were not in the
Society, you would not understand the welcome as it was not meant for you. Whether the initial
members meant for the Society to be so distinctly segregated from the men is not clear, but the
Wauneitas were quickly established as the center of women’s extracurricular lives.
Simpson recounted how valuable the connection to the Wauneitas was and the support
she drew from it that helped her in creating a career at the University of Alberta in 1946. “I could
never have accomplished what I did had it not been for the Wauneitas, especially for the
Executive and the Council. Their motto each for all, all for each, was a definite part of their
philosophy. I could always count on their help when help was needed.”116 This idea of ongoing sisterhood encouraged alumni to stay connected to the school and gave them a critical role in
introducing the new women to university life. The Wauneita Society helped in keeping alumni involved in student culture as it depended on mentorship and mutual support along with a feeling of sisterhood that inspired the success of current female students, as well as graduates, in their lives after university.117
In this on-going spirit of sisterhood envisioned as a tribe, the premier event of the
Wauneita Society was the Alumni Banquet. This took a great deal of planning and involved
115 UAA, Maimie Shaw Simpson, Taking A Backward Look, Memoirs of a Dean of Women. Unpublished, 69-55, n.d., 5-12. These invitations were similarly described in the Wauneita Scrapbook which discussed the history of the Wauneita Society: UAA, Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 4. 1967-68, 4. 116 UAA, Simpson, Taking A Backward Look, 12. 117 Not all University of Alberta alumni were interested in an ongoing connection to the university, however; a letter to president Tory in 1923 discusses problems and strategies in keeping alumni involved in university matters. This remained a challenge for the alumni committee and the university administration. UAA, J.D.O. Notheraill, President of the Alumni Association, to Dr. Tory, regarding the status of the Alumni Association, Alumni Association Annual Report 1909 and 1912 (the dates on the folder did not reflect all of the documents inside), 68-9 Box 22, March 7, 1923.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 57
musical performances and toasts to the nation, the president of the university, the alumni, and the university. Planning began months in advance and accounted for a great deal of time in the
Wauneita meetings. It aligned with initiation week. This allowed new Wauneitas the benefit of
talking to alumni who could share their valuable insight about the university experience. The
banquet began in 1913 with sixty-nine attendees in total and was hosted by Mrs. Tory along with
the Wauneita president and vice president. By 1916, the overall number of attendees had risen to
seventy-two and the number rose to 103 in 1917.118 The table decorations in 1916 were
wigwams and evergreens with little pots of candy hanging from tripods made of twigs and
candies reflecting the native theme of the Society. The invitations were hand-drawn by the
women and featured images of an Aboriginal woman as well as nature pictures such as pussy
willows as seen in the design on the images of the invitation from 1916 and 1921 below (Figures
1.2, 1.3).119 Alumni also participated in giving tours of Edmonton to students who were new to
the city.
The Wauneita Society was a dynamic and adaptive group that took on the challenge of
establishing a campus culture with very little precedent regarding the norms of a co-educational campus in Edmonton. As a young university, the University of Alberta had the opportunity to be any type of educational institution it wanted to be, seemingly opting to focus on retaining traditional gender boundaries and rules. The president of the university empowered the women to establish a Society that would meet their needs and allow them to comfortably be established on campus. The Wauneitas were similar to a sorority that exemplified the values of sisterhood and collective responsibility and simultaneously blended inclusively of all of the women with
118 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, January 12, 1914; January 17, 1917. 119 UAA, Alumni Banquet Invitation to Miss J. Stewart, 1916, Wauneita Society, 77-102 Ref.# M.6, 1916.UAA, Alumni Banquet Invitation to Miss A. Iddings, Theresa Alta Iddings (later Wilson), Class of ’24 Student Memorabilia, 89-55 Items 1-28, 1921.
“Payuk uche Kukeyow, Mena Kukeyow uche Payuk” 58
exclusivity of the Wauneitas. This allowed them not to feel like an invisible minority on campus
but rather as a valuable and special part of the university. Through the Wauneita Society, the
women at the university took control of their image and experience in an effort to ensure that
their voices would be heard. In the following Chapter, we will see how the Wauneitas expanded
the scope of their club from creating a space for themselves on campus to exploring their place
on campus and in the world. We will see how the Wauneitas researched women in other cultures
to greater understand how they could contribute to their own.
Figure 1.2: Alumni Banquet Invitation to Miss J. Stewart, 1916
Figure 1.3: Alumni Banquet Invitation to Miss A. Iddings, 1921 Keeping Up with the World 59
Chapter 2: Keeping Up With the World, 1911-1914
“The University looks upon you who seek her halls as being in general those amongst their
fellows who are the most ambitious, the most intellectually curious, the most spiritually alive; as
those who appreciate the superlative value of training.”120 Despite the commitment of the university to make the campus accessible to both genders a question lingered among some students as to the devotion of the women of the university to their studies. In the early years of the Wauneita Society the members set out to define themselves and their roles as students. They discussed the changing place of women in society that would influence their lives as university graduates. Women on campus were not necessarily dedicated to suffrage or emancipation but they were aware that the world was changing and that they needed to change with it. The
Wauneitas switched gears from a social Society seeking a space for themselves on campus to a
collective female voice advocating for greater access to programs such as athletics and student
government.
The Wauneitas chose to tread carefully using their space in the school newspaper mainly
as a social page. In 1913, the Wauneitas were given a lounge in Assiniboia Hall. This dedicated
space was likely similar to the Women’s lounge in Athabasca but in a space just for the
Wauneitas, they could surround themselves with the symbols of their Society. The women’s-only
space could be both a blessing and a curse: it created a sense of belonging within the space but
also a feeling of being constrained to that place rather than being equally welcome all over the
campus. This kind of space became particularly complicated and contested as the Wauneitas
were becoming less satisfied with the genderfied campus. It limited women to practicing
120 W.A.R. Kerr, “To The Class of 1916,” The Gateway, October 1, 1912, 9. Keeping Up with the World 60
valuable professional skills such as debating and public speaking in their private lounge with no chance to compete in public or with other schools such as the men’s debate team or athletic association.
This chapter will examine the ways in which the Wauneita Society became socially self- conscious focusing mainly on the period between 1911-1914 when they discussed their role in the university and compared their university experience with that of female students around the world. The professors’ and mentors’ lectures will also be discussed that prompted the women to take an interest in equal suffrage and women’s changing roles in society.
2.1. The Wauneitas Finding a Social and Political Place on Campus
All University of Alberta students, male and female, were members of the Students’ Union
which was founded in 1908-1909 academic year and presided over by their executive body the
Students’ Council. The Constitution of the Students’ Union, clearly one of the most important student associations on campus, outlined how the Union worked to ensure opportunities for clubs in providing fulfilling extracurricular activities for the student body. Its goals included promoting an interest in activities of university life, controlling student matters, discipline of its members when necessary, student development and “advancing the interests of the University and
University life.”121 Representatives of the Wauneita Society were not included on the Students’
Council although they were granted representation in the Students’ Union. Representation on the
Council was granted to only two student organizations: The Literary Society and the Athletic
Association. The Students’ Council was decided by election. While not a rule, the president of
121 UAA, Constitution of the Students’ Council of the University of Alberta. Student Affairs, Students’ Associations, Students’ Union, 68-9-314, likely 1909.1. Keeping Up with the World 61
the Union as well as the rest of the executive were mostly male. The secretary was almost always
female. The Wauneitas made for themselves a Society run exclusively by women in which they
could practice their leadership skills on their own executive council and advocate for their needs.
The transition of the Wauneitas from an incipient organization to express the sentiments
and needs of early women students on campus to a socially-conscious Society trying to assert
themselves and find their role on campus and in society in general happened in an atmosphere of feminized intellectual debate and fervour. Of importance was the focus on the role of women and
the impact of higher education and thought on women’s cultures. Debates in the early years of
the Society focused on university life and women’s appropriate behavior. The first debate which
took place on February 21, 1911, addressed whether the use of slang was justifiable. The judges
were wives of faculty and usually leaned towards the conservative viewpoint, in this case
agreeing with the affirmative side that “the use of slang was not justifiable.”122 Another debate
that took place February 20, 1912 resolved that “a College Woman is the Better Homemaker.”
The women arguing for the affirmative, Miss Anderson and Miss Lulmer, won.123 These sort of
debates show that women at the university were concerned with their behavior and social
position as university women.
In the beginning, as discussed in Chapter 1, a great deal of the Wauneitas’ activities were
concentrated on building a sense of sisterhood and tradition that could serve as a strong
foundation for the Society. Over time the Wauneitas focused on having more debates and
lectures advocating for greater power and responsibilities for women. The women also discussed
the direction in which they were moving professionally as they worked towards the future. The
business discussed at the meetings included issues that involved all of the women of the
122 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, February 21, 1911 123 Ibid., February 20, 1912 Keeping Up with the World 62
university. It ranged from the great undertaking of establishing a Women’s Athletic Association
separate from the University Athletic Association and managing the women’s sports teams to relatively short and basic planning of fundraisers and social outings. Every aspect of university
women’s lives was open for scrutiny.124
The women of the University of Alberta were welcomed to participate in campus
activities but rarely given the opportunity to assume leadership positions. Women enjoyed access
to any club they wanted to join but their ability to participate in club activities and the club
executive was limited. Apart from the Wauneita Society and some other women campus clubs
such as the YWCA and the Women’s Athletic Association—the latter of which the Wauneitas
took a lead at creating and helping to direct—in student organizations and associations women
tended to occupy support roles such as vice-president, secretary, or in the case of The Gateway,
Lady Editor.125
The “Lady Editor” was a position that was created in 1910 when the paper was first
released. Along with column editors, it was listed directly below “Editor-In-Chief” on the
papers’ banner. In October 1911, The Gateway announced the women’s section of the paper to
be called “Co-Eds Corner.” The section covered activities of all of the women’s organizations
and included jokes and entertaining anecdotes as well. Commentary and opinions were notably absent in the articles as instead they focused on events with information about decorations and
important people who attended. The column was factual more than a point of view, indicating for
this section of the newspaper that women preferred to keep their lives more private than to be
124 UAA, In the First Meeting of 1909, the Wauneitas discussed the idea of creating a Women’s Athletic Association—it was eventually created in 1912. Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 17, 1909, and October 26, 1910 respectively. 125 UAA Members of the executive of various students clubs can be found in the University Calendars available in General Reference. Keeping Up with the World 63
open for wider readership. It did, however, give women a public media presence. Notably, the
women’s column appeared under the Wauneita Society’s logo and motto. In the first issue of
“Co-Eds Corner,” the Lady Editor, Miss J.F. Montgomery, expressed her excitement at being
able to report the university experience from the woman’s perspective. “Our side of the college
life could be better represented in this than in the old way. So we appear now under our own title
and we hope that the pages for which we are responsible will always be worthy of our paper and
our University.”126
Following the advice of Dr. Tory, a month after “Co-Eds Corner” was introduced, the
title of “Co-Ed” was dropped entirely and became the “Wauneitas” column.127 The Wauneitas by
1911 had become the prominent women’s association on campus and the name had become
synonymous with female students. In their ongoing efforts to be a respectable and inclusive
voice on campus the Wauneitas declared their appreciation for the ongoing input from Dr. Tory.
“As Wauneitas we especially value the appreciation of our efforts to make our society ‘good for
something,’ and are more than willing to carry out President Tory’s suggestion that we use the
name ‘Wauneita’ in the title of this department.”128
The Wauneitas had a great deal of influence on women’s self-awareness as an important demographic on campus. Women were starting to organize and create opportunities for themselves to break out of the Wauneita lounge—while maintaining the Wauneita Society as a core organization—in the ways that would challenge their feminine image while maintaining some semblance of regular order and place on campus. The Wauneita Scrapbook described their
lounge in Assiniboia Hall as being “furnished in Knotty Pine paneling with a huge fireplace
126 Miss J.F. Montgomery, “Co-eds Corner,” The Gateway, October 1, 1911, 22. 127 UAA, Interview of Miss Ethel C. Anderson Ruth Bowen Interviews, 79-112-5, 1969, 7. 128 J.F. Montgomery, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, November 1, 1911, 19. Keeping Up with the World 64 which was kept going each evening by those who were there, several important murals graced the walls.” The description added that a lot of the decorations were gifted from former members of the Society including murals, sketches, and even a totem pole.129 Women were expanding their opportunities to enjoy some of the privileges of university; in doing that they could confidently explore ideas about what should come next in their journey to create useful strategies to advocate for a full and informative university experience.
The Wauneita Society galvanized the opportunities of women’s athletics, one of the more difficult of the Wauneita activities considering that women in sports at this time could be a challenge to established norms of both masculinity and femininity. In discussing the absence of a
Women’s Athletic Association in 1912, for example, the Wauneitas remarked that “western girls are far famed for their wide-awake interest in all sorts of sports, and also for the strength and skill which nearly every one can show in at least one kind of athletics.” The article continued that the Students’ Union’s constitution had a clause for Women’s Athletics, therefore a Woman’s
Athletic Association needed to be organized. The Woman’s Athletic Committee was to consist of
“a President and an Advisory Committee of five women students elected by the women students at a meeting called for this purpose by the President of the Athletic Association during the first week of October of each year.”130
The first meeting of the Woman’s Athletic Association was scheduled for December 4,
1912. The president of the Men’s Athletic Association was to be present. Despite the meeting, not much is mentioned of the Women’s Athletic Association until the following year when they discussed the nominations of the executive. In November 1913, the women nominated the association’s officers. The first president was Miss McLaughlin. The positions of vice-president,
129 UAA, Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 5. 130 Unsigned, The Wauneita Society, The Gateway, November 1, 1912, 14. Keeping Up with the World 65
secretary treasurer, and advisory committee were similar to the Men’s Athletic Association
(formerly the Athletic Association). Directed by women, the Women’s Athletic Association provided the women with an opportunity to participate in competitive sports. Most of their games were with the local high schools but the separation of men’s and woman’s athletic
associations allowed the women to enjoy more leadership opportunities and prioritize themselves
in decision making. In September 1913, the Wauneitas also started discussions about helping to
form a Glee Club. The women’s Glee Club was to meet directly after the men’s Glee Club on
Tuesday afternoons.131
In 1914, the Wauneita Society sent a letter to president Tory requesting representation on the Students’ Council. The women discussed their growing numbers and the desire for greater representation: “The Wauneita Society is an organization comprising all women students and serving as a judicial and legislative body in matters which concern the women students alone and which are not under the direct cognizance of the Students’ Union or the Student Court.”132 While they were not yet actively seeking to change their role in the university the Wauneitas were
striving to define themselves as students in consideration of the impact of education on their
lives.
Navigating the co-educational social campus was difficult. Changing ideals around social propriety and the desire of men and women to socialize prompted criticism and put men and women under a microscope to both fellow students and the public. The women of the university needed to have a space to socialize and unwind without potential accusations of impropriety or putting themselves in a position of being subject to scandal. Women still had to watch their step
131 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, December 3, 1912; November 11, 1913; November 11, 1912; September 30, 1913; October 25, 1913. 132 UAA, Letter to Dr. Tory from Wauneita Society, Students - General, 68-9-306, March 4, 1914. Keeping Up with the World 66
in terms of how familiar they got with the men on campus or how casual they were when people
were watching. The Wauneita lounge gave them a place where they could relax and have fun away from the watchful gaze of the public.
The question of the exact nature of the Wauneita Society lingered throughout these years.
This was seen in 1915 when Dr. Tory raised the question of allowing Greek letter societies at the
University of Alberta. He sent letters to various universities asking their opinions on the matter.
Many of the responders agreed that as long as adequate accommodation for students studying away from home was available then fraternities were more trouble than they were worth. More negative feedback from Harvard University argued that fraternities had a divisive effect on the student body. “They certainly tend to break up the students into little self-centered groups, as you say . . . They are almost impossible to abolish after they have once got started; but I should think that in a new place, where they do not yet exist, you would make a considerable effort to prevent their taking root.”133 Not all responses to Dr. Tory’s question about fraternities were negative.
One letter discussed some of the benefits of fraternities: “In many institutions in spite of the
dangers involved in these organizations they seem to render distinct service. They afford living
quarters for a good many men, they develop a kind of group responsibility, and it is possible for
the administration to secure cooperation through these group organizations.”134
Within this gendered culture and Tory’s rumination on the benefits of fraternities, the
Wauneita Society was being self-reflective, always striving to adapt to the changing needs of
women on campus. The main function of fraternities was to provide further accommodation for
universities that did not have adequate housing for students who were from out of town, but after
133 UAA, A. Lawrence Lowell, Harvard University Cambridge, Response to Dr. Tory’s letter regarding fraternities, Student Affairs, Students’ Associations, Fraternities and Sororities, 69-9-317, April 5, 1915, 134 UAA, George Vincent, University of Minnesota, Response to Dr. Tory’s letter regarding fraternities, Student Affairs, Students’ Associations, Fraternities and Sororities, 69-9-317, April 5, 1915. Keeping Up with the World 67
1911, the University of Alberta had more than adequate housing for its students, thereby
eliminating a need for fraternities. The entirety of the feedback that Tory gathered from his
research into fraternities elsewhere could explain why he advised the women who formed the
Wauneitas to be more than a social group; he encouraged them in their early years of existence to be useful. “Useful” here might have referred to the women positioning their club to be assertive and to forword women’s needs on campus; to be an active presence on campus and focus on improving the lives and university experiences of its members. This solidified in the minds of many in the Wauneita Society to entrench even further many of the positive attributes of a Greek
Letter Society such as sisterhood, collective responsibility, mentorship, and mutual support while being inclusive and helpful to all women.
By 1914, the general tone and function of Wauneita meetings were under debate. This reflection on their role and place on campus at times veered to considerations of logistics and protocol. One major item of consideration, for example, was whether tea should be served at meetings. In January, the Wauneitas decided that they would serve tea at the beginning of meetings and break into discussion groups to discuss the papers and debates presented throughout the year. By November the decision was made to have tea after the meetings to resemble a post-meeting reception.135
The idea around what role tea time would play in the meetings was debated throughout the year; at one point the decision was made that tea would be served after the meeting, not just
strictly for leisure but to facilitate discussion of specific topics. Topics corresponding with papers
read earlier in the evening included women’s roles outside of university such as “Women in
Social Services.” The same year a box was added to the Wauneita room where women could
135 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 24, 1914. Keeping Up with the World 68
submit questions regarding “College Girls Difficulties.”136 Women were to submit their questions and they would be answered at the following meeting. Adjustments in the format of the
meetings signaled a shift in ideas about what constitutes Wauneita business and whether meetings were formal meetings of a sort of female students’ union or social gatherings of a
campus woman’s club. It signifies a transition between a social group and a group with a
stronger cultural and political purpose and direction.
2.2. Relationships on a Gendered Campus
The Wauneita Society was formed and was establishing its role at a time shortly before and at
the start of World War One when femininity among women students was still being charted out.
It was seeking to effectively adapt to a new environment in a young university. Ethel Anderson
was recognized in her 1912 graduation write-up in The Gateway for maintaining her womanhood while also using her voice to represent her Society. “She has exerted an influence without imposing it and will undoubtedly fill her place in life.” The write-up also mentioned that she
“worked steadily through her course and maintained a quiet dignity.”137
Praise for feminine virtues such as “dignity” and “grace of womanhood” was common in
graduation columns in the early years of the university, the idea being that these people were
graduating as better women. Female students needed to show that they were not masculinized
nor obstinate in their seeming willingness to fit into campus life. Emphasizing the femininity of
female graduates was seen as important as it calmed fears that university would make the woman
too masculine. The university must not be seen as diminishing the feminine graces of women but
136 Ibid., February 10, 1914; January 23, 1914. 137 Unsigned, “The First Graduating Class of the University of Alberta,” The Gateway, April 1, 1912, 26-28. Keeping Up with the World 69
enhancing them. Miss W. Hyssop was also a member of the class of 1912; her write-up said that
she was “a true Western girl, with all the native ability for the practical affairs of life. Her kind
and generous nature has made her a universal favorite.” Miss Stella Ruttan got credit as the
president of the Wauneita Society “gracing her position with ‘plain reason and sound sense.’”
The announcement began modestly by calling her “a woman good without pretense.”138
While women were being expected to maintain their feminine graces, men were being watched for a very different but equally serious reason. In “A Leaf From a Student’s Time
Table” (Figure 2.1)139 in The Gateway, a male student is completely preoccupied with a woman student, so much so that all he can seem to think about is her. “A Leaf From a Student
Timetable” illustrates the concern that women in a co-educational environment would distract men. In a fictitious “Letter from a Son at College to His Dad,” Bob (The son) writes that his friend has fallen in love with a girl who would not reciprocate his affections. “Pink says he is
burning up with love, and I told him he ought to have got some fire insurance before he started this loving business.” Bob wrote a poem about the situation: “There was a young man from
Ponoka, Who was famed as a practical jokah, He called on a miss, And requested a kiss, But she
swatted him one with the pokah.”140
In another “Letter From a Son at College,” Bob arrives late to a Mock Parliament only to
find that it has been convened and everybody was dancing. His friend “Pink” was stomping all
over his partner’s feet. When the song was finished, Pink came to Bob with excitement. “’Oh
Bob, I’ve learned to dance!” that was the ‘Walrus’ that I just learned and soon they’re going to
teach me the Squad drill’. I think Pink must have been hit over the head with the Wauneita Club
138 Ibid. 139 “Leaf From A Student Time Table,” The Gateway, March 20, 1911, 20. 140 It is not mentioned who wrote these fictional letters. “Bob”: “Letter From a Son at College to His Dad,” The Gateway, March 20, 1911, 6. Keeping Up with the World 70 and stunned, the way he is acting lately.”141 The breakdown of a mock parliament and unchaperoned dancing between men and women reflected the concern that men could get
Figure 2.1: “A Leaf From A Student’s Time Table,” The Gateway, March 20, 1911, 20.
141 Ibid., April 20, 1911, 5. Keeping Up with the World 71
hopelessly preoccupied with romance at the expense of more important social or educational priorities.
A similar mock timetable was made by the women about themselves. Published in
December 1911, it implied that women in university were more focused on their social lives than their studies. The timetable involved primping for a forty-five-minute dinner, listing three separate occasions for tea in one day, eating, shopping, and spending time with friends. The student’s time included socializing with the other women or taking naps between classes (Figure
2.2).142 The satirical schedule ended with: “If it were not for the lectures, life at Residence would
be a glorious thing.”143 Not one thought was about men. Women’s social lives were seen at times as being a “self-centered life [rather than] a socially-centered one.”144
The Gateway was a popular place to satirize relationships between men and women. “If a
college girl hears of another girl being kissed, she is horribly shocked, but under favorable
circumstances, she will allow the same thing to happen right under her own nose.”145 Jokes
regarding impropriety were very popular. “’Her elopement caused quite a flutter’ ‘Yes, her lover
common and yet quite proper, rather singular, never in the objective case, and agreeing hid in the
henhouse while she was getting her things packed.” Girls day-dreaming about kissing boys was a
common theme in jokes. “From a College Girl’s Notebook – Kiss is a noun, with both
subjects.”146 Some jokes implied that men were too distracted by love, or too slick for their own
good: “P: ‘There seem to be a good many love-sick fellows lying around here.’ G: ‘Hear,
hear!”147 A poem called Paddy talks about a student nicknamed “Pad.” A section of the poem
142 “Time Table At Residence,” The Gateway November 1, 1911, 20-21 143 Unsigned, “Time Table At Residence,” The Gateway November 1, 1911, 20-21. 144 UAA, Maimie Shaw Simpson, Taking A Backward Look, 69-55, n.d., 14. 145 Unsigned, “Social Notes,” The Gateway, March 20, 1911, 20. 146 Unsigned, “Exchange,” The Gateway, December 1, 1911, 16. 147 Unsigned, “The Argosy,” The Gateway, April 20, 1911, 4. Keeping Up with the World 72
discusses his preoccupation with women. “He has nothing else to do, Careless Pad, But to stick around and woo, Thoughtless Pad! For the ladies he was made, And he’s not a bit afraid, He’s a kind of ‘Ladies Aid,’ Ain’t you, Pad?”148
Figure 2.2: “Time Table At Residence,” The Gateway November 1, 1911, 20-21.
2.3. A Renewed Purpose in Education: Lectures, Debates, and International Perspectives
While jokes about women being preoccupied with their social lives and men being preoccupied
with women were common in the pages of The Gateway, the question of why women were at
148 Unsigned, “Paddy,” The Gateway, April 20, 1911, 16.
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university remained a serious question. The purpose of women’s education was still undefined: if
not to build social skills and gain a good work ethic, what was it all for? A poem in The Gateway
discusses a woman named “Anna Lee,” a Classics student at the University of Alberta: “A
maiden from the country by the name of Anna Lee, in search of higher learning came to S’cona
Varsity.” When Anna Lee went home after graduating, her family was shocked to see that she
was still fascinated with the Latin authors that she studied when at school. “Her parents gazed in
wonder at the thing that they had bore, And sat in frightened silence as she shot off ancient lore.”
Regardless of her passion, once married, she stopped caring about her studies and upon
becoming a devoted mother, ultimately regrets spending her time at university. “She doesn’t
study botany, or analyze the rocks, Instead she sits up late at night and mends the old man’s
socks. She wishes now instead of learning Latin from a book, She’d stayed at home in
‘Punkinville’ and studied how to cook.” 149
Numerous items in The Gateway highlighted the question of women’s purpose in
university. For the most part, despite a growing collective awareness of a genderfied consciousness to promote change and perhaps a modicum of independence, the assumption was
still prevalent that women should build their social skills at the expense of their education in
preparation for possible marriage after graduation. In “Wauneita Jokelets” a girl’s desire to meet
a man at university is turned into a cute poem: “—is my name, single is my station, I hope
someone will have the sand to make an alteration.”150 In “Modest Proposals,” the writer jokes
about how people act in the library, presumably a place to study, and on how men ought to go
about getting the attention of the women: “On entering the library (if you happen to think
yourself moderately handsome) stop near the door and observe carefully where the ladies have
149 Unsigned, Untitled, The Gateway, April 20, 1911, 20. 150 Unsigned, “Wauneita Jokelets,” The Gateway, January 1, 1912, 28.
Keeping Up with the World 74
chosen to sit. If there happens to be one who is not within easy whispering distance to one of the
men makes a bee-line for the chair nearest to her.” The article advised trying to get the attention of all the ladies and then talking to the most obliging one. “At last having got her attention sit down majestically upon the books of the lady who has been so disagreeable as neither to giggle
nor chatter for your amusement. Now enjoy yourself.” 151
As the women began exploring new social roles and using the Wauneita Society to expand their presence on campus, they were seen in a more scholastic light, however; they were beginning to be referred to as well-rounded students with varied interests. In 1913, Miss
Elizabeth Fowler’s graduation write-up calls her athletic but hints that her athleticism came at the expense of her studies. “As an all-round student, not too much given to poring over encyclopedias, and with a healthy interest in athletics, Miss Fowler has won very much of the best that University life has to offer.”152
The women were noticing a change of pace in Wauneita meetings. Credit was given to
Wauneita president Miss Kathleen Lavell in her efforts to make the Wauneitas a more serious
group of students with opportunities to practice their professional skills through organized
debates and presenting papers within the walls of the Wauneita lounge. “As president of the
Wauneita Society in her final year she arranged a programme of meetings which has proved very interesting both from an intellectual and social standpoint.”153 The credit given to the Wauneitas
by boosting the intellectual reputation of women is important to note as it reflected and indeed
drove the overall attitude on campus about female intellectuals. In 1914, prominent Wauneita
member Helen Montgomery (no relation to J.M. Montgomery) was recognized for her
151 Unsigned, “Modest Proposals,” The Gateway, March 1, 1912, 11. 152 Unsigned, “Our Graduates,” The Gateway, April 1, 1913, 26 153 Ibid.
Keeping Up with the World 75
involvement in extracurricular activities: “She has established a precedent for what we call
college life.”154
Between 1908 and 1911, the women had established the foundations of a campus culture.
Now they were trying to expand on their role in the university and the world. The Wauneitas began to align themselves with the larger body of women who were working to create meaningful changes in society. They saw their university education as a way to understand the world better. As a result, they believed they could play a greater role in fixing social problems.
Women on campus were experiencing a growing awareness of how their gender affected their academic and intellectual lives through lectures and intense discussion regarding the culture of women and female students in Canada and other countries. These lectures were not only delivered by faculty wives and other women on campus who acted as mentors for the Wauneitas, but also on occasion men, who believed women’s suffrage would create positive changes in society. On March 5, 1912, for example, Classics Professor Dr. William Hardy Alexander gave a lecture to the women explaining why he supports equal suffrage. Dr. Alexander referred to the emancipation of women as “one phase of the great wave of social change.” He then discussed women throughout the ages: “First in Athens, a woman was treated as a domestic slave and
never seen on the street unless heavily veiled.” He went on to discuss the plight of Hebrew women, Catholic women, and women throughout the Protestant Reformation, all eras being as bad as Athens or worse.155
Alexander lectured on the power of women to affect change if they were persistent:
“Emancipation in education,” he argued, “was largely due to the efforts of a woman, Dr. Jex
Blake. She had distinguished herself in mathematics and sought admission to the medical
154 Unsigned, “Graduates,” The Gateway, April 1, 1914, 24. 155 E.C.A, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, March 1, 1912, 19.
Keeping Up with the World 76
program at the University of Edinburgh which was very conservative. At length she was admitted.” Alexander moved on to argue why political emancipation was important to the
women: “The political emancipation is the end towards which reform has been tending.” He
pointed out that in Australia, and New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, suffrage had been
achieved and partial suffrage was achieved in the UK as well as some parts of Canada.156
Also in March, Dr. William Alexander Robb Kerr, professor of Modern Languages (later
university president, 1936-1941), gave a lecture on Marguerite de Navarre including “the
gracious personality of this wonderful woman of the Renaissance, her education, her life as the
central figure in the brilliant court of her brother, King Francis I, her work as an author, and one
of the chief patronesses of letters.”157 This lecture surely interested the women in attendance as it
demonstrated the life of a powerful historical woman. Both this and Professor Alexander’s talk
evoked greater curiosity in the Wauneitas and pushed them towards studying more in-depth their
own roles and opportunities: “Even if we had not taken much interest in this subject before, it would be our duty to do so in the future.”158
Feeling more established, the Wauneitas seemed to be settling in on campus. They began
to shift focus from creating a place for themselves on campus to exploring their role in the
156 E.C.A, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, March 1, 1912, 19- 20. Dr. Sophia Jex Blake was a pioneer in women’s education. Born in Hastings, UK Blake was privately educated but experienced resistance from her parents in her ambitions to pursue a medical degree. This resistance pushed into being an activist for women’s rights. She travelled to America and met activists such as Dr. Lucy Sewell, the resident physician at the New England Hospital for Women and became an assistant at the hospital. After a great deal of convincing, Blake and four other women took matriculation exams at Edinburgh University and gained admittance into the medical school in 1869. Opposition to the admission of women into the medical school almost caused a riot outside of an anatomy exam at Surgeon’s Hall in November 1870. Although they attended classes and sat for her exams, the university would not issue a degree to a woman. In 1877, after further studies she was awarded an MD by the University of Berne and qualified as Licentiate of the King’s and Queen’s College of Physicians of Ireland later that year. She had a successful career and continued to campaign for women’s suffrage until her death in 1912. A plaque at the university commemorates her important place in Edinburgh University’s history. University of Edinburgh Alumni Services, May 24, 2015. http://www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/services/notable-alumni/alumni-in-history/sophia-jex-blake 157 J.M. Montgomery, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, April 1, 1912, 40. 158 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, March 5, 1912.
Keeping Up with the World 77
university and the university experience of women in other countries. In February 1912, Eleanor
Broadus invited the Wauneitas to attend a meeting of the University Woman’s Association where they heard a lecture about “Student Life in Germany” by Dr. Barker Fairley, professor of
German. “The woman who goes abroad to study often finds her position very trying. In taking the same lectures that men take, she finds many more obstacles placed in her way than in any
University on this side of the Atlantic. . . The professors tolerate, without welcoming, her
presence in the classroom.”159 In April, John Malcolm MacEachran, the school Provost, gave a
lecture regarding “Student Days in Europe” in which he discussed student life in Germany
“showing the attitude to women students and the relation of the professors to the students.” A brief write-up regarding the lecture in The Gateway did not go into detail about what
MacEachran said, but it made clear that the Wauneitas were getting a greater sense of women’s roles in history and the international community and a greater appreciation for their responsibility and power as female students.160
In October 1912, an article in The Gateway entitled “Women Students in Oxford”
mentioned that “a place like Oxford is singularly fortunate in the chances it gives its students of
hearing lectures, not only from its own regular staff, but also from representatives of many different universities and countries.”161 What is revealing is that the author, whose name was not
given, did not see it as a major problem that women could study at Oxford but not receive a
degree.
159 Miss, Sproule (acting lady editor,) “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, February 1, 1912, 24. 160 J.M. Montgomery, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, April 1, 1912, 40. 161 This article was likely written by a female student because it appears in the Wauneita section of the paper. “Women Students in Oxford,” The Gateway, October 1, 1912, 51.
Keeping Up with the World 78
It is sometimes assumed that because Oxford does not give the degree to
women, she treats them badly in other respects. . . Many of the best teachers
in Oxford take women pupils, and in one school, that of English Language
and Literature, the lecture committee of the Board of Studies is courteous
enough to consult the women tutors formally before drawing up their annual
lecture list.”162
The Wauneitas did not seem concerned about the fact that Oxford women did not get degrees:
“When she goes down, a girl who has taken high honours, may feel rather aggrieved at her
letterless condition and may sigh for her B.A., but if during her years at College she does
anything but enjoy herself to the full, it is her own fault, not Oxford’s.”163
This attitude towards the “letterless” women reflected the idea that knowledge and a
fulfilling experience, not accolades nor indications of formal achievement in a patriarchal
academic world, was seen by some as the primary purpose of a university education for women.
Throughout 1912, women students continued to work to find purpose in their education by exploring female student experiences in other countries. An article in The Gateway reflected a
shift in attitude of the women students about their purpose in the university. Rather than a
degree, or a lucrative job, a university education “is to make us better fitted than we should
otherwise be, to help solve the problems of the world at large, especially those which affect women, and a question which we have heard on the lips of several of our women students of late is: ‘How can we Help?’”164
162 Unsigned, “Women Students in Oxford,” The Gateway, October 1, 1912, 51. 163 Ibid., 52-53. 164 Unsigned, “The Wauneita Society,” The Gateway, November 1, 1912, 13.
Keeping Up with the World 79
At times complementing the lectures, beginning in 1912, the Wauneitas explored their
privileges and responsibilities in “Five-Minutes Papers” which they themselves presented to each other in their general meetings. They covered topics regarding the roles of women in higher education in other countries.165 This new journey of self-discovery for women students at the
University of Alberta seemed to be further prompted by the arrival of Mrs. Margaret Keeling who had come from England and studied at St. Hugh’s College at Oxford. In November, the new
Dean of Women discussed the struggle of Oxford women to overcome 950 years of masculine campus culture and how their determination had helped them get through the barriers of inequality.166 On November 11, 1913, Wauneitas presented papers on American, French,
Mohammedan, Japanese, Spanish, and Scandinavian women in the interest of understanding how their experiences compared to that of University of Alberta women. Not leaving the domestic
scene behind in their studies, they later presented papers on February 10, 1914 regarding
“Women in Social Service.” Along with their mini-lectures, readings of research in economics, politics, education, and women were planned for that year: Government Ownership of Railways,
Co-Education, and Fame vs. Money. This was done with the Wauneitas in full support of university professors critiquing and offering additional details on the presentations.167
Between 1911-1914, the Wauneitas saw much progress towards their sense of place at the
university and coalescing cohesiveness in a common activist outlook. In the Wauneitas’ year-end
write-up for 1912, the women reflected on their role in the university thus far. “In this number
we come to the end of our first year as a separate Woman’s Department. We have confined our
efforts this year to reports of our own women’s societies; we have attempted no discussion of
165 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 11, 1912. 166 Unsigned, “The Wauneita Society,” The Gateway, October 1, 1912, 50. 167 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, February 10, 1914 and October 3, 1914; November 11, 1913.
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women’s work in the great world outside. . . Our pioneer attempts to discover lines of working
best adapted to our part in the university life of this last great West have resulted, perhaps,
mainly in developing that esprit de corps which is the atmosphere of the highest type of
educational institution.”168
In 1913, the Wauneitas got a new Wauneita room in Assiniboia Hall. “Like the Israelites
of old they have had this session no fixed place of abode. . . We are looking forward to having a
‘Wauneita Room’ with our own pictures, mirror, etc… and hooks on which to hang our wraps.”
In the 1914 year-end Wauneita Society summary, the Wauneitas expressed a great deal of
optimism towards their future. “It is to be hoped that our ideas will continue to increase in
largeness of view and our ideals go on from higher to higher. . . by following the gleam of today,
we enter into the broader sunlight of tomorrow.”169
In fall of 1914, the war became a focus of the Wauneitas. The topic of the women’s role
in university and society, however, still had a place in the Wauneita lounge, and indeed was
intensified. When the three topics of inter-year debates were being announced, topic number 2
was that co-education should be universal.170 In the following chapter we will see how the First
World War thrust the Wauneitas out of their lounge. The women of the university built their self-
confidence through their ability to organize themselves and male students to help support and
comfort soldiers who were fighting overseas. While we can see this as a natural progression from
exploring their place in the world to trying to take their place in the world, the speed at which the women began to take on leadership roles and become more prominent members of the university
168 J.M. Montgomery, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, April 1, 1912, 40. 169 Unsigned, “The Wauneitas,” The Gateway, April 1, 1914, 34. 170 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, October 23, 1914.
Keeping Up with the World 81
student body as a whole was greatly increased by the enlistment of senior male students to fight in the war.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 82
Chapter 3: The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns: 1914-1919
“We speak much of the ‘Man behind the Gun,’ but let us not forget the Woman behind the Man
behind the Gun.”171 The First World War changed the university experience for the Wauneita
Society. It empowered female students and encouraged them to take on a greater public role in the university. During the First World War a large number of senior male students left the school and joined the Canadian Corps. In the 1914 Board of Governors Report, the president reflected on the gap left by the departure of senior men: “The entering class this year was considerably larger than that of last year, but a heavy shrinkage took place in all the higher years. This is of course due to the fact that enlistment has mostly taken place from these years.”172 The remaining
students at the university focused their attention on supporting the troops and keeping the student
soldiers feeling connected to the university. The war work of the Wauneita Society was
combined with the efforts of the Soldiers Comfort Club to rise above social conventions with an outlook for the women to do whatever was needed to support the troops. This led to a greater sense of belonging for the women of the university and, as will be discussed in the Conclusion, had them in the late 1910s into the 1920s begin questioning the very role of the Society and its necessity as the only forum and organization for the expression of women’s voice on campus.
Women believed that taking a greater role in the university was their duty. The war gave
them the chance to step up and help lead the student body and gave the Wauneitas a push into the
public sphere by creating a space to fill when so many of the male students left the university to
fight overseas. It created opportunities for the Wauneitas to take a more active role on campus.
171 E.M.B. (possibly a female student as it is a female-focused article), “The Knitting Needle and the Crochet Hook,” The Gateway, February 1, 1916, 6. 172 UAA, Henry Marshall Tory, Presidents Report, Board of Governors Reports, 69-129-2, 1914.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 83
The Wauneitas were experiencing an evolution from a period of exploration to an active attempt
to create social change, but the war forced the co-eds out of the Wauneita lounge faster than they could have on their own. It created a complex environment where war work took precedent over traditional propriety and gender separation and as a result allowed men and women to more handily break down some of their social barriers. This period of empowerment for the Wauneitas had a lasting impact on the women of the university and led to further optimism for the women as to their future and the future of the Society. Women were still a distinct minority on campus— at the most they equaled half the male student body in 1917 with a total enrollment of 224 men and 112 women. With the departure of a large number of senior men on campus, they had a better chance to fill in leadership positions previously occupied by senior students.173 While still
far less than half of the student body, it is undeniable that the percentage of female students grew
significantly during the war, and continued at higher than pre-war levels afterwards (See Table
3.1).174
Year Total Number Male Students Female Students of Students
1909 45 38 7 (15%)
1910 82 68 14 (17%)
1911 129 99 30 (23%)
1912 185 157 29 (16%)
173 UAA, Henry Marshall Tory, Board of Governors Reports, 69-129-2, 1917. 174 Numbers were taken from UAA, Board of Governors Reports, 69-129-2 and Senate Reports, 70-91-2 and 70-91- 3.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 84
Year Total Number Male Students Female Students of Students
1913 433 368 65 (15%)
1914 439 379 60 (14%)
1915 418 361 57 (14%)
1916 305 220 85 (28%)
1917 336 224 112 (33%)
1918 574 387 187 (33%)
1919 618 430 188 (30%)
1920 1106 Unlisted Unlisted
1921* 1285 869 366 (29%)
1922 1314 900 414 (32%)
1923 1341 908 433 (33%)
1924 1354 920 434 (32%)
1925 1302 897 405 (31%)
1926 1298 882 434 (33%)
1927 1536 1097 439 (28%)
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 85
Year Total Number Male Students Female Students of Students
1928 1516 1060 456 (30%)
1929 1578 1062 516 (33%)
1930 1824 1229 595 (33%)
Table 3.1: Student Body by Gender, 1912-1930
*Note: 50 Students are unaccounted for in the Gender section of the Registration breakdown of the President’s Report and the Board of Governors Report
This chapter will focus on the Wauneitas during the First World War and how the genderfied atmosphere on campus changed to a one of collective action that focused on the war and the university soldiers. This gave female students the confidence to more effectively resist conservative social limits that constrained them in the pre-war era. Men on campus seemed to bolster women’s rights and freedoms after seeing that the women could work well and be more integrated with the men. Having the confidence of the male student body led to the election of female students in the presidential seats of some of the university’s top student organizations.
Further, the Wauneitas gained a voice during this time. Their confidence grew to the point that by the end of 1919, when many of the war veterans had returned to the university, optimism for the future led the Wauneitas to begin to question whether they still needed a private woman’s society. It seemed to the women on campus that they had achieved social integration and could now participate openly in debates and public speaking without worrying about looking overly aggressive or masculine.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 86
3.1. Women on the Wartime Campus and The University Soldiers’ Comfort Club
During the war the Wauneitas believed that their duty was to seize new opportunities presented
by the huge number of male students involved in the war effort: 484 students and staff in total.175
This was exemplified by Katherine McCrimmon and Clara May Bell who became the first
female presidents of U of A co-ed campus clubs, showing that women could handle greater
responsibility when entrusted with more power. The Wauneitas saw it as their time to step up
and learn how to take on greater leadership roles so that they could play a bigger part in
Canadian society after graduation. Sensing the support of the university, they believed they were
entering a new age where they could have a real presence in public life. As the war went on, the
Wauneitas continued debating their role in society and discussing their place on campus which
led to changes on how women saw themselves and their stance on gender exclusivity.
One of the earliest mentions of Wauneita war work was a Fall 1914 note about knitting that appeared in Wauneita meeting minutes but initially did not merit inclusion in The Gateway.
In January 1915, the women were more vocal about their efforts regarding war relief work and
the university was starting to take notice. They had continued their relief work of knitting but
when asked if they would like to join the Red Cross or St. John’s Ambulance, they at first
hesitated to join either, possibly a stance emboldened in the years leading up to the war that the
Wauneitas wanted to maintain a certain sense of self-control, independence, and separateness from agendas of other organizations.176 The women helped on campus organizations such as the
Red Cross but for the moment remained at arm’s length while doing so.
175 “Growth and War (1912-1919),” University of Alberta Centenary, All True Things: Celebrating A Century of Achievements in Public Education 2008. http://www.ualbertacentennial.ca/history/growth/index.html (Accessed June 10, 2016.) 176 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, January 12, 1915.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 87
The Wauneitas, however, were soon to be more ingrained into the university culture of
wartime exigencies. In Fall 1915, with the war pressing on, the women on campus became
increasingly involved in wartime organizations. “Miss Armstrong, secretary of the Wauneitas
and member of the Red Cross Society, brought different kinds of sewing and also knitting for the
girls to do.”177 The commitment of women and Wauneitas in war work was timely: they
responded to the soldiers’ need for support with enthusiasm and set out to increase their
contribution to the soldiers in service. The Society proclaimed its dedication to the war effort in
the November 1, 1915 edition of The Gateway: “The Wauneita Society has an attractive and
profitable programme planned out for the year; attractive, that is to say, for those who are
efficient needlewomen and profitable for those who are not. We intend to devote our energies almost entirely to Red Cross work.”178 No mention was made of why the Wauneitas suddenly
decided to affiliate themselves with an outside organization after rejecting the idea only a few months earlier. Notably, a year later, after continued work associated with the Red Cross the
Wauneitas officially joined the university chapter of the organization.179
In November 1915, the Students’ Union formed the University Soldiers’ Comfort Club
(USCC). Almost immediately following the November 1 Wauneita column in The Gateway, the
Wauneitas directed part of their energies to the USCC. By 1917, these efforts involved knitting
socks and sewing clothing, creating care packages, fundraising, and learning first aid. Men and
women brought “articles of luxury and comfort to the University boys who are fighting at the
front.”180 The Wauneitas held a tea where a fee of ten cents would be charged to guests to aid the
177 Ibid., October 21, 1915. 178 Unsigned, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 1, 1915, 4. 179 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 1, 1916. 180 Ibid., various dates and activities throughout 1917; Unsigned, “Help the Soldiers,” The Gateway, November 9, 1915, 3.
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USCC. In December, they held a Candy Sale in aid of the USCC; the secretary of the Comfort
Club wrote a letter thanking the Wauneitas for their fundraising efforts which earned a total of
$24.70.181 The Wauneitas also sewed bandages and handkerchiefs during their meetings. The
USCC became a focus of students on campus as they devoted time and funds into ensuring that the overseas university soldiers felt connected to the school.
In November 1916, one of the main activities of the USCC was to provide the university soldiers with a weekly copy of The Gateway and the University Weekly Newsletter: To the Staff and Students of the University of Alberta Who Have Enlisted for Overseas Service. The newsletter was a wartime publication especially for the soldiers.182 Every individual recruit received a copy of the Newsletter save for the 11th Field Ambulance and the 196th battalion who
received theirs as a group due to the large number of University of Alberta students in one place.
The Newsletter was written and funded by the student subscribers and supervised and edited by
professors.183
The Newsletter included discussions of university events, comings and goings of students
and professors, and local news from around Alberta. A section called “Student News” reported on the fundraising efforts for the USCC. It also had updates on the Students’ Union and university groups such as drama and athletics clubs, as well as on anything else that may have been of interest to students. The March 24, 1917 issue for example, included news on the retiring president of the Union and the good financial position of the drama and athletics clubs, the
181 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 15, December 4, 1915. 182 The name of the newsletter frequently changed between Service Newsletter, Weekly Newsletter, and Active Service Newsletter. For the sake of clarity, all issues will be called: The Newsletter. 183 UAA, Soldiers Comfort Club Meeting Minutes, Vault, Soldiers Comfort Club, 70-91-136, November 1916; Unsigned, “Newsletter,” The Gateway, October 31, 1916, 6.
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inactivity of the Students’ Court, and articles on the generally respectable discipline of the students on campus.184
While these details of university affairs seem minor in the face of the soldiers’
experiences at war, soldiers found value and comfort in receiving campus news. Many of the reports in the University Weekly Newsletters were written by both male and female students working closely with the USCC. In a note of appreciation to the USCC, Sgt. Roy Stevens, posted overseas, discussed how the letters made him feel connected to the university in a way he had never experienced before: “Since the News Letter began to arrive, I have felt that I am an integral part of the University and I read them through from beginning to end with an interest I should not have imagined possible six months ago.”185 Expressions of gratitude were published weekly in The Gateway from university personnel fighting in Europe for the efforts of the USCC in sending newsletters but also in sending individual letters to soldiers. One such letter from Art
Carswell expressed his appreciation for the USCC’s letters as well as news clippings from home:
“Any news from home is eagerly welcomed; and it is a mistake for anyone to think that because someone else is writing there is no good of them writing, as they would only write the same stuff.”186
As the rainy weather was getting to the soldiers overseas, soldiers’ letters back to the
USCC showed less excitement and optimism and were weary yet grateful for the continued thoughts from the students back at home. Communication between students and University of
Alberta soldiers in service kept everyone well informed. Letters from the Second University
184 UAA, University Soldiers’ Comforts Club, Small Accessions, University Weekly Newsletter, 69-39, March 24, 1917. For a look at the activities and culture of the university students throughout the war, see Chris Hyland and Paul Stortz, “Student Life on the University of Alberta Campus during the First World War.” In Alberta and the Great War: An Anthology, Jeffrey Keshen and Adriana Davies, eds. (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2016), 415-432. 185 Quote from letter written by Sgt. Roy Stevens. “Weekly Newsletter,” The Gateway, October 31, 1916, 6. 186 Unsigned, “Letters to the Comforts Club,” The Gateway, January 11, 1916, 3.
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Company kept students abreast of the fighting, living conditions of the soldiers, and general
welfare of the student soldiers. The names of men from the university lost in battle were a sad section in many issues of The Gateway. The newspaper focused on supplying students with news about the war including updating campus readers on activities of both the army and the Canadian
Officers Training Corps (COTC) which a large number of male students joined to train for the
army. These updates included COTC orders along with new appointments and locations of drill
halls for weekly practices.
Likely due to the increasingly high and prestigious profile that the Wauneitas were
receiving through their war work, in November 1916 The Gateway reported that the Literary
Society was celebrating its first female president Miss Clara May Bell. An article about Bell
shared how good it is that the “girls are gradually getting a chance ‘to do their bit’ in the
different organizations.”187 In January 1917, the Students’ Union welcomed its first female president: ex-Wauneita president Miss Katherine McCrimmon as president of the Students’
Council. The Gateway included an announcement about McCrimmon’s appointment to the
Students’ Council: “We always knew it was a great honor to be Big Chief of the Wauneita Tribe and of course to be President of the Students’ Union must be equally fine.”188 Newsletter
honored McCrimmon and recently elected Literary Society President Miss Clara May Bell by
posting pictures of the women on the front page (See Figure 3.1). These photos usually featured
soldiers in active service so the feature was quite distinct. In an article about the two women, the
Newsletter reported that “the photographs [of McCrimmon and Bell] which adorn this page are
187 Unsigned, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 14, 1916, 2. 188 Ibid., January 23, 1917, 6.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 91 to my mind symbolic of the year’s work, in that the two leaders of student activities are of the gentler sex.”189
Figure 3.1 University Weekly Newsletter: University of Alberta Soldiers’ Comforts Club, April 7,
1917.
McCrimmon was initially vice-president of the Students’ Union and was elected president when Mr. R.K. Colter resigned from his position as president to take up a position as a school principal.190 When members of the Legislature came to visit the university, Dr. Tory proudly commented that this was “perhaps the first occasion in a Canadian University when a
189 UAA, University Soldiers’ Comforts Club, Small Accessions-Active Service University Weekly Newsletter, 69- 39, April 7, 1917, 1-2. 190 Unsigned, Untitled, The Gateway, January 16, 1917, 4.
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lady was President of the Student body.” Later in 1930, The Trail alumni magazine published an obituary to McCrimmon in which she was described as an “inspiration to her friends and an ideal to the undergraduates.”191
Throughout 1917, several activities and events related to the USCC were taken over by
the women at the university. Men and women had worked together on The Gateway and in
various capacities for years but war work brought them into much closer proximity and led them
to override ideas about traditional gender roles and boundaries for the sake of the soldiers. War
work began to extend beyond gender boundaries not just in physical space but also in the type of work: “We have a fine collection of sox – showered upon us from all corners of the University
circle, not excluding the recesses of the librarian’s office, women not being the only ones to knit
these days.”192 The article shows that men were also contributing to the effort to provide dry
socks to the soldiers. As well, socks were provided not only by the students but also alumni and
professors. During the war, so many socks were made that by 1919, the final meeting of the
USCC reported that they had a surplus of 114 pairs.193
The Wauneita Society opened its private rooms to the USCC for storage and packing
boxes and as a place for USCC meetings. The meetings were often headed by women. The
Wauneita Room was also made available to the public from 2-8pm on Friday afternoons “for work” which involved knitting, and making ration heaters, antiseptic shirts and handkerchiefs, personal effects bags, and treats to add to the care packages being sent abroad. In January 1916,
Corporal J.A. Carswell wrote a letter of appreciation to the USCC: “The Soldiers’ Comfort Club
191 Unsigned, “Notes of the Week,” The Gateway, February 20, 1917, 1; Unsigned, “Tribute to the Memory of Mrs. Russell Love,” The Trail, March 1930, 2. 192 UAA, Miss Tuttle, “Knitters News,” University Soldiers’ Comforts Club, Small Accessions- University Weekly Newsletter, 69-39, March 5, 1917, 1. 193 UAA, Soldiers Comfort Club Meeting Minutes, Vault, Soldiers Comfort Club, 70-91-136, May 17, 1919.
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has been responsible for much rejoicing. Where we are now it is particularly nice to get parcels
as we come in cold and wet and the ordinary rations are a little inadequate to answer our demands.”194 For those who came to these Friday night knitting and packing sessions, a light
supper was served.195 “No one passing the open door of the Wauneita Room on a Friday afternoon these days is able to resist the temptation to drop in and see what it is all about. Once inside, the enthusiasm proves contagious.”196
The women became so involved in formal war-time support efforts of the university and the USCC that they created a new club under the name “University of Alberta Overseas
Auxiliary (UAOA).” Almost immediately, the executive of the UAOA took over the running of
the USCC.197 The Wauneitas were being given the confidence of the USCC members to control
the activities of the Club and choose their own executive. The USCC, being a high-profile and
prestigious supportive organization on campus, was now largely under the guidance and
leadership of women.
3.2. Women Still Feeling Constrained by Gendered Boundaries
On the home front, the Wauneitas proved themselves capable leaders as well as active participants in the war effort and gained a great deal of respect and trust from the student body and administration. This increased trust led to a movement some steps away from the traditional genderfied campus of years before and towards a more socially-integrated campus. As a result,
194 Unsigned, “News Notes of Our Own Soldiers,” The Gateway, January 25, 1916, 3. 195 UAA, Soldiers Comfort Club Meeting Minutes, Vault, Soldiers Comfort Club, 70-91-136 January 31, 1917. 196 UAA, Miss Tuttle, “Knitters News,” University Weekly Newsletter, University Soldiers’ Comforts Club, Small Accessions, 69-39, March 5, 1917, 1 197 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, January 24, 1917. UAA, Soldiers Comfort Club Meeting Minutes, Vault, Soldiers Comfort Club, 70-91-136, February 9, 1917.
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the administration began to experiment with limited, supervised social time between men and
women. The women also worked to share even more of the responsibilities such as paying for
dates and outings and they even attempted to take on combat training. These efforts, however,
were met with mixed results.
In 1916, a women’s column in The Newsletter titled Knitters News referenced one of the
primary jobs for female war volunteers — knitting socks — which, as discussed previously, was
one of the quintessential roles of women up to that time during the war. In “The Knitting Needle
and the Crochet Hook” published in The Gateway on February 1, 1916, women discussed the
dedication they put into learning how to knit as a pragmatic alternative to the fashion at the time
which was making lace. Knitting was not in fashion at the beginning of the war and many
women had to learn how to do it from their elders. Crocheting had for at least two generations
surpassed knitting as the fad and now the students and alumni had to practice and learn in order
to provide socks for the soldiers. “Who has not seen the knitting novice? The fingers were all
thumbs and the needles were posts with which you tried vainly to untangle silk.”198 In discussing
the movement away from the feminine frivolity of creating lace for fashionable apparel to the more pragmatic and loving work of knitting garments to create warmth and comfort, the author stated that this was not a significant change in the expectations associated with women but rather
a reflection of the change in their environment. Style and gossip were abandoned and women fell
silent, focused on their knitting.199 By 1917 the women became proficient knitters evidenced by
a pledge at one of the Wauneita meetings that each woman would provide a pair of socks or
twenty-five cents by the end of the month.200
198 E.M.B. “The Knitting Needle and the Crochet Hook,” The Gateway, February 1, 1916. 6. 199 Ibid., February 1, 1916. 6. 200 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, October 16, 1917.
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During the war the only exclusively male activities related to combat training were organized by the COTC and the University Rifle Club. The Rifle Club was established on
November 16, 1915 as a way to train men on how to shoot accurately. It helped students hone their shooting skills through competitions; they took 20 shots at a target be scored out of 100.
Women felt that they could do more and were anxious to assume a greater role in war work so the Wauneitas set out to eliminate an academic, professional, and social boundary by voting to send a representative, Miss Lee (no first name provided), to look into the possibility of women joining the Club.201 In November 1916, The Gateway included a report that, “another deviation
permitting women to take women one more step — is the idea of the Rifle Club. The girls have
sent in a petition to the Club asking permission to join as a Sub-unit.”202
The Gateway mentioned that the Rifle Club’s president was going to tutor “a suffragette
sub-section” of the club informally; whether this actually came to fruition remains unconfirmed.
The newspaper also added that such an action would be a hotly contested decision “by some of
our most outstanding fussers.”203 As opposed to actually allowing women to join the Club, the
unofficial training of women would, considering the circumstances, have made a good
compromise. The mention of the “outstanding fussers” shows that the actual training of women
to use rifles was seen as a benign issue to some members of the student body but enough of a
public relations problem for the university to prompt the suggestion to do such training with little
publicity. It does not represent official access to the male-only space but is worth noting as an
attempt to grant women some level of participation to a gender-restricted activity and to show,
however small, of a hint of solidarity between male and female students on a common goal. The
201 Unsigned, “University Rifle Club,” The Gateway, January 11, 1916, 5; UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, November 1, 1916. 202 Unsigned, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 14, 1916, 2. 203 Unsigned, “Athletics,” The Gateway, November 28, 1916, 3.
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desire of women students to gain combat skills was to fill a perceived gap in the women’s
wartime involvement, but the Wauneitas’ attempt to take part in training was to be ultimately
denied. No record exists in the Rifle Club or Wauneita meeting minutes that the participation of
women was ever discussed again. Results from shooting competitions published in The Gateway
show that in the end no women got a chance to compete.
In Fall 1916, feeling more empowered through their campus war work, women were
coming to new understandings of greater mobility. A greater level of optimism was seen with the
Wauneitas that made them push even harder for equal access to all aspects of war work. Despite their active involvement in volunteer work, however, women at the university did not feel that they were doing enough and wanted more chances to show how much more they could accomplish if they were given the chance. “For now it’s the Man behind the Gun who does the
Work.”204 Feeling underutilized, the female students offered their services for a number of
volunteer duties during the war but the university was not able to place them in many positions.
Despite considerable advancements and increasing integration and leadership in activities
associated with the USCC, Red Cross, Literary Society, and Students’ Union, women were still
feeling frustrated and constrained by their, what many women perceived, only supportive
campus roles.
The women set out to communicate their dissatisfaction with the limits put on them by
their gender. In The Gateway, the women asked for greater recognition as they were not allowed
to express themselves as freely as the men in terms of giving commentary or opinions in the
school paper. “We ask you to pardon the frivolous tone of this column and to remember that it is
not entirely representative of the Ladies . . . If only our little column will sometimes ring with the
204 Unsigned, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 14, 1916, 2.
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war whoop of the Wauneita or the shout of the brave, we will be satisfied.”205 The desire to be
seen as more serious conflicted with the casual social nature of the Wauneita column. Another
apology in The Newsletter of the USCC goes further to blame the editors for censuring out any
critical or substantial writing by women and to keep the focus social and light. “Please don’t
think that our knitters confine their conversation to the light bits of news which appear in this
column, but since the Editor-in-Chief has limited us to gossip, gossip we must write.” An
editorial published in The Gateway sheds further light on The Newsletter’s intention to write in a
way that was “as bright and cheery as possible for our boys in khaki.”206
The growing desire for women to offer more substantial contributions during the war
reflected an increasingly pressing ambition to create for themselves a deeper sense of purpose
and meaning on campus. This feeling of confidence and activism derived from the women
feeling more competent. They proved to themselves that they could handle greater responsibility
than they were given and they wanted the chance to do more. Before the war, the women were
perceived as light-hearted, often joking about the stereotype that they were at university to
socialize and find a husband; now, in their writing, they were apologizing for the lack of substance with a tone of embarrassment and frustration.
The women saw the war as their chance to step up in the ranks of society and take on
roles that would never have been available to them otherwise. In a The Gateway column titled
“Women Students and the War,” the Wauneitas discussed some of their new opportunities.
“Surely, there never was a time before when women had such an opportunity to come foreword and show themselves to be of equal value to their country economically as well as intellectually
205 Ibid., December 19, 1916, 7. 206 UAA, Weekly News Letter, University Soldiers’ Comforts Club, Small Accessions, 69-39, University Weekly Newsletter, April 7, 1917; Unsigned, “Editorials,” The Gateway, November 1, 1917, 4.
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as their absent brothers.” The Wauneitas felt they were in a prime position to help with war work and afterward play an overall larger role in society. For women, education and advancement were not simply their right but their duty. It was their way of imparting meaning on the war and to rectify the loss that they were feeling. They could not participate in combat and despite all their campus work, they felt that they were limited in the ways to help from the university as well as the home. Ensuring that they were successfully completing their education and preparing themselves for a greater place in society became their strategy in engaging in the events of the day and making themselves ready for life after the war. “The gallant boys at the front are sacrificing their years of preparation in order that we may have ours. Surely we owe it to them to
take this advantage and use it to the utmost.”207
3.3. The Changing Image of Women
In contrast to the passive, submissive, and private women of the pre-war period, a growing perception was that modern women enjoyed being public figures. This perception worked both
for and against the image of women on campus. In a satirical column in a November 1915 issue of The Gateway, a modern lady died and found herself talking to Hades. She first insisted for her to retain all of the lavish comforts of life to which she is accustomed. She then demanded a special place in Hades where she would not have to associate with people below her station.
After Hades granted her demands, she was devastated to hear that hell did not have a Society section, so no matter what great things she does or what other important people she knows, people will remain ignorant of it.208
207 A Wauneita, “Women Students and the War,” The Gateway, February 6, 1917, 6. 208 The Student, “A Tragic Truth,” The Gateway, November 30, 1915, 5.
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Despite this woman’s lack of success in keeping her comfortable place in a social hierarchy, as the war went on, the image of the tenacious woman making demands became more
reality than joke. The changes in how women were using the public spaces and forums of the
university were all results of their rise in status on campus. Students’ Union President Katherine
McCrimmon expressed her optimism about women’s changing status and the exciting new roles
in society that women would be able to occupy. A report on one of her speeches gives a picture
of a woman who looks forward to having greater autonomy and opportunities in the future:
“Speaking as a woman student, I thanked the Legislative Assembly for the
franchise granted to women, which showed they evidently expected them
to occupy more prominent positions in the province. She looked forward
to the time when women would find places on the Faculty, Senate and
Board of Governors of this University.”209
The MLAs responded in kind by giving speeches about how women would find themselves in
greater public roles in the future. Prominent students also expressed their enthusiasm about the
raising status of women in Canadian society; Mr. Rolly Michener (B.A. Class of 1920, Secretary of the Students’ Union in 1920 and Rhodes Scholar 1920) went so far as to speculate that it would only be a matter of time before Alberta had its first female premier.210
In the Fall of 1916 when the Wauneitas were in full force engaged in war work, women
were feeling an incipient sense of gender equality certainly in contrast to a few short years prior.
As a result, they explored ideas to establish a greater voice in their social lives that would align
209 Unsigned, “Notes of the Week,” The Gateway, February 20, 1917, 1. 210 Ibid.
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with the independence they had achieved in their extracurricular activities. The women began to bite back at columns that had poked fun of them. In an unprecedented move, women responded to criticism in The Gateway. In a column called “The Gatewail” a writer named “Mr. A.D. Mc,” in “An Epistle” made a suggestion that the Wauneitas needed men to chaperone them around town. “I note your request for applications for guardians for the [Freshettes] on their various excursions and expeditions to our great city.” The implication of the letter was that Freshettes were “kidnappable” and as such should not be wandering the city on their own.211 The letter
from A.D. Mc turned out to be a joke about Mc’s inability to get a woman to date him; he was
offering his services as a “chaperone”— a not-so-subtle way of asking if any of the women were interested in him. The Wauneitas responded by stating that they have no real need for men as
they can handle themselves. “We fear that if he does not mend his ways A. D. will never have his
friends rise up and call him blessed. Rather as the vaudeville lady remarked in her sermon, they will rise up and call him down.”212
The satirical back and forth between the column’s editor “Clarence” and the Wauneitas was one of the first in the school newspaper where men and women openly engaged in a public banter about their relationships with one another. Before this, the Wauneitas had made jokes at the other’s expense but never responded or connected the same jokes from one newspaper issue to another. In the heat of the humorous debate about women and their need for chaperones, women suggested facetiously that a reporter be stationed on the high-level bridge to report on the comings and goings of students. “Perhaps ‘Clarence’ would no longer see through the glass
211 A.D. Mc (likely a male student,) “An Epistle,” The Gateway, November 7, 1916, 7. 212 Unsigned, “Gaitwail,” The Gateway, January 23, 1917, 7.
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darkly. The Wauneitas believe that his vision is not clear and are even willing to dispense with
his services as chaperone.”213
The resulting tit-for-tat exchange continued throughout November 1916 and onward
through a Freshette who wrote in under the pseudonym “Clarissa.” In the Ladies section of The
Gateway, Clarissa gave a biting reply in which she declared that she was not only capable of looking out for herself but the women of the university had no use for men as chaperones. “I don’t need a chaperone. I have no occasion for a chaperone. Did I need one, I’d get one of the junior girls —they are good at that. I’m writing to keep you from worrying about us. All the others feel just as I do about the miserable question.”214 The public banter showed a positive
change in the Wauneitas’ comfort in public. The relationship between the Wauneitas and
“Clarence” signaled changes in the social dynamics on campus as women began to push
themselves even further out of the Wauneita lounge to confront their critics in public forums.
One thing that did not change with the rising consciousness of power and equality of
women afforded by their participation in campus work during the war was the notion that
women’s presence on campus provided a distraction for male university students. During the
war, this was increasingly difficult to avoid as women became more prevalent in voice and
numbers, spending more time in the campus public eye. A satirical story published in January
1916 in The Gateway discussed a man studying for a language exam and in mid-translation
begins to think about a woman where both he and another male student were rivals for her
affection. The student fell asleep and dreamt of how he would get the upper-hand by offering her
a ticket to go to the Pantages Theatre with him. When he awoke, he was in class and was called
213 Unsigned, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 21, 1916, 6. 214 Clarissa, “Ladies,” The Gateway, November 28, 1916, 5.
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upon to translate a text. His answer to the professor was: “Please, I didn’t expect to be reached
today.”215
Unlike earlier stories about Freshmen boys unsure of how to share space with women on
campus (as seen in Chapter One about “Bob the freshman” in Letters From A Son At College to
his Dad) this story depicts a student who is unable to focus on his school work because he was
thinking about a girl. The idea of women as distractions was not new but being distracted by
women was no longer just the plight of the inexperienced or undisciplined type of student—it
covered students in all academic years and acumen. Women permeated the mind of a serious
student and led him to fail in class. Even as co-eds were being seen as more capable students, the
effect of their perceived feminine attractiveness on men was still much regarded as a problem.
Serious students were now entranced by the allure of a potential romantic relationship with a more powerful, rather than patently demure, partner.
In 1918, the idea of the “Dutch treat” system provoked considerable debate. The purpose of the system was to make dating more equal by having women pay for their own tickets to dances or their own meal rather than having the man pay for everything. “It has the unqualified support of those women members of the Union who are neither fanatical feminists nor firm believers in the ultimate petticoat domination of this particular sector of higher educational front.
. . [We] are in favor of it, strongly.”216 The Dutch treat debate was evidence that women were
looking for a more democratic way to date that involved a sense of equal responsibility with
men. The idea of a woman paying for herself showed not only independence but also the
woman’s economic stability. Under this practice, a woman demonstrated that she can handle
budgeting for dates and social gatherings for which in the past she did not have to account. It
215 X., “A Sidelight,” The Gateway, January 11, 1916, 6. 216 Unsigned, “Editorials,” The Gateway, January 10, 1918, 14.
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also took away the unequal power balance of a woman needing to wait for a man to ask her. If a woman pays for herself, she can gain greater control over the social situation instead of leaving the decision up to the man to direct the evening, and even more, not look like she was pining for a free meal.
As the war was winding down, men and women were also looking for ways to interact more on a daily basis. In the correspondence section of The Gateway, “W.M.F.” requested a few nights a week in the residence lounge where men and women could meet. For people living in residence, a woman’s common lounge, a man’s common lounge, and a communal lounge were available but the communal lounge was not used as a space where men and women could socialize but a space where men and women separately had time scheduled to use it. The writer lamented that some men had only met approximately three women while spending time on campus partially because of no integrated nights in the communal resident’s lounge. “Three nights a week are given to the men and three to the women, and all of the opposite sex are barred each night.” While adding support to the proposed “Dutch treat” system, W.M.F went on to ask for these integrated nights as a way to encourage interaction between the sexes.217 These progressive and, to some, radical ideas that advocated for a more equal relationship between men and women allowed women to feel more equal to men; both sexes strove for greater casual social
access to one another that allowed for the foundations of closer platonic and sexual relationships.
A meeting of the Wauneitas in 1918 suggested that the role of the Wauneita Society in
the women’s lives was changing, and it was becoming a topic for discussion. “Miss Meisner
spoke a few words about the place the Wauneita Society should have in the lives of Wauneita girls.”218 Little in the minutes that followed elaborated on this tantalizing assertion, but by the
217 W.M.F. “Letters to the Editor,” The Gateway, February 14, 1918, 3. 218 UAA, Wauneita Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G.17, March 27, 1918.
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spring of 1918, the Students’ Union finally granted the Wauneita Society two representatives on
the Students’ Council, the executive body of the Students’ Union to complement the Society
having their president and secretary treasurer representing the Society’s needs at the Students’
Council meetings. “The society enters its year’s work with a confidence that it will play a greater part than ever in the lives of the women students.”219 This entry into the Students‘ Council raised
the status of the Society, as previously only the Literary Society, the Athletic Association, and
The Gateway had representatives on the Students’ Council. This representation gave the
Wauneitas a stronger legitimacy and social and administrative power to advocate for female
students within the student government. Through the combined efforts of the women on campus,
the Wauneitas had achieved a great victory. The future of the Wauneitas looked bright moving
into the 1920s.
The Wauneitas indeed began to see the main functions of their Society change.
Previously, the Society had provided to be a safe environment for women to experiment with more masculine activities such as debating and public speaking. As women became more active
by virtue of the profile of their war work, they had less of a need for a separate woman’s group
to practice these skills. In 1919, the Society decided to focus less on the “business” of the club
and more on the “social” aspect by ending their afternoon meetings in favour of less formal evening gatherings. The decision to discontinue the usual afternoon meetings correlated with the
Wauneitas gaining representation on the Students’ Council and a belief that their “business” would be best handled there. The Society was moving towards a more integrated approach as they were more able to bring their concerns into the broader arena of student government.
219 Unsigned, “Wauneitas,” The Gateway, December 19, 1918, 6.
The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns 105
Despite the credit women received for their war work and gradually increasing presence
into male-dominated governance, however, the hard work of the women in their mostly
supportive wartime roles was ultimately seen as inadequate. The progress that women made
during the war raised the ire of some men, such as seen by the man writing in the poem
mentioned below, who saw it as a usurped authority and they sought to get back their pre-war
social dominance. Criticism of women that they could not claim to have sacrificed as men had
during the war was reflected in a poem published in The Gateway at the end of 1917 by L.
Dineen (likely a pseudonym because it did not appear in any of the sources aside from this) titled
“My Father,”. “Is mother in the Flanders’ mud, Shot by German, bit by bug? Whose is that dear
old smoke grimed ‘mug’? My Father’s.” “My Father” was written as a protest to all of the talk about mothers and their sacrifices. “Being somewhat nauseated by the constant harping on
‘Mother’ which we hear in our churches, I have been goaded into trying to say a word for
Father.”220 In a way, “My Father” was a reminder that while women were involved in war work
they were still the “women behind the men behind the guns.”
220 L. Dineen. “A Protest,” The Gateway, January 9, 1919, 5.
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Chapter 4: The Wauneitas in the 1920s
“We pardon men for being unutterably conceited, for that is their nature;
but that presumably modern students should continue to regard women
after the manner of their seventeenth century forefathers as unendurable.
Wauneitas at least may not be considered as gentle, submissive creatures,
guided by man’s honorable opinion. We do not undervalue the work of
men in this institution, but do they, as a body give due consideration to
women students?”221
The 1920s at the University of Alberta was a place of tension, uncertainty, and change. In
Passing Fashions: Reading Female Masculinities in the 1920s, Laura Doan discusses the
changes in sexuality in women after the First World War. She describes it as a time of
“unprecedented cultural confusion over gender and sexual identity.” Women were exploring new
sexual and social experiences and taking on more masculine traits and roles despite the continued
opposition of the men. Doan observes that most people in the post-war era saw the new, more
masculine fashions and haircuts of the women as “passing fashions” and did not see connections
between the new fashions and changing social and sexual identity.222 University of Alberta
soldiers left for war at a time when women were still questioning their role in the school and
society. They returned to a group of confident and empowered women who had come out into the public and achieved a level of respect previously unattainable.
221 Unsigned, “To the Men.” The Gateway. November 25, 1921, 4. 222 Laura Doan, “Passing Fashions: Reading Female Masculinities in the 1920s, Feminist Studies 24, 3 (Autumn 1998) 4.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 107
As will be discussed below, with the Wauneitas’ integration in the Students’ Council
came shortly thereafter the formation of the Wauneita Council in 1920. It had more power and
autonomy to represent the Wauneitas’ point of view and provide their own discipline for female
students. This power came in the form of a female student court much like the men’s student court. The purpose of the female student court was “to give council and advice and to exercise general supervision over the conduct of the members of the Wauneita Society.” The women believed that they were progressing towards greater equality and sexual integration on campus.223
The reality on the post-war campus, however, was quite different. After soldiers returned
from Europe and fewer opportunities were available for women to assume leadership positions;
men were not eager to create space for them. Men enjoyed a society that catered to their needs
during the war and they hoped to maintain the general feeling of patriarchal community and
cooperation upon their return to campus. Women, on the other hand, wanted to keep hold of the
level of power and involvement that they enjoyed in extracurricular affairs as they felt that their
war work had earned them the right for a louder voice. The effects of this power standoff was manifested through complex gendered relationships on campus that were characterized by a relaxing of sexual interaction between the male and female students, but also at times a tension and animosity when the women tried to entrench their hard-earned social status. Dating
especially became a point of contention as women treated it more like a leisure activity rather than an explicit strategy to advance their skills of domesticity. Their goal was not to meet a husband but to explore and discover themselves, their place in society, and their individual
223 Unsigned, “A Brief Outline of Our Student Organizations.” The Gateway, October 10, 1924, 3.
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identity. As a result, the women were accused of acting cliquish and manipulative while men
were accused of being insensitive, ignorant, and oppressive.
In the face of men coming home, many conflicts were beginning to form as recounted in
a multitude of articles and letters in papers such as the Edmonton Journal regarding whether
women should be allowed to work. Many professions were still closed to women and considerations about co-education seemed to argue for men, not so much women, to focus on their education. While a value was put on female education, it was far from equal especially when some male students felt that the university would be better off without it. A dominant theme of women on campus after 1918 was about how their frivolity and socializing was a distraction. Men were confused about why women were dissatisfied with their position and level of respect on campus and became increasingly confused and defensive towards women who refused to return to the status quo. This chapter will discuss the 1920s as a decade of great uncertainty in gendered relations but also how the Wauneita Society attempted to adapt to new challenges and stresses on campus.
4.1. Gender Confusion in Post-War Canada: The Pressure to Pick a Side
Women in 1920s Canada were in an awkward position. They had spent the war filling the
positions that men had left vacant. They had shown their potential and achieved
enfranchisement, first provincially: in 1916 Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta; 1917, British
Columbia, Ontario; and then at the federal level in 1918. After all that they had accomplished
during the war, women could not simply go back into their traditional roles and be satisfied with existing gender norms. Soldiers returning from war were resistant to large social changes. In a
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 109
social and educational system that was made to benefit men, many men did not see or understand
the inequality that women experienced. Laura Doan warns against assuming that women
adapting to typically masculine things such as “monocles, short hair, and cigarettes” were tied to
any one root cause or desired outcome such as an act of women’s resistance to antiquated ideas
of femininity; instead, women might have considered it a product of gender confusion.224
This confusion is well illustrated in a comic entitled “To the Front” published in the
Edmonton Bulletin in 1926 (Figure 4.1). “To The Front” depicts a race among three women: a
married woman with children, a career girl whose marital status is not mentioned, and a young
Flapper girl who presumably will be choosing a life path in the near future. The first woman
represents a mother denoted by the paper tucked under her arm that says “Married With
Children.” The mother looks tired and frazzled; the implication might be that she does not have a great deal of time to focus on her own needs. Also noteworthy is that she is not focused on the race, but instead is looking off to the side possibly at her children. How long she will be able
Figure 4.1: “To The Front.” The Edmonton Bulletin. October 8, 1926, 6.
224 Doan, “Passing Fashions,” 4.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 110
to maintain her lead is questionable given the proximity and seeming energy of the Flapper. The career woman is slowly gaining on the mother; she looks charged up and ready to take first place. Her marital status is unmentioned as it is not her focus. The papers she is holding reflects her intention to take the world by storm as one says “Business” and the other “Careers For
Women.” She looks stressed but optimistic. She is the most upright of the three women and the only one focused foreword, barely noticing the girls around her. The last woman is the young
Flapper girl; she is further behind but seems to be gaining rapidly, yelling from behind them,
“Me Too!” The Flapper is a mix between the mother and the career woman. Overall she is well- kempt drawing from elements of both the working women and housewife’s overall styles. She is not as focused on the race but on the two women in front of her. She represents the youth who may be college-aged and considering the future.225
The pressure put on the women to assert their independence and choose a future path
based on their evolving needs is exemplified in the comic. These were uncertain times in the
1920s with the return of the veterans and the striving for a renewed social normalcy. This sense
descended back to campus as well. The confusion that the Flapper is experiencing was a
prominent theme. She is faced with two options: she has to catch up to the realities of a future in
motherhood or a pursuit of a career. Both were oft-times mutually exclusive. The pervasive myth
that a woman could be either a career woman or a mother was a topic of much discussion on
campus as the Wauneitas, as ever before, faced graduation and an unknown future. To the Front
highlights the potential inner conflict that many of these women felt throughout their university
careers and the idea that immediate decisions on their future remained highly complex due to
extant constraints on women to perform within established social expectations.
225“To The Front,” Edmonton Bulletin, October 8, 1926, 6. The signature related to this image is illegible.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 111
Throughout the 1920s, the ongoing debate for women of working versus homemaking put the two spheres in separate, mutually exclusive categories and breaking out of those categories was not easy. A story published in The Edmonton Journal centered on a successful unmarried business woman, Miss Anne Stuart, who became a huge success on her own devices.
For twenty-one years she was “Deputy Registrar of Deeds.” Stuart saved her money and bought an apple orchard with a “comfortable home” which she shared with her cousin, Miss Una Magee and her brother (unnamed).226 In another example, an unsigned letter to the editor of the
Women’s section of the newspaper sheds light on the issue of married women who had to work
for a living; the letter made it clear that married women should not work unless they have to because they should be focused on their family and running their household: “These women as a rule make excellent teachers, if I may judge from the work of those whom I have known personally. They work of necessity, and are most anxious that their work shall be satisfactory.”
The fear was that a woman could not adequately be attentive to her job and family at the same time: “When a woman had to be the bread-winner something had to be neglected and that
‘something’ was usually the children. Would not this argument apply equally to the woman who merely sought to augment a family income already sufficient for the family needs?”227
Throughout the 1920s into the 1930s, women were being given two options and told of
the benefits of each, but they had to choose one or the other, especially as times grew more
difficult and jobs grew more scarce. A column in the Edmonton Bulletin known as “The Mail
Bag” included a letter from a woman who was enraged at an article entitled “City firms asked to stop employing married women.” The writer said that this was insulting to “the memory of
226 Unsigned, “This “Woman in Business” Has Made Good in Farm Home,” The Edmonton Journal, September 20, 1924, 5. 227 Unsigned, “As I Was Saying: Women’s POV Column,” The Edmonton Journal Weekend Supplement, September 17, 1921, 5.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 112
pioneer women of this country who worked with their men, doing every task, and sharing alike gains and losses.”228 The debate raged on: another letter published in The Edmonton Bulletin in
1931 accused the mayor of not doing enough to clear the workplace of married women: “The best thing for the mayor to do is to start at home: that is in public institutions, where married
women are employed, and have husbands at work. If the mayor put a stop to this, he could then say we have the situation well in hand.”229
4.2. The Wauneitas: Still Relevant? The Postwar Gendered Culture
The progress made by women during the war motivated them to seek a campus culture based on
the total integration of male and female students. To show that they could handle these new pressures the women were quick to respond to acts of impropriety. In a 1919 letter from the
Secretary of the House Committee (the disciplinary body for students in residence) Gladis
Johnson, a request was made to disallow a female student to return to residence. Johnson lists the reasons for her request: “(1) freedom in her conduct in the company of men; (2) The vulgarity of her conversation; (3) bad influence on younger women students.”230 The first issue was the
contravention of expectations of “proper” behavior in the company of men. The second problem
exposed language as an important indicator of education, propriety, and even class. The woman
in particular was to remain demure and respectable not only in fashion but in comportment and
communication. As for the third complaint: it was still an expectation that senior students would
carry themselves in a way that presented a good example to the younger women who were
228 Granddaughter of a Pioneer, “The Mail Bag,” The Edmonton Bulletin, September 22, 1931, 4. 229 Thomas Jones, “The Mail Bag: Not Enough Action,” The Edmonton Bulletin, September 24 ,1931, 4. 230 UAA, Letter to Dr. W.A.R. Kerr (Acting President of the University of Alberta) from Secretary of the House Committee, Gladis Johnson, 68-9-310 Student Specific Affairs, May 6, 1919.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 113
learning how to properly conduct themselves on campus; senior women regardless of the era were seen on campus to be models or mentors to the younger students.231
This show of mentorship of younger girls was a constant theme of the Wauneitas: helping
those who were away from home for the first time to understand how to handle the social
environment on campus. The integration of social spaces on campus for both men and women
during the war was important and the Wauneitas took governing the behavior of women on
campus very seriously. The social and public world had opened up to the Wauneitas and they
aimed to take full advantage of it. After a while, the role of the Wauneita Society in providing a
space for girls to socialize free from prying eyes of men, however, was becoming increasingly
less relevant on a campus where men and women could engage in extracurricular activities that
required assertiveness and decisiveness from women without being worried about being seen as
unfeminine.
As a result, by the beginning of 1919, the Wauneitas were discussing whether the Society was in fact necessary. Women had gradually become involved enough into the Students’ Union that a separate organization was perhaps no longer necessary. They no longer felt like a minority and began to wonder if the society outgrown itself.232 Into the 1920s, Wauneitas’ programs were
becoming difficult to organize as women were now increasingly busy in their other activities. In
January 1919, a Wauneita meeting was held to discuss whether women still needed an exclusive
organization. Some of the arguments highlighted a new perspective from women students very
different from the original Wauneitas agenda. “In a co-educational institution the women
231 For more on the role of senior students in mentoring first or second-year students and indeed shaping the culture of student life, see E. Lisa Panayotidis and Paul Stortz, “Visual Interpretations, Cartoons, and Caricatures of Student and Youth Cultures in University Yearbooks, 1898-1930,” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, New Series, 19, Vancouver (2008): 195-227; and “Contestation and Conflict: The University of Toronto Yearbook Torontonensis as an ‘Appalling Sahara’, 1890-1914.” History of Education [UK] 39, no. 1 (January 2010): 35-53. 232 Unsigned, “Wauneitas,” The Gateway, January 16, 1919, 5.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 114
students should not have separate societies.” A following comment pointed out that “there is no
corresponding society among the men.”233 This points to the new feelings of equality among
women that they were considering their Society elitist by segregating themselves from the men on campus and elevating themselves artificially through organization and representation that men did not have, nor needed.
A ripple effect among the women could be seen beginning with the Wauneitas’ entrance
into the Students’ Union in 1918, increasing membership and participation in various student clubs, and wartime work, that the pressing need to protect their own space and assert themselves independent of others on campus was becoming less important and relevant. This independence was qualified, however, as discussion shifted to how women could efficiently govern their conduct without such an organization as a Women’s Court and indeed the Wauneita Society itself. This reflected a questioning of effective strategies for promoting their voice and interests on campus rather than a feeling that their needs had been achieved. The upshot, however, was that women continued to seek ways to continue to enjoy the freedoms they had earned.234
Throughout the 1910s, the Wauneitas experienced increasing power and freedom along
with trust from authorities to govern their own affairs and become more socially equal with the
men on campus. This was the apex of power and influence of the Wauneita Society but some of
the Society’s women were optimistic that it would only get better. Social integration was
proceeding apace. As seen in the 1918 The Gateway letter from “W.M.F.” discussed in Chapter
3, after some pressure to create more available spaces for women and men to socialize, in
January 1919, the House Committee (the disciplinary body for student residence) decided to
facilitate such open spaces. The joint use of the common student lounge in Athabasca Hall was
233 Ibid., January 31, 1919, 5. 234 Ibid.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 115
granted from 7-8 pm on Thursdays. Saturday evenings were made a social night in either the
lounge or Gymnasium from 8pm until 10:30pm. The lounge was also open at certain times of the week for small groups to get together. The Committee commented that “while this is partly an experiment it shows the result of very careful consideration on the part of the . . . Committee.”
The Committee demonstrated its trust in men and women interacting and responded positively to casual socialization among students in their spare time. This trust was given cautiously, however; chaperones were still required when men and women were together for formal events. The message was clear that they were still being closely watched.235
The editorial written on the topic suggested that some students did not think this new space was enough but it was an opportunity to interact and that should be good enough: “It may not go far enough to satisfy some individuals who would prefer a social function every evening.
But it has an advantage in this respect. One definite evening each week is set aside for the purpose of allowing students to become acquainted.”236 The need for a communal gathering
space became more pressing as Pembina Hall became a women’s-only residence in 1919.
Athabasca Hall was still the location of the Wauneita lounges and the chances of running into
male students in passing was severely limited now that women had their own residence; hence, the shared lounge became all the more important to male and female students.
A further word of caution showed that the decision to allow men and women to spend
time together in the common spaces was not a quick light decision but rather it took a great deal
of petitioning by the student body. The editor of The Gateway urged people not to push the
boundaries of this new social freedom: “The whole weight of public opinion in the student body
235 Unsigned, “Editorials,” The Gateway, January 16, 1919, 4. 236 Ibid.
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lies behind a sane use of what we have already gained.”237 The installation of new integrated
social hours was an example of a growing facilitative campus culture of gendered cooperation
between male and female students, and the interest in expanding this new integration was evident
when men and women tried to outwit the Committee’s regulations by bringing men into the
women’s lounge. This led to a particularly biting editorial in The Gateway in which the author
called the student government toothless and said that the students’ clandestine behaviour
presented the need to establish rules: “A large number of students seem to look upon this
committee [House Committee] as a bunch of ‘cops’ who should be out witted on every possible
occasion. Because this committee has not been supported, its members have had rules forced
upon them.” The author went on to say that if the student government could not keep order
through the cooperation of students, student self-discipline could be replaced to ensure propriety:
“Unless the representatives chosen by the students to maintain discipline are loyally supported
we shall lose our rights and have only ourselves to blame. Our whole democracy is at stake.
Rowdyism must be put down.”238 Men and women were seeing the barriers between them brought down and floodgates to integrated social spaces being pushed open.
A program from 1920 shows that Conversaziones had a Reception, Concert,
Demonstrations, Supper, and a dance in which people would choose their partners ahead of time
and fill out a card to reserve the dance.239 Dance cards like the one from the Junior Reception
Promenade (See Figure 4.2) were numbered and organized by type of dance that included the
Waltz, Fox Trot, Two-Step, and One-Step. To reserve a dance, the students filled in their names beside the preferred dance on the card. The Program reflected the popularity of these events as
237 Ibid. 238 Unsigned, “Editorials,” The Gateway, February 7, 1919, 4. 239 UAA, Conversazione Program, Students’ Union, Student Programs, songs, memorabilia etc., 72-190, 1920.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 117
not a single dance is left blank. Even one of the “Extra” slots is filled.240 This chance to socialize
in a respectable, chaperoned setting ensured that men and women could continue to interact
without suspicion of immorality.
Figure 4.2: Junior Promenade Program of Dances, November 28, 1919
Into the 1920s, increased social mingling could still provide a distraction for women. In
December 1922, in a series of documents contained in the University of Alberta archives miscellaneous files, Clifford T. Jones, a concerned parent, sent a letter to his daughter Marion
expressing his anger in her inappropriately and unwisely concentrating more on her social life
than on her studies. Parents expected their daughters to get more than a social experience out of
their education: “If I wished you to loaf during the month of December, you could loaf at home.
You will therefore turn a complete face around and cut out your frivolities and attend to your
240 UAA, Junior Promenade Program of Dances, Students’ Union Student Programs, songs, memorabilia etc., 72- 190, November 28, 1919.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 118
studies.”241 Dr. Tory wrote to Mr. Jones a day later saying that his daughter had decided to leave
the university on the advice of the Advisor to Women Students. “Miss Dodd assures me that she
suggested to her only that if she were not going to do any work it was better for her to be home,
as some official action would be taken if she were not working.”242
The university needed to be diligent in assuring that the women of the university were there to work and not play. Rather than excuse these behaviors, the university and the Advisor to
Women Students demanded the same level of care and attention from the women that they did from the men. Mr. Jones wrote a letter back saying that the reason his daughter removed herself from the university was that “apparently she found herself falling in love and thought she would be better at home.”243 Female students continued to take their education very seriously and this
student found herself so distracted by her social and dating life that she, the university, and her parents thought it best for her to leave her studies rather than use this academic setting to primarily socialize and find love.
The change in how the sexes related to each other was complex, and this applied to platonic relationships as well. Women on campus had always been curious about men but postwar sources indicate that women socialized more openly with men. In a column in The
Gateway entitled “Any Night About 9:30,” phone calls (a phone was in the woman’s lounge for
the women in residence to use) between two sets of couples arranging a date at the Tuck Shop exemplified an evolving sense that women and men can be friends outside of sexual interest. The story depicted two scenarios: in both stories, a boy from Athabasca Hall asks a girl from
241 UAA, Clifford T. Jones (a concerned parent), Letter forwarded to Dr. Tory, Students, Individual: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 68-9-311, December 13, 1922. 242 UAA, Dr. Tory, Letter to Mr. Jones regarding his daughter leaving college, Students, Individual: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 68-9-311, December 14, 1922. 243 UAA, Clifford T. Jones, Letter to Dr. Tory explaining the situation, Students, Individual: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 68-9-311, December 16, 1922.
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Pembina out to the Tuck Shop not out of genuine interest or a feeling of excitement about dating
in general, but because neither the boy or the girl wants to go to the Tuck shop alone. 244
Some further note should be made of the social space of campus during the 1920s.
Established in 1919, the Varsity Tuck Shop was one of the first buildings on campus where men
and women could socialize together on campus outside of residence, giving students a place to relax without having to leave campus. The “rare fusion of brick commercialism and cloistered learning” quickly became a student hub and a place to decompress after class.245 Groups of students going to the Tuck shop also puts dating in a very public space rather than a more private setting that was preferred before the war. Not only is the young couple casually socializing with
more than just each other, but they are also choosing to go to a place where they will be very
visible with no chaperone. The Tuck shop allowed students to relax the traditional rules of decorum and enjoy some unhampered leisure.
Marjorie Skelton (class of 1943) wrote a story in the University Alumni Magazine The
New Trail about the tuck shop: “The Tuck Shop has a deep understanding and sympathy for the youngsters who have always crowded her rooms, and if they sit for three hours with a nickel glass of chocolate milk in from of them, Tuck doesn’t mind.” The author painted a picture of the tuck shop as a lively place for students to congregate: “Often two or three tables are joined together so that from fifteen to twenty people can sit about them. At these tables there are, at times, as many as ten different conversations all going on at the same time. It puts a song in my heart to see Tuck like this.”246 In “Eulogy for An Old Haunt” which was published in The New
Trail to mark the Tuck Shop’s closing in 1970, owners Katherine Govier wrote that Eyrl and
244 Unsigned, “Any Night About Nine Thirty.” Evergreen and Gold Yearbook. 1922, 31. 245 Unsigned, “The Crystal Gazer at the Tuck, Evergreen and Gold, 1922, 48. 246 Marjorie D. Skelton (Class of 1943), “The Tuck Shop,” The New Trail (Alumni Magazine), January 1943, v.1,2, 31-32.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 120
Warren expanded their shop twice in 1922 and 1924 to make room for the increasing number of
students visiting it. In 1928, the shop was sold to Sam McCoppen who once again expanded it to
accommodate a larger clientele of both men and women.247 In 1932, along with its advertisement in the university yearbook Evergreen and Gold, the Tuck Shop even facilitated an “Autographs
Page” with a picture of the Shop at the top of the page. The choice to make their advertisement
an autograph page symbolized its important role as a social space for students on campus where friendships were formed.248 The Shop created a close formal space for male and female students
to socialize without worrying about the watchful eye of university administrators or professors and outside of regulated residence lounges. This evolving space allowed students the freedom to further break down social barriers between men and women and casually socialize one-on-one or in groups.
Throughout the 1920s, changing sexual standards blurred the lines of conduct and prompted the administration and the Wauneita Society to prioritize discipline in defining the new social limits where students may otherwise be confused. Among this ambiguity in the growing licentiousness in student culture, the Wauneitas in the postwar era were confident and assertive but tensions and increased questioning of “proper” behaviour intensified with veterans who wanted to return to something familiar and comfortable. Sexual standards were not the only change on campus in the 1920s as ideas about dating and marriage became more casual and women accordingly sought more informal relationships with male students.
Dating and sexual norms changed in the post war era, in particular the greater socialization between men and women. In a The Gateway article “Any Night-Pembina,” a woman discussed how at nine o’clock women would hurry around getting called on by men to
247 Katherine Govier, “Eulogy for an Old Haunt,” The New Trail, 1970, v.27, 1, 19. 248 Varsity Tuck Shop Advertisement and Autograph Page, Evergreen and Gold, 1932/33, 223.
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decide whether it was worth breaking curfew to see them. Women were seen as edgier and
experienced who embraced a greater sense of freedom. This affected their reputations within the
school and their image in the school newspaper. “After all, the Pembinites [after Pembina Hall
became the women’s residence, the women who lived there called themselves Pembinites] can
take some credit to themselves for keeping out of the reform school or the penitentiary since
Christmas.”249
The idea that women are wooed by appeals to their ego and ostentatious displays of a man’s wallet was apparent in the paper. In “The Casserole” (a joke section in The Gateway),
“Woe B. Gone” asked how he can get the attention of a lady: “If your languishing gaze is romanesque finds her yet cold and unresponsive, we suggest you address a sonnet to her beauty.
This she will show to her friends and instead of one flower you will have a whole garden from which to choose.”250 In a story “Aramis and his fair lady go Tucking,” a boy named “Aramis”
goes on a date with a Pembinite. Aramis does not have a great deal of money but he is excited
about his date:
They no sooner enter the door when Aramis finds himself deserted; for lo! The
powder has been washed off the maiden’s fair nose, and must be renewed. The
abashed admirer waits patiently. Then the fair lady storms that her marcel will be
gone if the blessed rain keeps up. At last he gets her a seat. He stands for a
moment dumbfounded as to what he shall say. Then he is startled by the sudden
outburst. “I’ll have some apple pie, a cherry sundae, and some coffee, and don’t
249 Unsigned, “Any Night-Pembina,” The Gateway, February 21, 1922, 5; Unsigned, “Cross-Sections,” The Gateway, February 28, 1922, 4. 250 Casserole, “When In Doubt Ask Casserole,” The Gateway, March 14, 1922 Pg. 2
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keep me waiting as I have lots of work to do.” The ardent Aramis rushes to the
counter and orders the food demanded. He places it before her and she devours
it. In his agony he makes the following remarks: “Do you like the pie? Isn’t the
sundae lovely?” And she answers, “Yes.”251
The story ends when he buys her a pack of cigarettes, waits for her to smoke one and then leaves.252 In “A House Divided,” “I. Wantano” — likely a woman — refers to this as “men’s
inescapable amusement tax.” The Pembinite has a different take and says that if women felt
equal, they would pay for the date as well. The article argues that if women had a share in the
asking then they would gladly share in the paying, “In spite of co-education, there is not any
final equality between the sexes.”253
In the next addition, “I Dotoo” responded by discussing how men make all the sacrifices
taking girls out on the same allowance the girls themselves get. “[The men] have to spread it
over 2 people and the girls get to have fun and keep all of their own money.” The writer went on
to say that she was discussing this with a male friend and her friend was frustrated because he
could not afford to take a girl out even once let alone date her. She brought up that the dances
where the women and men split the tickets fifty-fifty “all pave the way for a general system of
real equality between the sexes.”254 The women’s stronger compunction to make their own
dating and socialization decisions, and to be more selective on who they date on the gendered
campus, comes across clearly in another article called “Many Bachelors.” Here, a man postulated
251 The Three Musketeers, “Aramis and his Fair Lady go Tucking,” The Gateway, January 6, 1927, 3. 252 Ibid. 253 I. Wantano, “A House Divided,” The Gateway, February 18, 1926, 5. 254 I. Dotoo, “Correspondence,” The Gateway, March 4, 1926, 2.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 123
that women could never be pleased: “If you are affectionate she soon wearies of your kisses, and yet if you are not, she seeks consolation in some other man’s kisses.”255
How times were to change however; into the 1920s, social relations were loosening, but sexual experimentation could still shed a negative light and in some cases, outright shock. In terms of such interaction, students had varying comfort levels but among the administration, a
level of unease accompanied students’ new openness regarding their sexuality. Inappropriate social and sexual conduct involved men and women seeing each other outside of the acceptable prearranged times and places. In comparison to the immediate postwar sexual culture on campus, an early 1930s letter from E.G. Archer, University of Alberta student 1930-1935, to university president Dr. R.C. Wallace regarding the Pembina Prance, where women asked out the men, complained of inappropriate behavior after midnight in Pembina Hall (the woman’s residence).
The letter speaks of a young lady who believes she witnessed some inappropriate sexual behavior: “She states that when she arrived in Pembina at 12 o’clock midnight, on the night of
the prance, she stumbled over several couples, both on the stairway, and in the basement
corridor, as she went to her room.” Blankets were strewn on the floor: “The arrangement of the
blankets was, in my opinion, harem-like…. There was nothing definitely compromising in their
position or actions.” The letter remarked that the witness found the couples’ activities in the dark
to be to some extent compromising. Presumably, the letter was written by a chaperone who
found his duties extremely difficult. He noted that even on the dance floor, the lights weren’t
turned on again until after three dances.256
255 Student Life, “Many Bachelors,” The Gateway, January 14, 1926, 2. 256 UAA, E.G. Archer, Letter to Dr. Wallace regarding Pembina Prance, R.C. Wallace Papers, General Correspondence: Reports, 3/2/8/1-2. Inferring from the document, the date is between 1930-35.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 124
4.3. The Changing Face of the Wauneitas
Throughout the 1920s and its dynamic and complex gendered student culture, the Wauneita
Society remained acutely focused on an ongoing mission to show its serious independent side.
Indeed, it continued to identify as a solemn group made intellectually coherent through the use of imagery, similar to a social club but with more authority and clout over female students’ lives. In
1921, the Wauneitas created a club pin: tiny crossed feathers with the inscription UA produced
Figure 4.3: UAA, Wauneita Pin, Mascot and Sweatshirt, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68,
11
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 125
by BIRKS (see Figure 4.3).257 In the process of the Society striving to assert itself, the enjoyment
of the early Society, was noticeably and acutely absent. In the 1922 edition of the Evergreen and
Gold, the writer discusses the days before 1914 when the Wauneitas were the social center of women’s lives and they enjoyed bi-weekly meetings: “One cannot help envying this happy little group when minutes tell of sleigh drives, bean suppers, adventures in the park, and many varied contests; of a meeting held in a tent loaned for the purpose.” The writer goes on to lament how women do not have as much of a need for weekly meetings as they had representation on the
Students’ Council of the Students’ Union and have become so busy that scheduling weekly meetings were impossible and are now strictly about business with no refreshments.258
The yearbook writer mentioned that in that same year, 1923, the Wauneitas have become
far more concerned with student government and discipline rather than in their social role for co-
eds.259 Despite the resurgence of the Wauneitas in their cause against gendered oppression on
campus, it paled in comparison to the unity and camaraderie of the pre-war Society. Social integration between men and women during the war had at times eclipsed the role of the
Wauneitas by it becoming a women’s branch of the Students’ Union and Housing Committee in addition to their acting as a collective feminine voice. While politically united, the women were not the close- knit social group that they had been in the pre-war and wartime era. An example of
this change in tone and purpose of the Wauneitas was in November 1920 the Wauneita Council
was introduced as a “women’s court” that was the female equivalent of the student disciplinary
committee. It had the power to issue fines and penalties to students for minor social and moral
257 UAA, Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 5; UAA, Wauneita Welcome Booklet 1957-58, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 23. In the figure, the Wauneita sweatshirt was a much later design that was sold at Wauneita events in 1965. The sweatshirts were available in powder or navy blue with the little Indian Wauneita printed on it as well as the name “Wauneita Society, University of Alberta.” 258 Unsigned, “Wauneita Society,” Evergreen and Gold, 1922/1923, 11. 259 Ibid.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 126
infractions.260 The court made it clear that this did not imply a greater need for discipline among women but rather reflected the growth of the student body and need to maintain “the highest ideals and finest social and moral code and general well-being, of which a community of women students is capable.”261
The Wauneita Council in the 1920s came to serve multiple functions including “to act as
an advisory board, or its function as a court.”262 It disciplined students as a subsidiary of the
Committee on Students Affairs. Any female student who was dissatisfied with a decision made by the Council could appeal the decision to the Committee, thus making the Council administratively subservient to a larger student body, especially on matters directly related to women’s behaviour. The Council of the Wauneita Society represented an increased integration of the Society into the overarching student self-government structure.
No notes regarding organizational structure of the Council can be found in the 1920 edition of the Evergreen and Gold, but the 1927 edition listed its members. At that time, the
Council consisted of seven women in total: a President, Vice-President, a Secretary Treasurer, the President of the Wauneita Society, President of Women’s Athletics, a Representative from the House Committee (listed as president under the Wauneita Council but on the executive of the
House Committee), and the Representative from the Freshman Class, a wide-ranging group of important representatives from across campus.263
In their quest to become a more responsible group with official political strategies, the
Wauneitas took a more aggressive tone both towards men and also towards their critics. In a
1921 interview about allocation of funds, the Wauneita Chief Margaret Archibald declared an
260 Unsigned, “The Wauneita Council,” The Gateway, November 22, 1920, 2. 261 Unsigned, “The Wauneita Council,” The Gateway, November 22, 1920, 2. 262 Ibid. 263 Unsigned, “Wauneita Council,” Evergreen and Gold, 1927/28, 24.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 127
oppositional stance to men on campus that was very much in contrast to the Wauneitas’ approach
to gender relations since 1908. “We, the daughters of Eve, the Amazons of Pembina have
declared a state of war to exist between the inmates of the house of Athabasca and Assiniboia.”
The interviewer then asked her why men had been crowded out of the post-office wicket by the women, an incident that happened on campus and received some attention. Her answer was that it was “our first act of hostility. Shortly we will embark upon a series of hostilities which will startle the civilized world.”264
An article in The Gateway entitled “Wauneitas Loose the Dogs of War” announced that
the Wauneitas would have control of the next issue. The Wauneitas’ used this as an opportunity to express their desire for greater respect and freedom within the school. The first page of the issue included the header “With Tomahawk and Battle-axe Wauneitas Advance – Scalps of
‘News Butchers’ Hanging High!” The article goes on: “Whatever the consequences may be, we have taken up the bow and hatchet and there is no backward step.” The article ended with a declaration of women’s intellectual superiority and wisdom over men and to ask the women on campus to help them create a superior newspaper. “Our aid enlisted, it might transpire the general tone of this publication would be raised from its present level of inane nothings and pointless dissertation to the standard of a journal worthy of a University publication.”265 Parts of
the subsequent issue to the women’s edition levelled heavy criticisms against women. “Should
anything in this issue of The Gateway appear weird or incomprehensible to the reader, let him
attribute it to his ignorance of the feminine psychology. Yea, scoffers and woman haters, this
number has been compiled by members of the tribe Wauneita.”266
264 Unsigned, “Chalk Talks with Great, Near Great and Ingrates.” The Gateway. November 11, 1921, 7. 265 Unsigned, “Wauneitas Loose the Dogs of War.” The Gateway. November 18, 1921, 1. 266 Unsigned, “To The Men!” The Gateway. November 25, 1921, 4.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 128
In their issue, the Wauneitas included a talk given by professor R.K. Gordon entitled
“Women in Men’s Books.” The professor discussed two outdated ideas about women that were perpetuated in literature: the notion of men’s natural superiority to women and the idea that a
woman’s ultimate goal in life is securing a good marriage. Gordon argued that women can sing
the praises of their “champions” of modern literature in advancing more notions of women being
more in control of their social destinies. “Authors such as Browning, J.S. Mill, George
Meredith… they enjoy the heroines who chose men who were good enough for them and valued them for their minds and strong character rather than some outdated sense of purity and virtue.”267 The Wauneitas framed their issue of the paper not so much as an informative piece but one that was more pronounced as a “Cry for Justice” to show that they were determined to fight for equality and independence. The issue was infused with Warrior stereotypes and images of battle with the Wauneitas emerging victorious over men.268
The Wauneitas were concerned about being forced back into their lounge by the men on
campus; in this war, unity was seen as their greatest weapon. They meant to appear as a strong
united front and had to sacrifice their individual voices to do it. This image, however, was at
times compromised. Some Wauneitas were seen to be becoming more strident and imperious in
their promotion of the Society and women’s culture, and previously unseen criticism from their
own ranks appeared. In a 1927 letter published in the Correspondence column, “C.B.F”—likely a
woman—called some of the Wauneitas dictators for what the writer saw as unnecessary backlash
after two women who criticized the Wauneita initiation ceremony.269
267 From a presentation given by Professor R.K. Gordon, “Women in Men’s Books.” The Gateway. November 25, 1921, 5. 268 Unsigned, “Wauneitas!” The Gateway. January 19, 1922, 8. 269 C.B.F., “Correspondence.” The Gateway. November 11, 1927, 3.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 129
In a further scathing letter the following week, “H.R.M. Acheson” writes: “It but remains
for a female Mussolini to arise in the Wauneita society to complete the outburst of feminine
fascism which has recently amused the masculine members of the Students’ Union.”270 A letter
immediately below it, C.B.F. wrote back speculating that the Wauneitas have become too
focused on displaying a united front and maintaining discipline, and too much is done in secret.
“Mr. Editor, aren’t you glad pro bono publico that you are not Miss Editor? It appears there
would be no way of escaping the doom, you too might be penalized for daring to breathe a word
of criticism against such an august body so obviously above criticism [as the Wauneita society].”
She continued that this desire to contain the real feelings and opinions of the women for the sake
of a united front was detrimental to the female students and that the female students should be
freed from such oppression. “You wonder, sir, that such an organization should be continued?
This is the manner of it. No Wauneita can object to any doings of the [Wauneita] council – that
would constitute ‘disloyalty’ and demand a public apology.”271
The Wauneitas soon responded, presenting themselves as a Society that was concerned
with maintaining high disciplinary standards and should not be misinterpreted. “The object of this body is to maintain a high standard of conduct among women students. It deals with all
actions which may be interpreted as being in bad taste, and thus detrimental to the prestige of
University women.” The issue of unity that trumped individual freedoms seems to be at the core
of the debate as well as whether the Society should be publicly criticized in its activities. The
Wauneitas made a motion to demand a public apology from the women who spoke up against them: “It was moved that the Wauneita Society as a whole approve the action of their Council in
270 H.R.M. Acheson, “Correspondence.” The Gateway. November 17, 1927, 2. 271 C.B.F, “Correspondence.” The Gateway. November 17, 1927, 2.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 130
this case. The motion carried by a large majority.” Unity won the day. “Now the storm is over,
the air is clear, and the tents stand more staunchly than ever.”272
In 1929/30, the Wauneita Council was abolished to make way for a new women’s
disciplinary body, “The Women’s Disciplinary Committee.” The Evergreen and Gold discussed
this decision as a move to separate the Wauneita Society from the women’s disciplinary body
and in so doing “bring into existence a Women’s Disciplinary Committee, a student body
organization with fuller and more definite powers.273 Thus, in 1930, the nature of the group was once again changing, splitting off what many saw as a doctrinaire disciplinary arm and drifting back into being a social Society. In this way, the Society went full circle, acting more as an organizer for social events and advocate for women’s issues in the student government rather than a more officious overseer. These changes were in response to both the new opportunities and challenges facing educated women. The Wauneita Society was still seen as necessary in
helping to promote some gendered equilibrium on campus as defined at the time by adjusting yet
again to changes in the school, society, and the women themselves.
Importantly, however, even the social role of the Wauneitas was being scaled back as the rule banning sororities was lifted and women began to form them. In 1929, Phi Gamma was
formed. The new sorority allowed women more choice in organized expressions of their
sisterhood. Every woman on campus was a member of the Wauneita Society; the Society as a result was committed to the inclusivity of all co-eds. Sororities, however, were far more exclusive where a member needed to pledge and go through the rites of their particular sorority to become a member and by so doing allowing women a sense of distinction among each other.
Beyond pledging, women had to work hard to stay in the sorority by maintaining high grades.
272 Unsigned, “Women Discuss Vexed Question.” The Gateway, November 24, 1927, 1. 273 Unsigned, “The Wauneita Council,” Evergreen and Gold, 1929/1930, 18.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 131
Among the rosters of members was the members’ academic information including the number of
classes they passed and failed.274 The need to work harder for membership coupled with
individual initiation events made membership to each sorority feel special which gave them an allure that the Wauneita Society did not have.
The blurring of gender roles during the First World War created a great deal of social freedom for female students but during the post-war period incurred the close scrutiny of both male and female students regarding largely undefined, fluid, and conflicting rules of propriety.
The 1920s was a period of self-exploration and redefinition of women and their role in society; the Wauneitas set out to define who they would be now. As much as it was during the war, and even more so afterwards, it was incumbent on the women to prove that they could handle the level of freedom and responsibility they eventually enjoyed. The Wauneitas gave women a safe haven to discuss what post-war Canada was to them, what they would do going forward, and how to navigate the casual social relationships they now experienced with male students.
The Wauneitas found their voice during the war and in some respects the post-war era and they used it to advocate against being put back in their lounge. With the return of war veterans, tensions on campus were based more on confusion rather than prolonged or deep malice. These tensions began to lift during the Great Depression of the 1930s when students had more on their mind, but they never fully dissipated. The 1920s in many ways can be seen as the last time the Wauneitas played such a central role in the lives of female students on campus. The grass-roots Tribe Wauneita who for so long defined campus culture and defended the rights of marginalized female students was no longer needed. After this they would be relegated to rote administrative roles such as planning events and lectures for female students while offering but
274 UAA, President’s Papers: Walter Hugh Johns, Student Affairs, various folders, one for each fraternity, 68-1- 12.2.1 Committees, 1959-1970.
The Wauneitas in the 1920s 132
one of the voices for women in the student government. Discussions about whether women
needed a Society of their own anymore were raised frequently on campus as the role of the
Wauneitas became more of a passive presence in women’s lives rather than the center of it.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 133
Conclusion: The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century
The Wauneita Society underwent a great deal of change all the way through their run from 1909
until they were disbanded in 1973. It was versatile and adaptive to the changing needs of women both on and off campus. As the decades went on, the role of the Wauneitas became more about planning social functions and lectures with topics of interest to women, and their value was upheld as an important connection point for all women on campus with a voice to represent
women’s educational goals. The documents pertaining to the Wauneitas become increasingly
sparse as the years went on; occasional mention is made of them in the school yearbooks and campus newspapers. Their organizational structure slowly evolved after the 1920s where the
Wauneita Council came to include representatives from each faculty and other associations and clubs on campus such as the Panhellenic Society and the Women’s Athletic Association. The
Wauneita Welcome Booklet from 1957-58 noted that the Society could be seen as a link to all of
the clubs on campus. Harkening back to those years covered in this study, 1908-1919, up to the
1950s and beyond, activities planned for female students included coffee parties, the first formal
dance of each year, teas, a Christmas Party, Waw-Waw weekend, Sports Weekend, and a formal spring tea for all Wauneita Alumnae.275
The structure changed again, whereby in 1967 the Wauneitas created committees in
various areas including Personnel Interviews (Freshette Council,) Publicity, Social, Orientation,
Service (including Indian Tutoring and University Hospital Volunteers,) and Programming. The
Programming Board of the Wauneitas included plans for lectures and discussions on topics of interest to women that, echoing the Wauneita initiatives in the early part of the century, included
275 UAA, Wauneita President Jeanette Hawrelak, “The President’s Word of Welcome 1957-58”; “Wauneita Society,” Wauneita Welcome Booklet, Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 23.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 134
the role of educated women in society, study tips, sex relations and challenges of the modern homemaker, fashion shows, and the Wauneita Formal.276 In the 1960s, the Publicity and
Promotions Board publicized Wauneita functions on campus thereby giving the women valuable
work-related experience. It also published the Women’s Newsletter that would ideally be released
monthly.277 Despite the gradual diminution of the Wauneitas as the organization to go to for social guidance and leadership on matters such as dating and men, the function of the Wauneita
Society in the 1960s and the 1930s did not seem that much different.
In 1968, a Wauneita named Sharon Killins wrote “In Defence of a Women’s Society.”
Killins discusses the merits of a woman’s Society and counters some of the main arguments
against its existence. Killins discussed the unique role that the Wauneita Society played on
campus during what she described as a time of transition in the 1960s. She defended an assertion
that the Wauneitas, unlike being a Society based on similar sports, hobbies, or interests, was
instead based on “the outworn emancipist basis of sex.” She was not categorically opposed to the
idea of grouping a Society on the basis of shared interest of its members but rather the idea that
in a university that promotes specialized curricula centered on specific and often exclusive areas
of studies, the Wauneitas were not encouraged to undertake interdisciplinary discussions and
methodologies. She continues that a man may be specialized as he will need to have a focused career, but a woman, as a future wife and mother, must be more informed in a broad number of fields. One of the clear strengths of the Wauneita Society was that it provided a forum for women to converse and share ideas across disciplines.278
276 UAA, Sharon Killins, “In Defence of a Women’s Society.” Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 14. 277 UAA, Unsigned, “History of the Wauneitas,” Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68, 5. 278 UAA, Sharon Killins, “In Defence of a Women’s Society.” Wauneita Council, Wauneita Scrapbook, 74-52, 1968, 4.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 135
Killins asserts that the Students’ Council cannot adequately represent the distinct needs or
interests of women and raised the question of how the Wauneita Society itself could represent
the needs of over 5,000 female students adequately. This, however, does not mean that the
Society is not useful. It was important historically “because it is believed that all women can benefit from its programs.”279 Killins pointed out that the focus of the Wauneitas had shifted from being the center of women’s extracurricular lives in the early 1900s to being involved in programs such as tutoring and hospital visitation that serves “the vast numbers of ‘inactive’ women on . . . campus by a relatively small core of activist members [in the 1960s].” Killins mentions the growing inactivity of most members by 1968.280 The business of the Wauneitas in
planning events was still drawing some volunteer members. This kept the Wauneitas active,
aligning with their philosophy before 1930 of maintaining an important and contributory presence on campus.
Killins writes of the distinction between the early years of the Society when it promoted a culture where women could identify themselves at the university to more of a type of Student
Union for women, as the Society had evolved into by the mid-late 1920s, that nonetheless still included an important social function of a group of students planning events in which they think the other women would be interested. Killins points out, however, that a Students’ Union was never intended to be specifically supportive of one student agenda over any other; but in the
1960s, the Wauneita Society was now an organization that was privately funded by the female students’ membership fees and is therefore in a better position to have female-oriented programs.
The Wauneitas also came to offer the Big and Little Sister program in which more senior
279 Ibid., 5-10. 280 Ibid., 6.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 136
students can help Freshettes orient themselves on campus.281 The actual structure and
participation levels in the Wauneita Society changed over time to meet the changing needs on
campus, but the historical image of the Society as fundamentally a vehicle for connection and
female-focused discussions, lectures, and social functions, despite how it might have become
less important as the 1920s went on into the 1930s, remained throughout its long lifetime.
C.1. Future Directions
When the first female students formed the Wauneita Society, they could not have foreseen the
dramatic changes that the club would experience in such a small period of time. In the early
years of the university, the establishment of women-only spaces in which women could retreat
and be among themselves had been a gendered framework that continued to show up in various
forms and ways up to the 1930s. Throughout its life, at its core, the Society was by and for women. Expanding this study, a more in-depth exploration of the interwar period up to the
Second World War would be instructive to assess how this reordering of gendered expectations and roles, especially applied towards women, transpired, and if the nebulous and conflicted relations between men and women on campus continued unabated, in a fluid state of tension and balance throughout the years. Seeing how these social dynamics between men and women students formed in the early years of co-education helps form better understandings of why men and women on campus and in Canadian society operate in complex environments and interrelations up until today. Also, a larger project would allow for greater comparisons of the
Wauneitas to other university women’s Societies and sororities as well as allow for extended
281 Ibid., 13.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 137
discussions of how female students fit into the New Woman Movement and what sort of opportunities the movement and its ideals created for women after graduation.
On modern university campuses, the debates about a need for a women’s resource center or other women-only spaces show an extant feeling that campuses are predominantly male spaces. Recognizing the efforts made in the modern university to integrate women on campus energizes analyses into why past efforts were only partially successful. The insight gained through examining the changing dynamic between men and women where women continue to search for greater equality can help create new strategies of constructive gendered dialogue based on a constant yet productive struggle. The Wauneita Society led these debates about
eliminating antiquated ideas about gender roles and traits as far back as, in our investigation, the establishment of the University of Alberta.
The Wauneitas also provided an example of how cooperation between genders can achieve great things. The Wauneitas were created because Dr. Henry Marshall Tory gave the
women freedom and support to make a Society that would meet their needs. Also, some in the
male student body formally supported, in varying degrees, the Society through such activities as
fundraising efforts and, if allowed, by attending the Society’s various social functions. Despite
what could be interpreted as an increasingly strident stance in the 1920s among some members
of the Wauneita Society, the resulting tensions were caused more by confusion in a changing
social order rather than unabiding antagonism. The story of the Wauneita Society up to the 1930s
and beyond is one of an entire campus ensuring that the female minority felt included and
valued.
How these dynamics of gendered cultures and relations at the university played out in
detail after the 1920s up to the creation of the multiversity in the 1960s and beyond is a patently
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 138
worthwhile study, as is the related unfolding of the history of the Wauneita Society during this time. How did the Wauneita Society fare and change between 1930-1970s? Importantly, as this study looks at the Society from 1908 to 1930, what were the common or diverse experiences of women and women organizations on other university campuses in Canada, and indeed elsewhere in the United States in even in Europe? According to Panayotidis and Stortz, women’s
experiences were remarkably similar among numerous countries and universities;282 how similar
were the Wauneitas in their membership, mandate, power, and influence to other campuses?
As gender became an important point of culture and interrelations on campus, the
University of Alberta offers an excellent case study of how students managed to create an environment where women felt able to use their voice without feeling the need to engage too vociferously in protracted arguments with men; rather, the struggle was one of gradual, albeit not total, acceptance of women into the patriarchal world of academe, and a longer study needs to be conducted to fully understand this transformation up until today. This kind of examination would reveal that the assimilation of women into Canadian—and elsewhere—university campuses was never smooth, but a process of chipping away at the edges of gendered discrimination. A comparison of various ways in which women were introduced to various campuses would be instructive, whether it was a system such as in Oxford where women could attend class but not get degrees or a that which was seen at the University of Toronto where women were reluctantly given spaces but made to feel very much like outsiders, or, indeed, the system at the University of Alberta where women were given a much larger choice of how best to manage their university experience. At Alberta, its uniqueness was that women were already constructing their own lives free from the encumbrances of a long and pre-established history of a male-dominated academic
282 See the Introduction in Panayotidis and Stortz, eds. Women in Higher Education, 1850-1970, 1-33.
The Wauneita Society Further into the Twentieth Century 139
social and intellectual culture that characterized older universities. The way in which women entered and shaped university life, as well as how they were treated on campus with hegemonic expectations and social constraints placed upon them, can be seen as a mirror for the way women were welcomed and able to participate in the public sphere and communities off campus. Gender relations remain an important historical topic, and as seen through the history of the Wauneita
Society, we can explore the various challenges of gender inclusiveness taken by people in the past and how they can inform how we deal with this complex and integral issue in universities and society today and in the future.
Bibliography 140
Selected Bibliography
Primary Sources
Newspapers
Edmonton, The Edmonton Bulletin, 1926-1931
Edmonton, The Edmonton Journal, 1911-1930
Strathcona, The Strathcona Chronicle, 1908
Peel’s Prairie Provinces online Archives
Evergreen and Gold (University of Alberta Yearbook), 1921-1930.
The Gateway (University of Alberta Student Newspaper), 1910-1930.
The New Trail (Alumni Magazine), 1943-1970.
University of Alberta Archives
Alumni Association Annual Report 1909 and 1912, 68-9 Box 22. 1909-1923.
Bowen Ruth, Interviews, Box 79-112, Various Folders organized by person (Ethel C. Anderson, Agnes Wilson Teviotdale, E.W. Sheldon, Dr. Cecil Burgess, Dr. John Malcolm MacEachran), 1969-70.
CKSR Radio Transcripts, 60+ - History of the University of Alberta 1908-1970, 74-128, July 12, 1977.
Day, Moira. “‘The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly,’ Clara May Bell’s Psyche: Preserving “the bright torch” at the University of Alberta, 1914-1918,” General Reference, Women at War (Theatre), unpublished version, General Reference, n.d. A later version was published in Diversity and Change in Early Canadian Women’s Writing. ed., Jennifer Chambers, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008.
President’s Papers: Walter Hugh Johns, Student Affairs, 68-1-12.2.1 Committees, 1959- 1970
R.C. Wallace Papers, General Correspondence: Reports, 3/2/8/1-2, 1928-1936
Bibliography 141
Simpson, Maimie Shaw. Taking A Backward Look, Memoirs of a Dean of Women. Unpublished, 69-55, n.d.
Student Affairs, Students’ Associations, Fraternities and Sororities, 68-9-317, April 3-17, 1915.
Student Affairs, Students’ Associations, Students’ Union, 68-9-314, 1908- April 30, 1928.
Students - General, 68-9-306, 1910- October 17, 1923
Students, Individual: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 68-9-311, February 15, 1922- December 5, 1927.
Students’ Union, Student Programs, songs, memorabilia etc., 72-190, 1919-1922.
Theresa Alta Iddings (later Wilson), Class of ‘24 Student Memorabilia, 89-55, Items 1- 28, 1918-1924.
University of Alberta Board of Governors Reports, 69-129-2, 1911-1930
University of Alberta Calendars, General Reference. 1912-1930.
University of Alberta Senate Reports, 70-91, Items 2-4.
University Soldiers Comfort Club Meeting Minutes, 70-91-136, 1915-1919.
University Soldiers Comfort Club Weekly Newsletter, 69-39-Small Accessions, 1916- 1917.
Wauneita History and Reorganization, Small Accessions, 77-102 Ref# M.6
Wauneita Society Meeting Minutes, 77-149 Ref# R.G. 17, 1909-1918.
Wauneita Society Scrapbook, 74-52, 1967-68.
Bluestocking Primary Sources
Carey, Mathew. The Lady’s Pocket Library. Philadelphia: Published by Mathew Carey, 1809.
Bibliography 142
Secondary Sources
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Association of Professors Emeriti of the University of Alberta, Echoes In the Halls, An Unofficial History of the University of Alberta. Edmonton: Jointly Published by Duval House Publishing and University of Alberta Press, 1999.
Corbett, E. A., Henry Marshall Tory, A Biography, with a New Introduction by Doug Owram. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2000.
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Drover, Victoria Lamb, “A Place for Everyone, but Everyone in Their Place: The Inclusion of Female Students, Staff, and Faculty at the University of Saskatchewan, 1907-1922.” Master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2009.
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