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NAME OF AUTHOR/NOM DE L'AUTEUR Susan Walsh
TITLE OF THESIS/TITRE DE LA [H~SE Equality, Emancipation (2nd a More Just World: Leading W~rnei-~in the British Co~urnbia.Cooperative ------Commonwealth Federation. ' i
UNIVERSIP(/UMIV~RSITE' Simon Fraser Universit:~
DEGREE FOR WHlC THESIS WAS WESENTED/ 9 cmor poun i.%L cmETHESE wTPR~STNT~ M.A.
NAME OF SUPERVISOR/NOM DU DlRECTEUR DE TH~SE Professor V. Strong-Boag
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- - EQUALITY, EMANCIPATION AND8A MORE JUST WORLD: LEADING WOMEN IN THE BRITISH COLUHBIA
B.A., Slmon Fraser University, 1980
A THES~SSUBMITTED IN PARTIAL 'PULPILLUENI'OF THE REQUIREHENTS FOR TEE DEGREE OF
MASTEPS'OF ~TS
- in the Department
@ Susan Walsh 1983
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
December 1983
All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in.part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. ' APPROVAL
Name : Susan Walsh .. . Degree: Masters of Arts
Title of Thesis: Equality, Emancipation and a. More Just World: Leading Women in the B.C. CCF, , , ,
Examining Committee:
Chairperson: Bry.an Palmer
- - ,. 'L Veronica Strong-Boag Senior Supervis.or
. ------7 {~aryLynn ~tewart-~c~6u~all
1. a V~.Allen Seager
- Arlene T. ~c~aren
DATE APPKOVED: 6 ~anuary'1984. a I hereby. grant to' S Ikon ~raserUn i vers I ty f he r l ght to lend my thesis, proJect or extended' essay (the title of which is shown be.low) - to users of the Simon Fraser Un-iversi ty Lib'cary, and to hake partial or
. single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the l i brary of any other un hersi ty, or other educat iona l i nst i tut'ion, on
' its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for-mu1 ti pie copying of this wo$k for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or pub1 lca+ion of this work for financial gain shall without my written permission.
Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay , ~quality,Emancipation and a More Just World:
Leading Women in the British Columbia Cooperative
- Commonwealth Federation.
Author: - (signature) '
Susan Walsh - - - - - iii
ABSTRACT *- ,
In .the wake of suffrage victories,'many early twentieth
century Canadian women worked hard to make that equality
meaningful and to extend' it- to all areas of women's lives.
For those who predictGd great however, too few took
their hard-earned rights the poiling station..
Most expressed their concerns and goals within the more
familiar world of women's organizations. Helena Gutteridge,
Laura. . Jamieson, Dorothy Steeves and Grace MacInnis were among the notable exceptions. While maintaining important
ties with women's groups, .t,hey sought and won public office,
' pioneering important paths for generations of Can-adian women
&+ye political trai.1 blazers stand out for another
, . important reason. They chose to establish their careers and
fest their political- rights in a socialist party -- t he Cooperative Commonwealth Federation -- pledged to sexual emancipation and equal opportunities for women. They were,
in short, dual rebels -- as feminists and socialists -- in a
sex and class-ordered world.
Canada's third-party, socialist alternative gave these
four wgmen a very warm reception. All four emerged as t \ leaders within the British Columbia CCF after a relatively
brief apprenticeship. But the champi.oning of both causes
was at the same time theoretically and, in practice,
arduous. The CCF had difficulty 'living up to its promise of f sexual egalitarianism. When class aspiJrations clashed with
gender ones, the latter suffered. Nor did the majority of
women within the party take the "great leap forward"
which socialist theory forecasted.
Through its investigation of Gutteridge, Jamieson,
Steeves and MacInnis' respective paths to po1i.tical power
and- leadership, this thesis demonstrates that for leading
wom.en within the CCF, in particular the British Columbia
CCF, the balancing of class and gender loyalties was no easy.
task. Personal, political and party ambitions worked
against a whole-hearted campaign ,.for sexual equality.
Still, attempts to give equal amounts of attention to both
allegiances were made and in Gutteridge and Jamieson's case,
a relatively comfortable balance was found. - Steeves and
MacInnis, on the other hand, chose socialist goals over
feminist ones. For these still more prominent women,L
balanced loyalties were unrealistic and too costly. Para-
doxically, they came considerably closer than their older
sisters to the power and cloutwhich the franchise triumphs
of 1917 and 1018 heralded. t My: warm thanks to Veronica Strong-Boag for the experience, insight and patience she shared with me during * the cours,e of my research and wrfting. Her astut greatly facilitated my task. Mary Lynn ~c~ou~alfand Allen
Seager also deserve a special note of thanks for their help- ful guidance: I would also like to express my appreciation to those Interviewed •’'or this - thesis. Grace MacInnis graciously opened her door ta me on three occassions. Her frank and perceptive recollections, were invaluable. Hilda' Kristiansen, Daisy Webster, Mildred Farnhi, Jessie atid
Harold Winch, a:nd Christine Cameron likewise offered thoughtful observations about the lives and timestof the % women this thesis profiles. Finally, thank-you to those friends, both wirhin and outside the university, who were patient, understanding and encouraging.. A spe'cial thanks goes to my family and Gustavo who always made me feel this
> day would come! / P/C
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter . Page
4-
From Ho,memaker To Politician: ...... 15 P The ~x~erienceof sisterhood
The CCF And The'Woman Question:...... 45 Following European Footsteps
The Bloomer Girl and the Judge B lancing Class and Gender Loyalties\
The Peacock and .the G-uinea Hen:...... 153 Socialists First, Feminists Second PAGE 1
The road to 'female enfranchisement in Canada was iong'
I and arduous. After thirty five years of relentless cam-
paigning 'by a determined few, on May 24, 1918, women finally >
obtained the federal franchise. The right to political re-
presentation, however, did not bring with it unqualified
equality. As 'late as 1928, for example, the Supreme Court
ruled that "women were not qualified for the Senate and were
not, therefore, legally personsM.l It took another year and
the persistance of five Alberta women bef oreBthe Privy
1 Council overrul'ed this decision. h Women's involvement in political' parties is one expres-
sion of the degree to which the victories of 19.18 and 19'29
i satisfied early feminist expectation@ and ambitions. Yet,
in proportion to their numbers, the role of women in poli- ", tics has been disappointing to those who predicted great
changes. Between 1919 and 1975, only twenty five women were
elected to the House of Commons while only a slightly larger
group of sixty-seven became' provinc'ial legislator^.^
In her study of Nellie McClung and female activism in
the 1920s, Veronica Strong-Boag concludes that "the failuq
of pre-suffrage feminists to develop and'clearly define at-
tractive and satisfying models of an activist femininity 0 PAGE 2 P
made the future loom as tractless- and obscure."!3 This ex-
. ,plana'tion, in part, illuminates women's poor political record.- Maternal responsibilities, educational barriers and
a host of gender-specific obstacles within the Canadian
-political arena further weakened their drive and ability to
hold public office. The picture is not, however, one of.
unrelieved gloom. ~wentieth-century women who desired the
re-shaping of the socie.ty they saw as corrupt and unjust
could opt for non-political cooperative work. The potential
for reform and. the spirit of sor'ority in a wide variety of
reform bodies such as the National Council of Women of L
Canada, the Federation of Business and Professional Women's
Clubs, the Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom, the Federation of Women's Institutes of Canada and 'i the Young Women's Christian Association offered women impor-
tant benefits. Reform demands from women's groups in
British Columbia contributed to that province 's lead in
social legi~lation.~ -3 In contrast to early expectations and promises for
direct power, however, these organizations promoted the . . effective use of women's indirect power. Women who did seek
public office after suffrage thus represent a significant - ing exception to the mass of their sisters who - chose to work rn familiar ways. In an attempt to shed light
on the experiences of women who tested the reality of the PAGE 3
promises made during the early post-stiffrage yearsf tKis -L
thesis invest-igates the careers of four leading female poli-
tical figures: Helena aura Jamieson, Dorothy e B L Steeves and Grace ~ac~nnis,whose high visibility in British
Columbia's Cooperative Commonwealth Federation sets them ,' apart fronkost Canadian women. It is a first step in re-
covering a collective portrait of female power and p-rovides .\ 4 the essential groundwork for subsequent inve~ti~atio'irsinto
the experiences of less prominent, rank-and-file members.*
An analysis of their rise to power illuminates, a.relatively
unexplored question within Canadian history: what was 4' women's path to political office?
Gutteridge, Jamieson, Steeves and MacInnis merit
assessment not only because they journeyed in unknown and
frequently hostile territory for women. Their involvement
in organizations which paid particular attention to wome.A1s
4 - rights and their commitment to a - class-free, cooperative
social order further set them apart. These political acti- r' vists were, in short, dual rebels -- as gender and class
advocates -- in a sex-oriented, capitalist society. They
chose in fact to marry both causes. Under the larger socia-
list umbrella, they worked tirelessly towards f undamen-1
social,, economic and political changes whi-ch would free both - - pp -
women and workers alike. Socialism, unlike mairis tream an? more-cxniwrvatlve--- political ideologies of the n\ neteenth and -early twentieth century, contained a systematic- 'analysis - of women's . oppres-
sion. Socialist thinkers were ?he first-; to conpect women's,
emancipation with general soci'al advancement and more part- 4 icularly with class liberation. Harmony between loyalties , I ,- I. to sex and class, how eve^, as a number of recent European', . J and American studies suggest, was far simpler in* theory than in p;actice. Withfn socialist parties,, contradictions and ---- 7 - - c~nflictsbetween* feminist and soci'alist goalsi meant the
former suffered. Such subordination of women' s causes was > especially difficult for socialist feminists. They faced - - - hard choices. Even for those convinced that the building of J a so'cialist .utopia v&ki in the long run- guarantee sexual : \. / -7 equality, the prior'itizing of class loyalties was rarely a * whole-hearted or comfo~table decision. For some female
socialists in fact such sacrifice caused considerable disap-
pointment, disillusionment and at times despair.5' ~fl~ht
to maintain an equal balan~ebetween feminist and socialistL-
ambitions required considerable strengtk?
Yet, as this' thesis argues through its examination of
four Canadian socialist f eminh~,k Rtte- -_tohalance
I loyalties to class3nd sex was made. Equal attention to the-
twin causes had its costs. But within CCP ranks khere was 4 room to champion social and sexua1,liberation. Two women
profiled, Helena Gutteridge and Laura Jamieson, found a PAGE 5
delicate balance of loyalties. The second and pereaps mostp
challenging question this thesis addresses, therefore, is
the character of the relationship between fe&+ism and .a- ,. socialigm. - -. 4
Much of the primary research 'for this thesis centers
around personal papers, publications and CCF documents. All < four women were at one time or another elected representa-
tives of the British Columbia CCF. Their activities and
positions on social, economic and political issues are rela-
tively well documented in collections, files, and papers
within British Columbia and Ottawa. The University of
British Columbia's Special Collections in Vancouver has an \ 1 extensive collection of primary CCF sources grouped under
the ~n~usMacInnis Memorial Collection. C fi The AMMC's aost valuable collection with respect to -
this thus are the Dorothy Steeves Papers. These docu- S' 'i'
ments, which include speeches, letters, essays, ,articles,
newspaper clippings, a diary of her daily activities during
1938 and 1939, and notes for her 1960 publication on Ernest
winch, The- Compassionate Rebel, offer.helpfu1 biographical
i-nformation and significant insights into her political,
socialist and feminist ideology and _a~~roach. Colin
Cameron's Papers, also in me AMMC, contain extensive cor-
respondence from Steeves during the 1950s. These letters
% are excellent testimonies of her personal and political
-7 thought. PAGE 6
+ -
In contrast, Helena Gutteridge left behind no personal ' i Y papers. The AMMC too has little material. The Vancouver
City Archives file on Gutteridge is -g:lso relatively thin.
The best available sources on this rather mysterious woman
are newspaper articles about her and her own contributions
to the Labour Gazette, Women's Weekly and the Federa-
tionist. Also useful are the minutes of the Vancouver
Trades and Labour Council during the 1910s and the papers of
several Vancouver women's organizations, including the
Vancouver LCW and the Vancouver WILPF.6 Finally,. the memo-
ries-- of contemporaries and close friends like Hilda
Kristiansen and Mary Norton are invaluable to a researcher
attempting toe'cha arena. 7 Laura Jamieson's long career in public affairs is rel- atively well documented. She left a fairly inclusive set of papers now in the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. They contain autobiographical notes, correspondence, clip- pings, articles and writings which shed important light on her career, socw-ism and feminism. Her accounts of various c women's issues and struggles, such as the suffrage and equal I pay for equal work battles, are of special assistance. The AMMC, in particular the Angus MacInnis Papers, con- fain signi;ficant material on MacInnisls wife, Grace. Her ,J extensive personal papers, however, are housed in the public PAGE 7 - Archives of Canada. Correspondence with federal CCF offi- cials and MPs, found both within her personal papers and wit-hin CCF/NDP Records in th'e PAC, is another notable re6 source. MacInnis' biography of her father, J.S. Woodworth: A Man To Remember, also captures influential childhood and family experiences. Oral histories and interviews also informed the port- raits of these political rebels. ~nterviews with both P Steeves and MacInnis are available in UBC's Sp~cial,Collec- tions and the PABC. Interviews. by the author with MacInnis 'as well as several of her contemporaries are now available in the Simon Fraser University Archives.8 Worthwhile guides to the world of female activism are, Linda Hale's Selected Bibliography of Manuscripts and Pamphlets Pertaining to Women Held by Archives, Libraries, Museums and Associations in British Columbia,g 'and Heather Reilly and Marilyn Hindmarch's Some Sources for Women hi is tory in the Public , Archives of Canada .lo Finally, CCF puplications and news- papers such as the Federationist and CCF News together with mainstream Vancouver and Victoria newspapers are welcome sources of information on these dynamic women. An understanding of the questions raised %oughout this thesis also depends on their treatment in h nllmber of secondary sources. Until recently, most areas of historical enquiry have reflected men's experience and endeavours.11 PAGE 8 An increasing interest in social" history and women's history, sparked by the rebirth of widespread feminism during the past two decades, has ameliorated somewhat this narrow situation. Ne