Born into a middle-class family in Montreal, Madeleine attended the best schools. But even as a young student she began noticing the exploitation of servant girls and other class-based injustices. Madeleine went to McGill University to avoid the constraints of a religious institution. Eventually focusing on sociology, she became involved with a number of campus associations as well as with the militant student movement.
Despite opposition from professors, Madeleine invited feminist Thérèse Casgrain to lecture on the right of Quebec women to vote. Madeleine participated in numerous student protests and joined the Civil Liberties Union. Following one of the meetings she met trade-union organizer Lea Roback, who mentored the younger woman and became a lifetime friend. After Madeleine graduated from university in 1940, she became a union activist to help the disadvantaged.
Madeleine fought to alleviate the horrendous working conditions in Quebec’s cotton and woollen mills, where the predominantly female workforce often worked fifty-five-hour weeks and children as young as fourteen laboured for meagre wages. In 1942, she led the campaign to unionize workers at Dominion Textile plants in Montreal and Valleyfield. She partnered with fellow union activist Kent Rowley, who she later married, to organize the United Textile Workers of America (UTWA). By 1946 the pair led 6,000 cotton workers in a successful strike for a new contract.
The favourable outcome was an incredible achievement given the situation. The company spread rumours that Madeleine was a spy dropped off by a Soviet submarine on the Gaspé Peninsula in the war, and hoped that the story would be believed in the Cold War context.The provincial police hassled picketers, threatened the workers in their homes, protected scabs, and raided the union office. Parish priests conducted anti-strike masses and escorted scabs across the picket lines. In Valleyfield one night, 250 policemen arrived, armed with machine guns, to confront strikers and their families and doused them with tear gas. Rowley was jailed.
Violence erupted at the 1947 strike in Lachine, and Duplessis accused Madeleine and her husband of being communists. Duplessis ordered both be arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy. By postponing their second trial for years, he fostered lingering doubts about their integrity. An anti-Duplessis judge finally exonerated the pair.
Madeleine and Kent worked to develop independent Canadian unions after Quebec workers lost out in a deal arranged by Duplessis and Dominion Textile in 1952. That same year, the international office of the UTWA fired Madeleine based on the unfounded accusation that she was a communist.
The husband and wife duo founded the Canadian Textile and Chemical Union in 1952 and the Confederation of Canadian Unions in 1969. In addition to becoming a labour legend in Quebec, Madeleine also played a key role in strikes in Ontario in the 1970s, such as the 1979 Purtex battle over surveillance cameras. After her husband died in 1978, Madeleine continued working for the union movement. She retired in 1983.
Throughout her life, Madeleine has been a reformer seeking social justice, particularly for women, new immigrants, and First Nations. She campaigned for pay equity and the right to abortions, and rallied feminists to support Mary Two-Axe Early’s struggle to restore the Native rights to women who married non-Aboriginals. In 1972, Madeleine helped found the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) and served as the Quebec representative for eight years. In the 1990s, she worked for the NAC campaign assisting Bosnian and Croatian women in prisoner-of-war camps. Wherever there was a need for support, Madeleine was on the march: she joined the Bread and Roses March in 1995, the World March of Women in 2000, and protests against the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2001.
Madeleine continues to be an inspirational figure for activists and has been widely praised by her contemporaries. A documentary was made about her life. The Parent-Roback House in Old Montreal now houses Quebec organizations that promote women’s rights. In recognition of Madeleine’s outstanding contributions as a union leader, feminist, and social activist she received honorary degrees from a number of universities. As politician Monique Simard noted, “In a lifetime, one meets few characters like Madeleine … someone who has confronted giants.”[1]
Quote:
“Every labour battle teaches a worker how to fight. Nothing is ever completely lost.”[2]
Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, circa 1882.
Courtesy Providence Archives, Seattle, Washington SP13.A1.1
The Designing Nun
Esther Pariseau
1823–1902
One of the first architects in the Northwest, Mother Joseph built hospitals, schools, and orphanages.
Clad in her black habit, seventy-seven-year-old Mother Joseph (born Esther Pariseau), climbed the ladder at the construction site in New Westminster every evening after the workers left.[1] Hammer in hand, she inspected the day’s progress and scrutinized every detail. A perfectionist who demanded the best craftsmanship and finest artistry, she was known to tear up shoddy work and repair it herself. Mother Joseph expected nothing but the best at the Providence St. Genevieve Orphanage, the last building that she planned and supervised.
Recognized as one of the first architects of the Northwest, the Quebec-born nun designed and oversaw construction of more than thirty buildings in southern British Columbia, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. In Canada, she founded and built St. Mary’s Hospital in New Westminster (1886), St. Eugene Hospital in the Kootenays (1890), St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver (1894), the St. Eugene Hospital in Cranbrook (1900), and the Providence St. Genevieve Orphanage in New Westminster (1900). Mother Joseph erected these buildings with the Sisters of Providence, whose territory eventually included British Columbia, Alberta, and Yukon, as well as several northwestern states.
In 1856, Quebec-born Esther Pariseau was chosen to create a Catholic mission for the Sisters of Providence in Nesqually, Washington. Well-trained for life in the wilderness, the intelligent and industrious young woman had mastered traditional domestic tasks, as well as carpentry and woodwork. During her religious training, she’d gained experience in nursing, pharmaceuticals, candle-making, baking, and sewing.
Named the superior despite her youth, Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart served in the West for nearly half a century. Throughout her career she dutifully reported back to the mother house in Montreal, where she occasionally travelled to purchase equipment, recruit more nuns, and fundraise. She also studied sculpture and statuary there.
Armed with deep faith and compassion, simple tools, and myriad skills, Mother Joseph ventured to the Northwest with four other missionary sisters. They survived a perilous journey of more than a month, covering 6,000 miles by land and sea via the Panama Canal before finally arriving at the mouth of the Columbia River.[2] The francophone nuns found themselves in a ramshackle settlement of Americans, French Canadians, and Natives. Under the able leadership of Mother Joseph the Sisters of Providence set to work to establish themselves and learn English. They provided health care, education, and social services to the community.
A decade later, Mother Joseph took on the responsibility for building and financing missions in both the Canadian and American West. In addition to assessing requests for new institutions, selecting and purchasing properties, negotiating with local authorities, drawing up plans, and supervising the construction, she also carved altars, columns, and statues for the new chapels. The intrepid architect and artisan travelled thousands of miles to meet the growing demand for her services.
Mother Joseph made many hazardous trips to mining areas, begging for nuggets and gold dust to help feed and shelter the needy. Neither packs of howling wolves nor aggressive grizzly bears could stop her. In 1874 or 1875, she and some sisters trekked to the Cariboo Mountains despite Bishop d’Herbomez’s cautions. He begged God for a dozen Guardian Angels to protect them from all the dangers to which they surely would be exposed.[3] The group endured three rough days on the Fraser River
The original St. Paul’s Hospital, built under Mother Joseph’s direction in Van
couver, circa 1905.
Vancouver Public Library: 5147
and another four in ramshackle stagecoaches following narrow and winding trails above sheer cliffs, before finally reaching the mines there. After spending three weeks with the prospectors, Mother Joseph returned with a grand total of $10,000.
Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart died in Vancouver, Washington, in 1902. There is a statue of her in the House of Representatives in the United States. Mother Joseph was probably the first female Canadian architect, practising her craft in the early days of the profession. She is often mentioned in association with the buildings she designed in Canada, where the Sisters of Providence still operate St. Paul’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital.
Quote:
“How much more agreeable for me to remain at home. But with the large debt we still carry and the needs of the poor, the sick and the orphans pressing, it is with all my heart I leave my solitude, for the toilsome task of begging.”[4]
Elizabeth Parker.
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (CAJ 1938 p93)
Mountain Pilgrim
Elizabeth Parker
1856–1944
A mountain climber she was not. But she co-founded the Alpine Club of Canada — in Winnipeg.
Middle-aged Winnipeg journalist Elizabeth Parker was surveyor Arthur Oliver Wheeler’s unlikely ally. The woman made his dream of creating a Canadian mountaineering club a reality, even though she admitted she only scaled peaks in her imagination.[1]
Elizabeth grew up far from the Rocky Mountains that would one day inspire her to become a conservationist. A Nova Scotia girl, she was born Elizabeth Fulton in Colchester County in 1856. After her mother died, her step mother raised her with a love of literature. Elizabeth attended normal school in Truro to become a teacher. She taught for a year before marrying Henry John Parker when she was eighteen.
The Parkers settled in Halifax, where Elizabeth took classes at Dalhousie University and got involved with literary groups. She gave birth to the couple’s three children before the family moved to Winnipeg in 1892. While John worked as a railway clerk, Elizabeth continued attending literary readings. She stumbled into a new career after storming into the office of Manitoba Free Press to complain that the paper wasn’t providing adequate coverage of literary events.
The editor challenged her to write her own reports. Elizabeth began writing weekly (then daily) columns on books and authors. She worked for the newspaper as a journalist for nearly forty years. Readers from around the world corresponded with the journalist who signed herself as “The Bookman, A.L.O.W.” (A Lady of Winnipeg), or “M.T.” (her mother’s initials). Elizabeth was also a social reformer and efficient organizer. She founded the Winnipeg Women’s Canadian Club and played a key role in establishing YWCAs. But her true calling was in the mountains.
Elizabeth first experienced the splendour of the Rockies on a train trip in the late 1880s. She returned for a visit in the 1890s, along with a growing number of American and European adventurers who’d discovered the thrill of climbing mountains and exploring the region. In 1904, Elizabeth, who was never in good health, went back to improve her condition in the fresh mountain air and soak in the renowned Banff Hot Springs. During her eighteen months in the mountains, Elizabeth made an attempt to scramble up Cascade Mountain with some friends, though she was not a mountain climber.
When she read about A.O. Wheeler’s idea to establish a Canadian chapter of the American Alpine Club, her patriotic fervour spurred her to write a scathing article. Wheeler had been trying to garner support for an all-Canadian organization for years. When Wheeler read the newspaper article by M.T., he contacted the Manitoba Free Press. He was surprised to discover the author was a woman.
Elizabeth and Wheeler joined forces to create a national alpine club that would encourage Canadians to discover the wonders of the mountain wilderness and make some of the first ascents of Canadian peaks. Elizabeth plunged into a campaign promoting the club, tirelessly writing articles and letters to influential Canadians. Wheeler acknowledged that her “cultured and forcible style of writing, her keen sense of vision and invariable accuracy of statement” led to their ultimate success.[2] In 1906, she organized the club’s first meeting in Winnipeg. The members included some of the most famous climbers, guides, and outfitters in Canada. The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) was formed on March 28, 1906, with A.O. Wheeler elected as president and Elizabeth Parker as secretary.
Elizabeth Parker (front row, fourth from left) at Alpine Club of Canada meeting in Winnipeg, 1906. Daughter Jean Parker stands behind her.
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (V14/ACOP-369)
Unlike its British counterpart, the ACC allowed women to join the organization. By 1907 there were 250 members, a third of whom were women; within a decade, half the members were female. With Elizabeth holding the pen, the new club established objectives of preservation, educating Canadians to appreciate their mountain heritage, promoting scientific study and exploration of Canada’s alpine and glacial regions, as well as encouraging artistic endeavours in the mountains. Elizabeth ensured that women were allowed to wear the same climbing clothing as men, rather than being restricted by conventional clothing for ladies. She also edited the club’s Canadian Alpine Journal, launched in 1907, writing many articles and imbuing the organization with her vision.
Elizabeth extolled the Canadian Rocky Mountains as a national asset, praising the spiritual and physical benefits of mountain climbing for both men and women — and to nation building. Elizabeth attended the first annual mountaineering camp in the Little Yoho Valley in the summer of 1906, when Canadians could use the services of the talented Swiss mountain guides for the first time.[3] Elizabeth housed the club’s library in her Winnipeg home in the early years, and co-authored the ACC guidebook with Wheeler in 1912.
Elizabeth Parker was a journalist, conservationist, and mountain pilgrim. Her enduring legacy is the Alpine Club of Canada, a national organization with over 10,000 members, providing opportunities for mountain adventures in Canada and abroad. Elizabeth continued to support the ACC throughout her life. The ACC named the Elizabeth Parker Hut, situated near the spectacular Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park, after her and noted: “As much as any single person, Elizabeth Parker was largely responsible for the formation of the Alpine Club of Canada, and this hut sits as a wonderful tribute to her efforts.”[4]
Quote:
“… the Alpine club is a national trust for the defence of our mountain solitudes against the intrusion of steam and electricity and all the vandalisms of this luxurious, utilitarian age; for the keeping free from the grind of commerce, the wooded passes and valleys and alplands of the wilderness.”[5]
Kathleen Parlow in St. Petersburg, circa 1905.
Library and Archives Canada/c2494
Lady of the Golden Bow[1]
Kathleen Parlow
1890–1963
Acclaimed as the world’s greatest woman violinist, she captivated audiences around the globe.
Kathleen Parlow was recognized as a prodigy at an early age. This remarkable musician performed with her famous Guarnerius violin on the major stages of the world. Playing from her enormous repertoire, she produced a big, pure tone that sounded as if she had a nine-foot bow.[2] According to renowned conductor and composer Sir Ernest MacMillan, “No Canadian performing artist enjoyed a more distinguished career.”[3]
Born in Fort Calgary, where her father worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company, she picked up the Cree language from her Native playmates before learning English. The little girl idolized her storytelling father, but Mrs. Parlow whisked the child out of the country when she discovered that her husband had been unfaithful and contracted tuberculosis. Despite his pleadings, Kathleen never saw her father again. He died of TB.
Kathleen was just four when she and her mother arrived in San Francisco. Her mother bought the young Kathleen a half-size violin. Her cousin, a professional musician who recognized her immen
se talent, was her first teacher. Kathleen played in her first concert at the age of six. She soon began taking lessons with the gifted violinist Henry Holmes, thanks to the generosity of a wealthy lady who attended the first performance. By the time she was fourteen, Kathleen was travelling to Europe to train for a career on the stage.
With financial support from their church and a patron, Kathleen and her mother arrived in England on January 1, 1905. The young violinist performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and gave a concert at Buckingham Palace for the Royal Family. Kathleen was determined to study with Leopold Auer in St. Petersburg, but needed money. She daringly approached Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner for Canada, for a loan. Fortunately, Lord Strathcona had attended one of Kathleen’s concerts and even told her that Canada was proud of her. He wrote Kathleen a generous cheque — and never accepted payment..
Though friends were aghast at Kathleen’s decision to study in Russia, she and her mother travelled there in 1906. The Canadian musician became the first foreign student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the only female in a class of forty-five. Auer remained her teacher, mentor, and adviser long after Kathleen completed her studies. Highlights of her training in Russia included the opportunity to work with the talented school director Alexander Glazunov, from whom she learned his “Concerto in A Minor.”
100 More Canadian Heroines Page 22