Fonds - Iona Women's Institute fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Iona Women's Institute fonds

General material designation

    Parallel title

    Other title information

    Title statements of responsibility

    Title notes

    Level of description

    Fonds

    Reference code

    Edition area

    Edition statement

    Edition statement of responsibility

    Class of material specific details area

    Statement of scale (cartographic)

    Statement of projection (cartographic)

    Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

    Statement of scale (architectural)

    Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

    Dates of creation area

    Date(s)

    • 1915-1989 (Creation)

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    32 cm of textual records

    Publisher's series area

    Title proper of publisher's series

    Parallel titles of publisher's series

    Other title information of publisher's series

    Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

    Numbering within publisher's series

    Note on publisher's series

    Archival description area

    Name of creator

    Administrative history

    The Iona Women's Institute was formed in June 1909 and held its inaugural meeting at the Iona Community Hall, formerly in use as a Free Will Baptist Church. The first president was Mrs. D. Brown, Sr. of Shedden. Other charter members included Mrs. Mary McIntyre, Shedden; Mrs. Tena McPherson, later of St. Catharines; Mrs. Alice Henderson, Fingal; Mrs. W.C. Pearce, later of Exeter; Mrs. F.H. Silcox, Iona; and Miss Flossie Campbell, Shedden. In 1928 the Institute helped to remodel and partially financed the refurbishment of the Iona Community Hall. As a result of declining membership, the Iona Women's Institute voted to disband at a meeting held November 14, 1989. Executive officers in its final year included Mary Lumley, Past President; Catharine McAlpine, President; Ginny Barfitt, Vice-President; and Mary McAlpine, Secretary-Treasurer. The first Women’s Institute in Canada was established at Stoney Creek, Ontario by Mrs. Adelaide Hoodless on February 9, 1897. In 1904 the Ontario Department of Agriculture began funding seven full-time staff to help promote and organize Women’s Institutes in communities throughout the province. By 1913 institutes were established in all the provinces. In 1919 provincial representatives met in Winnipeg to form the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada (FWIC), a national organization that co-ordinates the activities of the provincial Women's Institutes. The FWIC’s national office was established in Ottawa in 1958. “The motto ‘For Home and Country’ reflects FWIC aims: to promote an appreciation of rural living, to develop informed citizens through the study of national and international issues (particularly those affecting women and children) and to initiate national programs to achieve common goals. Each provincial organization is represented on the board of directors, which meets annually; new executives are elected at triennial conventions. FWIC are constituent societies of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), the international organization of Women's Institutes and other organizations with common aims and objectives.” The Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) was founded in 1919 and soon began a process that resulted in the ‘Tweedsmuir Histories’ project. “In 1925, a special standing committee of the FWIO was formed known as the Committee for Historical Research and Current Events….By the mid-1930s, Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada, [1935-1940,] …suggested that Ontario Women's Institute Branches keep local history books as the WIs in England did, where she had been a devoted member. In 1940, a recently widowed Lady Tweedsmuir was delighted to approve that these histories should be named after her late husband, and so originated ‘The Tweedsmuir Village History Books.’ Because documenting local history was seen as a fitting project to mark the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the Women's Institute movement, a campaign was launched in 1945 encouraging every WI Branch in Ontario to prepare a history of their local community before the 1947 celebrations took place. This proved a popular project, and these local histories were officially named Tweedsmuir History Books in 1947….A great boost to these histories was the appointment of FWIO's first provincial Tweedsmuir History Curator in 1957, Mrs. R.C. Walker. By 1964 she reported that all levels of the organization had begun to take Tweedsmuir Books seriously, with well over 1,100 Branch histories recorded.”

    Custodial history

    Scope and content

    Fonds consists of administrative records of the Iona Women’s Institute, Iona, Ontario, including minute books and a newspaper article. The fonds has been arranged into the following series: 1. Minutes, 1915-1985 2. Historical information, 1959

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Arrangement

    Language of material

      Script of material

        Location of originals

        Availability of other formats

        Restrictions on access

        Open

        Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

        Associated materials

        Dutton Women’s Institute fonds Eden Women’s Institute fonds Lyons Women’s Institute fonds Rodney Women’s Institute fonds South Yarwouth Women’s Institute fonds Springfield Women’s Institute fonds

        Related materials

        Accruals

        General note

        Information included in the administrative history was taken from the fonds, from the article concerning the FWIC in the online edition of the Canadian Encyclopedia and from the FWIC and FWIO websites.

        Alternative identifier(s)

        Standard number

        Standard number

        Access points

        Subject access points

        Genre access points

        Control area

        Description record identifier

        Institution identifier

        Rules or conventions

        Status

        Level of detail

        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        Language of description

          Script of description

            Sources

            Accession area