Background
Nellie Letitia McClung was born on October 20, 1873, near Chatsworth, Ontario.
(Clearing the West is the first of McClung's two autobiogr...)
Clearing the West is the first of McClung's two autobiographical works. In it, she examines her life from birth to age twenty-three, recounting the events and influences that shaped her political and personal future, including her first years in school--both as a student and later a teacher--her early passion for writing, and her burgeoning interest in social reform. It was this interest that led to McClung's first political involvement with the Women's Christian Temperance Movement, the organization that spearheaded the women's right to vote effort in Canada.
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( Although her name today is synonymous with the womens s...)
Although her name today is synonymous with the womens suffrage movement in Canada, Nellie McClungs long and varied career covered several fieldsfrom social activist to elected politician, from novelist to journalist. McClung was instrumental in Canadian women gaining the right to vote before their British and American counterparts2016 marks the one-hundred-year anniversary of womens suffrage in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewanand in women being recognized as persons eligible to sit in the Senate. McClung was a household name by the time she was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1921, a post she held for five years. When she settled on Vancouver Island in 1932, McClung was a highly esteemed public figure who had not only changed Canadas political landscape and influenced womens rights worldwide but had also raised five children and written a dozen best-selling books. From her beloved Island home, Lantern Lane, McClung continued to speak out against social injustice and inequality. In the late 1930s, she began to write a syndicated weekly newspaper column that served as social commentary for the years leading up to World War II. The Valiant Nellie McClung highlights a selection of those columnscovering themes as grave as war, as fundamental as the strength of the family unit, and as whimsical as the pleasure of gardeningand offers a unique reflection of our countrys history and an uncanny resonance today.
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Feminist politician social activist author
Nellie Letitia McClung was born on October 20, 1873, near Chatsworth, Ontario.
Nellie was ten before this pioneer district had a school, but at 16 she received a teaching certificate.
She was an innovative teacher in Hazel, Manitou, and Treherne before marrying Robert Wesley McClung in 1896. In Manitou, where Wesley was a druggist, Nellie became active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, a progressive organization which in western Canada supported votes for women as well as prohibition. In 1908 Doubleday published the first of her five novels, Sowing Seeds in Danny, a witty portrayal of a small western town also serialized in the Woman's Home Companion. In Canada it quickly became a best seller. McClung was soon well known as an author of short stories and articles in Canadian and American magazines and was a popular speaker in demand throughout the West.
In 1911 the McClungs moved to Winnipeg, the booming provincial capital. Here a vigorous women's rights and reform movement appreciated Nellie's capacity to win audiences with humorous arguments and to debate effectively with hecklers. The Conservative government of Manitoba under Premier Sir Rodmond Roblin repeatedly refused to consider women's suffrage or prohibition; therefore, McClung took a leading role in the 1914 political campaign in which the Liberal Party advocated these and many other reforms. In a hilarious stage presentation of a women's parliament approached by a delegation of men seeking the vote, McClung's devastating mimicry of the pompous Roblin was credited with opening the eyes of many to the absurdity of the arguments against women's suffrage. During the campaign her much-quoted speeches made her the target of bitter attack in the Conservative press.
By this time McClung's speaking tours had covered most of Canada, and in 1917 and 1918 she had also toured extensively in the United States for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her popular appeal was as strong in the United States as it was at home. In 1921 she was a delegate and challenging speaker to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference in London, England, and made a speaking tour through England and Scotland. The same year McClung won election as a Liberal member of the Provincial Legislature of Alberta. Although sitting as an opposition (minority party) member, she staunchly supported any reform legislation introduced by the government. Defeated in 1926, she did not run again for political office.
In 1933 the McClungs moved to Lantern Lane, a country home near Victoria, British Columbia. Here Nellie completed a two-volume autobiography: Clearing in the West (1935), a graphic portrayal of Manitoba pioneer life, and The Stream Runs Fast (1945), a less effective account of her political activities and writing career. She continued to write short stories and a popular syndicated column. Many of her shorter works were published as collections. In all she published 16 books. In addition to her writing she continued an active life in the Canadian Authors' Association, as the only woman on the first board of governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as a delegate to the League of Nations in 1938, and as a public lecturer. During the last ten years of her life poor health severely limited her activities, but she still welcomed many visitors and kept in close touch with world affairs through radio, books, and magazines. She died on September 1, 1951.
( Although her name today is synonymous with the womens s...)
(Clearing the West is the first of McClung's two autobiogr...)
She campaigned for the Liberal party on the issue of the vote for women. She helped organize the Women's Political Equality League, a group devoted to women's suffrage.
Nellie Letitia McClung married Robert Wesley McClung in 1896.