1. Charlotte Whitton was the first woman mayor of a major city in Canada, serving from 1951 to 1956 and again from 1960 to 1964.
23 Facts About Charlotte Whitton
1. 2.
Charlotte Whitton attended Queen's University where she was the star of the women's hockey team and was known as the fastest skater in the league.
3.
When Low lost his parliamentary seat, Charlotte Whitton then focused on her role as founding director of the Canadian Council on Child Welfare, and worked there until 1941.
4.
In 1934, Charlotte Whitton was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 1934 New Year Honours.
5.
Charlotte Whitton served on the League of Nations Social Questions Committee.
6.
Charlotte Whitton was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Queen's in 1941.
7.
Charlotte Whitton was a regular columnist in Ottawa's daily newspapers.
8.
Charlotte Whitton was elected to Ottawa's Board of Control in 1950, leading the city-wide polls, and started her term on January 1,1951.
9.
Charlotte Whitton is sometimes mistakenly credited as the first woman ever to serve as a mayor in Canada, but this distinction is in fact held by Barbara Hanley, who became mayor of the small Northern Ontario town of Webbwood in 1936.
10.
Charlotte Whitton was elected Ottawa mayor in the general municipal election in her own right in 1953, serving until 1956.
11.
Charlotte Whitton ran again for mayor of Ottawa in 1960, and was elected, serving until 1964, when she was defeated on her try for re-election.
12.
Charlotte Whitton dismissed Pearson's design as a 'white badge of surrender, waving three dying maple leaves' which might as well be 'three white feathers on a red background,' a symbol of cowardice.
13.
On October 23,1955, while mayor, Charlotte Whitton appeared on the Sunday evening American game show What's My Line.
14.
McIlraith held the riding from 1940 to 1968, and Charlotte Whitton's challenge was the closest he faced during that period.
15.
Charlotte Whitton was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1967.
16.
Charlotte Whitton ran for the position of city alderwoman in 1967, and was elected, serving until 1972.
17.
Charlotte Whitton had many remarkable achievements, but her story is framed by current controversy over some of her actions.
18.
Charlotte Whitton showed opposition to some of the other attendees' arguments.
19.
Charlotte Whitton was quite racist about the Ukrainians, for example.
20.
In opposition to the anti-Semite argument, Charlotte Whitton was well received by various Jewish organizations in her lifetime, including B'nai B'rith and various Jewish-centred publications.
21.
In 2011 Charlotte Whitton's name was kept off a new Archives Building in Ottawa due to this controversy.
22.
Charlotte Whitton never married, but lived for years in a Boston marriage living arrangement with Margaret Grier.
23.
Two biographies of Charlotte Whitton were published in 1987 and 2010.