34 Facts About Nellie McClung

Nellie Letitia McClung was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists.

Nellie McClung began her career in writing with the 1908 book Sowing Seeds in Danny, and would eventually publish sixteen books, including two autobiographies.

Nellie McClung played a leading role in the women's suffrage movement in Canada, helping to grant women the vote in Alberta and Manitoba in 1916.

Nellie McClung was the first woman appointed to the board of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1936.

Nellie McClung served as a delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in 1938.

Nellie McClung's father had acquired 60 hectares of property in Chatsworth, but the soil was not of good quality and the family struggled to make ends meet.

In 1880, when Nellie McClung was seven, they moved to the Souris River valley, two hundred kilometers west of Winnipeg.

Nellie McClung graduated from the Manitoba Normal School when she was sixteen.

Nellie McClung was captivated by Mrs Annie E McClung, a suffragist and provincial president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Nellie stated that Mrs McClung was the only woman she had met that she would like as a mother-in-law.

Nellie McClung was involved in many local organizations, including the WCTU, the Methodist Ladies' Aid, the Epworth League, and the Home Economics Association.

The Nellie McClung family faced financial difficulties starting in 1905 when Wesley sold his pharmacy business.

Nellie McClung published her first novel, Sowing Seeds in Danny, in 1908.

Nellie McClung's speaking engagements were well received, with the Hamilton Herald reporting that she "took her audiences by storm".

Nellie McClung would go on to write three more books throughout the 1910s, including In Times Like These, which has been regarded as an important statement of first-wave feminism.

Nellie McClung had the role of Roblin, and repeated many of the arguments that the Premier had made the day before:.

Nellie McClung campaigned for the Manitoba Liberal Party in both the 1914 and 1915 general elections.

Nellie McClung was one of two women who were elected, the other being Irene Parlby, a member of the United Farmers.

Nellie McClung often broke ranks with the Liberal Party to support the more socially progressive United Farmers' legislation, working with Parlby on resolutions that benefitted women.

Nellie McClung ran for office again in the 1926 general election for the constituency of Calgary, but lost by 60 votes.

Nellie McClung was one of five women, along with Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy, and Louise McKinney, who put forward a petition in 1927 to clarify the term "persons" in the British North America Act 1867, and determine the eligibility of women to serve in the Senate of Canada.

Nellie McClung was appointed to the board of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1936 by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, the first woman to serve on its board.

Nellie McClung felt that the League was "bogged down by purposeless disputation and empty speeches", and that many delegates cared more about getting credit than working towards a meaningful goal.

Nellie McClung moved to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1933, where she lived for the remainder of her life.

Nellie McClung's health deteriorated throughout the late 1930s, and she suffered a heart attack in 1940 while attending a CBC board meeting in Ottawa, which made it difficult to travel.

Nellie McClung continued contributing to the board through correspondence until her resignation in 1942.

Nellie McClung published the second volume of her autobiography, The Stream Runs Fast, in 1945.

Nellie McClung died on 1 September 1951, at age 77, and was interred at the Royal Oak Burying Park.

Nellie McClung, like other members of the Famous Five, was a maternal feminist.

Nellie McClung viewed women as "morally superior" to men and did not feel that traditional gender roles should be changed.

Nellie McClung was an advocate for the eugenics movement in Alberta.

In 1954, Nellie McClung was named a Person of National Historic Significance by the government of Canada.

Two other houses in which Nellie McClung lived were relocated to the Archibald Museum near La Riviere, Manitoba in the Rural Municipality of Pembina, before being moved back to Manitou in 2017 following the museum's closure.

The Nellie McClung family residence in Winnipeg is a historic site.