With great pride, Nobleton Women’s Institute is celebrating it’s centennial this year. Of the eight branches of WI’s in King Township, only Nobleton remains active. It was decided that this occasion be used as a means of honouring all those very active and dedicated women in King WI’s over the years. As well, we wanted to tell the story of Women’s Institutes to a generation of people whose only contact with WI was the British movie, Calendar Girls.

WI Branches in King (in York Centre District)

As I researched Women’s institutes in order to prepare materials for display and publication for the 100th anniversary, it occurred to me that many threads connected WI members and branches with other WI’s, communities, country and world. Threads stretched through time and across distances. Examples of this connectiveness will be shared in the stories and pictures in this publication as we try to show you what WI is and was in King Township.

But first, A Quick Guide to Women’s Institute Words and Phrases.

Adelaide Hunter Hoodless - a prominent Hamilton woman who pioneered the cause for women’s education and the visionary behind the formation of the Women’s Institute. She also helped establish the YWCA, VON and National Council of Women. Her birth place in St. George, ON, a national historic site, is owned and operated by FWIC.

Erland and Janet Lee - Erland, a member of the Farmer’s Institute heard Mrs Hoodless speak to his group in Stoney Creek. After this speech, Erland and Janet travelled through their township encouraging women to come out to a meeting to hear Mrs. Hoodless. At that meeting, the very first Women’s Institute in the world was organized. After discussion, the by-laws and constitution were drafted by Janet Lee at the dining room table which remains in the Lee Home, a museum run by Federated Women’s institutes of Ontario.

The phrase "For Home and Country," the Women's Institute's official motto, was created by Laura Rose who also designed the official badge in 1903 and proposed blue and gold as the official colours in 1904.

This is the name of the play which will be staged July 8-12 at The Country Day School Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are $10. Information is available at Nobleton Women’s institute website www.nobletonwi.zoomshare.com

By 1907, in just one decade, the Women's Institute organization had increased to 400 Branches. Instructors travelled to different parts of Ontario in 1913 to teach short courses in home economics to Women's Institute members, thereby bringing the education to rural women.

During the WWI, it was no surprise that war work became the focus of the Women's Institute Branches; they contributed to many activities, such as outfitting a hospital ship, financing field kitchens, supporting a motor ambulance and donating tons of canned goods, jams and knitted items. For the year ending May 1918, the WI had donated
approximately $850,000 in goods and cash to the Canadian Red Cross Society.

Women's Institute members were also involved in their local schools and School Board. They organized and provided meals, music instruction and health clinics for medical and dental check ups for children.

Local WI's provided milk to local school children During the Depression, Women's Institute members had a difficult time paying their fees and monthly collection. However, while membership fluctuated, there were 1,366 Branches and 43,000 members by the end of the 1930s.

FWIO's Central War Charities Fund raised just over one million dollars in 1940. Other Women's Institute war time projects included:
• knitting and sewing articles for the forces
• shipping homemade jam overseas
• supplying canning equipment to the WIs in England
• sending comfort boxes to Canadian service men
• Supported Victory Loan Campaign
• furnishing recreation rooms at Base Borden
• funding field kitchens
• sewing hundreds of quilts for the homeless in Britain and others in need.

On June 18, 1947, the 50th Anniversary of the Women's Institute was celebrated at the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) in Guelph. Three special trains and 185 chartered buses brought 12,000 members together at OAC. Members enjoyed a historical pageant entitled "Let There Be Light," which depicted the history of the movement. The play was funded and filmed by the Ontario Department of Agriculture. After 50 years of existence, the membership fee was still 25 cents. Information about the rest of the WI story is available on the FWIO website (fwio.on.ca)