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SAVOIR FAIRE
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 Photo taken in 1925 at High Park in Toronto by M.O. Hammond. |
In recognition of Women’s History Month, it was only fitting that Dr. Sharon Anne Cook was the speaker for the National Library of Canada’s October SAVOIR FAIRE presentation. Using her most recent book, Framing Our Past: Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century, which she co-edited with Lorna R. McLean and Kate O’Rourke, Dr. Cook described to her large audience how sources other than textual documents are being consulted in the writing of women’s history. These rich sources include photographs, posters, oral testimonies, letters, diary accounts, poetry, advertisements, as well as quilts, dressmaking patterns, milliners’ records and sample costumes.
Dr. Cook, who completed a Ph.D. in History in 1990, is currently a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Along with teaching the history of education, pedagogy of history and courses in women and education, she has published articles on these subjects, and on other related fields, such as women and religious movements and the history of the anti-tobacco movement in Canada.
In her illustrated talk, Dr. Cook discussed the importance of personally-held or private archives in the understanding of women’s past in Canada - according to Dr. Cook, these are very under-rated sources of information. She then discussed the kinds of sources used in the creation of her book, and how these characterized women’s history. She finished by showing examples of the different resources that were used and explaining the special significance or meaning that these provided to the editors and the contributors.
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The editors of Framing Our Past solicited papers over a five-year period through scholarly and community journals, at conferences and on Web sites. As they expected, many contributions were derived from conventional resources found in public archives and museums. They were pleasantly surprised, however, at the response from ordinary Canadian citizens using private resources. Submissions were varied and were based on sources as diverse as letters, photographs, sketches and patterns of wedding dresses and milliners’ records, to name a few. The image that often emerged from these papers was of the quilt or the activities surrounding the quilting frame, hence, the title of the book. "We imagined the overarching significance of women’s culture to be rather like the piece-work quilts on which countless Canadian women have laboured in this century and before, as they combined their well-honed practicality with artistic skills within a community of sharing." This great range of resources helped shape the book’s structure and added insights into certain aspects of women’s lives in Canadian society that might not be found in textual records alone.
Many of the contributors had never authored papers before, and so this project provided them with a unique opportunity to write about a woman or group that was close to their hearts. Marjorie Levan, for example, wrote movingly about her mother, Missionary Mildred Armstrong.
During her presentation, Dr. Cook explained that Framing Our Past is not a complete account of women’s history in the 20th century. Regretfully, there are certain subject areas or issues that are either not well represented or not covered in the book, including the history of working-class women, lesbian women, women of colour involved in community activism and recent issues like women’s sexuality, racism and violence against women.
The majority of the articles and images included in the book fall into the first half of the 20th century, and while some of the women featured in the book are well-known historical figures, others are not. The numerous articles have been sorted into six subject areas which illustrate the wide ranging influence women have had on the development of Canadian society: "Living Women’s Lives," "Family and the Home," "Teaching and Learning," "Women’s Activism and the State," "Health Care and Science" and "Earning Their Bread."
Over 200 images are highlighted in Framing Our Past, and some are grouped together into what the editors refer to as "visual vignettes." According to Dr. Cook, "One of the principles which came to underpin the book is that images add another dimension to our understanding, particularly with groups traditionally marginalized through the printed word. Images are too often under-utilized as archival sources, commonly relegated to illustrating a textual point."
Using a series of slides, Dr. Cook presented riveting examples from her book. Images of field hockey, basketball, and cycling teams, as well as women curling or race-walking, illustrated that team sport was an important element in women’s lives - a point that perhaps is not often in evidence in textual records. A woman fishing shows how women used their leisure time in an "unlikely" fashion. Dr. Cook explained that an image of a tea party, showing the position of the various women in relation to the "pourer," spoke to the importance of rituals and "rules of engagement." The professions that many women entered reflected their commitment to the welfare of children. Women were involved in house construction, nursing and war work. Evocative images of women caring for their children were shown - powerful images, preserved for posterity.
Framing Our Past: Canadian Women in the Twentieth Century is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press (c2001, ISBN 0773521720). It can be borrowed on interlibrary loan from the National Library of Canada by arrangement with your local library, quoting the AMICUS number 24456384.
SAVOIR FAIRE is a monthly series given by researchers and staff of the National Library of Canada. Open to the general public, free of charge, the presentations highlight the richness of the Library’s collections.
