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From the Pages of History Mrs. E. D. Smith, First WI. President The Smith family’s community activities stretched well beyond business and politics. Senator Smith, a proponent of women's education, encouraged his wife Christina to become an active participant in the emerging Women’s Institute. As a result, Mrs. Smith was to be elected its first Presi- dent, and many W.I. meetings were to be held at the Smith home. Her husband and others assisted Erland Lee, Secre- tary of the Farmer’s Institute, to draw up the Constitution. The Institute was an important development in the lives of rural women who learned through it to apply a measure of science to their daily needs. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, farmers rec- ognized the value of organizations where they could share and improve their knowledge of farming techniques, by learning from each other’s discoveries and mistakes. But the women, who also played an important role on the farm, making butter, caring for the hens. milking the cows as well as rearing a bevy of children had no such assistance and support. Education was limited, ignorance was widespread. It was as a result of ignorance that Adelaide Hoodless, the wife of a well established furniture company owner in Hamilton, lost a cherished baby. She had unwittingly fed her child contaminated milk and was distraught when she learned the reason for her child’s death. The frustration of knowing that her child could have been saved had she been better informed about child care and homemaking, launched Mrs. Hoodless on a vigorous cam- paign to improve the practical side of a women‘s education. An invitation from Erland Lee of the South Wentworth Farmers‘ Institute to address the Institute‘s Ladies‘ Night gave Mrs. Hoodless an opportunity to expound her philoso- phy. “The health ofyour wives and children, which you are neglecting, is far more important than that ofyour animals.” Mrs. Hoodless continued, “perhaps such an organization is more neCessary since women’s work, homecraft and mother- craft, is much more important than that of men since it concerns the home and the care of the loved ones who dwell therein." With the aid of Mr. Lee, a meeting of local women was organized in Stoney Creek. From that meeting on, the first Women‘s Institute grew from strength to strength. LUCKNOW WI, BRUCE SOUTH DISTRICT, purchased an Infant Mannequin for the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Unit, CPR Committee, Wingham and District Hospital. L-r â€" Grace Gibson, Presiden [Jean Whitby, Secretary Treasurer: Dr. J. C. dchim and Dr. D. Jolly, both Lucknow Daclnrs. 18 Mrs. E. D. Slnith was born Christina Armstrong, a fa,ng daughter from York Township In Ontario, she was a musl- tlve and retiring young lady. In 1836 she married E. DSmnh who originally studied to become an engineer. He had Iwn forced to give up his studies, as his eyesight was Injeopunly, He then put all his youthful energy into his fruit farm, um um nursery, then the food processing business, The Smith‘s had four children, and Christina was rm. disciplinarian, while her husband Was inclined more to- .mj leniency. In 1889 the Smith‘s moved down from the escarpr rm to live in the house anWH as the Homestead in the W .m area. The original structure dates back to 1831 and a w wing was added later. In 1911, they moved into Holder gh a grand post-Victorian structure near the present E. D. S 1h office. This home became a place where visiting salesmen. p pliers and other business men would go for lunch, win 1.. vited by Mr. Smith. Hearty meals were often prepare Mrs. Smith herself, using recipes she copied painstal; n into a black book she entitled, Mrs. E. D. Smith‘s ( .1, Book. Christina was fortunate to always ltaVe help in the h: , usually an English family that arrived complete with tr: .5 full of uniforms. Mr. Smith recruited workers in Eng J and gave greatest encouragement to those with large fami , Around the turn of the century E. D. Smith and Er :1 Lee formed a joint stock company and built a cream. rt Vinemount. Later the building was used as a spray plan -r the fruit industry. Large kettles were installed for the m r» facture of the sulphur mixture used then. In 1928, the Women's Institute was allowed to I d meetings in the building, they later bought and remodc d it. It is interesting to note that the E. D. Smith vine) 15 today supplies Canadian wineries. The only reason “E. ' did not become a winemaker was that Christina obje d on moral grounds. Since those pioneering days, the Women‘s Institutes l c never looked back and today are a worldwide organiza: a. thanks to the zeal of Mrs. Hoodless and Erland Lee and 2c organizational ability of people like Christina Smith. BETHESDA-REACH WI. ONTARIO NORTH DISTRI‘ T celebrated their 25th Anniversary. Some of the Char V Members seen in a happy frame of mind are L-r Molly 11" ' dle, Phyllis Asltenhursr, Fern Burnett, Jean Fugue, Ru i‘ Paradlrre, Dorothy Dable, Jean Ward, Jenn Jeffen’ U i Con'rme C‘raxall.