Women | CAN-MB | Manitoba

1880s

Mary MacLane (01 may 1881 – 06 aug 1929 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Chicago IL) Canadian-American memoirist, confessional / autobiographical novelist

Kate Dixon Fick Jeancon (05 jun 1884 – unknown | Winnipeg, Manitoba – San Diego CA) official court reporter, first female court reporter in Winnipeg, Vancouver, and San Diego Superior Courts

Lila Bell Acheson Wallace (25 dec 1889 – 08 may 1984 | Virden, Manitoba – Mount Kisco NY) editor, publisher, philanthropist, Reader’s Digest co-founder


1890s

Elsie Whitaker Martinez (01 mar 1890 – 31 jan 1984 | Manitoba, Canada – San Francisco CA) artist, artists’ muse / model, oral history storyteller, aka The Blessed Damozel, active member of Northern California’s Bohemian community

Grace Anne Stewart (04 aug 1893 – 15 oct 1970 | Minnedosa, Manitoba – Tucson AZ) author, geologist, academic, first Canadian female geology graduate, focus on Paleozoic fauna of Ohio


1900s

Grace Winona Woodsworth MacInnis (25 jul 1905 – 10 jul 1991 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Sechelt, Manitoba) politician, active in consumer rights, women’s equality, and low-income housing

Ann Alexandra Harbuz (25 jul 1908 -29 apr 1989 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – North Battleford, Saskatchewan) self-taught artist, Canadian prairie folk artist

Gabrielle Roy (22 mar 1909 – 13 jul 1983 | Saint Boniface, Manitoba – Quebec City, Quebec) author, teacher, autobiographer, born Marie-Rose-Emma-Gabrielle Carbotte

Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay (12 oct 1909 – 29 dec 1996 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Victoria, British Columbia) poet


1910s

Janet Williams Cochrane (01 mar 1912 – 06 dec 1994 | Fisher Bay, Manitoba – Winnipeg, Manitoba) social / community activist, co-founded Indian and Métis Friendship Centre and First Nation Senior’s Housing Complex

Miriam Waddington (23 dec 1917 – 03 mar 2004 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Vancouver, British Columbia) Canadian poet, translator, short story writer

Zara Nelsova (23 dec 1918 – 10 oct 2002 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – New York NY) Canadian cellist, mast teacher, born Sara Nelson or Katznelson


1920s

Gudrun Bjerring Parker (16 mar 1920 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) writer, producer, filmmaker, Order of Canada laureate

Jean Margaret Wemyss Laurence (18 jul 1926 – 05 jan 1987 | Neepawa, Manitoba – Lakefield, Ontario) novelist, journalist, short story writer

Jean Forest (24 jul 1926 – Minitonas, Manitoba) educator, social activist, religious author, retired Canadian Senator

Sylvia Knelman Ostry (03 jun 1927 – 07 may 2020 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Toronto, Ontario) author, economist, public servant

Adele Wiseman (21 may 1928 – 01 jun 1992 | Winnipeg, Manitoba – Toronto, Ontario) novelist, essayist, playwright, children’s writer, nonfiction author 1930s Cynthia Scott (01 jan 1939 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) documentary film writer / editor / director, created ‘Strangers in Good Company’: National Film Board of Canada’s highest-grossing NFB produced film


1930s

Beryl Fox (10 dec 1931 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) film producer, documentary film director

Geills McCrae Kilgour Turner (23 dec 1937 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) photographer, political family member, wife of former Canadian Prime Minister


1940s

Shirley Render (01 apr 1943 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) author, teacher, lecturer, politician, magazine editor, aviation historian

Diana Lindsay (14 jul 1944 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) author, publisher, photographer, founder / president of independent publishing house Sunbelt Publications

Margaret Buffie (29 mar 1945 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) novelist, children’s author

Marilyn Bowering (13 apr 1949 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) poet, novelist, playwright

Carol Matas (14 nov 1949 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) author, creative writing professor, children’s / young adult writer


1950s

Belinda Montgomery (23 jul 1950 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) writer, painter, actress

Paulette Bourgeois (20 jul 1951 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) journalist, screenwriter, psychiatric occupational therapist, children’s book novelist / nonfiction author

Marilou McPhedran (22 jul 1951 – Manitoba, Canada) lawyer, human rights activist, women’s rights advocate, member Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

Constance Barbara Backhouse (19 feb 1952 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) author, biographer, legal scholar / historian

Sally Davies (26 jul 1956 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) painter, photographer

Loreen Isabel Irene McKennitt (17 feb 1957 – Morden, Manitoba) harpist, pianist, musician, composer, producer, accordionist, dramatic soprano singer-songwriter

Neile Graham (08 oct 1958 – Winnipeg, Manitoba) poet, scholar