Women | CAN-NS | Nova Scotia

1850s

Elizabeth Parker (19 dec 1856 – 26 oct 1944 | Colchester County, Nova Scotia – Winnipeg, Manitoba) journalist, feminist, Alpine Club of Canada co-founder


1860s

Margaret Marshall Saunders (13 may 1861 – 15 feb 1947 | Milton, Nova Scotia – Toronto, Ontario) lecturer, romance novelist, children’s author, animal rights advocate 

Fannie Fern Phillips Andrews (25 sep 1867 – 24 jan 1950 | Margaretsville, Nova Scotia – Somerville MA) writer, teacher, lecturer, social activist, Peace League founder, peace education advocate


1870s

Sara Corning (16 mar 1872 – 05 may 1969 | Chegoggin, Nova Scotia – Yarmouth, Nova Scotia) nurse, humanitarian, WWI Red Cross nurse, saved wartime orphans, founded orphanage on Island of Syros

Jemima [Mina] MacKenzie (18 aug 1872 – 27 jan 1957 | Waterside, Nova Scotia – Nova Scotia, Canada) humanitarian, medical missionary to India, founded Broadwell Christian Hospital, adopted 44 children [22 reached adulthood]

Christie MacDonald (28 feb 1875 – 25 jul 1962 | Pictou, Nova Scotia – Fairfield CT) Canadian-American opera singer, musical comedy actress


1880s

Marguerite Ogden Bigelow Wilkinson (15 nov 1883 – 12 jan 1928 | Halifax, Nova Scotia – New York NY) Canadian-born American poet


1890s

Helen Creighton (05 sep 1899 – 12 dec 1989 | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) Canadian author, Nova Scotia folklorist


1900s


1910s

Viola Irene Desmond (06 jul 1914 – 07 feb 1965 | Halifax, Nova Scotia – New York NY) beautician, businesswoman, civil rights activist / anti-segregationist,  granted first free posthumous pardon by Canadian government, first woman to be featured on Canadian bank note [2016]


1920s

Ruth Miriam Schwartz Goldbloom (05 dec 1923 – 29 aug 2012 | New Waterford, Nova Scotia – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia) Jewish-Canadian, philanthropist, Pier 21 Museum co-founder / administrator


1930s

Rita Joe (15 mar 1932 – 20 mar 2007 | Whycocomagh Reserve, Nova Scotia – Sydney, Nova Scotia) poet, author, songwriter, ambassador, aka Poet Laureate of Mi’kmaq, autobiographical writer

Isabel Bassett (23 aug 1939 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) broadcaster, former politician, pioneer in Canadian broadcasting


1940s

Pamela [Jane] Barry (10 jul 1943 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) chemist, politician, community activist

Joan Fraser (12 oct 1944 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) former journalist, Canadian Senator

Anna Mae Pictou Aquash (27 mar 1945 – 24 feb 1975 | Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia – Pine Ridge Reservation SD) Canadian Mi’kmaq, American Indian Movement (AIM) activist, unsolved murder victim found after demonstration at Wounded Knee

Maryann Elizabeth Francis (18 feb 1946 – Sydney, Nova Scotia) civil servant, Canadian, former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, former CEO / director of Nova Scotian Human Rights Commission, first Canadian female provincial ombudsman

Cayle Chernin (03 dec 1947 – 18 feb 2011 | Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – Toronto, Ontario) Canadian writer, actress, producer, aka Lorraine Sinclair


1950s

Wanda Thomas Bernard (01 aug 1953 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) social worker, academic, anti-oppression and diversity researcher, first Black Canadian tenured professor  at Dalhousie University, first black Nova Scotia woman in Canadian Senate Chamber

Barbara Fris (10 may 1956 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) actress, opera singer, soprano recitalist, concert artist

Shelley Morten (24 nov 1959 – Halifax, Nova Scotia) former wrestler, current wrestling coach, documentary film director and producer