| Abbreviation | FWIO |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 19, 1897 |
| Founder | Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Janet Lee Erland Lee |
| Founded at | Stoney Creek, Ontario Canada |
| Legal status | active |
| Purpose | education, advocacy, history preservation |
| Headquarters | Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada |
| Location |
|
Region served | Ontario |
Membership | 1,600 members |
President | Michelle Phillippi |
| Affiliations | Federated Women's Institutes of Canada, Associated Country Women of the World |
Staff | Executive Director - Kristina Santone, Museum Collection Manager - Adam Foreman |
| Website | fwio.on.ca |
The Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) is a not-for-profit charitable organization with affiliations around the world, working with and for women in Ontario. [1]
The FWIO was organized on February 6, 1919, when it became apparent there was a need for the coordination of the work of the Branch Institutes. The FWIO was incorporated under The Agricultural Associations Act by an order-in-Council of the Government of Ontario, dated May 11, 1921. Through the provincial organization, the Women's Institutes of Ontario are able to speak with authority as one voice. [2]
In 1897, Adelaide Hoodless was invited by Erland Lee to speak at a Farmers' Institute Ladies Night in Stoney Creek, Ontario where she suggested the formation of an organization for rural women. The next week, on February 19, 1897, the first formal organization of a Women's Institute took place in Saltfleet Township. [3] The original Branch is now known as the Stoney Creek Charter Women's Institute, by Ontario Regulation 352/78. [4]
The Branch is the basic building block from which the Women's Institute has grown since its inception in 1897. In Ontario, Members belong to a network that connects Branches to Districts and Areas, as well as to the provincial (FWIO), national (Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada) and international (Associated Country Women of the World) levels of the organization. [5]
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the first speaker in 1897. It was based on the British concept of Women's Guilds, created by Rev Archibald Charteris in 1887 and originally confined to the Church of Scotland. From Canada the organization spread back to the motherland, throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth, and thence to other countries. Many WIs belong to the Associated Country Women of the World organization.
Adelaide Sophia Hoodless was a Canadian educational reformer who founded the international women's organization known as the Women's Institute. She was the second president of the Hamilton, Ontario Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), holding the position from 1890 to 1902. She maintained important ties to the business community of Hamilton and achieved great political and public attention through her work.
Nerene Virgin was a Canadian journalist, actress, educator, author and television host, best known for her role on the children's television series Today's Special.
The Federated Women's Institutes of Canada is an umbrella organization for Women's Institutes in Canada.
Stoney Creek is a community in the city of Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was officially a city from 1984 to 2001, when it was amalgamated with the rest of the cities of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth.
Ernest D'Israeli Smith was a Canadian businessman and politician who founded a food company that bears his name.
Neil James Lumsden is a Canadian politician and retired professional football player. Lumsden was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election, and was subsequently appointed as the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport in June 2022.
Plainfield, Ontario is a small rural community in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in Hastings County 10 miles north of Belleville.
Higher education in Canada includes provincial, territorial, indigenous and military higher education systems. The ideal objective of Canadian higher education is to offer every Canadian the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to realize their utmost potential. It aspires to cultivate a world-class workforce, enhance the employment rate of Canadians, and safeguard Canada's enduring prosperity. Higher education programs are intricately designed with the perspective of the learner in focus, striving to mitigate risks and assure definite outcomes.
Erland Lee was a Canadian farmer, teacher, and government employee from Stoney Creek, Ontario. He was a co-founder of the Women's Institutes, an international organization originally formed to promote the education of isolated rural women.
Janet Robertson (Chisholm) Lee (1862–1940) was an important figure in the Niagara Region of Canada, best known for her role in the formation of the Women's Institutes in 1897, and for pioneering the Kindergarten program in Hamilton, Ontario.
The Erland Lee (Museum) Home is a National Historic Site of Canada located on the ridge of the Niagara Escarpment in Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Ontario. Originally a farmhouse belonging to Erland and Janet Lee, the museum is recognized as the birthplace of the first Women's Institute, an international organization formed in 1897 to promote the education of isolated rural women.
The Ontario Women's Hockey League U22 Elite (OWHL), formerly the Provincial Women's Hockey League, is a women's junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is considered to be the highest level of amateur women's ice hockey in Ontario, and is sanctioned by Hockey Canada and the Ontario Women's Hockey Association.
Laura Michele Fortino is an Italian-Canadian ice hockey defenceman and coach, currently playing in the Italian Hockey League Women (IHLW) with the EV Bozen Eagles. A former member of the Canadian national team, she won two Olympic medals and six World Championship medals during 2011 to 2019.
Erland is a Nordic male given name with several possible origins. It is typically believed to come from the Old Norse erlendr or ørlendr, meaning foreigner. Other possible origins are jarl and the Proto-Norse words *harja (here) and *arja. The name is earliest attested in a Norwegian runestone as arlantr. Notable people with the name include:
Margaret Robertson Watt was a Canadian writer, editor and activist. She was a woman of great energy and drive who believed strongly in the power exerted by women working together. She is known to members of Women's Institutes in the United Kingdom for introducing the concepts and practices of the Canadian Women's Institute movement to Britain in 1914. She is remembered internationally as one of the founding members of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) in 1933.
The 2014 Esso Cup was Canada's sixth annual national women's midget hockey championship, which was held April 20–26, 2014 at Hamilton, Ontario. The Weyburn Gold Wings of Saskatchewan defeated the Edmonton Thunder of Alberta to win the gold medal. With the second-place finish, the Thunder continued their streak by taking home a medal for the fifth consecutive year.
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