
Think you know history?
Published Friday August 15th, 2008


Here are the answers to this week's questions, found on page 2 of This Week.
Questions and answers are supplied by the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women, from their 2002 publication, 'Celebrating Achievers: A Quiz on New Brunswick Women's History'.
16. In 1948, Edna Steel became the first woman elected to a municipal office when she was elected to the Saint John City Council.
She served as city councillor and deputy mayor until 1950. Commenting on Edna's election in 1948, a local wit remarked: "Saint John is not only built on solid rock, but its City Council is re-enforced with Steel."
Edna was also the first woman elected to the city's Board of School Trustees, serving as a member from 1938 to 1957.
17. Irene Bernard, born in Tobique in 1901, became the first woman elected to an Indian Band Council in New Brunswick in 1951.
Irene served from 1951 to 1953 on the band council of the Tobique Reserve.
18. Marion Upton, a life-long resident of the coal-mining town of Minto, became New Brunswick's first female mayor in 1967. She defeated her male opponent by a vote of 528 to 364.
An office manager who had been out working for pay for nearly 50 years, she noted that "there was only one candidate and I didn't feel anyone should go in by acclamation."
She felt "it might be an incentive for other women to go out in the municipal field" and hoped that she wouldn't be the last female mayor in the province.
19. Agnes Sanipass was elected chief of the Bouctouche Band in 1967. She remained Chief until 1981.
20. In 1978, Gail Walsh, a social worker from Dalhousie, became the first female president of a political party in New Brunswick when she was elected President of the New Democratic Party.
* The complete document is available online at www.acswcccf.nb.ca.




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