The Clear Spirit

The Canadian Federation of University Women have undertaken as their Centennial project a biographical account of twenty noteworthy women. From a large number of vigorous and accomplished candidates a selection was made from various historical periods, from various regions of Canada, and from the various activities in which women have engaged. Each was to have significance in the development of Canadian society. It was also the wish of the C.F.U.W. that the essays should be based on original research and be written in a lively and readable style by women authors who are contributors to literary activities in Canada today.

The book begins with the early pioneers of Canada in their several areas of settlement: Madame de la Tour, Mère Marie de l'Incarnation, Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill. It includes Pauline Johnson, Laure Conan, L.M. Montgomery, Emily Carr, and Mazo de la Roche who over the years helped to establish women as professional contributors to literature and art. It has members of that honourable company of women with a cause: Adelaide Hoodless, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, and Margaret McWilliams. It brings together a number who were among the first to enter fields traditionally regarded as for men: Cora Hind, Agnes Macphail, Maude Abbott, Alice Wilson. Bibliographical references for these and other Canadian women are included.

The writers are Ethel Bennett, Marie-Emmanuel Chabot, Clara Thomas, Elizabeth Loosley, Micheline Dumont-Johnson, Elizabeth Waterston, Ruth Howes, Kennethe Haig, Eleanor Harman, Doris French, Flora Burns, Jessie Scriver, Anne Montagnes, Dorothy Livesay, and Betty Jane Wylie: they too represent various parts of Canada.

With its vivid pictures of people and society this book will have a wide and popular appeal: all those who are interested in Canadian biography will enjoy it, and younger readers particularly will find much to admire in the lives of these women.