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Women's Institutes. 



[JUNE, 



Canada is the birthplace of Women's Institutes. Twenty- two 

 years ago, a little group of countrywomen in Ontario met 

 to discuss the question of lightening the 



The Progress of loneliness of their lot on the remote 

 Women's Institutes, farmsteads. They thought that something 

 could be done to make life better and 

 brighter both for themselves and their children. They met 

 at each other's houses at fixed intervals, not only for social 

 entertainment but also for devising means to secure the 

 various improvements their homes and the district required. 

 Thus the Women's Institute came into being. 



Very soon the homes and the farms showed what changes 

 could be accomplished through the efforts of an organised 

 band of intelligent women. This example inspired other women, 

 and before long the institute movement had spread through 

 Canada, and thence into the United States. In 1915, it reached 

 Great Britain, by way of Wales, where, in vSeptem^ber of that 

 year, at Llanfairpwll, Mrs. Watt, a British Colum.bian, started 

 the first ^^^omen's Institute in Great Britain. Two months 

 later, the first English Institute was formed by Mrs. Watt 

 at Wallisdown, East Dorset. The number of Institutes there- 

 after rose rapidly, and by April, 1919, there were 885 Women's 

 Institutes in England and Wales. The number has now risen 

 to over 1,600, and will certainly increase, for these centres 

 of industry and recreation are imparting to village life much 

 of the stimulus needed. Towards the close of 1917, the 

 Ministry undertook the propaganda of the movement, and 

 placed the organisation under the control of the Women's 

 Branch of the Food Production Department. In October 

 last, however, the Ministry relinquished control of the movement, 

 and the whole propaganda and Headquarters work of the 

 Institutes is now conducted by the National Federation of 

 Vv'omen's Institutes through an Executive Committee selected 

 by the Institutes themselves. 



A Women's Institute is a democratic body. The Committee, 

 elected by the members, is representative of aU the women 

 in the village who join the Institute. Through the Institute, 

 women in rural districts can demonstrate that life in a village 

 can be at least as attractive and interesting as life in a busy 

 to\^Ti or city. Local Authorities have more than once recog- 

 nised the important part performed by Institutes in rural 

 development by consulting them as to the type of house best 

 suited to the district. 



During the War, Women's Institutes mainly concerned 

 themselves* with the production, preservation and economy 



