LE3 .A278 2008

2008

Poulter, Gillian

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

History

History & Classics

This thesis examines the Grand Pre and North Grand Pre Women's Institutes, an organization originally founded in Ontario in 1897 to help provide education for rural women. Scholarship on Women's Institutes has largely neglected a close examination of individual branches, instead focusing on broader topics such as popularity of the organization provincially and nationally. Since this is an archival thesis, archival material has been used in order to gain a better understanding of how the Women's Institutes operated at the local level. In this case minute, the material was minute books from the Grand Pre Women's Institutes. These minute books have been organized, preserved and archived for the Esther Clark Archives at Acadia University, and a finding aid, identical to the one used by the Archives has been included as Appendix 1. The minute books have been the main primary source used for the actual thesis. Ranging in date from 1913 to 1999, the books provide important information on the monthly meeting of the Institute, such as projects the organization undertook, and causes and campaigns the organization contributed to. These reveal that the Grand Pre Institutes were able to contribute to local, provincial and national initiatives, while providing membership the opportunity to improve their education and personal development, build lasting friendships, and contribute to a variety of charities, campaigns, and causes throughout the eighty-six years the Institute has been in operation.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3671