AUGUST 31,1994 47 CENTS (PIUS 3 CENTS G.S.T.) Lady Tweedsmuir's interest in local history & WIs MACLENNAN - Prior to coming to Canada, Lady Tweedsmuir had been a member of the Women's Institutes of England. She had taken a keen interest in the village histories. Soon after her arrival in Canada, she took a keen interest in the branches near Ottawa. In a short time she realized that there was a real lack of the history of the past locally and began to urge her WI branch to start to gather up items of its past and collect them in a substantial kind of book to be preserved for future generations. The idea took root, but without any guidelines each branch of the WI thought about the idea but did little toward the project. When Lord Tweedsmuir's tenure as Governor-General ended, the Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) presented the couple with modern equipment (electrical where possible) for a modern kitchen in England. The suggestion of village histories was adopted by the FWIC and named the Tweedsmuir Histories. Lady Tweedsmuir brought to Canadian Women's Institutes her interest in village history The idea was passed down from FWIC to the branches throughout Canada and each of the provincial Women's Institutes took up the challenge and passed it along to the individual branches. But the branches had a problem. They needed some guidance. In Ontario this was supplied by the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario (FW10) with a manual for compiling Tweedsmuir Histories. The rules were very strict. Grand and Toy was the firm from which to purchase the proper black book which would have the name of the ' branch, district and area inscribed on the front cover. The paper would be of bond I quality, with holes for installing on the posts and the book could be locked with a key to prevent anyone front taking the pages. It didn't seem to occur to the committee that pages could be ripped out. The book was to be divided into sections. Part 1 was Historical Records of the Branch; Community; Farm; Village. Part II was Church; Cemetery; School; Library; Industries,past and present; Personalities; Clubs and Organizations (other than church); War Records (sub-section 1-5); 50th and Over Anniversaries ; Treasurers-Sub-sections. Part III: Miscellaneous, events up to 1925(?); events from 1925-1950; events from 1950. These are all to be entered by the year as they occur, but do not refer to any specifically compiled data in the historical part of the Tweedsmuir History. These items are irrelevant to the growth and development of the local community. These many items will give a god coverage of the type of life and achievements of the local community. Other unlisted groupings are fine. Curators were appointed at branch, district, area and provincial level and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food sponsored and trained women to visit the various areas and hold seminars on local history collections. The idea took hold in many areas of southern Ontario where libraries and other sources of information were near at hand. In the northern part of the province. many of these sources of information were not readily accessible and certainly not collected in one place. Some books were soon filled with a host of material, others would have only a few items added each year. In many branches it was the most undesired office, branch curator, and was passed around from person to person on a yearly basis. At the seminars, the lecturer emphasized the value of these books. If anyone wanted to examine the history, white gloves would be used to turn the pages and the curator would be nearby. In some branches one person would labor over the book for years and on her death the family would decide "it was mother's book" and it would remain in the family. As the Women's Institutes prepares to celebrate its Centennial in 1997, emphasis is being placed on a history collection of facts from these histories about every area of the province. To this end the FWIO asked for applications for the position of collecting the information and putting it into a book. A committee of FWIO was established for the project. The application of Linda Ambrose of Meaford was accepted and she has been meeting with WI branches and district curators from Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie during the past weeks. Linda Ambrose holds a doctorate in Canadian history, provincial history, woman history, she is a member of the history department at Laurentian University in Sudbury and is anxious to get as much information as possible about present branches and those that are disbanded including the time of organization and that of disbanding. Recently she had interviews with the curators of Algoma North Shore District and branch curators from Bar River, Desbarats. Clover Valley, Richards Landing and MacLennan. Information on the disbanded branch at Hilton Beach has been located, along with that of the Five Lake branch on the North Shore. Anyone with knowledge of other disbanded on St. Joseph Island or on the North Shore such as Sylvan Valley, Tenby Bay, could send me the information to pass on to Linda. After all it is part of the Algoma North Shore Women's Institute District and I could add it to the District Tweedsmuir History. Peggy Suddaby