Founder's Day---W.I. 60th. Anniversary. The Story Of The Birth And Development of The Women's Institute. Reverting to the year 1897 when Stoney Greek Women's Institute had it's beginning,no one could have then prophesied that from that small meeting, a beam of light to brighten and enlighten the lives of women should in the course of half a century encircle the globe. The impulse of the founding of an organization of rural women came from the grief of a young mother, Mrs.John Hoodless, Wentworth County,Ont., over the loss of her first born child, whose death at eighteen months was attributed to lack of knowledge regarding proper infant feeding. Mrs. Hoodless found out too late that the milk being fed her child was unfit for human consumption. Her longing to save others from the pain she suffered drove her to try and bring within the reach of all the education necessary to prevent such tragedies. It was at this time that the Provincial Dept.of Agriculture was beginning to work for the improvement of farm animals. Mrs.Hoodless felt that the health and well being of the human family was of more vital importance than that of farm stock. Now Mr.Erland Lee, a prominent public spirited young farmer, who had attended the Ont. Agricultural College at Guelph, heard Mrs.Hoodless deliver a stirring address and he was so impressed that he asked her to speak at a meeting of the Farmer's Institute at Stoney Creek,to which she graciously consented. Mrs. Hoodless in her address, suggested that the women have an organization similar to the Farmer's Institute for the men. The chairman, Mr.Lee, asked how many women would come out the following Friday evening to a meeting with Mrs.Hoodless, and they than decide whether or not they would form an Institute. Thirth-five women promised to attend.