On March 7, Pauline Johnson died. Pauline Johnson was born on March 10, 1861 in the family home at the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.
Born to an English mother and Mohawk father, she straddled both cultures throughout her life.
A lover of books and poetry, she started writing in her teens. In the 1880s, she started to perform in amateur theatre productions. These performances became especially important for income after the death of her father in 1884.
In 1885, she published her first poem, My Little Jean. The next year, she published “A Cry From An Indian Wife”, one of her most famous poems. She based it on the events of The Battle of Cut Knife that year.
Throughout the late-1880s, she grew her audience through her published poetry, which appeared in The Globe, The Week and Saturday Night.
In 1892, she was invited to the Young Men’s Liberal Association for an evening of poetry. The only woman at the event, which included several prominent poets, she was the only author called back for an encore.
That performance launched her literary performing career.
In her performances, she split it into two acts. In the first act, she performed as Tekahionwake, which was her Mohawk name. She wore Indigenous clothing, and items given to her by her grandfather including a wampum belt. During this part of her performance, she performed her poetry that highlighted Indigenous issues and history.
In second part of her performance, she had changed into the dress of a Victorian English woman. This performance focused on English verse, and touched on issues such as women’s rights.
She performed around North America, while continuing to publish books of poetry including The White Wampum in 1895 and Canadian Born in 1903.
In 1909, she retired from the stage and moved to Vancouver where she continued to write. She became friends with Chief Joe Capilano, who told her stories of the Squamish people.
By 1911, Johnson was dealing with health problems so her friends published the stories of Capilano as Legends of Vancouver, to help pay for her medical bills.
On March 7, 1913, Pauline died of breast cancer. Her funeral was the largest public funeral in Vancouver at the time. All flags in the city flew at half-mast and the city closed its offices. The Squamish people lined the street to pay respect to her.
In 1945, she was designated as a person of National Historic Significance.
Five schools are named for her. She was a finalist to be featured on the $10 banknote
On April 4, Jules Leger was born in Quebec. As an adult, he worked for the Canadian Department of External Affairs and served as an ambassador in several countries including Belgium, Italy, Mexico and France.
In 1973, he was elected to take over as Governor General following Roland Michener. Six months later, prior to a ceremony to receive an honorary degree, he suffered a serious stroke. It left him with impeded speech and a paralyzed right arm. He returned to viceregal duties but his wife Gabrielle assisted him throughout the rest of his time as Governor General. This included reading parts of the Speech from the Throne in 1976 and 1978. As Governor General, Leger travelled across the country to encourage Canadian unity during a time when the sovereignty movement was very strong in Quebec. He served as Governor General until 1979. His official portrait was the first to include the viceregal consort, in recognition of his wife’s contribution to his time as Governor General. Leger died soon after in 1980.
On April 17, the Alberta election took place. Premier Arthur Sifton and the Liberals were able to hold onto power with 39 seats, an increase of six over the previous election. Edward Michener, father of future governor general Roland Michener, led the Conservatives to Official Opposition status with 17 seats, an increase of 11. Charles O’Brien, leader of the Socialist Party, lost his seat and the party finished with no seats.
On April 30, Edith Fowke was born in Lumsden, Saskatchewan. She went on to host the CBC Radio program Folk Song Time from 1950 to 1963. She also wrote 17 books on folks songs in her life. She died on March 28, 1996 in Toronto.
On June 2, the High Level Bridge opened in Edmonton. Spanning the North Saskatchewan River, it runs 777 metres from the south and north banks of the river. Located next to the Alberta Legislature, it linked Strathcona and Edmonton, which had become one city through amalgamation the previous year. The first CPR train pulled seven cars and 200 passengers across the bridge. Streetcar service on the bridge began on Aug. 11. It would be several years yet before automobile travel was permitted on the bridge.
On June 18, Wilfrid Gordon Bigelow was born in Brandon, Manitoba. His father was a doctor, who opened the first private medical clinic in Canada and his mother was a nurse and midwife. In 1938, Wilfrid earned his medical degree and during the Second World War, he performed battlefield surgery on the front lines. After the war, he joined the surgical staff at Toronto General Hospital. In the 1950s, he developed the use of hypothermia as a medical procedure to slow the heart rate and reduce the amount of oxygen the body needed during heart operations. He also played a critical role in the development of the pacemaker. He received the Order of Canada in 1981, and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1997. He died on March 27, 2005.
On July 15, Hugh Richardson died. He was a magistrate for the Assiniboia District of the Northwest Territories. He was the man who sentenced Louis Riel to hang and who sentenced Big Bear to three years in prison. He later served on the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and as the Lt. Governor of the territories from 1897 to 1898. He retired in 1903.
On Aug. 28, Robertson Davies was born in Thamesville, Ontario. One of Canada’s greatest writers, his books have become classics of Canadian literature. In his life, he wrote 11 books in three trilogies, the last of which was not completed. He also wrote several essays, 15 plays and a short story collection. In 1972, his novel The Manticore won the Governor General’s Literary Award. He was also short listed for the Booker Prize. In 1955, his book Leaven of Malice won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. Along with his career as an author, he was the founding Master of Massey College, which is a graduate residential college associated with the University of Toronto. He died in 1995. A park is also named for him.
On Nov. 7, and continuing until Nov. 10, a deadly storm hit The Great Lakes. Called The White Hurricane, it was the deadliest and most destructive natural disaster to hit the Great Lakes in recorded history. The storm killed over 250 people, most of which were on ships. The storm destroyed 19 ships and stranded another 19. It also caused the loss of $1 million worth of cargo, weighing 68,300 tons. At its worse, the storm dumped 56 centimetres of snow and had winds over 125 kilometres per hour.
On Nov. 16, Dora de Pedery-Hunt was born in Hungary. After the German forces invaded Hungary, she fled Europe and eventually found her way to Canada. A gifted sculptor, she created three Royal Canadian Mint coins including the Olympic Commemorative coin in 1976 and the International Year of Peace coin in 1986. In 1990, she became the first Canadian citizen to design an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II for coins.
She died in 2008.
On Nov. 17, the National Transcontinental Railway was completed, running between Winnipeg and Moncton. Construction of this line included building the Quebec Bridge, which would suffer two collapses during construction. The project cost $170 million in total. The route remained intact only for four years until 1918. With the government needing steel for the war effort, much of the track was pulled up to help in that.
On Dec. 12, Clint Smith was born in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. In his 10 year NHL career with the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks, he became a steady player for both teams. He won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1939 and 1944, and helped the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1940. Through 483 games, he had 397 points. Following his retirement in 1946-47, he coached in the minor leagues for several years. In 1991, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. At the time of his death on June 15, 2008, he was the last surviving member of the 1940 Stanley Cup Rangers team.
Lastly, Laura Secord Chocolates were founded in 1913 by Frank P. O’Connor. He chose the name to honour Laura Secord, the hero of the War of 1812 who contributed to the victory at the Battle of Beaver Dams. O’Connor opened his first store on Yonge Street. By the 1970s, it was the largest candy retailer in Canada. By 2004, there were 174 outlets across Canada, with a staff of 1,600 people. Today, there are about 100 retail outlets nationwide.
