Women’s Institute

Organization

Women’s Institutes were established in 1897 across Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand to provide a forum for women living in rural areas to learn and share experiences. Today, there are over 200 Women’s Institutes in Ontario.

Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, from Stoney Creek, Ontario, inspired the Women’s Institutes when she started a campaign to educate women in “household management”. When her son died after drinking contaminated milk, Hoodless was shocked that she had not been taught the skills and knowledge she needed to care for her family.

Along with education for its members, Women’s Institutes support their communities through fundraising efforts, wellness campaigns and environmental awareness programs. Many Institutes also collected local history into “Tweedsmuir Community History Books” which are now a valuable resource in local museums and archival collections.

The Women’s Institutes have been instrumental in establishing provincial laws and safety standards such as:

• Clear "Best Before Date" labels on all food products
• Mandatory stopping when school bus lights are flashing
• Clear labels on containers with harmful chemicals
• Lane lines painted on highways

Women’s Institutes in Peel Region helped created a local museum that would become PAMA. In 1968 the Derry West Women’s Institute led the campaign to join with the Peel County Historical Society and open the Peel County Museum and Art Gallery in one of the buildings that now makes up the PAMA campus. The Region of Peel Archives joined in 1977, and after extensive renovations, the Peel Heritage Complex opened in 1986, and was then re-named PAMA in 2012.