This is the introduction to a new book, The Valiant Nellie McClung, by Barbara Smith. It includes excerpts from McClung’s columns that have been published in the Times Colonist in recent years. Dave Obee, the editor-in-chief of the Times Colonist, has written this foreword to Smith’s book.
Why, after so many years, do the words of Nellie McClung continue to resonate with Canadians? Why do her opinions still matter so much? Why does the mention of her name still inspire us?
Perhaps it’s because she helped make Canada a better place. Perhaps it’s because Canadians are living better lives today because of her work, and without even knowing about the debt they owe to Nellie McClung.
The raw genealogical data shows that McClung was born in Chatsworth, Ont., in 1873, and died in Saanich in 1951. But really, that data does not mean much; it does not provide a sense of her determination and her dedication, and her commitment to achieve results despite overwhelming odds.
That women have the right to vote, as an example, is a given these days. More than a century ago, before men had granted that right, McClung and the other suffragists faced an enormous struggle. It would have been easier to give up, and to find a cause that would seem more attainable.
Our Nellie did not give up. And later, when she joined with four other Albertans in the fight to have women recognized as persons under the law, she did not give up. McClung felt her cause was just, and she stayed with it, despite the odds.
Nellie McClung was a suffragist and a strong believer in the temperance movement. She was a politician and a reformer. She was an engaging orator and a prolific writer, with several books, magazine articles and newspaper columns to her credit. She had a keen wit, which she used to great advantage when pushing for social change.
McClung was highly regarded in her lifetime, but her work has had much more recognition in the years since her death. She was featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1973. A park in Edmonton bears her name, as do schools in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as a library branch in Saanich. She is remembered in the Famous Five monuments in Calgary and Ottawa, which in turn were featured on a $50 bill.
In 1954, the federal government declared that McClung was a person of national historic interest. In 2009, all members of the Famous Five were declared to be honorary senators — the first people to be so designated. Three of her former houses are heritage sites, and two more have been preserved at a museum in Manitoba.
While her books, such as Sowing Seeds in Danny and In Times Like These, have remained in the public eye, many of McClung’s newspaper columns have been all but forgotten. Her early ones were collected in two Leaves from Lantern Lane volumes, but her later columns were neglected until the Times Colonist began reprinting them in 2014.
This book makes the columns accessible to a wide audience again, and will ensure that McClung’s later work will be enjoyed for many years to come.
These columns included here were written at a remarkable time in history. The world was in turmoil, with events in Europe demanding attention around the globe. Her calm, rational point of view was what Canadians needed at the time.
Many of McClung’s words seem as relevant now as when she wrote them, which indicates that a logical approach based on respect for human rights is timeless. In a few cases, her writing and her ideas seem dated, but that should not come as a surprise, given the passage of time.
It should also be no surprise that the work of Nellie McClung continues to inspire our nation, as it has for more than a century. She was one of the most influential Canadians of the first half of the 20th century, and her work helped shape the Canada of today.
The Valiant Nellie McClung brings some of her most significant writing into the public eye once again. It’s about time.
Barbara Smith is giving a talk about this book at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, in the Shoal Centre in Sidney. The reading is part of the Sidney Literary Festival Fall Reading series.
