Their Votes Counted – Special Event at RMH celebrates local WWI nurses who were first Canadian women to vote in a federal election
December 13, 2017 - On December 17, 1917, Nursing Sisters serving overseas during the First World War became the first Canadian women to vote in a federal election. One hundred years later, the Ross Memorial Hospital was proud to host Their Votes Counted, a travelling exhibition created by the Victoria County Historical Society, to recognize the profound impact local nurses made on our country.
“What a phenomenal achievement, not just for nurses, but for women across the country,” said Anne Overhoff, Chief Nursing Officer at RMH, during a special event on December 12.
“The care they were providing Canadian soldiers was already worthy of great praise. They stepped away from the lives they knew to travel across an ocean full of dangers to work in a war zone. They showed exceptional courage and compassion. Achieving the right to vote – no matter the political motivation at the time – made them heroes of different sort. As a nurse, I’m proud to see that their role in history is being recognized.”
The Victoria County Historical Society’s Ian McKechnie explained how the historic vote came to pass:
“Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden, hoping to secure an electoral victory for his Union Government, extended franchise to women serving in the Canadian military through the Military Voters’ Act of 1917. Because of the time difference, Canada’s nursing sisters became the first women to vote in a federal election. The First World War, then, was a significant catalyst for not only the professionalization of nursing, but also for the advancement of female participation within the political sphere. Canadian women returned from war expecting the same rights in peacetime as they had been granted in wartime.
“Nearly thirty women from the former Victoria County volunteered to serve as nurses during the ‘war to end all wars,’ and a good number of them were trained right here at the Ross Memorial Hospital. One of these women, Katherine Eva McKinnon, who served overseas with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, wrote on December 30th, 1916:
The tales of the trenches are terrible to relate. Sometime I will tell you more of what the boys have told me. One poor lad told me that he prayed for death in the trenches. He said to me, “Sister, why did you ever leave your happy home in Canada to come to this awful place?” I told him it was to try and cheer a poor, lonely heart like his.
The care and compassion which Katherine showed all those years ago in war-torn Europe continue to be hallmarks of the Ross Memorial Hospital in 2017, and we hope that this exhibit will shine light on those “Angels of Mercy” whose legacy the Ross Memorial Hospital continues to uphold today.”
Anne Overhoff delivered thanks to the Victoria County Historical Society on behalf of the Ross Memorial: “By bringing this history home, we can celebrate past nursing heroes, and better appreciate the heroes among us today.”
RMH is grateful for the work of local businesses, and the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Canadian Nurses Association for helping to make this exhibit possible.