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27-510: After the association had been inactive for a while, the leaders founded the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association in 1889. The Toronto Women's Literary Guild was established in 1877 to fight for women's rights and for improved working conditions. Jessie Turnbull and Dr. Emily Howard Stowe , Canada's second licensed female physician, were founders. The guild had some success in improving access to higher education for women. It

54-474: A Dominican priest and a renowned liberal and orator, who taught her religious and social tolerance, an attitude that was reflected in her journalism as an adult. Coleman married young to an elderly man and wealthy landowner Thomas Willis, the sources conflict stating either at age 16 or 20, a man 40 years her senior, under her adopted name Kathleen Blake. The couple had one child who died in early childhood, and Willis died soon after. The marriage had not been

81-697: A happy one, resulting in her disinheritance by her husband's family. She emigrated to Canada as a young widow in 1884. In Canada, she worked as a secretary until she married her boss, Edward Watkins. She lived in Toronto and Winnipeg, where she bore two children (Thady and Patricia) by her second husband. In 1889, following the death of Watkins, or more probably, their divorce, Coleman first turned to cleaning houses to support herself and her two children, then began writing articles for local magazines, mainly Toronto's Saturday Night . Kathleen Blake Watkins then moved to Toronto to pursue journalism in 1890. As "Kit of

108-473: A more direct influence on the prestige and circulation of any North American newspaper. During the Spanish–American War of 1898, Kathleen Blake volunteered to go to Cuba to cover the battle activity at the front. The Toronto Mail sent her to Cuba, exploiting the opportunity to garner sensationalist publicity. However, she was told by her supervisors to write features and "guff," as she called it, not

135-618: A much publicized "mock parliament". The debate was staged in 1896. The women participants debated whether men should be given the vote. Using the same arguments that men had used against votes for women, they voted against the proposal. Despite their efforts, the DWEA was not successful in advancing the cause of women's suffrage in Canada at either the Federal or Provincial levels. No bills were introduced between 1893 and 1910 for women's votes, and

162-515: A pioneer and a role model, and the suffragists among them hoped that she would become an activist for the women's suffrage cause. Coleman's political ambivalence came partly because of the editorial position of the Toronto Mail and Mail and Empire ; both newspapers were adamantly opposed to it. She also felt unsure about the extent to which women – and "objective" journalists – should entangle themselves in political and social issues. Coleman

189-454: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an organization in Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a political organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dominion Women%27s Enfranchisement Association The Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association ( DWEA ) was an organization founded by Dr. Emily Howard Stowe in 1889 to fight for

216-649: Is often listed incorrectly as 1864 presuming her maiden name is Blake. Her father was a middle-class farmer. Catherine was educated at Loretto Abbey in Rathfarnham and a finishing school in Belgium . As an adult, she recalled her parents influencing her love of creative activities; her father had given her his love of books, and her mother, who was blind, taught her an appreciation of music and to also how to play several instruments. The strongest influence on her intellectual life came from her uncle Thomas Nicholas Burke,

243-654: The Women's Art Association of Canada , National Council of Women of Canada , Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Girls' Friendly Society of Canada, Women's Institutes and Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Stowe was the first president of the DWEA. She held office from 1889 until her death in 1903. Within a year of its foundation branches began to appear in different towns of Ontario. On 12–13 June 1890

270-819: The Canadian Copper Company. In 1901 the Colemans moved to Hamilton, Ontario. In 1904, in order to fight discrimination against women in the journalism profession, she helped establish the Canadian Women's Press Club , and was named its first President. Notwithstanding her own pioneering work as a journalist in an overwhelmingly male profession, as well as her activist writing on many women's rights topics, Coleman did not publicly endorse feminism and women's suffrage until 1910. Many other woman journalists, including her Mail and Empire colleague Katherine Hale ( Amelia Beers Warnock ), viewed Coleman as

297-625: The DWEA held a convention in Toronto attended by more than 100 women. Speakers included Dr. Emily Stowe and the Reverend Anna Howard Shaw , M.D. of the United States. Kathleen Blake Coleman of the Mail invited comment from her readers. She quoted one from "Pollie" at length, Giving women the ballot would not fail to have a beneficial effect on the future of Canada. If woman's indirect influence has in most cases been on

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324-438: The DWEA sponsored a suffrage bill, but without success. At this stage the suffragettes were simply claiming the right to vote since they paid taxes and could bring new ideas to politics. Otherwise, they were not asking for full equality of the sexes. Most believed that the woman's place was in the home, but did not think this was incompatible with voting. In 1893 the DWEA was one of the first national organizations to federate with

351-669: The Mail", she was the first female journalist to be in charge of her own section of a Canadian newspaper. She was hired by the Toronto Mail (later the Mail and Empire ). In the 1890s and early 1900s, she ran a seven-column page in the Toronto Mail . Called "Woman's Kingdom," it came out once a week. She began by writing articles on lighter topics typical of the women's columns that had begun to appear in newspapers at that time, topics such as theatre criticism, as well as fashion notes and recipes. In one of her most popular features she gave

378-639: The National Council of Women of Canada. Emily Stowe and Emily Willoughby Cummings of the Anglican Women's Auxiliary were two of the organizers of the founding meeting of the National Council, held in the Horticultural Pavilion in Toronto on 27 October 1893. About 1,500 women attended, and some men. Stowe and her daughter Augusta Stowe-Gullen (1857–1943), the first woman to graduate from a Canadian medical school, organized

405-586: The United States and obtained a degree in homeopathic medicine from the New York Medical College for Women in 1867 and that year opened her homeopathy practice in Toronto. It was not until 1880 that she was granted a licence to practice medicine. In 1877 Stowe was one of the founders of the Toronto Women's Literary Guild , which managed to obtain access to some higher education for women and improve women's working conditions. The Guild

432-437: The conservative National Council of Women of Canada would not give support until 1910. The Canadian Suffrage Association was founded in 1906. Augusta Stowe-Gullen became president of this successor organization. She later became vice-president of the National Council of Women. Citations Sources Kathleen Blake Coleman Kathleen Blake "Kit" Coleman (born Catherine Ferguson , 20 February 1856 – 16 May 1915)

459-557: The end of the war. Her accounts of the aftermath of the war and of its human casualties were the peak of her journalism career and made her famous. On her way back to Canada, Kathleen stopped in Washington where she addressed the International Press Union of Women Journalists . Upon her return from Cuba, Watkins married Theobald Coleman and moved to Copper Cliff, Ontario, where her husband was company doctor for

486-524: The first advice to the lovelorn. She rebelled against her editors’ assumptions that women were interested only in housekeeping, fashion, and her advice column, and insisted on writing about other things she believed would interest them: politics, business, religion, and science. Her column was so outspoken that it attracted a wide following, including Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier . Her columns also covered topics such as social reform and women's issues, examining controversies like domestic violence and

513-662: The news from the front, apparently believing that this would not be appropriate for a woman. She received her war correspondent accreditation from the United States government, becoming North America's first fully accredited woman war correspondent. She was authorized to accompany American troops, but was vehemently opposed by other correspondents and the military authorities, who nearly succeeded in keeping her stranded in Florida. Blake persevered and arrived in Cuba in July 1898, just before

540-412: The poor working conditions women endured. Kit Coleman's columns were syndicated to newspapers across Canada. She worked for the Mail until 1911. Kathleen Blake Watkins increasingly began to write columns covering areas in the mainstream news, and soon became one of the Mail ' s star reporters. In 1891 she interviewed the celebrated French actress Sarah Bernhardt , who was performing in Canada. She

567-561: The right of women to vote. She was succeeded by her daughter Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen as President of the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association in 1903. Later the association was renamed the Canadian Suffrage Association in 1906. Dr. Emily Howard Stowe (1831–1903) was the first Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada. She was not allowed to study medicine in Canada, so she moved to

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594-406: The side of good, how much more her direct influence will be felt when she had a voice in making the laws of her country. She will then see to it that we have laws to amend the purity and happiness of her home ... Canadian future statesmen,—by having less temptation to contend with, would become more intelligent, for believe me, Kit, one half the men—politically speaking—are densely ignorant. In 1890

621-529: Was a special correspondent for Toronto Mail during the World's Fair, Chicago, 1893; the Mid-winter Fair, San Francisco, 1894; British West Indies, 1894; and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee , London, 1897. Her reputation grew internationally, and in 1894 an American reference work called her writing "brilliant" and noted that no woman journalist, and possibly no male below the rank of editor-in-chief, had

648-485: Was also a poet and published books of poetry. Coleman contracted pneumonia and died on 16 May 1915, in Hamilton , Ontario. There is a Kathleen Blake "Kit" Coleman fonds at Library and Archives Canada . The archival reference number is R2590, former archival reference number MG30-C152. The fonds covers the date range 1925 to 1981. It consists of 60 centimeters of textual records, 91 photographs and 2 medals. In 2023,

675-492: Was an Irish-Canadian newspaper columnist. Coleman was one of the earliest accredited female war correspondents , covering the Spanish–American War for the Toronto Mail in 1898. She served, also, as the first president of the Canadian Women's Press Club , an organization of women journalists. Kit Coleman was born Catherine Ferguson to Patrick and Mary Ferguson (née Burke) in May 1856 at Castleblakeney, County Galway , her birth

702-550: Was renamed the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association in 1883, with Jessie (McEwen) Turnbull as its first president. In 1888 Stowe attended an international suffragette conference in Washington, D.C. , United States. Fired with determination to bring new life to the movement, she founded the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association (DWEA) in 1889. The DWEA was among a number of Women's organizations founded around this time and run by exceptionally capable women, others being

729-516: Was renamed the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association in 1883 with Turnbull as its first president. The Toronto-based association worked towards opening up education to women, and allowing women to advance as professionals, particularly as doctors. After the association had been inactive for a while, the leaders founded the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association in 1889. Citations Sources This feminism -related article

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