In 1916, women in Saskatchewan obtained the right to vote provincially after fighting a long and arduous battle. The history of these suffragettes who fought for the equal vote is displayed in a new exhibit at the Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker Centre for the Study of Canada at the University of Saskatchewan.
The exhibit, titled Sisters United: Women’s Suffrage in Saskatchewan, opened in July 2016 but had an official opening ceremony on Oct. 2. The exhibit was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in the province. It tells the story of women’s suffrage in the First World War era and includes interactive stations and artifacts from the time period.
The exhibit focuses heavily on the women in Saskatchewan who were involved in and formed groups that were fundamental to the cause of women’s suffrage, like the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association.
Kendra Schreiner, a student docent who recently convocated from the university with a degree in international studies, explains what the exhibit offers.
“We tell the stories about the seven most important women in the Saskatchewan movement. We talk about all the organizations that were involved in that — a lot of agricultural organizations such as the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association,” Schreiner said.
The exhibit also features interactive stations, such as visual clips of speeches delivered by the suffragettes. Further, the exhibit has a “selfie corner” where students can dress up as suffragettes, holding protest signs or wearing sashes, and take a photo.
Another exciting aspect of the Diefenbaker Centre is the gift shop, which now features pins and flags based on the original “Votes For Women” paraphernalia to accompany the exhibit. The shop also features specialty tea, based off the suffrage tea parties, and a coin exchange, where one can receive a collector’s loonie commemorating the 100th year anniversary.
Teresa Carlson, the museum curator, explains that many students at the U of S were involved in the creation of the exhibit.
“I was able to do this with our students,” Carlson said. “That’s really great because it gives the student docents a chance to do research for a larger project like this and you can put that on your resume.”
Carlson argues that students should make an effort to visit the exhibit because it is educational for members of all disciplines.
“We’ve tried to include something for everyone to be interested in, so political studies, history, English, even social sciences will be able to take things out of here,” Carlson said.
Like Carlson, Schreiner thinks the exhibit is educational and worthwhile for students of every college.
“It’s really important for students of every college to learn about Canada’s history, to learn about where we came from and how much we’ve achieved and how much it took achieve that,” Schreiner said.
She also believes that the exhibit is important because it will provide students with a new and critical understanding of Canada and the way in which students in the past contributed to social change.
“A lot of university students were involved in movements just like this, so I think it’s an empowering story for all university students to learn that Canada hasn’t always been perfect. We’re not perfect now and students have a role to play in that movement,” Schreiner said. “I think it’s specifically important for people in women and gender studies or in sociology classes, history classes, to learn about this story.”
Ultimately, Schreiner believes that the importance of the exhibit goes beyond one simple topic.
“It’s not just about suffrage — it’s about women’s history. Women’s history is a story that’s not often told and it is hard to research, so it’s an important story that needs to be told and students can learn a lot from it.”
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Lauren Hope
Photos: Kathlyn Zales