Our Story
A Brief History CFUW Vernon – 1965 to the present
The mid-1960s was a time when women worked mainly in the home, providing a comfortable place for their husbands to return to after their work day, raising their children, and relying on their husbands for financial support. Those women who worked outside the home were mainly secretaries, teachers, and nurses. Note how the names of the married women on the executive listed below were recorded under their husband’s names. It was also when the Feminist Movement was once again gaining strength and promoting equal rights for women.
It was against this background that in 1965 a group of women in Vernon, mainly teachers, joined together to form a chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW). The national organization had been founded in 1919 with the mission of improving the status of women and promoting human rights, public education, social justice, and peace. These goals are just as relevant today as they were then.
The first executive of the club included:
- President: Mrs. P. M. Leahy
- 1st Vice President: Miss Hilda Cryderman
- 2nd Vice President: Mrs. Leon Coursier
- Secretary: Mrs. Gordon Anderson
- Treasurer: Mrs. Jack Turner
- Membership Secretary: Mrs. Coomes
The women of CFUW Vernon were very active in learning about and promoting the status of women locally and nationally. Not long after the formation of the club, the federal government formed the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, whose members interviewed women across the country regarding changes they proposed to improve the status of women and women’s equality with men. While Vernon was not on the list of scheduled locations for a session, Lola Lange, one of the commissioners who came to BC, made time to stop in Vernon and attend a meeting with many local women that was arranged by CFUW Vernon. The Commission made 167 recommendations on improving the status of women, which resulted in many improvements to women’s equality with men. Some areas that continue to be problematic today, though, are violence against women, women’s and children’s poverty, pay equity, and gender equality.
The club held public presentations on a variety of subjects, including the plight of “deserted women” and the barriers to getting men to support the families they had left. Other areas of concern were pollution, waste water management, the lack of child care, and First Nations culture. The Club had a strong focus on education, donating an encyclopedia set to Okanagan College to strengthen its Reference collection, and instituted a scholarship for a mature student. The first award of $200 went to James Richmond, who was enrolled at the University of Victoria after attending Okanagan College.
In 1972, CFUW Vernon instituted a speaker series called Capsule College, which continued until 2015. The presentations were held at Okanagan College, with child care provided. Speakers were often College instructors, who spoke on topics as varied as Physics for Poets, Eugenics, Life in Victorian Times, and Mental Health.
The Club’s Eco-home Tours, which raised funds to support two scholarships at Okanagan College, were very popular in the pre-pandemic years. Home-owners of environmentally-friendly houses opened their homes to the public for tours and presentations of the special features and advantages of their homes. Some homes used geothermal heating and cooling, solar power, or net-zero energy. Some were LEED certified.
Throughout its history, CFUW Vernon has raised funds to support groups that provide education, counselling, a safe haven from violence, and food and shelter for women and families locally, as well as in other countries.
The Club continues to this day, under the same principles as CFUW at its founding and those of founders of CFUW Vernon, but in the context of the issues of the present day. That said, it should be noted that many issues are as timely today as they were 100 or 65 years ago.
