History of Saskatchewan Homemakers' Association

In honour of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated each year during the second week of March, let's take a closer look at the history of the Saskatchewan Homemakers' Club.


In the late 1880s to early 1900s, female settlers to the West were wives, mothers and homemakers. Promotional literature, travel accounts, eulogies, editorials, even women themselves, suggested that the Female Frontier was one in which women were helpmates, essential to the rural development. These sources made it clear that only marriage could end the plight of the bachelor homesteader - a woman would share the burden of work, and she would give birth to the children who once grown would work as well. A wife, mother, homemaker, then, ensured that a man would be successful in his settlement endeavours. Men themselves sometimes sought wives via “mail order” placing newspaper ads. “Getting a mate” was a theme in appeals directed towards women: Come West, fill a badly needed job like teacher or domestic servant, then find a marriage partner, thereby making an even greater contribution to developing this country. Finding mates is what inspired British women to come to Canada – the odds of finding one were much better on the new frontier as there was so much competition for male affection at home. By the eve of World War I, however, Saskatchewan’s gender imbalance was no longer an issue.

But, once these women arrived on the prairies they soon learned that life in this part of the country was hard and these “helpmates” had to be tough. The harsh climate, lack of amenities and isolation soon proved too much for many. For those who stayed, small groups started to form throughout the province as women gathered to, “promote sociability and to provide opportunities to discuss matters of mutual interest”.

From the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, “The Homemakers’ Clubs of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Women’s Institutes, which replaced the Homemakers in 1972, have played an important part in the lives of rural women. Both were affiliated with the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, founded in 1919, and with the Associated Countrywomen of the World, founded in 1933, and Saskatchewan delegates regularly attended their meetings. The Homemakers and the Women’s Institutes were the first of three main streams of the farm women’s movement in the province, along with the second stream, the Women Grain Growers and its successor organizations that came into being in 1913 and 1914, and the third stream, the Saskatchewan Women’s Agricultural Network, established in 1985 and now inactive. Founded in 1911, the Homemakers’ Clubs were patterned on the Women’s Institutes in Ontario. In Saskatchewan they were affiliated with the Extension Division of the University of Saskatchewan, which was both a strength and a problem for the Homemakers: they were at times constrained by the middle-class male administrators of the University, but on the other hand benefited from their affiliation with the University”.

From their inception, the Homemakers' Club in the province was focussed on the community, especially health, education and recreation. The clubs were not affiliated with a particular political party and were multi-denominational in that they welcomed women of all religious affiliations and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the projects that these clubs undertook in communities were – contributions to hospitals, community halls, skating rinks and other recreation facilities. They were also instrumental in bringing educational films, art exhibitions and craft festivals to their communities. They were often involved the establishment of local libraries and worked closely with the Victorian Order of Nurses in the province.

From the history compiled by Bertha G. Oxner in the Saskatchewan Homemakers' Club Golden Jubilee cookbook, “Homemaker’s Clubs’ have consistently followed this policy [begin where you are with what you have] and from their modest beginnings have progressed until they can look back over a worthy record of achievement and can look forward to working on the problems that lie ahead”.

Historic Places

It has been the backdrop to family pictures and wedding photos, painted by local artists and photographed for its majesty and reminder of days gone by.  You don't have to travel down the Seven Bridges Road very far before she looms against the valley wall with a stone foundation and hip roof that were typical of prairie design at the turn of the century.  This local landmark, now most often referred to as the Wong barn, was owned by Fred Carss, nephew of Ed Carss, the first man to settle in the Lumsden district in 1881.

In the early 1900's the barn and the yardsite on which it was located was the site of the much anticipated Carssdale Sunday School picnic.  A social event which was held annually, attracting folks from as far away as Regina to share a meal and the fellowship of family, friends and neighbors.  In 1923 the roof of the barn was lost in a tornado and had to be replaced.

In 1929 the barn changed ownership as William McNally purchased it and settled on the farmsite with his wife and four boys.  The McNally's ownership lasted until 1952 when Charlie Wong purchased the property.

From 1948 to 1953 Bert Wills lived on the farm with his parents, William and Dorothy.  During this time the farm was a mixed operation in which the family grew potatoes and grain as well as raising cattle and working horses.  Bert remembers milking cows in the barn and he remembers the cats.  Apparently the cats were a bit of a mystery as every couple of years the 30 or so cats on the farm would disappear.  After a season a few cats would appear and slowly their numbers would increase again.

Charlie Wong continued to raise cattle and to grow potatoes on the land.  Charlie and his sons - Young, Tom and Art - added a turkey farm to the operation.  Their turkeys won awards at the Toronto Royal Exhibition.

Time has taken its toll on this local landmark as evidenced by its crumbling foundation.  What once supported a history rich in agriculture now moves artists to photograph, to sketch and to paint a piece of the past.

Photo courtsey Andrew Meredith

Researching Your Roots

The Lumsdens, Bruce and Audrey, from Kingston, Nova Scotia were recently in the town of Lumsden asking some questions, “Which Lumsden was this community named after?”, “Did the family ever live here?”, “Are there any other Lumsden’s in the region?” They visited the town office and the post office before being directed to yours truly.

A Google search of the word “genealogy” reveals that over 82 million individuals have used the word in their searches and 1.4 million have searched specifically for the term “genealogy Canada”. Genealogy, or researching your roots, is one of North America’s fastest growing past-times. For my uncle it was the perfect excuse for yet another vacation to Europe. There was no shopping for my aunt as theirs were trips that consisted of interviewing town elders and officials; searching libraries; perusing Church records; and wandering graveyards. What my aunt & uncle found was that in many cases fires or floods had destroyed the information they sought and in some cases accurate records were not kept of birth dates, marriages and deaths. The lack of historical records made some of their trips were more productive than others.

Small groups of super sleuths have popped up all over the province and supporting their efforts to track their family histories is the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society. The organization describes itself as, “the voice of genealogy in Saskatchewan. It is a non-profit provincial cultural organization whose purpose is to promote and develop the study, research, and preservation of genealogy and family history. The mandate of the society is to preserve Saskatchewan records; provide assistance to Saskatchewan residents researching their heritage anywhere and to people researching their Saskatchewan heritage”.

“But what of the Lumsdens”, you ask? It turns out that the couple was visiting the Regina area because their son had recently relocated to the city due to a job opportunity. Bruce’s great uncle, Calder Lumsden, had moved west over 60 years ago and they had lost contact with that side of the family entirely. They were hoping to discover that the town had been named after their long lost uncle. I would have expected them to be disappointed to learn that Lumsden was named after a surveyor from the East who had never seen the town. But my information simply gave them another lead to follow as they had yet to fit Hugh D. Lumsden into their family history. They left Lumsden happy to have visited and excited at the possibility of following the trail of Hugh D.

The Lumsdens shared that the Saskatchewan town of Lumsden is not the only town of Lumsden in Canada. They have also visited Lumsden, Newfoundland, formerly named Cat Harbour. The eastern community was renamed in 1917 after Rev. James Lumsden who was a United church minister known for his work in the community. Interestingly, Bruce and Audrey haven’t found the connection between their family and Rev. Lumsden either.