“‘To stimulate the acquisition of general knowledge and to promote sociability’: The Young Ladies Club of Baddeck”
Phyllis R Blakeley Memorial Lecture
Dr. Sharon MacDonald, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Gorsebrook Research Institute, Saint Mary’s University
Abstract:
Founded in 1891 by Mabel Bell, the Young Ladies Club of Baddeck (now known as The Bell Club), gave women in a small Nova Scotian village opportunities to study diverse topics and acquire skills that would enhance their own lives and the life of the community. The emergence of women’s clubs in the nineteenth century created a safe learning environment, which inevitably encouraged women to engage more fully in the public sphere. Focussing on the specific history of The Bell Club, this talk will also place the club within the larger context of the women’s club movement .
Click here for a bio of Dr. Sharon MacDonald.
The 28th Annual Phyllis R. Blakeley lecture is named in memory of the late Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia who was remembered for her contributions to local history, as a writer in her own right, and also as an archivist, a facilitator of research and a mentor, reader and advisor to many historians.