Nellie McClung was an orator and an entertainer; she was an authorand an advocate; she was a teacher and a legislator. She was a prairiewoman who used her talents, determination and energy to bringabout change in society.

Nellie is best know for two major achievements: being one of theleading women who helped ‘get the vote’ for most of the womenof Manitoba (1916); and as a member of the ‘famous five’ - a groupof women who challenged the meaning of the British NorthAmerican Act and worked to get women declared ‘Persons’ rather than property under the law (1929).

Later in life, she was appointed the first woman to the first boardof the CBC in 1932, Nellie also remained a human rights advocatethroughout her decades in public life: She urged the governmentof British Columbia to extend the vote to Japanese Canadians inthe 1930’s; petitioned the Canadian Government to open its doorsto Jewish refugees in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s; and oftenwrote about the need for equal pay for equal work. She promotedthe ordination of women in the Methodist Church in the 1920’s andlater in the United Church. Nellie was a driving force in Canadian Politics and the women’s movement till her death in 1951.