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Stewartville Women's Institute Tweedsmuir History Book Three searchable pdfa Women’s institute and its legacy The legacy any organiza- tion leaves for the future generations in the communi- ty is just as important as what the individual members receive. This is very true of the Women's Institutes. Throughout the rural com~ munities in Ontario there are tangible records that the Women‘s Institute cares about the community that they are in. In Granton it is the Women’s Institute that :rected the War Memorial while the Yarmouth-Glcn )raneh take care of the local :ernetery. In the tourist village of Sparta, the local Women's Institute branch rave restored and maintain he local museum. The Forge ind Anvil. It was through the efforts of the Women’s Institute that the Southwold Earth works. recording a campsite of the Neutral Indians. has been restored. For a long time Parks Canada and the Women’s Institute maintain- ed the site. Now Parks Canada looks after the site. St Thomas is the home of the Elgin County Museum. The local Women’s Institute branches under the direction of Mrs Futeher helped to raise money to establish the museum which records the work and joy of the pioneers of Elgin County. Thirty years after its establishment the local branches are still supporting the museum, financially. If you travel to Stoney Creek you will visit the Erland Lee (Museum) Home, a site that is visited by hun- dreds of overseas as well as Canadian Visitors, as the home of the co-foundcr of Women’s Institute Erland and Janet Lee. Visitors particularly like to see the original table on which Janet Lee recorded the minutes of the first Women’s Institute meeting in 1897. Little did she realize that this organization would spread throughout Canada and to the four corners of the world. Federated Women’s In- stitutes of Canada maintain the Hoodless Homestead in St George. This is the home of the other co-foundcr of Women’s Institutes. Adelaide Hoodless. Both these houses are of interest not only to Women’s lna stitutc members but to anyone interested in seeing "homes restored to their originalstyle. When you visit the Agricultural Museum at Milton you will have the chance to see the Women’s Institute Hall. This now depicts a 1928 Sewing Class, similar to the. rnarty sewing classes held in the rural halls throughout Ontario. Many Women’s Institute branches purchased the local schools, when consolidation came about, and turned these schools into local community centres. Some are maintained entirely by the local branches and others have been turned mer lo a local community committee. Facilities such as these help to hold the com- munitytogether. When you trawl out of Ontario there is still one more place that the Ontario Women’s Institutes helps to maintain. This is the interna- tional Peace Gardens between Manitoba and South Dakota. The Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada was one of the first organizations to offer assistance when the Peace Gardens were established. Today the upkeep of the Women‘s Institute acre is financed by an annual dona- tion from each province. Maybe you sat on the On- tario branch or had a picnic on the Ontario table. As you travel through rural Ontario you will find many more examples of the legacy that the rural com- mttnitics hme received from the largest rural women's organization in Ontario â€" the Federated Women’s In- stitutes ofOntario. 03