o h \‘ b [ s ;,.L “; 22 ! se y t mSen . P hel o meare in . ie e ige. > s tal Py tCt t derbais s ; fean t en lé[’rf as.. .L.R * xt ind _:’};A -‘-;-,:'J:‘:;'% o ye ""‘;)‘L‘ . W yhan c Ret ko Bs oo enX lt 6 s val ME ch j q J 4 h J f . 4 y y i " Wk b molet ,/,’ B ‘ Erom left to right: Mrs. J. H. MeNeilly, frst treasurer: Mrs. Laurn Rose Stephen, first Gelegate: Miss M. Nash, first secretary; Mrs. E â€" D. Smith, first president; Afrs. J. F. Felker, first lady to write a paper for the first Women‘s Institule. . The Birth of the Institute Movement It is not bard for a visitor to the Branch of this wonderful organization at Stoney Creek, Ontario, to realize that the * Women‘s Institute had its birth in this quiet yet intensely virile . community. What other locality had a better right to the honor? What other associations more appropriate than‘those represented â€"â€" by the life and devotion to country of Laura Secord? We had the pleasure of visiting this Branch recently and : were cordially received. We found a group of typically prosâ€" perous and hospitable Canadian women.. They were bent on furthering every cause that had to do with the welfare of the community, and their patriotism was not only local, because P â€" there were few women present who were not represented by some loved one at the front. This fact,' however, did not put any damper on any department of their work, because they wanted the boys on their return to realize that their friends not only knit for them, but kept all "the home fires burning. f The meeting referred to was an exceptionally happy one. owing to the presence of five of the women who had to do wph ' the first meeting of the organization. We are fortunate in being able to show this group as above, and also the building in which the meeting was held some nineteen years ago. »~ l â€" 7 i n . TK Y Jms on aanr j "uar 1 ‘1:."' T ; 4 w P M 4 i dj 4 d w _ a,’ | d ip w $ ( " d N se . | . . Â¥ Jn 1 j ’ "Pg + Boones)! Mjemnc ds / > H &. l it o) + , 1 i4 ¢ mmmna yO U TL M | SIk U | m f §/ | _7’ "I F |L_,‘! $ The first Women‘s Institute meeting was held in an upstnirggbm ' _ "in this building in Stoney Creek, Ontario.