MRD. ADELAIDE HUNTER HOODLESS - , u in ' , - F'""""'""') - Irtlli'iir,') 1 I IF MI8 s a» . ,5 _ /i';i"t':"'agl ' , I K'll5 I it» /irir/ r tir-SMI _r.' I ' "Ill, , L¢35I W , AP h' Fr, tg n my? - - lllgii"lAl Bl x , Adelaide Hunter Hoodless was born on February 27, 1857 at what is now the Adelaide Hoodless Homestead at St. George, Ontario situated in South Dumfries Township, Brant County. She attended school in St. George, September 15, 1881, she married John Hoodless of' Hamilton, to this union were four children born, the youngest child a young son eighteen months of age died from the result of' using impure milk, which Mrs. Hoodless blamed herself and decided that she would do all in her power to help others, that she would endeavour to bring within the reach of' all women the education necessary to prevent similar tragedies. She was active in helping to found the National Council of Womens, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and the Lillian Massey School for Home Economics at the University of Toronto,, She persuaded Sir William MacDonald a millionaire tobacco manufacturer from Montreal, to give money for the erection of MacDonald Institute at Guelph University. In 1897 Mrs. Hoodless was ( invited by Mr. Erland Lee, Secretary of the South Wentworth Farmers _ Institute, to speak at a Ladies' Night meeting of' the Farmer's Institute at Stoney Creek/ In the course of her address Mrs. Hoodless suggested that it would be wonderful for women to have an organization through which they could study things pretaining to homemaking. Mr. Lee was interested in this idea and a meeting was arranged for February 19, 1897. At this meeting the First Women's Institute was organized. Mrs. Hoodless was a brillant speaker and travelled widely, promoting the teaching of Home Economics, not only in Canada but in the United States and Great Britain. Mrs. Hoodless died on February 26, 1910 while making a speech in Toronto. In 1960 the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board, Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources, proclaimed Adelaide Hunter Hoodless a National Historic Figure, and in I962 they unveiled a plaque proclaiming the Homestead a National Historic Site. /a,