Nellie McClung

Nellie McClung was a dominant figure in Canadian feminism. She was raised a devout Christian and became a teacher when she was just 16. Less than a year later, she met activist Annie McClung — her future mother-in-law — and plunged into social reform. With Annie’s encouragement, she wrote a bestselling novel, then used her fame to win friends for the cause. Nellie McClung carried a message of social justice to countless platforms. She helped win the vote for Canadian women and was herself elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. In 1929, she was one of the “Famous Five” who demanded that women be legally recognized as “persons.”