The Last Suffragist Standing

The Life and Times of Laura Marshall Jamieson

By Veronica Strong-Boag
Categories: Women’s Studies, Canadian History, Political Science, Auto/biography & Memoir, Canadian Studies, History
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774838689, 284 pages, October 2018
Paperback : 9780774838696, 284 pages, March 2019
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774838702, 284 pages, October 2018
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780774838719, 284 pages, October 2018
Ebook (MobiPocket) : 9780774838726, 240 pages, October 2018

Table of contents

Introduction

1 The Girl from the Saugeen Peninsula, 1882–1911

2 The New Woman as Wife, Suffragist, and Activist, 1911–18

3 Still Bettering the World, 1918–26

4 Widowed Judge and Progressive Activist, 1927–39

5 The Challenge of Electoral Politics, 1927–39

6 Suffragist in the BC Legislature, 1939–41

7 Legislative Veteran, 1941–45

8 Taking on Post-war Misogyny and Vancouver Politics, 1945–64

9 Faithful Social Democrat, 1945–64

Conclusion

Postscript from Four Granddaughters / Dorothy O’Connell, Anne Jamieson, Karen Jamieson, and Marion-Lea Jamieson

Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index

The Last Suffragist Standing is an unprecedented study of a pioneering Canadian suffragist and politician and an illuminating work on the history of feminism, socialism, internationalism, and activism in Canada.

Description

The Last Suffragist Standing is an unprecedented study of a pioneering politician, a New Woman who tested Canadian democracy. Laura Marshall Jamieson (1882–1964) was the last suffragist in Canada to be elected to a provincial or federal legislature, and her biography opens a window onto the political and social landscape of her time. She embraced issues such as minimum wage, feminist pacifism, housing, and employment equality throughout her six decades of activism. Strong-Boag’s deep knowledge of the history of the women’s movement and Canadian politics turns this compelling account of a woman’s life into an illuminating work on the history of feminism, socialism, internationalism, and activism in Canada.

Awards

  • Short-listed, Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, BC Historical Federation 2019

Reviews

Strong-Boag's account of Jamieson's life deepens the appreciation of the ending of one phase of feminist activism and the passing of the torch to successor generations.

- Jane Arscott, Athabasca University

[The Last Suffragist Standing] makes a valuable contribution to the wider historiography of women’s political activities in Canada and to British Columbia politics in general. Jamieson would undoubtedly be pleased with this study of her life and times.

- Patricia Roy, author and professor emeritus of History at the University of Victoria