From Suffragette to Homesteader: Exploring British and Canadian Colonial Histories and Women s Politics Through Memoir

Description

From Suffragette to Homesteader opens a unique window into the past. Central to this book is a powerful memoir written in 1952 by Ethel Marie Sentance as an anniversary present for her husband, Clarence. The memoir begins in 1883 and details Ethel s early life in a small English village. Frustrated with women s social and political inequality, Ethel became a suffragette in her early twenties. She participated in meetings and rallies, sold suffrage newspapers, and was eventually jailed for breaking a window at a protest. In 1912, her life changed considerably when she married and relocated to the Saskatchewan prairies to become a homesteader and settler.

Surrounding Ethel s memoir are chapters by leading historians and life-writing scholars that provide further analysis and context, exploring topics within and beyond those written about by Ethel. Together, the chapters in this book tell a compelling story of early and mid twentieth century social justice advocacy, women s and feminist histories, struggles for gender equality, and the farmworker and homesteader experience. At the same time, the book is also a story of imperialism and the British Empire, race and class, and settler colonialism.