"A feeling of the responsibility of women for women": The University Women's Club of Ottawa, 1910-1960.

Abstract

This thesis examines the first fifty years of the University Women's Club of Ottawa, an organization that brought together women graduates of different universities at a time when women were not admitted to post-secondary education in Ottawa. Previous studies of women's voluntary organizations have concentrated on the period prior to 1930. Using the later period of 1910 to 1960, this thesis examines the changing demographics, mandate and related activities of the UWCO during the war, interwar and postwar periods. Drawing almost entirely on internal records, the thesis shows how the club's focus was increasingly externalized, at the same time as it underwent dramatic changes in demography and size. Club members identified first with their status as university graduates, and later in terms of gender. Both world wars served as watersheds in terms of mandate and activities. The thesis provides significant data to allow comparisons with other groups during this period.