Thursday, October 9, 2008

Florence Bird

Broadcaster, journalist, senator

1908-1998; moved to Ottawa in 1946.

Born in Philadelphia. Moved to Montreal in 1931, then to Winnipeg in 1937.

Throughout the war, she wrote a weekly column for the Winnipeg Tribune about women's war work called "Holding the Home Front".

Assumed the roles of producer, interviewer and scriptwriter for radio.

Chair of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada in 1967.

Became a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1971.

Appointed to the Senate in 1978.

Won the Governor General's Persons Award for her work on behalf of Canadian women in 1985.

Served on Canadian delegations to United Nations organizations that emphasized women's economic rights and the role of women in developing countries.

The Florence Bird Lecture is held every year at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The Florence Bird Memorial Library was opened by the offices of the Status of Women Canada in Ottawa in 1999.

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com

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