Written By Alice Gibb
In 1889, a Hamilton toddler named John Harold Hoodless died from what was called the “summer complaint.” The term “summer complaint” was an euphemism for drinking impure milk.
The boy’s mother was Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, known as an excellent parent to her four children. Raised on a Brant County farm, Adelaide had been drinking unpasteurized milk all of her life. Despite this, the wife of a prosperous Hamilton businessman decided that her ignorance about domestic science had cost her young son his life. Adelaide also concluded that if she, the graduate of a ladies college, was unaware of household safety, then many other women must fall into the same category.
Instead of succumbing to her grief, Adelaide Hunter Hoodless became convinced women must be trained to run their homes along scientific principles. She began what became a lifelong crusade by launching a cooking school in Hamilton five years after her son’s death.
But the cooking school was only a small step in her campaign to change women’s lives. With the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) in Guelph educating future farmers, Adelaide decided the college should also introduce domestic science for female students. In 1903, using her connections in the world of business, she persuaded a Montreal tobacco magnate to donate funds for Macdonald Institute. That OAC institute has trained hundreds of home economists and dieticians over its history.
A dedicated public speaker and activist like Hoodless soon attracted a good deal of public attention. Erland Lee, of the Stoney Creek Farmer’s Institute, heard Hoodless speak at an OAC event. He was so impressed with her idea of educating farm women the same way farmers were being trained in scientific agriculture, that he and his wife, Janet, organized a meeting of rural women at Stoney Creek. One hundred and one women attended – despite the fact that Lee was roundly criticized for his audacity in making a mere woman – and a city resident at that - the keynote speaker at the event!
Mrs. Hoodless was an immediate hit with the audience, asking questions such as “Why should more attention, money and concern be lavished on the farm livestock than the farm family?” As a result, several audience members contributed their own funds (25 cents each) to form the first Women’s Institute in existence. Adelaide Hunter Hoodless was named honorary president of the first-ever women’s institute group but the actual hardworking president was Mrs. E.D. Smith. Her husband operated a nursery and fruit business, later founding the food company that manufactured E.D. Smith jams.
The Women’s Institute movement was now officially launched – co-founded by activists Adelaide Hunter Hoodless and Erland and Janet Lee. That movement would soon spread across Ontario, then Canada and finally around the world! Its’ future success would involve many rural women leaders from this area.
