March 8th was International Women’s Day and in honour of this day Heritage Canada released it’s newest ‘Heritage Minute‘. The Heritage Minute is various pieces of Canadian history in an easy to digest 1 min or less video. These minutes (formally called ‘Historica Minutes: History by the Minute‘) have been part of the Canadian culture since 1991 and have been learning tools for students, adults and also subjects of many parodies.

For today’s post I wanted to showcase some of the women of Canadian history (like Viola Desmond) who have made their mark in various ways, focusing on the time periods from the 1900′ to the late 1940’s.

The Women of Canada’s Heritage Minutes: 1900’s to the 1940’s

The Edmonton Grads

Their most recent video is about The Edmonton Grads (1915–40) a women’s championship basketball team coached by Percy Page. During their 25 years as a team, the Grads won an astounding 95 per cent of their matches. The Grads were national and world champions, often defeating their opponents by lopsided scores. The team won the Underwood International Trophy (USA–Canada) for 17 years straight (1923 to 1940), and was undefeated in 24 matches held in conjunction with the Olympic Summer Games in 1924, 1928 and 1936.

Nursing Sisters

Nursing Sisters: The minute commemorates the service and sacrifice of women on the front lines of the First World War through the retelling of a real event from May 1918. It is the story of two of the nearly 3000 trained nurses who served overseas.

Agnes Macphail

Agnes Macphail: .1935-Canada’s first female MP (members of Parliament) contributed to the reform of the Canadian penal system.

Mona Parsons

Mona Parsons: 1945- Mona Parsons is sentenced to a Nazi prison camp (but escapes execution) for helping downed Allied airmen escape.

Nellie McClung

Nellie McClung: 1916-The next video depicts Nellie McClung’s confrontation with Premier R.P. Roblin to win the right to vote for Manitoban women. She is noted for staging a ‘Mock parliament, attacking votes for men’.

Pauline Vanier

Pauline Vanier: Is part of one of Canada’s most remarkable families who worked tirelessly to aid displaced persons and refugees during the Second World War (1939–1945).

Emily Murphy

Emily Murphy: 1929-Recounts how Murphy and a group of Canadian women secured the rights of women as persons throughout the Commonwealth.

Mary “Bonnie” Baker

The ‘All American Girls Professional Baseball League’ had 68 Canadian Women on their teams. Here is a ‘Heritage Minute’, celebrating Saskatchewan’s Mary “Bonnie” Baker, an all-star catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and a pioneer for women in sports.

Further Reading: Lets Play Ball! The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League

Viola Desmond

The last Heritage Minute for today’s post, is Viola Desmond. She was an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940’s.

Friends, I hoped you enjoyed learning a little about some of these amazing women of Canada. I also hope this post encourages you to go out and learn more about the women of your own country and share their story. Knowledge is power!

If you want to watch more videos or listen to short radio programs on the other women I did not have time to feature here, then please visit the Heritage Minutes Website.

Further Reading: Vintage Women’s History 1920s-1960s (archived blog posts)

Liz

This Weekend in NYC I am attending a celebration of life for one of the most amazing woman I have ever met, Dawn Hampton (she passed away Sept 25th, 2016). She was an awe-inspiring woman who achieved so much in her life and what she gave to the Lindy Hop world alone will never ever be forgotten.

It is also Black History month, so I think it’s important that the planet (or at least my readers) learn a bit more about the unforgettable Dawn and her accomplishments.

Black History Month: Dawn Hampton was an American cabaret and jazz singer, saxophonist, dancer, and songwriter. Hampton began her lifelong career as a musical entertainer touring the Midwest as a three-year-old member of the Hampton family's band The Hampton Sisters in the late 1930s

“The Light Is On”- Let’s Meet Dawn Hampton

15 Awesome Facts!

1. Dawn was born in 1928, in Middletown Ohio and was one of 12 children in her family.

2. Her father Clark Deacon Hampton, Sr., had a family band and vaudeville act, which was part of a traveling carnival. Dawn grew up listening to the music of the family band, ‘Deacon Hampton’s Pickaninnys’.

Vintage Photo of the Deacon Hampton's Pickaninnys

3. Dawn began performing at the age of 3 and two years later sang “He Takes Me to Paradise” (Source).

4. When she was very young, she wanted to be a ballet dancer then she found out that ballet does not swing (source).

5. In the mid 1950s Dawn and her sisters became the ‘Hampton Sisters’ after several of their brothers went off to study music. They had a very long career together.

1950s vintage photo of the 'Hampton Sisters' singing group featuring Dawn Hampton. Black History Month. — Hampton Sisters (left)-Carmelita, Dawn, Altera, Virtue

6. 1958 Dawn joined the cast of the Off-Broadway hit show, “Greenwich Village, U.S.A.”. The show ran for a year at New York’s legendary ‘The Bon Soir’. An original cast album of the show features several solo tracks by Dawn.

Vintage Record: 1958 Dawn joined the cast of the Off-Broadway hit show, "Greenwich Village, U.S.A.". The show ran for a year at New York's legendary 'The Bon Soir'. An original cast album of the show features several solo tracks by Dawn. — Source: Richard Skipper

7. During the early 60’s, Dawn worked as the house singer at the ‘Lion’s Den’. The Lion’s Den was also the scene of a singer’s talent competition. Barbara Streisand relates in a Vanity Fair interview that one of her first times singing on stage was at one of these competitions. She tells how she was a little unnerved, because she came on stage after Dawn, “and the lusty applause for Dawn Hampton [was] ringing in my ears.”

8. Surgery in 1964 to her vocal cords saw Dawn lose most of her vocal range BUT she never lost her eagerness or ability to perform and her optimistic spirit.

9. Dawn spent much of the next 20 years performing as a cabaret singer in clubs around New York City. Reviewers called her a “singer’s singer” and dubbed her the “Queen of Cabaret”.

10. Dawn is talented in writing music and lyrics: In 1989 Dawn collaborated with pianist/performer Mark Nadler, writing music and lyrics for the honky-tonk mini-opera ‘Red Light’ which was given the Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) Award in 1990. Dawn and Mark also collaborated on ‘An Evening with Dawn Hampton’, which enjoyed an extended run at ‘Don’t Tell Mama’.

Dawn also wrote the music and lyrics for the play “Madame C. J. Walker” (Madame (1867-1919) was an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist. Eulogized as the first female self-made millionaire in America).

Lastly, she would find time to write a book with her niece, entitled ‘Two Penny Soap Opera’.

Deacon Hampton's Pickaninnys — Source: Richard Skipper

11. 1992-Dawn appeared with Frankie Manning in the Movie ‘Malcom X’.

12. In the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, Hampton took advantage of the craze for swing dance by bringing to the scene her smooth style and theatrical presence that has brought her international acclaim. She has never stopped since those early days.

Dawn Hampton and frankie Manning — Dawn Hampton with Frankie Manning (June 2007) by photographer Eli Pritykin.

Dawn Hampton, Ryan Francois, John Dokes – Splanky at Frankie’s Centennial Savoy Ball 2014 – Photo by Jane Kratchovil

13. Dawn lived in NYC and could be found in New York City dancing and listening to some of the best swing bands around.

14. Dawn and her family are in a documentary called ‘The Unforgettable Hampton Family’ that aired in 2011 (click on image to watch doc).

15. Dawn has been known to answer her phone saying “God Is Good. The Light Is On!” (source).

Dawn Hampton - Black History Month — Source: Advanced Style Blog Post

In Conclusion…

Watching Dawn dance heightens the experience of merely listening to jazz and reunites the relationship between music and movement. In Dawn’s own words, “The light IS on!”

Check out Dawn’s talk at Toronto Lindy Hop’s Sunday of TOWLHD, as well as watch her dance dance dance 🙂

Lastly, here is my husband and I with Dawn during her visit to Toronto in 2015 (We are both wearing Dawn on our shirt).

Hope you enjoyed learning about Dawn and her life. If you have any stories about Dawn, please share them in the comments section below.

FURTHER READING:

Liz

Category: vintage History