Historic women's group swapped skills in Brooklin An institution that features prominently in the history of Brooklin is the Women's Institute. The Brooklin Women's Institute was one of many WIs that popped up across Ontario in the early 20th century with the mandate to improve women's skills in the arts of homemaking and child care. But as the WIs grew in number and in membership, so too did their purpose; at the encouragement of Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of Canada's governor-general and dedicated member of the Athens, Ont. branch, WIs began taking up the important cause of writing and preserving of their community histories. These Tweedsmuir Histories, as they've come to be known, can be found in almost every community that has or had an active WI in Ontario. Here at the Archives we have one for Myrtle, Whitby, and Brooklin. We also have a larger collection for the Brooklin branch, which contains minute books, finances and administrative documents. The Brooklin Tweedsmuir was written by Charlotte Batty, wife of Frank Batty of one of Brooklin's farming families, and it's a very comprehensive history of Brooklin complete with photographs. Copies of the Brooklin Tweedsmuir can be found at the Brooklin and Central libraries. The Brooklin WI was founded in 1910 in the basement of the since demolished Brooklin Presbyterian Church with 15 charter members. The minute books provide insight into activities of the group's monthly meetings and the topics of discussion ranged from recipe sharing to demonstrations to local charity. On Nov. 3, 1910, Miss Fletcher of New York gave a talk on how to ventilate a sick room and demonstrated making a bed and bathing a patient and then Miss Hannah of Hamilton spoke more generally about home nursing. At the November 1911 meeting, the group was asked to verbally provide examples of 'some way of cooking poultry.' As you would hope and might expect, "Responses came very liberally and a good deal of information on that subject given." Each month was meant to be educational and informative, with the women sharing their experiences on how to make their homes safer, their lives more efficient and themselves more knowledgeable. By 1919, the local WIs united to become the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario, sharing the goals of what would later become the Associated Country Women of the World. The Brooklin group petered out by the early 1990s but its efforts live on at the Archives as we work to preserve its legacy and contributions to Brooklin's history. Visit the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario website at www.fiwo.on.ca for more information on Ontario's first Women's Institute and Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, the woman who made it all possible. Sarah Ferencz is the archivist at the Whitby Public Library. Contact her at archives@whitbylibrary.on.ca durhamregion.com The Citizen June 20, 2014 5 SARAH FERENCZ Whitby Public Library BROOKLIN -- Charlotte Batty wrote the Brooklin Tweedsmuir for the Women's Institute. WHITBY ARCHIVES PHOTO