As the girls arrived, they continued working on their footprints showing their personal Guiding Journey. We held our usual opening ceremony, followed by a game led by the Active Living Patrol for the week.
We started by asking the girls if they were persons - a unanimous yes. Then we asked if girls and women had always been persons - another yes, but some girls looked a bit unsure. This led into a discussion of the Persons Case and the role of the Famous Five in ensuring that all girls and women would be recognized as persons under the law.
As part of this introduction, we watched the Heritage Minute about Emily Murphy:
We worked through a series of facts, as provided in the challenge pack, about the Famous Five, having the girls go to one side of the room for 'True' and the other side for 'False'. To get everyone moving, we used the Participation Story that is provided for Brownies, but added the girls running to the end of the room and back to use up some excess energy.
Our final activity involved talking about rules and laws and then having the girls work in small groups to come up with a campaign to be the leader of the first colony on Mars. They had to work out rules/laws that would be needed and then present their decisions to the rest of the group and try to "sell" their platform.
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The Challenge Pack can be found on the Alberta Council website
www.girlguides.ca/WEB/Documents/AB/Challenges/AB-2014-FAMOUS-FIVE-CHALLENGE.doc
Fast Facts About the Famous Five & the Persons Case
Who Where the Famous Five?
The Famous Five is a term created by the media to refer to the five women who took part in the 'Persons Case'. Five people needed to stand together to bring an appeal against a law to the Supreme Court. The Famous Five were: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby, and Louise McKinney.
What Was the Persons Case?
Did you know that until 1929 women in Canada weren't considered to be persons under the law? Five courageous Alberta women couldn't believe this either! They appealed the law to the Supreme Court of Canada and eventually the Privy Council in London, England. The new ruling, that women were indeed persons, meant that women could now hold federally appointed offices, such as belonging to the Senate of Canada.
What Started the Persons Case?
When Emily Murphy became the first female magistrate in the British Commonwealth in 1916, a lawyer questioned her right to hear the case because, under the law, she wasn't a person. She asked the Province of Alberta for a ruling, and in 1917 Alberta declared that both men and women were equal under the law. Because this ruling didn't apply to federal appointments, she decided to try to change the law.
What Happened During the Persons Case?
1917 - Emily Murphy launches a series of petitions, gathering thousands of signatures, asking politicians to change the law and recognize women as persons.
1927 - After the petitions failed, Emily Murphy gathered four of her friends - Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby, and Louise McKinney - and they petitioned the Supreme court of Canada to have women declared as legal persons.
1928 - The Supreme Court of Canada turns down the petition, so the five women took their case to the Privy Council in London, England.
1929 - On October 29th, women were finally recognized as persons under the law.
