TORONTO, October 15, 1996 -- Five women who attended university a half-century ago will share their pioneering experiences during a panel discussion "Five Degrees of Separation: Five Women Graduates of 50 Years Ago" at York University Wednesday, October 16.

The discussion, to be held in the Founders College Senior Common Room (Room 305) on the York campus from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., is being hosted by the Nellie Langford Rowell Library of York University and the University Women's Club of North York. Representatives of the Linden School, an all-girls' school with a feminist focus, will also be in attendance.

The panel discussion is being held during Women's History Month, and more particularly, during the week in which Person's Day is celebrated. On Oct. 18, 1929, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the equivalent of today's Supreme Court of Canada, ruled that Canadian women were legally full citizens when it allowed them to serve in the Senate, overturning previous decisions of lower courts. For more information about Persons' Day, see the library's Web site at: http://www.yorku.ca/org/nellie/

The women graduates who will be speaking include: Elinore Beattie (McGill University, 1939); Betsy Carr (University of Manitoba, 1936); Jean Dodds (University of Toronto, 1939); Marion Dunlop (University of Manitoba, 1939) and Wilma Swain (Washington State University, 1935). Brief biographical notes on the speakers are attached.

"These women will be talking about their experiences as undergraduates 50 years ago," said York political science professor Naomi Black, the chair of the library's advisory board. "Women university graduates were a very small group in those days, and they tended to form groups or university clubs in various towns and cities. These university women's clubs were historically very important to the development of the women's movement."

The Nellie Langford Rowell Library, York's feminist and women's studies library, has a collection of 7,000 books and more than 200 journals. It was started in 1969 by the Toronto New Feminists and was subsequently taken over by the YWCA. The collection was loaned to York in 1983, and in 1985, a donation by Mary Coyne Rowell Jackman gave the collection a permanent home at York University. Jackman was the daughter of Nellie Langford Rowell, a pioneering activist involved in a wide range of volunteer activities important to the first wave of the Canadian women's movement.

York University, the third largest university in Canada, is nationally and internationally respected for its innovative research and teaching. With its combination of dedicated and talented faculty, bright and ambitious students, dynamic curriculum and modern campus in the heart of one of North America's most influential urban centres, York University is setting the modern standard in academic excellence.

For more information, call:

Mary Ann Horgan
Department of Communications
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22084

The Nellie Langford Rowell Library
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 33219
YU/048/96

Elinore Beattie (McGill University, 1939) belongs to a theatrical family. She has been very involved in amateur theatre, and her son Rod Beattie is renowned for his portrayal of Walt Wingfield in Letter from Wingfield Farm and the Wingfield trilogy of plays. Her son Douglas Beattie is also involved in theatre as a producer.

Betsy Carr (University of Manitoba, 1936) recently attended the 60th anniversary of her graduating class at the University of Manitoba. She is a member of the Raging Grannies, a group of women activists involved in environmental and women's issues. Carr is currently involved in a campaign against nuclear waste disposal in Canada and around the world.

Jean Dodds (University of Toronto, 1939) has always been interested in political movements and has supported the CCF or NDP all her life.

Marion Dunlop (University of Manitoba, 1939) never attended university full time, taking all of her courses either by correspondence, part time, or through summer school. Like many women of her generation, she worked for the air force during the Second World War. Dunlop did clerical work and was in charge of a group of typists.

Wilma Swain (Washington State, 1935) served as the librarian for Wilson Heights Secondary School for many years. She did some graduate work but jokes that she has "three doctorates" because her husband, son, and daughter all earned their doctorates.