Adelaide Hoodless

Adelaide Hoodless

Introduction
Adelaide Hoodless was a strong woman that changed how society thought about the importance of educating women on domestic science. She came back from the death of her son and began to get involved in various organizations so that other people wouldn’t have to face what she did.

Early Life
Adelaide Hoodless was born on February 27th 1857 in Stoney Creek Ontario. She was the youngest of 10 children and spent a lot of her time working on her family farm and doing custom chores. On September 14th 1881 she married John Hoodless who she eventually had four children with. They had two girls and two boys. Unfortunately, the youngest boy died when he was 14 months old due to Adelaide drinking contaminated milk. She was devastated by her loss and wanted to do something about it so that others wouldn’t have to experience the same thing. From that point on she decided that she would devote her time to educate women on proper household work and domestic science.

Education
When Adelaide was a kid she went through elementary school but no further. However, this was not her choice. Women were not allowed to attend college because of the rules set in the British Common Law.

Achievements/Movements
Adelaide achieved many amazing things and it all started with getting involved. In 1889 she went to a Young Men’s Christian Association meeting to try and create a Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). A year later, in 1890, it happened and Adelaide helped develop the YWCA and was elected as the Second President. She represented the association in 1893 at the Chicago World Fair and while she was there she went to the International Congress of Women. She came back to her home to develop the Canadian National Council of Women with the support of the International Congress of Women and became the treasurer of this newly found organization. Adelaide was trying to get more staff for the YWCA because there were so many girls who needed instruction on cooking and working within the house. The Hamilton Board of Education started working with the YWCA to educate girls within the school system and eventually they began learning about more than just cooking, but all the elements in domestic science. All of this hard work in her first campaign earned her the position of President of the YWCA in 1895. In 1901, Adelaide’s husband was troubled with financial problems so she had to focus more on her home. In that same year she decided to resign from the Canadian National Council of Women and put her center of attention on educating people in the post secondary level. She met with Canadian millionaire, Sir William Macdonald, to try and get funding for a future Macdonald Institute at the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph. In 1902, with all of her financial problems and public service work Adelaide also resigned as the President of the YWCA. However, she experienced a nervous breakdown later that same year. On a good note, Sir William Macdonald agreed to fund the Macdonald Institute and in 1904 it opened. People who attended could take courses on physics, chemistry, biology and domestic science. Adelaide lectured classes for a little over a year before the curriculum began to advance and pass her knowledge. This resulted in all of her assignments being canceled and she suffered another nervous breakdown. With her health deteriorating she also resigned from her position in the Canadian National Council of Women in 1908. In that same year Adelaide went to the United States for the Provincial Government to report on their progress in preparing girls to work in industrial department. On February 26th 1910 she was invited to speak at St. Margaret College. She was mostly talking about women and the industrial life. She had captivated her audience and they all knew her reputation. However, midway through her discussion she suddenly collapsed and died of heart failure. Adelaide Hoodless was only 57 years old when she passed away. She had many amazing achievements in her lifetime and they can’t be forgotten.

Importance to Canada
Adelaide Hoodless is a role model to all people, not only women. She was the person who started making women have a part in the communities. At the time, women were not allowed to continue their education past primary school. Therefore they were not knowledgeable on everything they should have known. Adelaide changed that. Adelaide started or was at least a very important part in starting many organizations. All of her campaigns brought women together and they were the start of women finally being able to be educated.