Women's History Month

• Date of Birth: 2 April 1933
• Date of Death: 16 February 2025
• Accomplishments: Notable and accomplished historian of northwestern Ontario history

Elinor Barr was an accomplished and prolific historian of northwestern Ontario's history, leaving a considerable legacy of work that documents and interprets the region's heritage.

Born Elinor Berglund in 1933, she grew up in Ignace, Ontario, which would later become one of her notable historical focuses. She graduated from McKellar Hospital as a registered nurse in 1954 and was also married to Peter Barr that same year. She would go on to spend most of the rest of her life in Port Arthur/Thunder Bay.

However, after graduating with an Honours Degree in History from Lakehead University in 1974, her primary attention would turn to this field. Since then, she had a long and distinguished career as a historical writer, researcher, book publisher (Singing Shield Productions), and distributor.

Some of Elinor’s notable historical works include Thunder Bay to Gunflint: The Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway, published by The Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society; Silver Islet: Striking it Rich in Lake Superior; The Frontier as Experienced on the Pre-cambrian Shield: A Study of Ignace, Ontario from 1883-1908, and several others. In 2015, she published an important work, Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants, which traced the history of Swedish immigration to Canada. Elinor also co-produced the TV series Distant Voices and wrote the script for the film The Castle of White Otter Lake.

Through this work, Elinor left a considerable and valuable record of archival material collected and generated, which will form an important component of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s archival collection. This collection includes everything from research notes for works on Silver Islet and the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway, to primary source documents relating to Scandinavian immigration to and life in Thunder Bay. Elinor also contributed numerous articles to the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, both in its weekly ‘Looking Back’ column and in several issues of the Papers & Records yearly periodical. She was a long-time supporter of the Museum.

Ruth Tye McKenzie

• Date of Birth: 6 October 1929
• Date of Death: 31 January 2023
• Accomplishments: Visual art, local business

Ruth Tye McKenzie was a significant contributor to the arts in Thunder Bay, as a visual artist and as the founder of the Painted Turtle Art Shop.

Born in Edmonton, she was educated at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Ontario College of Art. In the 1950s, she moved to Thunder Bay and became friends with artist Susan Ross and author Sheila Burnford, and together they began the Port Arthur Puppeteers.

As a visual artist, she was best known for her paintings, etchings, and mixed media works. She regularly depicted northern Ontario landscapes, and she frequently drew and painted nudes. Her “Nudescapes” series combined these subjects, with human figures incorporated into the boreal landscape.

Superior Shore, Nudescape series (Lakehead University Archives, LU21)

Working in Thunder Bay since 1976, McKenzie became aware of limited options for purchasing high quality art supplies in the region. In 1983 she opened the Painted Turtle Art Shop. The store quickly became an important site in the Thunder Bay arts community and continues to operate today under new owners.

McKenzie’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in 2003 and 2023. Her artwork is in the permanent collections of the Banff School of Fine Arts, the City of Thunder Bay, Confederation College, the Government of Ontario Art Collection, and Lakehead University. She was a member of Lakehead Visual Arts, The Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and Definitely Superior Artist Run Centre, and a founding member of Artists North of Superior.

She won the first Thunder Bay Regional Arts Council Award to Business in 1986 for The Painted Turtle’s contribution to the local arts community. In 2017, McKenzie was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the City of Thunder Bay's Arts and Heritage Awards. She passed away in January 2023.

 

 Tape-scape 35 (Lakehead University Archives, LU394)

References:

“Ruth Tye McKenzie”. https://theag.ca/ruth-tye-mckenzie/ Thunder Bay Art Gallery

“Ruth McKenzie Obituary (2023) – The Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal”. Legacy.com.

Ruth Tye McKenzie, “LVA artist Ruth Tye McKenzie,” Archives & Digital Collections at Lakehead University Library, accessed September 17, 2025, https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/items/show/3284.

Gwen O'Reilly

• Accomplishments: Activism and Advocacy, Women’s and Minority Rights, Volunteerism, Food Security
• Major affiliations: Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre, Good Food Box Project, Thunder Bay and District Coordinating Committee to End Women Abuse, Food Action Network NWO

“We discover a need and then figure out how we can address it, whether that’s by going after decision makers or inventing something of our own.” (Gwen O’Reilly, Forty Fabulous Feminists)

Gwen is a determined and compassionate leader in the women’s community of Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario. Her focus is on creating meaningful change in the institutional response to violence against women, addressing the impacts of systemic racism and sexism, and emphasizing access to justice for all women.

Gwen was accepted into the HBSc Forestry program at Lakehead University in 1977, one of less than 10 women in a class of over 100. While at Lakehead, she helped start its first women’s centre. She continued on to the graduate program in Forest Ecology and Genetics, then spent six years as a Forestry Research Associate. “Fieldwork confirmed her love of the boreal forest. Forestry confirmed her understanding of sexism and homophobia.” (Lakehead University Convocation Program, 2019)

Gwen started her public education career giving workshops on homophobia. In the 1980s, she wrote articles for the Northern Woman Journal, was involved in organizing a lesbian support group, and volunteered as an on-air host on the local cable TV show, Thunder Gay Magazine.

She joined the board of the Northern Women’s Centre in 1984. That same year, she helped organize Interweave, the first provincial meeting of women’s centres. Gwen has served as the director of the Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre (NOWC) since 1991. She has also been a long-time active member on the Thunder Bay and District Coordinating Committee to End Women Abuse, and remains connected to cross-provincial advocacy efforts against gender-based violence. In recent years, she helped lead the effort to have Thunder Bay City Council declare gender-based violence an epidemic.

Gwen O'Reilly speaking at City Council

In the late 1980s, Gwen became involved in organic farming. She attended farming conferences, and served on the editorial committee of Canadian Organic Growers and wrote many articles for their national magazine. Her interest in food production and her passion for justice led her to connect with the then Food Action Network, where she helped develop the Thunder Bay Food Charter along with other efforts, including the Good Food Box Program, aimed to create food security for all in Thunder Bay. She was a founding member of the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy and continues to serve as a board member on its newly incorporated version, the Food Action Network NWO. 

She sees the Thunder Bay Good Food Box Program, which she has administered since 2005, as one of her proudest accomplishments.

Gwen O'Reilly, Good Food Box program

In 2019, Gwen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Lakehead University and gave a keynote address at convocation. More recently, she was presented with King Charles III’s Coronation Medal, an honour created to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service and excellence within their communities. She credits the inspiring stories thousands of women have shared with her over the years as motivation for her work and the reason she remains hopeful.

References: 

Convocation Program, 2019, Lakehead University.

Forty Fabulous Feminists in Northwestern Ontario, 2013, published to celebrate NWOC’s 40 anniversary. Gwen O’Reilly, based on an interview with PhebeAnn Wolframe, pages 64-67.

Dorothy Mary Pickup 

• Date of Death: March 18, 1968
• Accomplishments: Municipal government, community service

In 1951, Dorothy Mary Pickup was elected as an alderman for Fort William City Council and made history by being Fort William’s first-ever alderwoman. Influenced by the success of Eunice Wishart, the first female mayor of Port Arthur, Dorothy Mary Pickup decided to run for alderman at the age of 60, earning 3,765 votes, the most out of the three newly elected aldermen. Mrs. Pickup was modest about her election, it being her long-time belief that women should have some say in civic affairs.

In addition to this lifelong belief, Dorothy Mary Pickup’s many accomplishments throughout her life made her a desirable choice for alderman. Educated at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, she was a piano teacher for some time before her marriage. During this time, she was a part of many boards and councils that were striving for women’s rights and was the president of the Women’s Canadian Club, the West Algoma Council of Women, and the Superior Presbyterial of the United Church. While she was on her honeymoon in England with her army doctor husband during the first World War, she also worked in an army medical supplies depot and the Canadian Estates Office. Of all her accomplishments she stated that the one she was most proud of was raising her two children, but when both had grown up and gone to college, she felt it was her civic duty to make a contribution to the community on City Council.

Dorothy Pickup was very busy during her time as alderman. In her first year alone, she had perfect attendance to all council meetings and was chosen to be the acting mayor while Mayor Badani was out of town at a two-day hydro conference in Sioux Lookout. She also was on the four-person committee preparing the city for the royal visit from Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

After a successful eight-year run on council from 1951-1958, Dorothy Pickup enjoyed a well-deserved retirement at her home in Fort William before moving to Alexandria, Ontario in 1962. She passed away March 18, 1968, in Alexandria at the age of 77.

Dorothy Mary Pickup shaking hands with Princess and Prince. 

Jean Morrison

• Date of Birth: 8 December, 1926
• Date of Death: 22 September, 2014
• Accomplishments: Notable and accomplished historian of Northwestern Ontario history.

Jean Morrison was an accomplished historian of Northwestern Ontario’s history whose impact on our understanding of this region's storied past is still felt to this day.

Born Jean Case in Sault Ste. Marie, Jean lived in various places across Ontario in her early life before moving to Thunder Bay in 1966. She married Ken Morrison in 1948, shortly after graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

In 1974 Jean became the first woman to receive a Master of Arts degree in History from Lakehead University, with a thesis focusing on the history of the industrial working class at the Lakehead in the early 20th century.

For much of her career, she served as the research historian at Fort William Historical Park, from 1975 until her retirement in 1990, after which the library there was named in her honour as “The Jean Morrison Canadian Fur Trade Library”. During her tenure this resource became one of the largest repositories of material related to the North American fur trade and the North West Company. This important research serves as the foundation for interpretive presentations and educational programs that continue to impress thousands of visitors to Fort William Historical Park today.

Among her notable publications are Superior Rendezvous Place: Fort William in the Canadian Fur Trade (2001), Lake Superior to Rainy Lake: Three Centuries of Fur Trade History (2003) and Labour Pains: Thunder Bay’s Working Class in Canada’s Wheat Boom Era (2009). For the latter, she was awarded the Ontario Historical Society’s J.J. Talman Award, which honours the best book on Ontario’s social, economic, political, or cultural history. She has also twice received the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Elizabeth Arthur Award for full-length scholarly works.

The Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society's archives (A107) contain a collection of Jean’s personal records relating to her life and career.

Submitted jointly by the Thunder Bay Museum and Fort William Historical Park

Mildred Jane (Millie) Foster

• Date of Birth: November 16, 1913
• Date of Death: January 8, 2009
• Accomplishments: Community service, development of 55 Plus Centre, Paul Harris Fellow Award, Province of Ontario International Year of Older Persons Award

Mildred Jane Foster (nee Hutchins), or Millie as she was better known, was born in Fort William, attending Drew Street School and Fort William Collegiate in what is now the Thunder Bay South Side. She met her future husband Bertrand Arthur Foster in 1932, marrying in January 1938 just before the outbreak of World War II. While he went overseas, Millie worked as many women did during the war, first at Chapples Department Store and later Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car), in their offices.

In the 1960s, she began attending the senior centre situated in what was once the Benger Block on Red River Road, now the location of the provincial government building. However, in 1962 Ontario passed legislation which altered funding to old-age community facilities: 50% of their costs were to be paid by seniors or raised from other sources, with only partial funding from the government. Over time this led to increasing instability and forced the centre to move repeatedly.

Millie and others responded with a donation drive and outreach campaign, connecting with major corporations and offices, many of which Millie had either worked in or knew personally. With charm and perseverance, she helped generate interest and funds to eventually establish what is now the 55 Plus Centre on River Street, which opened in September 1991.

Millie has been recognized for this achievement and others, but her two most significant awards are the Paul Harris Fellow Award in 1992 (Rotary Foundation), and the Province of Ontario’s International Year of Older Persons award in 1999. She was active in her community in many other ways, including being a member of the Greenstone Rebekah women’s lodge since 1932 and later in life serving on the CKPR-TV Advisory Council from 1985 to 1998. Millie and Bertrand had four children and celebrated their 60th anniversary in 1998.

Though Millie passed away in January of 2009 at the age of 95, her legacy of principled charity and goodwill will be remembered for much longer.

Mildred Jane Foster at Future Site of 55 Plus Centre

Lynda McKeown

• Accomplishments: Dental hygiene, health care, education 

Lynda McKeown has practiced dental hygiene for 60 years, during which time she has advocated for improved oral health for the citizens of Thunder Bay. After graduating from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry she began her practice as the first dental hygienist in what is now Thunder Bay in 1964. She served as part-time faculty at Confederation College while providing periodontal care for a group of dentists. Her professional work also included Thunder Bay District Heath unit, Fluoride Varnish research, and clinician and researcher at the Breath Odour Clinic. Lynda has influenced oral health organizations from the local to the international by participating in and producing research, contributing to professional publications, and serving on professional boards and organizations.

Since 1972, Lynda has inspired students at Confederation College’s Dental Hygiene program through her service as one of the program’s first faculty members, both teaching courses and acting as a clinical demonstrator. While working full time, Lynda enrolled at Lakehead University and earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, with a minor in Occupational Ethics (1992). Later, she returned full time to earn a Master of Arts in Sociology (1995). With her new knowledge she developed a pioneering Confederation College course that applied sociology theory to Dental Hygiene practice in communities.

Lynda has been instrumental in the ongoing success of oral health organizations in Thunder Bay. She is a founding member of the Thunder Bay Dental Hygienists Society and brought forward the needs of local professionals as a board member for the Ontario Dental Hygienists Association. She was also the President of the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association and has been honoured with a Life Membership from all three organizations. Lynda, along with other government appointees to the Transitional Council of the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO), piloted the development of dental hygiene self regulation. She was elected and served as the First President of CDHO.

The philosophy of her practice has centred in ongoing care for clients. After completing her MA, Lynda decided to bring professional dental hygiene care to persons without access to a dentist office, those in private homes, and long-term care facilities in Thunder Bay. This choice started her passion to improve oral care in LTCHs, as dental hygienists contribute to oral/dental health through all ages and abilities. Her present work involves establishing the relationship between increased frailties and need for professional dental hygiene care to maintain oral health. Frailties may directly or indirectly affect the health of the mouth and may determine the choice of dental hygiene therapies. Cognitive and physical frailties, for instance, affect a person's independence and ability to self care.

She was asked if she would revise the chapter 'palliative care' for the 6th edition of “Darby and Walsh Dental Hygiene: Theory and Practice”. Coauthoring with equally passionate local oral health advocates, they introduced in chapter 52 "Palliative Dental Hygiene Oral Health Care", being “the concept of providing compassion, support, and care for persons’ oral health as they progress through their chronic illness and disability so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible until the end-of-life."

Lynda’s initiatives have helped improve clients’ journey to the end of their lives. Her ‘Mission of the Mouth’ stands as a constant reminder of the importance of oral health to overall health. Lynda will be remembered in Thunder Bay as a pioneering dental hygienist, advocate, and activist for public oral health.