History Coins: Nellie McClung

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The woman on this coin is Nellie McClung. Nellie was a Canadian feminist, politician, and social activist, prohibitionist and suffragette who was born on October 20, 1873 in Chatsworth, Ontario, and died on September 1, 1951, in Victoria, British Columbia. She was part of an important social/political change in Canada because her contributions helped achieve woman suffrage and the advancement of women rights, including the eligibility to become a Senator. She was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1921 and was the first woman on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Board of Governors. In addition, she was a delegate to the League of Nations. In 1927, McClung and four other women: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louis McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Emily Murphy came together to be known as the “Famous Five”. Emily Murphy’s authority to preside as a judge was challenged by a lawyer on the basis that women were not considered to be "persons" under the British North America Act. As a result, they launched the "Persons Case”. They asked the question, “Does the word persons in section 24 of...

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