Engineering Wives Association

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Revision as of 10:07, 19 December 2024 by Gcook (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The Professional Engineers Wives Association was a social club created to serve the needs of the wives of professional engineers and operated independently from the engineering association. Founded on October 25, 1940 it held luncheons once a month and consisted of socializing time for members and guest speakers. Example speakers included Mrs. Anderson from the United Nations Association and Rev. W.G. Martin on his artic travels. In the earlier decades they also held t...")
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The Professional Engineers Wives Association was a social club created to serve the needs of the wives of professional engineers and operated independently from the engineering association.

Founded on October 25, 1940 it held luncheons once a month and consisted of socializing time for members and guest speakers. Example speakers included Mrs. Anderson from the United Nations Association and Rev. W.G. Martin on his artic travels. In the earlier decades they also held teas throughout the year for special events and fundraisers. Examples include an annual fall tea for new members and a fundraising coffee party to raise money for two $200 scholarships for deserving engineering students. They also held an annual tea and shower where they wrapped gifts and distributed them to T.B. patients.

They also provided parallel programing for the wives of all engineers during the engineering association’s annual general meeting and during conferences. For example, during the Engineering Institute of Canada’s 1960 national conference in Winnipeg they held a parallel “Ladies Program” consisting of tea’s, a fashion show, bus tours of the city, tours of the legislature and art gallery, a reception at Government House, entertainment, and the annual report on the wives association.

The organization had its own executive and in 1941 had 130 members out of a potential pool of 240 engineering association members. At the time the wives association was created there was no issue with the term “wives” as the engineering profession was exclusively male and gay marriage was not legal, making all engineers spouses wives.

With the much more diverse membership of the association in today, it would be more appropriate to call it a “spouses” association.