Alberta Women's Institute. Wang Branch

Alberta Women's Institute. Wang Branch

The first Women's Institute in Alberta was established in Lea Park in 1909 by private citizens. It was this group that urged the government to officially establish Women's Institutes in the province. In 1912, Roberta MacAdams, a home economist from Ontario, was asked by Alberta's Department of Agriculture to survey the needs of women in the province. Her report led to the development of Women's Institutes as a government-sponsored program. The functions of the institutes were to improve social conditions in rural and other communities by means of studying home economics and child welfare. The Alberta Women's Institutes were composed of local branches from communities throughout Alberta and had as its aim the betterment of life for both home and country. Branches of the Women's Institutes were provincially organized in 1915, and officially incorporated under the Alberta Women's Institutes Act of 1916. The Wang Branch (located in the district of Wang to the north-east of Wetaskiwin) of the Alberta Women's Institute was formed in 1947 with Mrs. Jessie Kjos as the first president. Over the course of its history, the Wang Branch of the Alberta Women's Institute aided women in learning skills such as sewing, dress making and cooking; assisted members in understanding the fundamentals of livestock and agriculture; and took part in activities put on by the Provincial Branch of the Alberta Women's Institute. These activities included lectures, short course schools, travelling and other libraries, exhibitions, competitions, meetings, and conventions.