Frances Willard Plaque
1939 plaque to commemorate 100th anniversary of the birth of Frances Willard, head of the moralistic Women's Christian Temperance Union.The WCTU of Vancouver was one of several groups who -- despite different motivations -- worked together to achieve equality of voting rights between men and women in BC in 1917.The decision to place the plaque in Stanley Park was spearheaded by Susan Lane Clark who was elected to the Parks Board in 1938.Clark had been a campaigner for women's suffrage through the Women's Equality League, a group focused on working women and lobbying unions to support votes for women. She was an advocate for a minimum wage for women, women probation officers, women factory inspectors, women judges and better conditions for orphans.The plaque and the garden in which it was placed had been forgotten and overgrown until 2006 when crews cleaning up after a large windstorm uncovered the location.
Plaque courtesy of the BC Labour Heritage Centre's project Plaques Around the Province. project