Description

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A biography of Mary Ellen Spear Smith, the British Empire’s first female cabinet member.
 
Mary Ellen Spear Smith (1863–1933), the first female cabinet minister in the British Empire, left a significant and complex legacy. A miner’s daughter, Smith pioneered the women’s suffrage movement in Canada and campaigned on behalf of a nascent labor movement in parliament, even as she embraced the white supremacy and bourgeois ideals of the Empire. Through the story of this intrepid politician, A Liberal-Labour Lady captures the uneven struggle for justice in turn-of-the-century Canada.

About the Author

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Veronica Strong-Boag is professor emerita of educational studies at the University of British Columbia, adjunct professor of history and gender studies at the University of Victoria, and the general editor of the seven-volume series, Women’s Suffrage and the Struggle for Democracy.