Elizabeth Parker (December 19, 1856 – October 26, 1944) was a Canadian journalist in the early 1900s. She attended school in

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

, obtained her teaching certificate, married Henry John Parker at the age of 18, moved to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

and then to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. She co-founded the

Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, ...

in 1906 with

Arthur Oliver Wheeler Arthur Oliver Wheeler (May 1, 1860 – May 20, 1945) was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1876 at the age of 16. He became a land surveyor and surveyed large areas of western Canada, including photo-topographical surveys of the Selkir ...

. In 1902, she was working at the Manitoba Free Press (now the

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

), when

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

president, Charles Fay, proposed to establish a Canadian chapter of the American club. Amidst

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

ideals, she wrote scathing criticism of the idea, and instead helped to establish the

as an independent Canadian

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

organization. She and the Manitoba Free Press continued to publicize and support Canadian mountaineering, and with the help of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, she organized the founding meeting of the ACC in 1906, at which she became the Club's first secretary. Although she was not herself a mountaineer, Parker participated in many of the ACC camp trips and was at home in the mountains and among the climbing community. She helped lay out the philosophical foundations of the club in the opening article of the first ''

Canadian Alpine Journal The ''Canadian Alpine Journal'' is the yearly magazine of the Alpine Club of Canada. It serves as a worldwide journal of record for achievements in climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and exploration of mountains. The magazine is headqua ...

'' (1907): she saw the club as a protector of the environment, "a national trust for the defense of our mountain solitudes against the intrusion of steam and electricity and all the vandalisms of this luxurious utilitarian age; for the keeping free from the grind of commerce, the wooded passes and valleys and alplands of the wilderness. It is the people's right to have primitive access to the remote places of safest retreat from the fever and the fret of the market place and the beaten tracks of life." She envisioned the group promoting scientific study and cultivating mountain art. It was Parker's fondest dream that mountaineering would promote conservation, patriotism, and moral discipline among Canadians. In 2006, the Canadian government (through

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

) produced a dramatic presentation called "''Elizabeth Parker and the Alpine Club of Canada''" (written and performed by actor and Parks interpreter Laurie Schwartz) describing Parker's contribution to Canadian mountaineering. The play credits Parker not only with her contributions to Canadian mountaineering, but also "a feminist commitment

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

paved the way for others". The Alpine Club of Canada maintains the

Elizabeth Parker hut The Elizabeth Parker hut is an alpine hut located in Yoho National Park near Lake O'Hara in British Columbia. The hut is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada. History The hut was named after the alpinist Elizabeth Parker (journalist), Elizab ...

near

Lake O'Hara Lake O'Hara is a lake at an elevation of in the alpine area of Yoho National Park, in the province of British Columbia, on the western side of the Great Divide with the province of Alberta and Banff National Park to the east. The lake and the va ...

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered ...

, named in her honour.

Parker Ridge Parker Ridge is a mountain ridge located in the upper North Saskatchewan River valley in Banff National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Athabasca, to the west. Parker Ridge is situated along th ...

, overlooking Saskatchewan Glacier in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

, was named after Elizabeth Parker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Elizabeth 1856 births 1944 deaths Canadian women journalists Canadian feminists Female climbers Journalists from Nova Scotia People from Colchester County 20th-century Canadian journalists Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian women writers