Erland Lee (1864 – 1926) was a Canadian farmer, teacher, and government employee from

Stoney Creek, Ontario Stoney Creek is a community in the city of Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was officially a city from 1984 to 2001, when it was amalgamated with the rest of the cities of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth. The co ...

. He was a co-founder of the

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

, an international organization originally formed to promote the education of isolated rural women.

Life

Born on May 3, 1864, Erland was a prominent member of the Lee family, who came to the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(then

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

) as

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

in 1792, after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. They settled on top of the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that runs predominantly east–west from New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over ...

, and cultivated a prosperous farm. The Lee Homestead, also known as "Edgemont," is currently the site of the Erland Lee Museum. Erland Lee was the co-founder of the first

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

in the world, along with

Janet (Chisholm) Lee Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

, his wife, and

Adelaide Hoodless Adelaide Sophia Hoodless (née Addie Hunter; February 27, 1858 – February 26, 1910) was a Canadian educational reformer who founded the international women's organization known as the Women's Institute. She was the second president of the Hamil ...

, an advocate of domestic science and women's education. In February 1897, after hearing Hoodless give a lecture at the

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affili ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

- Erland invited Hoodless to deliver a speech at the annual "Ladies Night" held by the Farmer's Institute of Stoney Creek of which he was an influential member.Erland Lee Museum files Hoodless suggested during this speech that education in domestic science might best be achieved through an organization for women similar to the existing Farmer's Institutes for men. Hoodless (or Erland Lee) then suggested that women interested in discussing the formation of such a group might meet again the following week.Women's Institute Constitution and Minutes, Stoney Creek Charter Branch, 1897. Written by Janet Lee Erland and his wife

Janet Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

spent that week inviting and encouraging the women of Stoney Creek to attend this second meeting. On February 19, 1897, 101 rural Canadian homemakers agreed to create a Women's Institute, which would become the largest international rural women's movement ever established.Ambrose, Linda M. "For Home and Country: The Centennial History of the Women's Institutes in Ontario." Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, 1996. Erland Lee was the only man in attendance, and acted as chairman of the first meeting. The original

constitution was written on February 25, 1897, on the Lee's dining room table. Erland Lee's political and financial support of the women's group was crucial to its expansion and success, and may be the only reason why the organization was recognized by the Canadian government during a time when women were not considered citizens. Erland Lee was also a member of the Saltfleet

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

, Treasurer-Clerk of Saltfleet Township, and a teacher educated at the Hamilton Normal School. He jointly owned and operated the Vinemount Creamery with his friend and local member of provincial parliament, Ernest D’Israeli (E.D.) Smith, and maintained a mixed farm atop the

References

External links

Erland Lee Museum Website
website of organization
Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario Website
website of organization
Associated Country Women of the World Website
website of organization {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Erland 1864 births 1926 deaths People from Hamilton, Ontario