Mildred Fahrni (1900-1992) was a Canadian pacifist and Socialist, who became friends with

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

She was a leader of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

(WILPF) and the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

. Fahrni actively opposed

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the xenophobia that led to

Japanese Canadian internment From 1942 to 1949, Canada forcibly relocated and incarcerated over 22,000 Japanese Canadians—comprising over 90% of the total Japanese Canadian population—from British Columbia in the name of "national security". The majority were Canadian ...

and the internment of

Dukhobor The Doukhobours or Dukhobors (russian: духоборы / духоборцы, dukhobory / dukhobortsy; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are one of many non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faiths in Russia a ...

children. She was an ardent feminist and social activist.

Biography

Mildred Osterhout was born in rural Manitoba on 2 January 1900 to Reverend Abram and Hattie Osterhout. Her family relocated to British Columbia in 1914. Between 1919 and 1923 she attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(UBC), earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy. She went on to complete a Master's in Philosophy in 1923, also at UBC. After her schooling, Osterhout began working as a secretary for both the Vancouver branch of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and the Canadian Memorial Church (CMC), but winning a scholarship to

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

, in 1930 she returned to school. At school in Pennsylvania, she met Muriel Lester and was invited to work for six months at

Kingsley Hall Kingsley Hall is a community centre, in Powis Road, Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East End of London. It dates back to the work of Doris and Muriel Lester, who had a nursery school in nearby Bruce Road. Their brother, ...

in London. Serendipitously, Osterhout's arrival in London corresponded with the

Round Table Conferences The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

on India's independence.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, who was attending the conferences, was also in residence at Kingsley Hall, and her meeting with him, changed the direction of Osterhout's life. She returned to Canada in 1933 and began working as a social worker. That same year, she attended the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

Conference in Regina, which formally founded the party and launched the

Regina Manifesto The Regina Manifesto was the programme of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and was adopted at the first national convention of the CCF held in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1933. The goal of the Regina Manifesto was to eradicate the sy ...

. She ran for federal office in both the 1933 and 1938 elections on the CCF ticket, losing both times, deciding after the second loss to visit Gandhi in India. After her visit, she returned to Canada, took up a teaching position at Carleton Elementary School in 1939 and cared for her ailing father, who died in 1940. In 1941, Osterhout married Walter Fahrni and began a tour across Canada lecturing on peace an opposition to Canadian involvement in World War II. Failing to dissuade involvement and opposed to the government's

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

, Fahrni volunteered to teach without pay in the school at

New Denver New Denver is at the mouth of Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of Slocan Lake, in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The village is west of Kaslo on Highway 31A, and southeast of Nakusp and northeast of Slocan on ...

with

detainees. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Mildred traveled internationally for pacifist causes. She attended the 1945 founding conference of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and attended the 1947

Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres The Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres (First Inter-American Congress of Women) was a feminist meeting held from 21 to 27 August 1947 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was called together by the Women's International League for Peace and Freed ...

held in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

as a representative of the

(WILPF). Earlier in 1947, she had been elected president of the Vancouver branch of the WILPF but she resigned in 1948 when she moved to Toronto to accept a position as the National Secretary of the

(FOR). After five years, she transferred to Vancouver, acting as the Western Secretary for FOR. The following year, 1949, Fahrni traveled to India, to participate in the World Pacifist Meeting. She was an active public speaker discussing topics of non-violence, poverty, and social change as well as publishing articles on those subjects. In the 1950s, she wrote many submissions for the ''Doukhobor Inquirer'' and was sympathetic to their persecution. Between 1953 and 1959, the Canadian government interned Doukhobor children in the residential schools in

and Fahrni once again offered her teaching services. In 1955, Fahrni traveled as a representative of the Fellowship of Reconciliation to Montgomery, Alabama to participate in the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

. An admirer of

because of his involvement with Gandhi, they became friends and carried on correspondence about social issues and pacifism for many years. Her husband died in 1958 and Fahrni rented out rooms to boarders and students, living in a commune-type setting. Between 1963 and 1979, she wintered at the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

' community center Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City, carrying out community services. From 1970 on, Fahrni served as a host for Servas, an international peace organization, which uses travel and host-family stays to promote peace. She traveled with Servas through South America. In 1991, she was awarded the Vancouver Peace Award. Fahrni died on 13 April 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

References

External links

List of holdings at the University of British Columbia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrni, Mildred 1900 births 1992 deaths Bryn Mawr College alumni Canadian feminists Canadian socialists Pacifist feminists Canadian socialist feminists University of British Columbia alumni Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people Canadian pacifists

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links