By Peter Squire
The Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board honoured the 47th inductee to its Citizens Hall of Fame in scenic Assiniboine Park this week.
The reception and induction ceremony for suffragette and women’s equal rights activist Margret Jónsdóttir Benedictsson was held June 21 in Assiniboine Park’s iconic Pavilion amid its splendid art galleries. The reception was well attended, with nominators touting this historic inductee’s many accomplishments dating back to the late 1800s, before women were given the right to vote in Manitoba.
Following is an excerpt from nominator Karen Bottings’ moving speech about this incredibly talented and determined woman who was selected in three categories — Business, Voluntary Service, and Public Affairs:
“Margret Jónsdóttir Benedictsson was a forerunner for the suffragist movement in Manitoba. For almost 25 years, from the late 1880s to 1912, Benedictsson led the way for women’s rights in Manitoba, as a suffragist, a social activist and organizer, as well as a journalist and publisher. During this period, before Nellie McLung came on the scene in 1910, and even today, Benedictsson has had a great influence on the women and men of Manitoba in their pursuit of equality, human rights and the right to vote for women.
“To Benedictsson, the promotion of education for women was a key to their equality. As a young woman in 1877, when she arrived alone in North America, her first task was to educate herself. Then Benedictsson encouraged women to use the tools they had and run for the school board, which they could at that time. In this way they could have influence over the curriculum on alcohol, education and women’s rights in a democracy.
“Benedictsson organized suffragist societies in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba beginning in 1904. Men also joined these organizations. In 1909, she founded and became president of the Icelandic suffragist society of America with headquarters in Winnipeg.
“From 1989 to 1910, Benedictsson ran a publishing company with her husband and produced the journal Freyja, the first one dedicated to the topic of women’s rights during those years. The paper had a wide subscribership and gave focus and direction to the suffragist movement.
“In 1910, when Nellie McLung arrived in Winnipeg, she created a resurgence in the mainstream suffragist movement. The Icelandic women and these establishment women held a joint meeting to determine the best time to petition the government again.
“In 1916, when women became enfranchised with the vote in Manitoba, Margret Benedictsson was no longer centre stage. She had divorced, was going blind, and had moved out of the province to join family on the west coast.
“It is without doubt, that Margret Benedictsson was instrumental in Manitoba becoming the first province in Canada to achieve the right for women to vote.”
At the special ceremony, where Bendictsson’s likeness was unveiled by local artist and sculptor Erin Brown, 2022 Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board president Akash Bedi mentioned that Benedictsson joins other distinguished female Citizens Hall of Fame inductees such as Nellie McLung, Cora Hind, Sister Geraldine McNamara, Gabrielle Roy and Carol Shields.
When you visit this terrific site in Winnipeg’s crown jewels of city parks, you will notice that all inductees have a QR code assigned to them. By quickly scanning this code using your cell phone, you will be able to pull up the Citizens Hall of Fame website where you’ll find details about each one. Here you’ll discover that many inductees include ties to major institutions and venues that they helped to shape as builders of our city.
Cliff King, who chairs the Citizens Hall of Fame selection committee, has been very hands on in working with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy to ensure a smooth transition of the physical site that was first set up back in 1997 and now lies alongside the new Diversity Gardens. King certainly views the site as a complementary attraction for Winnipeggers and tourists alike.
“It really is a win-win combination as when people go out to enjoy the Diversity Gardens they will notice all these lovely sculptures sculpted by artists such as Leo Mol, Josef Randa, Eva Stubbs, Helen Granger-Young, Madeleine Vrignon and Erin Brown,” he said. “They will head over there after visiting the Diversity Gardens and relax at one of the park benches and their curiosity cannot help draw them to look at a number of these individuals with their amazing backgrounds and contributions to our city. How can you not think of Duff Roblin this year, when Winnipeg was subject to another year of flooding which could well have been devastating if not for Duff’s Ditch?”
The Citizens Hall of Fame continues to be one of the more unique recognition programs that exist in North America and Canada, and has been since its inception in 1986, when former mayor Stephen Juba was the first ever to be inducted.
The Citizens Hall of Fame celebrates and honours citizens who have made outstanding contributions to Winnipeg’s quality of life and the overall development of the city. While other cities have similarly robust programs, one thing makes Winnipeg’s program unique. After inductees are chosen by a community-wide selection committee, after deliberating over many well-deserving nominees, local artists are commissioned to sculpt a bronze portrait of the nominee which is then prominently displayed on an impressive granite pedestal.
The Citizens Hall of Fame inductions continue to be a Board initiative, and was first established by former Board president and REALTOR® Harry DeLeeuw with the close and enthusiastic support of former mayor Bill Norrie — who himself became an inductee in 1995.
King presided over the installation of the sculpted likeness of Benedictsson on June 23 under sunny skies. The site is conveniently located in the southeast corner of Assiniboine Park, just off Corydon Avenue and very near the impressive Diversity Gardens, so next time you’re at the park, stop by and learn more about the 47th inductee.
Peter Squire is the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s Vice-President External Relations & Market Intelligence.