Adelaide Hoodless

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Adelaide Sophia Hoodless née Hunter (February 27, 1858 – February 26, 1910) was a Canadian educational reformer who founded the international women’s organization known as the Women’s Institutes.

She was born on a farm in St George, Canada West (now Ontario), the youngest of 13 children. She married John Hoodless and moved to Hamilton, Ontario. ^[1]

When her infant son died in 1889 from drinking impure milk she devoted herself to the betterment of education for new mothers. She campaigned for the pasteurization of milk, became president of the Hamilton branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), and taught classes in domestic science (home economics).

With Lady Aberdeen, she helped found the National Council of Women, the Victorian Order of Nurses and the National Association of the YWCA. In 1898 she published a book Public School Domestic Science.

A February 19, 1897 speech to farmer's wives in Stoney Creek, Ontario inspired the formation of the first Women's Institute, intended for the education of rural women, and within a decade more than 500 had been organized across Canada.

The University of Guelph recognizes her contribution to education by hanging her portrait in what was once called the MacDonald Institute. She was also honored on a Canadian postage stamp of 1993.

There is a school named after her in Hamilton, Ontario.