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Given that October is women’s history month, Lara Campbell, a Simon Fraser University assistant professor of women’s studies, expects a larger than usual turnout for an upcoming meeting of Herstory Café.

Campbell co-created the monthly meeting two years ago because she wanted to make women’s history accessible to the public, not just to students and academics.

Various venues around Vancouver host the café where women’s history buffs socialize and listen to special presentations about women around the world from times past.

“We have explored the history of women in Mexico and Ireland; women and French fashion—a little bit of everything,” says Campbell, who teaches courses on Canadian women’s history, gender and social activism.

At the October 14 meeting, hosted by Vancouver City Hall, local historian Irene Howard will talk about Vancouver’s first alderwoman, Helena Gutteridge, elected in 1937. “She was very passionate about labour reforms such as the eight-hour day and minimum wage, as well as homelessness and votes for women,” says Campbell.

The women’s history buff has a book coming out this fall. Respectable Citizens: Gender, Family and Unemployment in Ontario’s Great Depression is based on Campbell’s 2002 doctoral thesis. Campbell describes her book as a scholarly examination of how people in the ‘30s pushed for welfare reforms such as unemployment insurance and welfare.

—30— (electronic photo file available)

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