Part 8: The “Lost” Stories

A lot happens in a century. There are so many rabbit holes you can fall down when you start asking questions about this relatively unknown and unexplored chapter of Edmonton’s history: female leadership at City Hall. On Part 8, The “Lost” Stories, you’ll learn more about women we want you to meet and know before the Searching For Izena Project wraps up in September. Women who have largely been footnotes in history until now. Women who both won and lost at the ballot box in Edmonton. From the two other women who were also on the ballot when Izena Ross made her historic political breakthrough in 1921 to Sherry McKibben, the first openly gay women to serve on council, there are many stories that we still need to tell. To help guide this tour through time, our hosts Kim-Ann Wilson and Stacey Brotzel will be joined by two Searching For Izena volunteers Lisa Holmes and Akanksha Bhatnagar. They will help walk us through the past as we learn more about these female political trailblazers. Some will inspire you. Some will frustrate you. But all will help you understand the important and transformative role women have played shaping our city over the last 100 years. Lastly, you will also meet the very first woman to ever hold public office in Edmonton (hint: it wasn’t Izena Ross!). This person was elected to be a school board trustee in 1912 – four years before most women in Alberta were even given the right to vote in 1916.

Guests: Lisa Holmes, Akanksha Bhatnagar