Background
Nellie Mooney McClung (1873-1951) was a Canadian novelist, prohibitionist and
suffragette. She taught school in Manitoba (1889-1896), married Robert W. McClung (1896),
bore five children and authored sixteen books, the best known of which is Sowing seeds in
Danny (1908). She was a founding member of the Manitoba Political Equality Club (1912)
and she lectured throughout Canada on behalf of woman suffrage (1912-1914) until Canadian
women won the vote. McClung subsequently moved to Edmonton, Alberta where she was elected
to the Alberta Legislature (1921). As a legislator McClung worked for public health
nurses, free medical and dental care for children and liberalized birth control, divorce
laws and property rights for women. Defeated in 1926 because of her strong stand for
prohibition, McClung was later Canadian delegate to the League of Nations (1938).