The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1994, Qupperneq 17

SPRING, 1994
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
127
The first Icelandic immigrants to
Canada, were true pioneers. They
arrived at a time when both Mani-
toba, as a province, and Winnipeg,
as a city, were in their infancy. In
clearing the forest, tilling the land,
digging ditches and building rail-
roads they helped lay the
foundations of the province and the
city. Men and women co-operated,
doing that which was necessary to
get established in their adopted
country. A large number of New
Iceland colonists typically obtained
employment in Manitoba and their
earnings were sufficient to support
their families during the winter. In
some instances this involved the
men going off to work on building
the railroad while the women
remained in New Iceland to look after
the children and the farm. On other
occasions women obtained work as
domestic servants in Winnipeg
leaving the men in New Iceland to
mind the homefront.
Perhaps it was this pioneering
spirit that inspired the women and
helped them gain the support of men
in their various pursuits. For
example, men not only subscribed to
Freyja, but also supported the
women in their petitions and
delegations to the government about
granting women the franchise. In
1914, the Reverend Runolfur
Marteinsson accompanied the
Icelandic women in their delegation
to Premier Roblin and acted as their
spokesman. Lawyer, J.T. Thorson
accompanied and spoke on the
Icelandic women’s behalf when they
met with him again the following
year.
Early in the history of Icelandic
settlement in Manitoba, women went
off in pursuit of higher education.
Before the turn-of-the century
several women had graduated with
teaching certificates from the
Manitoba Normal School. In 1905,
Mary Anderson became the first
Icelandic woman to graduate from
the University of Manitoba. Solveig
Thordarson Gislason was the first
woman of Icelandic origin to
graduate from the Manitoba Medical
College in 1922, and in 1919 Jorunn
Hinriksson Lindal was called to the
Bar making her the first woman
lawyer of Icelandic origin in the
province. Icelandic women have
made their mark in public and
community service; Margret
Benedictsson is probably the earliest
example in this category. Icelandic
Canadian women excelled in music,
art, drama and literature, and have
continued to strive for greater
heights in every pursuit imaginable.
If^
TIP TOP FOODS PAYFAIR
1 st Ave., Gimli, Manitoba Ph. 642-5418
Famous for our quality meats and Icelandic foods:
rullupylsa, lifrapylsa, hardfiskur, skfr, hangibjot