The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2009, Síða 21

Vol. 62 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
63
father in Winnipeg. There is no record of
Margret Benedictsson ever returning to
Winnipeg. She passed away in 1956 at the
age of 90.
During the heady years of Freyja,
Margret had other suffrage intiatives in
which she was actively involved. She was a
confident and persuasive public speaker,
and she traveled throughout the Icelandic
communities of Manitoba to generate sup-
port for woman’s suffrage. As president of
the Ladies’ Aid society of the Icelandic
Unitarian Church of Winnipeg, she helped
create a standing committee on suffrage.
She was successful in getting many other
Ladies’ Aids to also adopt woman suffrage
as part of their mandate. Margret extended
the profile of the Icelandic suffrage work-
ers by forming the First Icelandic Suffrage
Association in America, which was soon
invited to join the Canada Suffrage
Association and made member of the
International Woman Suffrage Alliance as
well. Women in Manitoba were granted the
vote in 1916, three years after Margret
Benedictsson left the province. (Johnson
(1994); S. Johnson, (personal communica-
tion, September 25, 2007; Kristjanson
(1965, p. 371); Petursson (1954)).
The life of Margret (Jonsdottir)
Benedictsson shows a strong personal faith
in the value of education. She participated
in formal education in North Dakota
through grade school and Bathgate College
and in Winnipeg at night school and the
clerical course. Evidence of her on-going
nonformal learning and informal learning
is seen through her involvement in various
organizations and her reading, which kept
her informed of suffrage developments
worldwide.
Her life also shows a considerable and
important influence on the non formal and
informal learning of Icelandic pioneer
women throughout all five communities
studied in this research. Her speeches to
suffrage societies and Landies’ Aids groups
provided non formal learning opportuni-
ties for her peers. The reading of Freyja
provided informal learning opportunities
for Icelandic pioneer women about not
only suffrage, but many other important
issues facing women at that time. Margret
Benedictsson’s influence resulted in the
Icelandic pioneer women in Manitoba
being a uniquely informed group of immi-
grant women during this time period; a
tremendous achievement, though not with-
out personal consequence for Margret
Benedictsson.
Lara (Gudjohnsen) Bjarnason
Lara Gudjohnsen was raised in Iceland
in a home surrounded by music. Her
father, Prof. P. Gudjohnsen, was known as
the “Father of Modern Icelandic music”.
Lara received her formal training in music
in Iceland and used this gift throughout her
life. In 1870, while stdl living in Iceland,
she married Jon Bjarnason who was a
Lutheran pastor. The couple left Iceland in
1873, and after a few years in the United
States they came to New Iceland. They
arrived in 1877, after which a religious
debate and divide occurred in New Iceland,
with Rev. Bjarnason in the midst of it. This
was eventually resolved and Rev.
Bjarnason became a very influential and
much loved spiritual leader in the Icelandic
settlements. Together Lara and Rev.
Bjarnason traveled throughout New
Iceland, often on foot, providing for the
spiritual and other needs of the Icelandic
pioneers.