Ella Cora Hind (September 18, 1861 – October 6, 1942) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

journalist, agriculturalist, Women's rights activist and suffragist. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, she became famous internationally for her accurate predictions of Canadian prairie crop yields. "Her predictions so regularly proved correct that grain handlers across the world came to rely on them."

Early life

E. Cora Hind was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on September 18, 1861, to Edwin Hind and Jane Carroll. She was two years old when she lost her mother, and five years old when her father died. After the death of her mother, she and her older brothers Joseph and George moved to Artemisia Township to live with their paternal grandfather, Joseph Hind, and aunt Alice. Hind's grandfather taught her about farming, horses, and cattle. Living several miles from school delayed her education until 1872 so Aunt Alice home-schooled her until the Province built a school on her grandfather's land. Her family relocated to

Flesherton Flesherton (population 584) is a community in the Municipality of Grey Highlands, in Grey County, Ontario, Canada, located at the junction of Highway 10 and Grey County Road 4 (formerly Highway 4). Although the area initially showed a high rate ...

, Ontario where Cora finished her primary education. She attended high school at the Collegiate Institute of

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

and lived with her uncle, George Hind. This is where she wrote her Third Class teacher examination.

Career

After high school, Hind moved with her Aunt Alice and cousins Jean and Jacques to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

in 1882. Her aunt ran a dress shop, and a few weeks after the move Hind received a letter saying that she failed her algebra part of the teacher's exam, thus her credentials were inadequate. Hind then approached the Editor of the '' Manitoba Free Press'', W.F. Luxton, about a job. Luxton indicated that a newsroom was no place for a woman with no journalistic experience. "A few months later she submitted an article to Luxton. To her surprise he accepted it, though he could not bring himself to credit her as the author. Hind then became a typist for the paper. "She worked there until 1893, when she opened her own business as a stenographer ." Hind then became the first public typist in Manitoba. In 1890, Ella Cora Hind and her aunt Alice joined the Manitoba chapter of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

, the oldest continuing non-sectarian women's organization in the world. Founded in Evanston, Illinois in 1873, the group spearheaded international crusades for

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Hind also worked with Dr. Amelia Yeomans to support women's right to vote. Together, they formed the Manitoba Equal Suffrage Club. Goals included improving the lives of women and the poor. Hind also became a member of the Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Women's Press Club. Throughout, Hind retained a strong interest in farming. Winnipeg being the

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...

center of the West helped her become not only a regular reporter but also the Commercial and Agricultural Editor of the ''Manitoba Free Press''. Between 1935 and 1937, Hind travelled to 27 wheat producing countries to research best practices as well as climate change influences. In a series of letters to the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'', she commented on social and historical contexts. By popular demand, Hind published a selection of these letters in her 1937 book '' Seeing for Myself.'' The book was so successful that a second book, ''My Travels and Findings'' (1939) featured writings from her personal papers. In 1912, E. Cora Hind formed the Political Equality League with leading social activists Lillian Beynon Thomas and

Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seed ...

. Their campaign won women the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

in Manitoba in 1916. Hind received many honours from The Western Canada Livestock Union, Wool Growers of Manitoba, and Canadian Society of Technical Agriculturists. The

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

also presented her with an honorary LLB degree in 1935.

Death

Hind died on October 6, 1942, in Winnipeg. Trading at the

Winnipeg Grain Exchange The Winnipeg Grain Exchange (Known too as ''ICE Futures Canada'') was established in 1887, and dissolved in 1986. It was also the predecessor of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. List of presidents :''This table (information), table represents th ...

was halted for two minutes in her memory. The

United Grain Growers The United Grain Growers, or UGG, was a Canadian grain farmers' cooperative for grain storage and distribution that operated between 1917 and 2001. History In 1917, the Grain Growers' Grain Company (GGGC) merged with the Alberta Farmers' Co ...

created the Cora Hind Fellowship for research in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and the

created the Cora Hind Scholarship in Home Economics.

Select bibliography

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References

External links