Charlotte Whitton's House
1 Renfrew at Central Park
Written by Bytown Museum
on
03/Dec/2009
Born in 1896 in Renfrew, Ontario, Charlotte Whitton is best-known as the first woman mayor of a major Canadian city. She held the position from 1951 to 1956 and again between 1961 and 1964. She is equally famous for her sharp tongue and strong spirit. It was Whitton who said: “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
A woman of contradictions, she was a staunch feminist who was also critical of married women who worked outside the home. In 1964, an Ottawa Citizen article stated that Whitton was devoted to the end of “. . . the British Monarchy, the flags with Union Jacks, and the English language for the capital until the province of Ontario says otherwise.”
Prior to her political career, Whitton was the director and driving force behind the Canadian Council on Child Welfare. She never married but lived for years with her partner, Margaret Grier, who died in 1947. Whitton lived on Renfrew Street in the Glebe from 1963 until her death in 1975.
Neighbourhood
Like the rest of Ottawa, the area that would become known as the Glebe was originally a hunting territory for Anishnabe (Algonquin) tribes, principally the Odawa, whose name is commemorated ... read more
