Canada's History and Kayak mark centenary of the achievement of women's suffrage

Canada's History and Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Kids are marking the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage with special editions. A special panel selected "20 Great Women" from political, business, artistic and activist history for inclusion in the issue. Both Canada's History and Kayak are published by Canada's History Society, based in Winnipeg.

"In a perfect world, the women on our list would be household names. But for too long, history textbooks have focused on great men, to the exclusion of all others," editor-in-chief Mark Collin Reid said in a release. "Hopefully, this special feature will launch a broader conversation on outstanding women in Canadian history."

Among the women selected were 

• Abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd Cary, who helped black slaves find freedom in nineteenth-century Canada;
• Kenojuak Ashevak, an Inuit artist who pioneered an artistic vocabulary that inspired a generation;
• Thérèse Casgrain, a tireless Quebec activist and the first woman in Canada to lead a political party;
• Nellie McClung, the iconic suffragist who helped women in Manitoba win the right to vote provincially in January 1916. Saskatchewan and Alberta followed suit later that year.

Readers are asked to vote for their favourite Great Woman and nominate others; all participants are entered into a draw for an original painting by Barbara Paterson, the sculptor of the "Famous Five" monument on Parliament Hill.

Kayak's special issue, aimed at 7 - 12-year-olds explores how women got the vote and features stories and comic book renderings of the story of McClung.