As Women's History Month turns 30, a look at five women who disrupted the status quo

Canadian history brims with examples of women and girls who have stepped up to fight the status quo and build a better country for women. Their impacts can be seen and felt across all sectors and areas of society from the arts and sciences to politics and human rights.

This year's theme for Women's History Month in Canada — She Did, So Now I Can — acknowledges the power strong female role models have in influencing and inspiring future generations of women.

Some of these trailblazers got their start or made a mark right here at Dalhousie. Below, we showcase five such individuals — each with their own distinct area of impact. All of these women were included as part of the Dalhousie Originals series, a signature storytelling project of the university’s 200th anniversary in 2018 that highlighted 52 different individuals who inspired, strengthened and at times challenged their university, their communities, their fields of study, and the broader world.

Here we encourage you to visit — or revisit! — these Dal Originals and be reminded of the courage, creativity and drive they have shown in their lives and work and how they helped pave the way and inspire other women.

Wanda Thomas Bernard  

First Female African Nova Scotian Canadian Senator, Social Work Researcher, Anti-Racism Advocate

Dalhousie Originals profile: Wanda Thomas Bernard

Audio: An interview with Wanda Thomas Bernard

"My entire social work career has really been about trying to facilitate change, working towards change… change for and with the people we’re working with, but also in systems and structures, and in teaching and the way we teach and what we teach.”

Kathryn D. Sullivan

First U.S. Woman to Walk in Space, Researcher, Dal Alumnus

Dalhousie Originals profile: Kathryn D. Sullivan

Audio: An interview with Karthyn Sullivan

"To get to see Earth with my own eyes, from that vantage point — the same one I’d seen in all the cool pictures in National Geographic and on television growing up —that was irresistible."

Carolyn Savoy (1947-2015)

Award-Winning Tigers Coach, Influential Academic, Mentor

Dalhousie Originals profile: Carolyn Savoy

“I'm not a maker of basketball players, but a maker of people."

Constance Glube (1931-2016)

Canada's First Female Chief Justice, Trailblazer for Women in Law, Dal Alumnus

Dalhousie Originals profile: Constance Glube

The Courts of Nova Scotia: Chief Justices — Constance R. Glube, 1998-2004, Twenty-first Chief Justice

“I worked hard because I just adored it.”

Eliza Ritchie (1856-1933)

One of Dal's Earliest Female Graduates, First Woman Appointed to Dal's Board of Governors, Feminist Community Leader



Dalhousie Originals profile: Eliza Ritchie

Learn more about other women showcased as part of the Dalhousie Originals series.