Published in the Seaway News · September 27, 2024 · By Kim Burton-Schram
The beautifully renovated Bishop’s House in St. Raphael’s was the perfect venue for an afternoon listening to author Ginette Guy Mayer discuss her new novel The Women of SDG & Akwesasne: True Stories of Extraordinary Lives.
In attendance were former students of the Bishop’s House, executives for the Glengarry Fencibles Trust and women who have advanced the arts and culture in SD&G with their incredible fundraising and commitment.
Ginette chose to discuss three of the 21 ladies featured in her new novel: Edith Rayside from South Glengarry; Dorothy Dumbrille who resided in Alexandria; and Annie MacDonald-Langstaff, born in North Glengarry. Each of these ladies drew focus to the challenges women faced in the late 1800s and through the 1900s.
Dorothy Dumbrille’s writing career began in the late 1930s, with radio plays broadcast on CBC and poetry published in Canadian newspapers. Although her stories reflect Canadian society at the time, she did not garner the deserved attention for her writing, facing attitudes and prejudices where women writers were judged by an elite literary group of men. Despite that, Dorothy’s poem “Christmas, 1940” was included in “Flying Colours”, published by Ryerson Press, a collection of patriotic verse and poems by authors such as A.A. Milne, Walt Whitman, John McCrae and Rudyard Kipling among others, proving Dorothy’s writing of value as social and historical fiction. She was also appointed as a Board Member of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission and part of the committee that created Upper Canada Village.
Annie MacDonald-Langstaff was born in Glengarry, but spent much of her life in Montreal, advocating for women’s rights within Quebec’s legal system. Annie was a single mother; her husband having abandoned her very early in their marriage. After moving to Montreal for work at a law firm as a stenographer, Annie attended McGill University where she graduated with First Class Honours. Unfortunately, Annie was refused application to the bar under Quebec law. Throughout her career, Annie supported change to the laws in Quebec, but it wasn’t until 1942 that women were allowed to be lawyers. In 2006, Annie was bestowed a posthumous honour by the Montreal Bar association giving her the Medaille du Barreau de Montréal in recognition of her accomplishments. Annie is further connected to SD&G by her daughter, who was one of the Holy Cross Sisters responsible for education and boarding at The Bishop’s House and Iona Academy in St. Raphael’s.
As a tribute to these women, who offered so much to their communities and furthered the progress and equality of women in Canada, Ginette has chosen to use the sales of this book as a fundraiser for the United Way.