The history of the CWL

A couple years ago our CWL did a little skit about the history of the CWL. Over the next few weeks I will be posting tidbits of information on this topic - I hope you enjoy.

The CWL was founded in England by Margaret Fletcher (1862–1943) in the year 1906. Although her father was an Anglican clergyman, she decided to convert to Catholicism (circa 1897). In 1904 she started a magazine entitled "The Crucible", a magazine aimed at arousing teachers and schools in getting better social education for women. This led to her founding the Catholic Women's League in England. In 1912, Katherine Hughes (1876-1925), a renowned journalist, teacher, public servant, author, and Catholic social activist on behalf of immigrant women and native families, founded the first organization in Canada to model itself after the CWL in England. Incredibly, this Edmonton League was the first branch of an organization that would nationalize as The Catholic Women’s League of Canada eight years later in 1920. (photo is Katherine Hughes).