Molly's Veil

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought of as half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." -Charlotte Whitton. As the first female Mayor of a major Canadian city, Charlotte Whitton took her place in history books when she rose to office as the Mayor of Ottawa in 1950. An advocate for women's and children's rights, she was charged with libel by the Alberta government when she questioned its adoption process that seemed to "traffic" the children of single women and the poor. Publicly known as an extraordinarily witty and colourful character who wasn't afraid to interrogate her mostly male opponents, she shielded her private life from public view. From the time the two met at Queen's University, Charlotte Whitton and Margaret Grier's special relationship was born and chronicled over the years through letters to each other. Donated to the National Archives of Canada by Whitton, with the stipulation that they not be opened until 1999, her letters and personal journal have been woven into an emotional portrait of a unique woman-crusader, politician, and loving partner.