Head and shoulders image of Euphemia Jane Thomson, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient. Image possibly taken near time of presentation.

Bio/Historical Note: Euphemia Jane (Douglas) Thomson, BSc (HEc), was born in 1901 at Tantallon, Saskatchewan. Primary training was the one-roomed Holar School near Tantallon village school, then Moosomin Collegiate. Thomson received her BSc in Home Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Manitoba in 1924. She taught for one season at the School of Agriculture, Olds, Alberta, before taking dietician training at St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1926 Thomson directed a pilot project in Winnipeg as the visiting nutritionist with the children from the out-patient department of the Children's Hospital. Euphemia married Wallace A. Thomson (Ag. 1919 Sask) in 1927. He taught physics at the University of Saskatchewan from 1920-1924. He was an instructor in physics at the University of Manitoba when they were married in 1927. The Thomsons operated a farm at Pense, Saskatchewan, and established themselves in the livestock industry - holsteins, shorthorns and sheep. Adult education was Thomson's life work. She pioneered the selection of varieties of vegetables suitable for home freezing; new techniques in sewing and needlework were studied in both formal and informal classes. Thomson served the Homemakers’ Club of Pense (now Women's Institute) since 1927 and held the office of president for ten of those years. Her activities in provincial affairs have gone far beyond the community of Pense. Thomson organized numerous 4-H clubs. Over the years, she judged the Saskatoon and Regina "A" fairs, all of the "B" fairs and many of the "C" fairs in Saskatchewan. Thomson was past president of the Saskatchewan Home Economics Association and an honourary life member of the Regina Branch. She was a member of the Committee for Revision of the High-school Home Economics Curriculum from 1946-1948. During World War II she was a member of the Regina Regional Wartime Price and Trade Board which monitored prices and rationings. Thomson co-authored the original resolution for the organization of a Canadian Association of Consumers now known as the Consumers Association of Canada. She also served as president of the Saskatchewan Consumers Association. Euphemia Thomson died in 1981 in Regina.

William J. Rutherford, dean of Agriculture, demonstrating "Sturdy Rose," the champion mare of R.H. Miller at the Lumsden Agricultural Exhibition. Crowds of people; two horse-drawn buggies in foreground; buildings in background.

Bio/Historical Note: In 1910 the Saskatchewan Department of Agriculture turned over to the University the responsibility for the development and delivery of agricultural and women's extension programs throughout the Province. To fulfill this mandate, the Department of Agricultural Extension (1910) and Women's Work (1913) were established within the College of Agriculture. Initially the activities of Agricultural Extension focused on services to the Agricultural Societies--short courses, institutes (meetings and conferences), plowing matches, field crop contests, stock judging, etc. Starting during the war years, a Better Farming Train toured the province providing lectures and demonstrations and presenting exhibits on matters pertaining to agriculture. In 1915 "educational holidays" or camps were initiated for farm boys and girls and in 1918 4-H clubs were formed throughout Saskatchewan. Farm and Home Week, a period of exhibits, lectures, and demonstrations at the University, was introduced in the early 1930s. Special projects and programmes for rural women were offered through Homemakers Clubs, established in 1911. In addition to basic domestic activities, women received advice and instruction in fruit growing, tree planting, home nursing, water supply and purity, libraries, health and welfare services, etc. Adult Education services, begun in 1938 in response to forces for social reconstruction, consisted in part of groups formed to discuss planning, economics, cooperatives, government institutions and policies, international affairs, trade unions, etc. This was a logical expansion of the variety of information (bulletins, leaflets), informal (lectures, demonstrations), public (testing, analyses), professional (training), and cultural (drama, music) services, as well as a variety of services to governments at all levels. In 1949 the work of Agricultural Extension and Women's Work were combined in the Department of Extension. It remained a department in the College of Agriculture until 1963 when administrative responsibility was transferred to the Office of the President and renamed the Extension Division. Since the 1970s non-degree programs were offered in the areas of agriculture and horticulture, women, business, languages, indigenous people, community development, liberal studies, arts, seniors, science and technology, career development, and adult education. The name changed again in 1979 to Division of Extension and Community Relations. It was changed back to Extension Division in 1990. The Extension Department was disestablished on 1 July 2007, and replaced with three new departments.

One image of club leaders sitting and standing around Emma Ducie, who is seated at centre. Also three images of several club leaders posing informally.

Bio/Historical Note: Emma Jane Roberts was born 28 April 1883 in Morley, Yorkshire, England. and emigrated to Canada with her family in 1907. She married Harry Ducie, a farmer and school trustee, in 1909; they had three children, Harold, Rose, and Emmie. Emma Ducie organized the Coates Homemakers' Club [Dundurn District] and continued to be an active member of the Clubs and Women's Institutes at the local, provincial, and national level. Ducie also served with the Saskatoon Council of Women, the Saskatoon Friendship Club and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. Ducie was also a long-serving member of the advisory council for the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan. Emma Ducie died 3 December 1990 at age 107.

Participants of the Homemakers' convention gather in the Bowl in front of the College (Administration) Building.

Head and shoulders image of Abigail DeLury, first director of Women's Work, and first director of Homemakers' Clubs.

Bio/Historical Note: Abigail DeLury was born in 1868 in Manilla, Ontario. She trained as a teacher at Port Perry and Toronto Normal School and then taught for 14 years. DeLury obtained her diploma in Home Economics from the Ontario Agricultural College and taught at Macdonald College, McGill University, before moving to Moose Jaw in 1910 to teach home economics in the public schools. The University of Saskatchewan’s first Extension director, F. Hedley Auld, heard of her background and hired her for the summers of 1911 and 1912 to visit local fairs and to encourage women to form Homemakers' clubs. These clubs were seen as useful tools for supporting family life, community building, promoting the interests of rural young people, emphasizing the cultural side of life and educating in citizenship. Such was DeLury’s success at this task that in 1913 she was appointed director of Women's Work at the University, reporting directly to President Walter C. Murray. DeLury was the first woman with a permanent appointment at the university. She provided direction to the Homemakers' Clubs and advanced home economics extension services to women and families in the province. In 1914, the year after her appointment, there were 90 Homemakers' clubs in Saskatchewan. When DeLury retireed in 1930, there were 240 with 5,800 members. Instruction in household science began on campus in 1917 with the appointment of Ethel B. Rutter as instructor. The Department became a School within the College of Arts and Science in 1928 and the School became a College in 1942. In 1941 the degree program expanded from 3 to 4 years following senior matriculation. The name was changed from the College of Household Science to the College of Home Economics in 1952 (the college was phased out in 1990). DeLury traveled the province advocating activities that enhanced farm home and community life at a time when immigrants were swarming in to take up homesteads. She encouraged Homemakers to promote tree planting, boys' and girls' club work (now called 4-H), poultry raising, beekeeping, fruit growing, better education, better health services and a better, more co-operative community spirit. DeLury retired in 1930 and returned to Manilla; she died there in 1957. Abigail DeLury was inducted posthumously into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2005.

Display of works shown at the Regina fair; M. Robertson from Norbury district, east of Spiritwood, stands beneath sign in front of exhibit.

Bio/Historical Note: As early as 1913 Agriculture societies were sponsoring the "Farm Boys' Club and the Farm Girls' Club,” organizations for youth. The Saskatchewan Agriculture Extension Department promoted the idea of separate classes for youth to exhibit and judge their produce or livestock at local fairs. The Farm Boys’ Clubs and Farm Girls’ Clubs were combined and the name changed to "4-H Clubs" in 1952 and the motto became "Learn To Do By Doing.”

Young women seated at tables sewing and performing other crafts.

Unidentified young women seated and standing on a lawn with a large brick building in the background. Summer scene.

Unidentified young women seated and standing on a lawn with a University of Saskatchewan campus building in the background.