RENFREW
SOUTH DISTRICT
WOMEN'S INSTITUTES
For Home and Country
"Educate a boy, and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.”
Adelaide Hunter Hoodless
Co-Founder and inspiration for Women's Institutes
Renfrew South District Women's Institutes are part of the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario. For 125 years, our members have actively worked together for family, home, community and country. We work with and for women in rural and small town Ontario, offering opportunities to learn and contribute to making our communities stronger and better.
Our Branches and Members
The Renfrew South District WI is made up of WI branches located in the southern part of Renfrew County, in Eastern Ontario. Our branches include:
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Burnstown
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Balsam Hill – Horton
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Glasgow
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White Lake
At monthly branch meetings, members enjoy speakers as well as crafts and other activities. We educate through workshops and demonstrations that provide personal growth opportunities for our members.
Recording Local History
Since about 1920, branches of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario have been gathering local history in book form. These books, called Tweedsmuir History Books, contain a wealth of historical information and preserve the history of local communities through newspaper clippings, photos, stories, and more. Many of the Tweedsmuir books belonging to past and present branches from this area may be accessed at the Arnprior McNab/Braeside Archives. The FWIO also has an extensive digital archives that is accessible and searchable online. It also published the book "Ordinary to Extraordinary - 150 stories as unique as the women who lived them".
Oral History Project
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RSDWI, an oral history project was launched in 2013 in order to capture and preserve the memories and stories of our most senior members.
Click here to access the presentation and hear interview clips from many of our longest and dearest members.