Skinner, Emma Sophia (Fiske)

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Janice Cook, “SKINNER, EMMA SOPHIA (Fiske),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/skinner_emma_sophia_14E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Linguist, suffragist, and social reformer; b. 23 Oct. 1852 in Saint John, daughter of Samuel Skinner, a carriage maker, and Phoebe Sherwood Golding; m. there 15 June 1876 John MacKenzie Campbell Fiske, a dentist, oculist, and aurist; they had no children; d. there 29 Oct. 1914.
    • Emma S. Skinner lost her mother at age 11, but presumably she and her youngest siblings were cared for by their father and three eldest sisters. Little is known of Emma’s youth. Raised a Baptist, in adulthood she was recorded as a Unitarian and later an Anglican. She probably attended local schools and may have received further education elsewhere. An accomplished linguist, she gave instruction in French, German, and Italian and reportedly taught English literature and French in the local high school. The premature death of her husband in 1877 had perhaps led her to a teaching career. Her personal misfortune possibly also made her conscious of women’s economic insecurity, for later she supported the position that women should have wage equality with, and the opportunity to secure financial independence from, men.
    • Described in the press as “one of the best known and most active women in the city,” she involved herself with the Saint John Art Club, the ladies’ auxiliary of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, the Associated Charities of Saint John, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Red Cross Society, and the Women’s Enfranchisement Association. An entertaining speaker, she lectured frequently on travel, art, literature, and historical topics. The industrialization of Saint John having been accompanied by the growth of both social ills and reform movements to combat them, she also spoke out eloquently on social issues.
    • Unafraid to challenge the status quo, in 1908 Fiske introduced outspoken Canadian woman’s rights activist Flora Macdonald Denison to a Saint John audience, and in 1912 she appeared on the platform in the Port City with militant British suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst. As a designated suffrage club organizer and head of the provincial WCTU’s suffrage department, she travelled throughout New Brunswick educating men and women on the subject of equal rights. Following her address to a Moncton audience in 1912, a decision was made to organize a local suffrage club. Fiske carried her message to several parts of the province, but Saint John remained both her and the WEA’s centre of activity.
    • The WEA had not always been able to sustain the momentum of its crusade. In 1899, following the defeat of several suffrage bills, the campaign lost impetus. WEA members turned to the study of collectivist theory, particularly the ideas of American author Edward Bellamy. For approximately four years readings, mock debates, and presentations on socialist themes highlighted club meetings. The women became so absorbed that they discussed turning their association into a Fabian society. Fiske and Ella Hatheway, wife of Frank, were appointed “to act as a committee to advance the cause of collectivism.” During this period Fiske and other members campaigned for compulsory education and factory laws and pressed the WCTU to assist them in securing a committee to inspect hospitals, almshouses, and other public institutions. The WEA nevertheless remained dedicated to its primary objective.
  • Great Granddaughter of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=3210
  • Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214143252/emma-sophia-fiske