Christine Ross Barker (2 January 1866 – 25 June 1940) was a
Canadianpacifist and
suffragist, active in the
interwar period. She was a member of the
Georgist Movement, serving as president of the Women's Henry George League in Manhattan and was one of the founders and first president of the radical
Women's Peace Union.
Early life
Christine Ross was born on 2 January 1866[1] in
Little Bras d'Or on
Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia, Canada[2] to Christina Isabella (née MacKay/McKay) and John Ross.[3][4] Little is known of her early life, but she moved to
New York City and married Wesley E. Barker on 23 December 1903 in
Manhattan.[4] Barker was the son of Hersey (née Knowlton) and Wesley E. Barker, Sr. of
Springfield, Massachusetts.[5] Her husband, known as "Will" was a journalist and a member of the Manhattan Single Tax Club.[6] In 1905 in Manhattan, the couple had a daughter,
Mary Ross Barker,[7] who would later become an educator and be honored with the
Order of Canada.[2]
Career
Barker became involved in the
women's suffrage movement as well as the
Women's Henry George League (WHGL) of Manhattan. By 1904, she was speaking on behalf of the league, making presentations with
Carrie Chapman Catt and
Maud Nathan.[8] By 1905, she had become president of the WHGL, whose object was to replace all forms of taxation with a single tax on resources, i.e. a form of
ground rent.[9] She participated in the Progressive Women's Suffrage Union's Parade on
Wall Street in Manhattan in 1908, and was one of the members of the organization's executive board.[10] Around 1910, the family moved to
North Cambridge, Massachusetts[11] and the following year, they returned to Canada, moving to
Toronto.[12] As she had in the United States, Barker became involved in suffragist causes, joining the
Canadian Woman Suffrage Association.[13]
During
World War I, Barker broke ranks with the business women's club in Toronto, which she headed, because they favored war. Instead, she actively supported the women meeting at
The Hague, who would form the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).[13] Though a member of WILPF,[14] Barker felt that they lacked resolve to maintain the fight as pacifists and made compromises for the war by buying
war bonds, knitting goods and wrapping bandages. When in 1921, Barker proposed that conference be held in
Niagara, Ontario between American and Canadian women to discuss their pacifist aims, she approached the
Women's Peace Society (WPS) rather than WILPF to help her organize it.[15][16] The WPS had split from the WILPF over the same lack of commitment to the cause that troubled Barker.[17] Out of the conference, held between 19 and 21 August, came the creation of the
Women's Peace Union, to unite women from Canada,
Latin America and the United States to work for peace.[15][18] Barker served as the first chair, along with Margaret Long Thomas of New York City, who was appointed secretary, and
Gertrude Franchot Tone of
Niagara Falls, New York, who served as treasurer.[19] The single-purpose of the organization was to pass a
constitutional amendment in the United States to outlaw war.[20]
In September 1927, Barker was one of the featured speakers at the Henry George Congress, held in New York City.[21] She not only participated in the Congresses of the society, attending 1934, 1936, and 1938 meetings, but was actively involved in the Henry George School in Toronto.[22][6][23] Her husband died on 26 June 1936 two weeks after they had attended the 1936 School Dinner in New York City.[6]
"Canada Marriages, 1661–1949: John Ross/Isabella McKay". FamilySearch. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 23 June 1868. FHL microfilm #1570990, Pg 186, Cn 216. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
"Women's Henry George League". Club Women of New York: 1905–1906. New York City, New York: Club Women of New York Company. 1905. p. 78.
"Henry George Congress". Land and Freedom. XXVII (5). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 134–136. September–October 1927. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
"Henry George Congress". Land and Freedom. XXXIV (6). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 172–173. November–December 1934. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
"New York Marriages, 1686–1980: Wesley E. Barker/Chrisine Ross". FamilySearch. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 23 June 1868. FHL microfilm #1298666, Pg 186, Cn 216. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
"Jottings". The Survey. XLVI (20). New York City, New York: Survey Associates Inc. for Charity Organization Society of the City of New York: 721. 24 September 1921. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
"News, Notes, and Personals". Land and Freedom. XL (4). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 127. July–August 1940. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
"Thirteenth Annual Henry George Congress". Land and Freedom. XXXVIII (5). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 143–146. September–October 1938. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
"Wesley Barker". Land and Freedom. XXXVI (4). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 126. July–August 1936. Retrieved 15 August 2017.