Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
- Macpherson, Kathleen
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Kay Macpherson was born in England 1913 and immigrated to Canada in 1935. Macpherson practised physiotherapy in Montreal, Fredericton and Ottawa in the 1930s and 1940s before settling in Toronto with her husband, political scientist, C.B. Macpherson.
Her career as a social and political activist began in the 1950s in Toronto, with the Association of Women Electors, which has been described as a "city hall watchdog group". Macpherson was one of the founders of the Voice of Women (a national peace organization) in 1960, and served as national president for several years. In 1968 she toured Hanoi on behalf of the Voice of Women in their opposition to the Vietnam War and arranged for Vietnamese women to visit Canada.
Macpherson was consulted by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, and was a founding member of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women in 1971, serving as national president during 1977-1979. She is also a founder of Women for Political Action and has herself run for election (unsuccessfully) in the federal riding of York East (in 1972, 1974 and 1980). Macpherson's writings have appeared in such periodicals as Canadian Forum, Canadian Women Studies, and Chatelaine. Macpherson was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1982.
Please see When in Doubt, Do Both: The Times of My Life by Kay Macpherson with C.M. Donald (University of Toronto Press, 1994) for more biographical information.