Skip to content

Nelson & district women’s rights group celebrates 50 years with guest speaker and luncheon

The local chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women is celebrating its 50th anniversary
8392382_web1_170907-CAN-M-DaphneBramham
Daphne Bramham, who has been covering the situation in Bountiful for over 10 years, will speak at the Nelson & District Canadian Federation of University Women’s 50th anniversary luncheon. (From web)

The local chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a luncheon and talk, featuring a journalist who has been covering the situation at Bountiful for over 10 years.

Daphne Bramham, journalist with the Vancouver Sun, has written a series of columns on the polygamous community of Bountiful and is author of The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada’s Polygamous Mormon Sect, a book published in 2009. Her writing has won numerous awards, including a National Newspaper Award.

Recently, she attended the trials in Cranbrook and will speak about her work at the luncheon on Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Prestige in Nelson.

The Nelson & District Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) is a group that focuses on women’s rights.

“The [Nelson & District] Canadian Federation of University Women is a group of women that organized in the Nelson area just under 50 years ago, and nationally we’re about to celebrate our hundredth anniversary in 2019. And when they started 100 years ago nationally, I mean, not a lot of women graduated university. So it was sort of an ad hock group of women who wanted to promote education for women and for young girls and advocacy and camaraderie,” explains Stephanie Myers, co-vice-president of Nelson & District CFUW. “So that’s kind of our mandate that has continued all the way through as a group.”

Asked why Bramham was chosen as the speaker for the 50th anniversary luncheon, Myers said, “She spoke at the national conference that two of our members attended and I think just because of the effect that Bountiful has and that polygamy has on the young girls and the women in that community, how it limits their education and their freedoms … it seemed like a good fit.”

The luncheon begins at 10:30 a.m. and the talk starts at about noon. The event is expected to end at 2 p.m.

Anyone interested in attending can stop by Otter Books to purchase a $40 ticket or email nelsoncfuw@gmail.com for tickets.

Those interested can also join the CFUW, which meets monthly at the Adventure Hotel.

“Even though it’s got university in the name, you don’t need to have a university degree to join our group. As long as you’re pro women’s rights and freedoms and advocate for that then you’re definitely welcome to join the Canadian Federation of University Women,” says Myers.