Artifact #4:Official WWI miscellaneous Collection of photographs.

Citation:

Unknown, Official WWI miscellaneous Collection of photographs. 1914-1919. Photograph. Library and Archives Canada, Item ID number: 3612923. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=FonAndCol&idNumber=3612923&ecopy=e002712524

Label:

The above artifact is a photo depicting women working in a WWI munitions factory. With a large number of labourers sent abroad for the war effort, many women had to fill the empty roles on the production line. Canada was a major supplier of munitions during the war, and the increasing demand for workers enabled Canadian women to enter this sector. As seen in the photo, the conditions were not ideal, and came with long working hours for Canadians as they increased production to match and exceed the Central Powers quantity of munitions. The increasing roles women took in the war effort would eventually lead to the enactment of the Wartime Elections Act which granted women who had relatives serving overseas to vote in federal elections. The artifact exposes industrial changes during the war, and the social changes that came out of it that eventually lead to women gaining the right to vote in 1918.

Bibliography:

English, John. "Wartime Elections Act" The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last modified May 7, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wartime-elections-act