On February 9th, 1906, Annie Davidson held the first meeting of the Calgary Women’s Literary Club in the parlour of her home. At this meeting, founding members established by-laws, elected officers, and selected the club’s first literary program. One hundred and twenty years later, women across Calgary, who share a passion for the written word, continue to come together to discuss literature while honouring the legacy of the women who came before them.
To mark this 120th Anniversary, members gathered for a lively celebratory lunch at Park by Sidewalk Citizen on February 11th. The room was filled with laughter, holiday updates, and a shared appreciation for the club’s long and impressive history. We are especially grateful to Robin S., our Social Chair, and to the team at Park for organizing such a wonderful event. Robin also provided a delicious cake for our first meeting of the Spring 2026 session.
War, pandemics, moon landings, and the advent of the Internet are just some of the momentous events that have occurred since the founding of the CWLC. In 1906, when our foremothers were gathering to discuss literature, significant events were also unfolding around the world. Undoubtedly, these developments would have found their way into the conversations of these curious and engaged women.
- Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen identifies the magnetic North Pole and establishes that it moves over time.
- San Francisco experiences the devastating earthquake and fire in April, 1906.
- Wilfred Laurier is Prime Minister of Canada (1896-1911).
- Alexander Cameron Rutherford was the first Premier of Alberta (1905-1911).
- President Theodore Roosevelt sails to the Panama Canal in November, 1906. This was the first time a sitting U.S. president made an official trip outside the country. President Roosevelt was also the first American to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
- The first permanent Canadian movie theatre, the Ouimetoscope, opens in Montreal.
- The passenger steamer SS Valencia ran aground off Vancouver Island resulting in one of Canada’s worst maritime disasters.
- Some notable books published in or around 1906: Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1906), The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1906), The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906), The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905), A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (1908), Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery (1908). Many Canadian female poets were beginning to make their mark: Jean Blewett, Helena Coleman, Sophia Almon Hensley, Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, and Elizabeth Nuttall Hopkins among others.
- The Alpine Club is founded in Winnipeg with a membership fee of $0.25.
The CWLC will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2031! This will be an exciting event and milestone for our club members and for the broader Calgary literary and historical community.
For more information on the history of the CWLC, please visit the Our History page.
Written by Janet H. and Mooréa G.