- by Francesca Dobbyn
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had no idea who Elizabeth Laird was when the poll was released for the renaming of OSCVI [as an elementary school]. I began the usual Google search and was stunned to read the history and impact of this woman. Connecting with others in the community, they too were unaware of who she was, so I did the next logical thing: I created a Facebook group "Who is Elizabeth Laird" so we could learn together.
I pulled together the following information from a variety of websites, all searchable and linked to on the Facebook page.
"Elizabeth Laird was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, and spent much of her youth in London. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1896, but despite having been at the top of her class for three years, her graduate school scholarship applications were rejected solely because she was female.
She was one of the first women working in physics and pioneer in Canadian Radar research. She was already retired from a 40-year academic career where she chaired the physics department at Mount Holyoke College for nearly four decades, when she volunteered to assist in the University of Western Ontario's war-time Radar work in 1940. This began a further multi-year career with Western and long association with the department, finally ending with her death in 1969 at 94 years of age.
Post-war, she investigated the effects of microwave radiation on biological materials, work supported by the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation. By the time she retired for the second time in 1953, she was not only one of Canada's most distinguished physicists, but also the oldest."
By now you will surmise I have cast my vote for the school to be named after Elizabeth Laird. And while some may feel that a vote for Elizabeth is a vote against Tom or geography, lets take a moment to recognize that not naming this school after Tom will not diminish his importance in anyway, as there already is an art gallery, a bridge a trail as well as numerous events and the like that honour him, as there should be.
When we look around our community at buildings and other infrastructure that has been honoured with a name, outside of paid sponsorship, there are few that bear the names of local women. I can only come up with MacPhail Memorial Elementary School, which ironically doesn't bear the Agnes aspect so there no clear designation within the name that the honouree is a woman.
In 2007 I took the Sun Times to task in my, then, Running with Scissors column, for publishing a booklet on the 150th Anniversary of the City of Owen Sound that included no women. And I quote that column " I would have been consoled with a summary article that such and such women's group knitted so many socks for the boys overseas during the war, or that Mrs. What's-her-face pulled the winning name out of the raffle for the quilt that was created over the past winter, etc. But there wasn't even that."
And here were are again, gobsmacked to learn the heritage of a woman in science who was born here, and we know nothing.
What an inspiration for the girls and women of our community to learn and know that there is a legacy of strength, education and knowledge in our community.
Let's correct this wrong, let's take a step forward and honour all our citizens for all of their greatness, rather than to continue to heap additional accolades on those familiar to us. Let's find our hidden gems and bring them into the light. Let's banner our community with all their faces and educate our visitors on the incredible legacy of art, science and all things Bruce Grey.
Elizabeth Laird Community School, a foundation in science, equity and the future. I just hope she's on your radar for consideration.
