Windsor woman wants more public places named for famous females
A Windsor woman says nearly all the statues, parks and public places in the city that are named after people, honour men.
Philippa Von Ziegenweidt has done an inventory and created a map with hopes of highlighting the problem and showing places where more women could be recognized.
"There are only three places that are named after women, surprise surprise! One of them, Cora Greenwood in the east end, as far as I can tell, she is famous for having reached over the age of 100."
Von Ziegenweidt said the other two women with Windsor sites named after them are Jeanne Mance, a French nurse who created the first hospital in Montreal and Adie Knox.
"Adie Knox was the wife of W. F. Herman, so she wasn't really being recognized for anything that she presumably did," she added.
Von Ziegenweidt is soliciting the names of deserving women on Facebook, and has already received 40.
She hopes the city will draft a short list it can draw from in the future.
City council's lone female member, Jo-Anne Gignac encouraged people in Windsor to send in suggestions, adding women have played major roles in the Windsor area since the 1700s.
"I think it would be marvelous to have a list of women locally who have contributed in a substantial way to building our community," she said. "There are always opportunities for municipalities to look at things like that."
