Last Updated: August 4, 2009 History of the Organization The idea to form a national group was first considered in 1912. In 1914, however, when the war began the idea was abandoned. At the war's end, it was Miss Mary MacIssac, Superintendent of Alberta Women's Institute, who revived the idea. She realized the importance of organizing the rural women of Canada so they might speak as one voice for needed reforms, and the value of co-ordinating provincial groups for a more consistent organization. In February 1919, representatives of the provinces met in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to form the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada. Adelaide Hoodless Homestead - The Willows A draw for the quilt will take place at the FWIC Convention in Charlottetown, PEI on June 20,2009. On July 8, 2007 the FWIC National Board Directors visited the Homestead. In the dining room from left to right are Joan MacNeill, Ellen Simpson, Marie Kenny, Sheila Needham, Heather Dixon, Ruth Blenkhorn, Valerie Watt, Joan Griffith,and Mary Derbyshire. In the parlor is Elsie Stephenson, FWIO Executive Officer.