Helen Jury Armstrong (1875-1947)

Union leader, radical.

Leader of the local chapter of the Women’s Labour League, Armstrong was referred to as “business manager for the Women’s Unions” and later dubbed by eastern newspapers “the Wild Woman of the West.” In 1917 she intervened on behalf of “aliens” arrested for breach of contract, and mounted public platforms to demonstrate against conscription. In April 1918, she was elected president of the Hotel and Household Workers’ Union in Winnipeg. Armstrong resigned as president of the Women’s Labour League in February 1919 when it supported the Minimum Wage Board. She was in charge of arrangements for the kitchen maintained by the Women’s League during the Winnipeg General Strike. Arrested several times during the strike for disorderly conduct, “Ma” Armstrong was an ardent feminist as well as a socialist. She ran unsuccessfully for Winnipeg City Council in 1923. She was married to George Armstrong. She died in California.

More information:

Profiles in Dissent: The Shaping of Radical Thought in the Canadian West by Harry Gutkin and Mildred Gutkin, 1997, pages 213-250.

Sources:

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press Association, Vancouver.

Profile revised: 23 January 2008

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