The Women's Institute is celebrating its centenary in 2021, and the Centennial Committee is certain that the WI founder, Anna Elizabeth Jerome Spencer (Bessie to her friends), would make a fabulous documentary subject. Spencer, who had a university education (unusual for a lady in the early 1900s) paid for own voyage to England to help Kiwi soldiers during World War One and while there, discovered the WI. She thought the skills being taught and the sisterly support would be wonderful for women back in New Zealand.
Find more on Bessie Spencer here
To contact the WI Centennial Committee email Gillian Futcher at agfutcher@gmail.com.
IMAGE/teara.govt.nz
From left: Frank Spencer, Amy Hutchinson and Bessie Spencer