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Erland Lee (Museum) Home

Owned and maintained by the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario

Hello and Welcome to the Erland Lee (Museum) Home and the Birthplace of the Women’s Institute!

In 1897, Erland Lee heard Adelaide Hunter Hoodless give a lecture in Guelph, Ontario discussing the need for more rural women to be educated in Domestic Sciences and Home Economics (cleaning and cleanliness, disinfecting, food safety, proper storage and preparation as well as running a household and caring for the ill). Erland was inspired by Adelaide and her campaign so he invited her to speak at the local Farmer’s Institutes Annual Ladies Night on February 12th, 1897.

The Farmer’s Institute was not interested in Adelaide giving another talk so Erland and his wife Janet took it upon themselves to hire Adelaide to speak again. In the middle of winter, Erland and Janet Lee climbed aboard the family's sleight to hand deliver invitations to hear Adelaide lecture again.

On February 19th, 1897, 100 local women and 1 man (Erland Lee) gathered at Squire’s Hall in Stoney Creek to hear Adeliade lecture about the importance of domestic sciences and home economics as she stressed their consequences from her own experience with her young son's death from drinking unpasteurized milk in unclean bottles which started her campaigning and sharing of knowledge. On this day these 100 women formed the basis of the Mother’s Group.

Janet and Erland recognized not all women interested in their organization were wives and mothers, some were daughters and sisters, so they shortly changed the name to the Women’s Institute.

At the Lee’s dining room table in their farmhouse, on February 25th, 1897 Janet Lee sat down to write out the first constitution of the Women’s Insitute. Present at the table was her husband, Erland Lee (Satlfleet Township Clerk), E.D. Smith (Jam King of Hamilton and future Canadian Senator) and F.M. Carpenter (The Mayor of Saltfleet at the time). The men helped Janet write out the constitution in legal and business jargon.

The Women’s Institute's ideas and goals quickly spread out of Ontario and the ideas travelled to the rest of Canada and the world. There are thousands of local Women’s Insititute branches and hundreds of thousands of members worldwide.

The Erland Lee (Museum) Home is a National Historic Site of Canada. The museum recounts the history of the Lee family, who built and lived in the home from 1808 until 1970; of the Stoney Creek community; and of the Women's Institute, which was founded in the home's dining room on February 25, 1897. Named Edgemont by the Lee family, the Lee home is a beautiful example of an 1870's carpenter gothic revival architecture, situated on the Niagara Escarpment.

The Museum is open for walk-in tours on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 am - 4:00pm, or any day by appointment.

The museum grounds are open for public use from April through November each year.