Scholars and Explorers - Trafalgar School for Girls

S e r v i c eServiceMary (Winnifred) Kydd Brown 1919Attended Trafalgar: 1910-1919Education: MA, McGill University; Bryn Mawr CollegeOrder of the British EmpireDean of Women/ Women’s Rights AdvocateAleading scholar,groundbreaking diplomatand feminist, Winnifred Kyddpersonified all the finest qualitiesinstilled in Trafalgar girls of her time.Best known for her foreign servicerole as a Canadian delegate to theLeague of Nations, she was anactive participant in 20th-centuryCanadian history, leaving her markon many fields. After graduatingfrom McGill, in 1926 she won theJulius C. Strawbridge Fellowship atBryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania,where she spent her postgraduateyears. An early champion of women’srights, her academic interests first ledher to explore the social conditionsof women in Europe. Winnifredlater joined the National Council ofCécile Bouchard 1925Attended Trafalgar: 1920-1924Military Commander/Journalist/BroadcasterOrder of the British EmpireCécile applied the leadershipqualities she learned atTrafalgar to her multifacetedlife as a military commander, RedCross organizer, newspaperwomanand patron of the arts. The only childof the Hon. T.D. Bouchard, QuebecMinister of Roads and Public Works,Cécile understood the importanceof public and community service.Living easily in both the Frenchand English milieux, she came toMontreal to attend Trafalgar andgraduated in 1924 before leavinghome to travel and study in Europe.With the outbreak of World War II,Cécile joined the Canadian Women’sWomen of Canada (NCWC), servingas president from 1931 to 1936.During her tenure as leader of theNCWC, she represented Canadaat the League of Nations’ 1932Disarmament Conference in Geneva.She and Nellie McClung were twoof the few women delegates at thathistoric meeting. In recognition ofher contributions to diplomacy, shewas made a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (CivilDivision) [CBE] in 1934. A May1934 newspaper account of herpresentation to the King and QueenArmy Corps. She also founded theSainte-Hyacinthe branch of theCanadian Red Cross. By 1941, withthe rank of Junior Commander, shewas stationed at National Defencegeneral headquarters in Ottawa. Justtwo years later, she found herselfcontributing to the war effort inEngland. King George VI recognizedCécile’s successful military service byawarding her the Order of the BritishEmpire (OBE) in 1945. Returninghome, she became a bilingualjournalist and broadcaster. In themid-1940s, she was the popularhost of “Personalities in the News”on CJAD. She edited the women’spages of Le Clairon and Le Hautat Buckingham Palace enthused overMiss Kydd’s gold and white tinselbrocade gown, proving she had afashion sense to complement hermore serious side. Winnifred wasnamed Dean of Women at Queen’sUniversity in 1934, a post she heldfor five years. She combined heracademic career with CanadianGuiding, rising to become chief“She represented Canada at the League of Nations’1932 Disarmament Conference in Geneva. She and Nellie McClungwere two of the few women delegates at that historic meeting.”“Order of the British Empire”commander of the Girl Guides ofCanada and in 1947, Director of theWorld Association of Girl Guides andGirl Scouts, the first Canadian to beappointed to that position. She diedin 1969. For leaving her mark onwomen’s rights around the world,Winnifred is recognized as one of our125 Women of Trafalgar.Parleur for many years. Later she tookover management of the ImprimerieYamaska, the family-owned printingcompany. An inveterate travellerand writer, she kept journals ofher trips through Spain in 1929and 1956 and a European tour in1937, as well as her experiencesas a woman in the military. Cécileindulged her love of music as amember of various musical societiesand arts associations, encouragingand promoting local artists andauthors throughout her life. She wasa member of the Canadian AuthorsAssociation, the Alliance Françaiseand the Canadian Women’s Club.Cécile died in Montreal in 1987,Trafalgar’s centennial year. For all herachievements, she is recognized asone of our 125 Women of Trafalgar.Lucille “Lou” Pacaud 1925Attended Trafalgar: 1916-1921Volunteer/Community ServiceLou Pacaud, our oldest livingTrafite, made history in 2009as the oldest volunteer at theMontreal General Hospital, winningthe Volunteer of the Year Award atthe age of 102. Born in Montreal in1907, Lou lived in London and Parisbefore her family finally settled herefor good. She attended Trafalgar inthe class of 1925 before going toKing’s Hall Compton as a boarder.After graduating from Compton,she returned to Paris to work at anart studio and polish her French.She made her debut in Montreal,attending a whirlwind of partiesand balls, and later joined the JuniorLeague. She managed a coffee houseat McGill University and worked atthe Jaeger women’s sportswear storebefore finding a job at DominionTextile, where she worked for 40years, retiring in 1983 at the ageof 76. Feeling she still had a lot tocontribute, Lou embarked on acareer as a volunteer at the MontrealGeneral. She started out in the giftshop but found she preferred towheel around the hospital floorswith the shop pushcart, selling itemsto bedridden patients. “Referred tofondly by staff as the ‘Lou Mobile,’the plastic cart was loaded with gumand chocolate bars, newspapersand magazines – all the little extrasto brighten a patient’s day, almost“oldest living Trafite”as much as having a chat and visitwith Lou did.” A 100-year-old Louwas featured with her cart in a 2008CTV report. Lou told a CBC reporterthat she attributed her longevityto her sunny attitude to life. “If it’spouring rain, well, you just say, thesun’s gonna come out, you know,and so that was my attitude all thetime.” Lou retired from the MontrealGeneral after 27 years of service. Forher life of service and for representingTraf as its oldest Old Girl at age 105(August 2012) Lou Pacaud is one ofour 125 Women of Trafalgar.Source: The Montreal Gazette125 Women of Trafalgar | 39