Using a collection of letters written by the writer's maternal great-grandmother, Jacklyn McCrae, this project aims to examine the lived experiences of impoverished women in Northern British Columbia through the 1950s and 1960s. Rather than examining the newly developed social welfare programs from a political perspective, Renee Leitch uses the case study of her own great-grandmother to give a voice to women whose stories were often lost to history. The work done by working class mothers as exemplified in the letters went far beyond government support. A broad web of welfare services, family allowances, domestic labour, male breadwinner’s income, delaying purchasing, gifts and loans from family, support from friends all became necessary tools to ensure the basic necessities the family needed. Through the development of social welfare programs in Canada through the 1950s and 1960s, Leitch’s project aims to examine programs through the lived experiences of impoverished Canadians.
