Mona Wilson: An Important Figure in PEI Public Health

 This is part one of the story of Mona Wilson. One of PEI’s most influential public health figures.

By the end of the 19th century, there was an emerging health movement in Canada. People were demanding better water, sewers, inoculations against smallpox and diphtheria, and programs to decrease infant and maternal mortality rates.

This movement was aided by the First World War. Initially, to enlist, there were certain requirements that had to be met. Many did not meet these requirements, sparking concerns about public health. 

The PEI Red Cross Society wrote to Kathleen Russell, the Director of the University of Toronto’s Department of Public Health Nursing. Russell approached Mona Wilson. At the time, the only thing Wilson knew about PEI was it was hard to get to in the winter. Wilson decided to send in her resume. Which was impressive:

• Served in France, Balkans, and Siberia
• Graduate of Johns Hopkins and the University of Toronto
• Worked in hospitals, mobile dispensaries, and baby/prenatal clinics
• Preformed child welfare checks, school inspections, and remote home visits

Unsurprisingly, Wilson got the job.

So in 1923, she found herself on the way to PEI. She noticed people watching her on the train. Initially she thought it was because she was a young woman traveling alone but she learned the conductor had told other passengers who she was and they were “sizing her up”.

In 1923, PEI did not have a public health department. As a result, when Mona got the job and got to PEI, she learned she would be responsible for:

• Initiating medical inspections in the schools
• Establishing:
• Dental clinics
• Junior Red Cross clubs
• Tuberculosis clinics
• Crippled children’s camps
• Organizing province-wide smallpox and diphtheria vaccinations
• Staffing a health clinic in Charlottetown
• Talking to women’s groups about the necessity of planting vegetable gardens, drinking milk, and eating wholesome foods

Wilson “felt like weeping” when she discovered how wide-ranging her responsibilities were. Additionally, she worried she wouldn’t fit in as she wasn’t a large church-goer, and she was often invited to pray and sing hymns at the YMCA.

Despite the difficulties, Wilson got to work.

The School Inspections

A week after learning all her responsibilities, she and her staff began the school inspections. They traveled via train, horse and buggy, and car. Their problem?

If I tell you to go to a rural school now or tell you to visit one of the old rural, one-room school houses, how would you find them?

You have a few options:

• Google PEI one-room schoolhouses
• Local history societies
• Newspaper articles
• PEI archives
• Ask around

Lower Bedeque School, built 1886

In 1923? They had to rely on maps that didn’t show where the schools even were.

According to Wilson, “We would stop on the top of a hill and scan the countryside for a pair of outside toilets and that would be the indication of a school.”

They were given a car, but paved roads were not a large thing on PEI until the 1930’s. As a result, Wilson and her staff became experts at fixing tires and getting the car unstuck from mud and snow covered roads. 

So what did their inspections find? About 96% of students they met had diseased tonsils and adenoids, impetigo, ringworm, or head lice. A large number of students were also underweight and showed signs of malnutrition. 

She and her staff organized vaccination clinics and spoke with parents, emphasizing the importance of drinking milk, eating whole foods, having clean homes, having ice boxes, installing screen doors to allow for more fresh air in the home, and planting vegetable gardens.

Most schools were welcoming, but others shut the door in her face. When allowed in, Wilson and her assistant, the teacher, and some of the older students would hang posters. Students would have their eyes checked, weight taken, their skin and posture were checked, etc. Sometimes, older students would help record this information. 

In addition to checking students, they also checked the schools themselves. Many of the schools were poorly built, making them too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. The outhouses stank and were filthy. They gave their recommendations to the local board of trustees, superintendent of information, and the nearest Women’s Institute.

Parents were also invited to watch their inspections and ask questions. Less than 1% of parents went to the schools so she mailed out health cards for each student. If a student had any issues but the family couldn’t afford health care, she tried to work with local health officials.

Fun Story Cul-de-Sac

While inspecting West Kent School, a young child named Jimmie didn’t want to get inspected and was making a fuss.

That afternoon after his inspection, he went back into class smiling. The teacher asked him how it went and he apparently said “That nurse wasn’t red and she wasn’t cross either.” 

Lesson: When dealing with children, always explain.

Back to School Inspections

By the end of 1923, she and her assistant had seen about 2800 students in 110 schools, addressed/held 148 meetings, organized 39 Junior Red Cross branches in schools, cared for about 2,019 people at the health centre, and visited 2,788 homes!

Despite this amazing work, the Society was cash-strapped and Premier Bell refused to give them more money. PEI was lacking public health facilities, but it is hard to justify a tax increase to provide a service Islanders weren’t demanding. Families and communities tended to care for their own sick and believed living in rural areas - geographically away from centres of illness/disease, more fresh air and sunlight, more peaceful surroundings - created an environment where people felt safe and healthy.

Unfortunately, this belief wasn’t always true. Wilson found children in rural areas had a malnutrition rate of 26% whereas urban areas had a rate of 17%. Rural children also had more dental issues and a higher non vaccination rate.

Wilson believed part of the malnutrition issue was caused by hurried farm meals, small and cold lunches, and a lack of milk, eggs, and fresh vegetables in their diets. Wilson sent reports to numerous Women’s Institutes to request contributions for schools. The schools needed equipment to make hot lunches, outhouses/washing areas needed to be improved, and individual mugs were needed rather than one universal drinking mug.

In 1925, Wilson almost left. . . Allow me to explain.

In 1925, a close friend died and she threw herself into her work. But, she had a bad secretary and no stenographer.

She needed a new secretary. The woman she wanted to choose had a Protestant Mother and a Catholic Father. This caused a major uproar among the members of the Board who were all Protestant. The job was apparently given to the daughter of the Premier. . . Who Wilson found useless.

In the end, Wilson agreed to stay on if they let her hire a new secretary. Thankfully, they did and Wilson stayed on. This could have been very bad for the Society because two Board members were prepared to walk from the Society with her.

Understandably, this event was very frustrating. She had given everything to the society for 3 years and 7 months and petty political and religious issues could have ruined it all. The secretary Wilson hired wasn’t that good either but she left to go to school. The next secretary was Iphigenie Arsenault. Although the two became life-long friends, Wilson was initially hesitant because Arsenault was being suggested for the position because of her father. Her father was AE Arsenault - Former Premier of PEI and a justice of the Island’s Supreme Court. 

Wilson had an amazing work ethic. What she accomplished in Island schools alone is impressive. Just wait until part two!

Sources: 

Baldwin, Douglas. Prince Edward Island: An Illustrated History. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing Limited, 2009.

Baldwin, Douglas O. She answered Every Call: The Life of Public Health Nurse, Mona Gordon Wilson (1894-1981). Charlottetown: Indigo Press, 1997.