Cooper (Hunt), Marjorie (1902-84)

Marjorie Lovering was born in Winnipeg on May 28, 1902, and moved to Regina in 1907. At the age of 17 she began a teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse in McCord. In 1925 she left teaching and married Ed Cooper. She spent the following three decades raising two daughters and volunteering for several organizations. Cooper served as president of the Regina YWCA (1941-43) and the Regina Council of Women (1946-48). Cooper was appointed to the Labour Relations Board in 1945 and the Public Service Commission in 1951. In 1952 Cooper won a seat in the provincial Legislature for the CCF. She was the third female member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, served four terms, and retired from politics undefeated in 1967. Although never appointed to Cabinet, Cooper acted as an unofficial women's advocate and sat on numerous committees including Crown corporations, Cabinet Planning, Health and Welfare, Public Accounts, and the Law Amendments Committees. Her life and career provide clear examples of some of the ways in which women promoted change between the two waves of the feminist movement in Canada. Predeceased by her husband, Marjory Cooper married Wilfred Hunt. She died September 12, 1984, in Regina.

C. Marie Fenwick

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Further Reading

Fenwick, C. Marie. 1999. “A Political Biography of Marjorie Cooper Hunt, 1902-1984,” MA Thesis, University of Regina;  -  - . 2002. “Building the Future in a Steady but Measured Pace: The Respectable Feminism of Marjorie Cooper,” Saskatchewan History, 54 (1): 18-34.