Abstract

Emily Murphy was a pioneering advocate for women's rights in Alberta. She was instrumental in securing greater legal protections for married women through her advocacy of the province's
Dower Act and was actively involved in both the suffrage and birth control movements. Perhaps more notably, she is remembered as the instigator of the Person's Case, which sought to amend the British North America Act to recognize women as "persons" eligible for appointment to the Canadian Senate.

However, Murphy's legacy has been complicated by the resurfacing of her support for eugenics and sexual sterilization. A vocal proponent for Alberta's Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928, her view on these issues shocked many Canadians. This thesis examines the intersection of class,
gender, religion, maternal feminism and Irish Protestant ideology to uncover the motivations of Murphy's support for such a controversial piece of legislature. By examining her early life in
Cookstown, the Orange Order's influence on the construction of her values, her writings under the Janey Canuck pseudonym, and her role as a Police Magistrate, this thesis argues that Murphy's involvement in Canada9s eugenic movement was deeply entwined with her views of feminism, nationalism, and class.