“I Was the Only Woman”

“I was the only woman.” These words appear again and again in the stories of women planners working in Canada from the 1940s to the 1970s. Despite their small numbers, women were active in key planning organizations, but their contributions have been largely overlooked. Through archival research and interviews, Sue Hendler tells the stories of women who were active in the Community Planning Association of Canada and the Town Planning Institute of Canada (later called the Canadian Institute of Planners). They discuss their approaches to and interests in planning and the obstacles they faced, reflecting on their roles within the wider context of the field. This book expands our understanding of what constitutes “planning” and, by extension, who counts as “planners,” highlighting the role “non-professionals” played in community planning. This compelling new perspective on Canada’s planning history provides an important counter-narrative to the “official” story of the profession. It also illustrates the transformative role that histories can have in disciplines such as planning, challenging us to re-evaluate not only the profession’s past but also its role in creating a more inclusive and equitable future.