Who Is Gert Beadle?

Gert was in her 60’s when she joined the struggle for equality.  It was in the mid-seventies and she learned this group of women who were trying to start a shelter for women.  These women were being ostracized in the media and as Gert told me” I always did root for the underdog, so I though I would meet these women and if there was something I could do to help.”  As a poet, Gert used her gift and her motivating energy to help establish the Women’s Crisis Homes Incorporated which grew to include a women’s centre, rape crisis line, women’s health collective, a women’s credit union, and a feminist newspaper.  She also helped establish women’s centres in Attikokan, Kenora, and Fort Frances. 

In 1984, Gert received the “Persons Award”.  An award given in recognition of improving the status of women.  She received the “Order of Canada” in 1986.  Gert told me once that it was the “Persons Award”  that meant the most to her.

She wrote for many women’s publications, she published three books of her poetry and never used her literary gift for personal gain.  Instead, she donated the proceeds of her books to various women’s centre.  The KWRC received the proceeds of her last book.

In an article in KINESIS in 1989, she wrote, “I believe that woman’s relationship with women is more important that any other relationship today, for through it we find ourselves, find our power, find our heart and have the courage to risk again and again for a more human world’”  Gert had no use for prestige or power and saw herself  as a motivator using her enthusiasm for the battle to energize people.  She believed that the women’s movement was a movement and should always be moving forward and never take root.  Women contribute at very many levels and in very many ways.  She used her poetry and writing as her weapon in the struggle.  As such, she was often singled out and recognized for her contributions.  She accepted the accolades while never losing sight of the fact that it takes the whole movement to bring about change – not one individual.  She is but one part of something much bigger.

Gert's spirit lives on in the words she has penned, the women she has inspired, and the organizations that she has helped create and nurture. In order to help her legacy "scatter like seeds", we have established this award which will reflect the values and philosophies of the grassroots feminist movement.