[1] In the 1900s, social change in the Canadian west — including, as at Alberta, a shift from a rural to urban population — [2] came to result in alcohol abuse and prostitution.
[4] Persons Day originated with The Famous Five: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards.
[5] In the Persons Case of 1927, Murphy, McClung, Parlby, McKinney and Edward questioned the Supreme Court of Canada regarding women not being included in the word 'person' according to the B.N.A.
The five women then went to London, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain, this being the highest level of court appeal possible at the time.
In 1979, on the 50th anniversary of the Privy Council's decision, the Canadian government instituted the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case to recognize outstanding contributions in advancing equality for women in Canada.