IODE Canada
War Memorial Doctoral Scholarship - IODE’S LIVING LEGACY
As World War I ended, The National Chapter of Canada IODE initiated a living memorial to 60,000 Canadians whose lives were sacrificed. This War Memorial, approved at the 1918 Annual Meeting in Montreal, provided bursaries for university studies in Canada to children of men killed or permanently disabled in the Great War. Immediately, a campaign to raise $500,000 began, and by 1920 the first bursaries were awarded. Each province was assigned one award of $250 a year for four years (later increased to $300). Where there was no candidate, the bursary went to another province.
In 1929, the War Memorial Fund of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire was enacted by a special act (Bill 8) of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario.
The War Memorial Committee in each province chose candidates based on their school record, health and character, the war service of their father and the family’s financial circumstances. Both principal and interest of the Fund provided these bursaries until 1937. No awards were offered during the war years and bursaries ended in 1965.
The War Memorial Post Graduate Scholarships began in 1921 for one college graduate from each province to spend one year at a British University. Among the first to hold this scholarship for 1922-3, at King’s College, University of London, was Bertha M. Lawrence from Alberta.
The value of a scholarship was $1,400 until 1930, when it was raised to $1,600. Post Graduate Scholarships used only the Fund’s income. No awards were offered during the war years and when peace was finally declared, in 1946, the members of IODE decided to establish a Second War Memorial to honour the memory of the forty some thousand men and women who lost their lives for Canada and in defense of freedom. The Post Graduate Scholarships from the two War Memorial Funds were originally offered in specific fields of study.
Today, there is no such restriction. Applicants must be Canadian citizens and in at least the second year of their doctoral program. Scholarships valued at $15,000 are now awarded to students attending Canadian or Commonwealth universities. A committee in the province of the candidate’s first degree makes selections and forwards nominations to the National Chapter where the final decisions are made. The National Selection Committee is comprised of five IODE members and three professors from different universities. The National Chapter of Canada IODE War Memorial Scholars have made important contributions to Canada and the world in medicine, science, business, politics and academia.
War Memorial Scholars Volume II
