After earning her degree from the New York Medical College for Women, Dr. Emily Stowe becomes the first woman to practice medicine in Canada. She receives her medical license in 1880.

Esther Westmacott is the first female artist to become a member of the Ontario Society of Artists.

Dr. Jennie Trout (1841-1921) graduates from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. After passing the registration exam in Ontario that same year, she becomes the first female licensed physician in Canada.

Western University was founded as the Western University of London Ontario in 1878, and was renamed the University of Western Ontario in 1923. In 2012, the university became known as “Western University,” although its legal name is still “The University of Western Ontario.”

Charlotte Schreiber (1834-1922), a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, is the first female artist to be elected to academician status (RCA). It would be over 50 years until the next woman, Marion Long (1882-1970), reached the same level in 1933.

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, one of Canada’s most respected art associations, is formed. The academy had two levels of membership, Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (ACRA) and Royal Canadian Academician (RCA). Each level was reached by election.

Frances Bannerman (1855-1940) becomes the first female artist elected an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (ACRA). She would not reach the level of academician (RCA). Bannerman was also the first woman elected to the academy in any capacity after founding member Charlotte Schreiber.

Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen (the daughter of Dr. Emily Stowe) becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree from a Canadian university when she graduates from the Toronto School of Medicine, Victoria College.

Mary Ella Dignam formally establishes the Women’s Art Club (of Toronto). The club developed from a smaller group formed in 1886.  It would become the Women’s Art Association of Canada in 1892.

The Women’s Art Club of London was founded in 1892 or 1893. The club was a branch of the Woman’s Art Association of Canada (WAAC) from 1894 to 1896, when it became a separate organization known as the WAC of London. The WAC was active until World War One.

The Women’s Art Club (of Toronto), founded by Mary Ella Dignam in 1890, is incorporated under its new name, the Women’s Art Association of Canada (WAAC).

Mary Ella Dignam was among the coordinators of the first significant exhibition of the Women International Art Club (WIAC). Two hundred and thirty-five (235) works, all by women artists, were showcased.

Psychologist Emma Sophia Baker (1856-1943) graduates from the University of Toronto with a Ph.D in Philosophy, becoming the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from a Canadian University, and the first person to receive a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Toronto.

London, Ontario’s first art gallery opens in September 1912 in Queen’s Park. This gallery only operated in the summer months due to a lack of heating.

World War One (1914-1918) begins.

World War One (1914-1918) ends.

H.B. Secondary School (at the time called the London Technical and Commercial High School) forms its art department.

Marion Long (1882-1970) becomes the second female artist elected an academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA). She had been elected an associate member (ACRA) in 1922.

World War Two (1939-1945) begins.

Built using funds from a bequest by Elsie Perrin Williams (1878-1934), the Elsie Perrin Williams Memorial Art Gallery and Museum (the old Central Library at 305 Queen’s Avenue) opens. The building was London, Ontario’s first permanent art gallery space.

The McIntosh Gallery was the first art gallery to be established in a Canadian university. The building was officially opened on June 26, 1942 with a display of 31 paintings by Canadian war artists from the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. The gallery was built with a substantial bequest from the Estate of Wilhelmina Morris McIntosh in the memory of her husband,  J. Gordon McIntosh. a former Winnipeg businessman.

H.B. Beal Secondary School (then known as H.B. Beal Technical and High School) launches its Special Arts programme.

World War Two (1939-1945) ends.

Eleanor Somerville and Josephine Wilcox organized and launched the London Art Gallery’s Women’s Committee. Among the initial 20 members were Flora Douglas (“Dougie”) Betts, Shirley Brickenden, Lenore Crawford, Mackie Cryderman, Nancy Geddes Poole, and Elizabeth “Woody” Moore.

The 20/20 Gallery, a privately run, not-for-profit art gallery in London, Ontario opens. The founding members were Greg Curnoe, Jack Chambers, George Cole, John Davis, Rae Davis, Murray Favro, Hugh MacPherson, Geoffery Rans, Goldie Rans, Gerald Trottier, and Dr. Ross Woodman. The gallery, which exhibited art of many disciplines, including paintings, theatre, poetry, dance, film, and music, operated until 1970.

Jean Sutherland Boggs (1922-2014) is named Director of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and becomes the first woman globally to achieve such a position.

The exhibition London S.W.17, is organized by Nancy Geddes Poole at the Rothman Gallery in Stratford, Ontario. The show features works completed by 17 London Artists in the Spring and Winter (“S.W.”) of 1969: Herb Ariss, Margot Ariss, Daisy Bailey, John Boyle, Anne Brown, Jack Chambers, Tom Coulter, Paterson Ewen, Robert Fones, Connie Jefferess, William Johnson, James Kemp, Ron Martin, Walter Redinger, Guérite Steinbacher, Tony Urquhart, and Edward Zelenak.

London’s 20/20 Gallery, which opened in 1966, closes.

Joyce Wieland’s (1931-1998) 1971 exhibition is the first solo exhibition featuring the work of a living female Canadian artist to be held at the National Gallery of Canada.

In recognition of International Women’s Year (as 1975 was declared by the United Nations), London, Ontario holds an exhibition in the City Centre featuring only the work of women artists. Eighteen (18) local artists were represented: Margot Ariss, Bonnie Bauman, Beckie Burke, Sylvia Christie, Raimonde Demopoulos, Lynn Donaghue, Guérite Fera, kerry ferris, Jamelie Hassan, Dorene Inglis, Connie Jefferess, Jeanine Lodge, Verne Lougheed. Diane Robinson, Vivian L. Sturdee, Bernice Vincent, Carole Wright, and Marcia Ruiz Wilson.

London’s art gallery shifts from its original location at the Elsie Perrin Williams Memorial Building (the old Central Library) to a new location at the Forks of the Thames River (421 Ridout Street North), and becomes known as the London Regional Art Gallery (LRAG).

The London Public Library’s museum division and the London Regional Art Gallery combine, forming the London Regional Art and Historical Museums (LRAHM).

The London Regional Art and Historical Museums (LRAHM) changes its name to Museum London.

The Central branch of the London Public Library relocates from the Elsie Perrin Williams Memorial Art Gallery and Museum building to its current location at 251 Dundas Street.