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"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can."

In 1919, Queen’s awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws to Aletta Marty, MA 1894, who was a pioneering force for education reform in Canada.

Dr. Marty had come to campus to study modern languages and soon proved herself an excellent student, winning the modern language medal the year she graduated.

After leaving Queen’s, she burst onto the Ontario teaching scene with an innovative approach to education. Dr. Marty felt that the status quo in teaching was bland and outdated, so she would bring in new technology to spruce up her lessons. Phonographs and films complemented her lectures at a time when both were relatively novel.

In a short amount of time, Dr. Marty built a reputation for herself as a dynamic educator, and was remembered in the Queen's Alumni Review as, “an outstanding teacher. Her keen intellect, her broad sympathy, her fine sense of humour and her radiant personality made her a great force in the classroom… It is only necessary to meet Dr. Marty’s pupils — to witness the stimulating effect of her name, and the instant, affectionate response — to realize the extent of her influence.”

That influence earned her a promotion. She was appointed head of the Department of Modern Languages in the Collegiate Institute where she taught in Ottawa, the first woman to ever hold the position. Her success as department head earned her the opportunity to edit the Ontario High School Reader, which was used in schools across the province to boost student literacy. The fame and repute that came from that work earned her another promotion, this time to become Canada’s first female school inspector.

A pioneering approach to education

As inspector, Dr. Marty was particularly interested in the New Education Movement, a new style of thinking that saw children as fully human beings, rather than needing to be trained into adult behaviours. It was a strong departure from what had come before, focusing on the holistic social needs of children rather than just seeing them as vessels to be filled with information. Her interest in the movement inspired her to write An Educational Creed, which explained her teaching philosophy.

Some of its main tenets were:

• I believe in education as the most profitable investment in the world today.
• I believe that the country should provide equal opportunities of education for all children, rural and urban, whatsoever their social standing or mental endowment.
• I believe in education as a continuous, lifelong process, which should be fostered through the extension of our educational system.

Though she was thoroughly devoted to her work with schools, Dr. Marty also managed to contribute to and lead a dazzling number of organizations. She helped lead the University Women’s Club, the Women’s Canadian Club, Queen’s University Council, helped found the YWCA, was president of the Toronto Teacher’s Association, actively promoted Canadian literature at home and abroad, and participated in both the League of Nations and the Junior Red Cross.

While on an educational exchange to South Africa in 1929, Dr. Marty died of a heart attack. Along with her many contributions to Canadian society and education, one of her most enduring and impactful legacies has been the Marty Scholarship, which was created in her honour at Queen’s in 1937. The award is presented to women pursuing graduate work.

In 1984, the Queen’s Alumnae Association published Still Running… to mark the scholarship’s 50th anniversary. It compiled the stories of many of the Marty Scholarship’s recipients who used the proceeds to support impressive work. One story details work done during the Second World War in the Canadian atomic research effort; another describes work that helped make possible the discovery of DNA; recipient Judith Thompson describes how the Marty Scholarship helped support her as she worked to become a professional playwright.