Celebrating London Women's History

Mary McKim was born in June of 1926 in Jinan, China. Her parents were missionaries and this was a very influential thing in her life. Mary found it difficult to adjust to Canada when her family moved back, because of her upbringing. However, even with these difficulties Mary did very well for herself since was an extremely intelligent young woman. She went to the University of Toronto Medical School and graduated in 1949, and then did her Medical Intership at Victoria Hospital, London. She married Dr. John McKim, who was the Senior Intern in Paediatrics at the Children’s Hospital in 1950 and together they had five sons. Mary went on to get her Certification in Psychiatry in 1969 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons 1973. Later she went on to work as a Pyschiatrist at the St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital from 1975-1982. In 1976 she married Doug MacKenzie, who was the Dean of Men at the University of Western Ontario. Mary’s real passion was giving women fair treatment and control over their own bodies, specifically regarding the issue of abortion. Her other accomplishments in being the Founder of the Girls’ Group Home, the President of Canadian Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Law (CARAL), Board member of the Battered Women’s Advocacy Clinic, Charter Member of London Status of Women Action Group and a lifetime member of the United Church of Canada. It was because of her strong support for women in the London area that many were empowered to take control of their circumstances and bodies.