The December Island Studies Lecture is Tuesday, December 6, at 7 pm in the SDU Main Building Faculty Lounge on the UPEI campus, featuring Dr. Sharon Myers speaking about “The Murderous Mother and the Meanings of Minnie McGee."

In July 1912, 36-year-old Minnie McGee (nee Mary Cassidy, 1875-1953) of St. Mary’s Road, was tried and sentenced to hang for the murder of her son. While charged only in the death of 10-year-old John, evidence suggests she had killed all six of her children during the same week that spring. More than 130 people in the larger Georgetown area signed a petition for clemency, requesting the federal Minister of Justice to “commute her sentence on a plea of insanity.” The commutation was awarded and McGee would spend the rest of her life in a variety of provincial and federal institutions. Dr. Myers’ research follows McGee’s life in and out of institutions, showing a pattern of occurrences in McGee’s “criminal” life where the state chose to discipline and punish with far lighter touch than might be expected.

Watch for details for another lecture about islands – near and far – January 17! For more information, please contact Laurie at iis@upei.ca or (902) 894-2881.