VIVO Media Arts Centre Archive > Jonnie Rankin

Jonnie Rankin

Born Jeannette Tonge (1916-2004) in Sausalito, California. She married Ontario-born Jack S.F. Ottewell (1915-1992) in 1938 in California. They had three children by the time they moved to Vancouver, BC. They later divorced and Jonnie married Vancouver labour activist, controversial city councillor, and a C.O.P.E. founder, Harry Rankin (1920-2002), in 1948. The Rankins had two children. The couple separated in 1985. From the time of her working years in the Vancouver shipyards, Jonnie supported trade union issues, the peace movement, community concerns, and the advance of socialism.

Audio Interview [1979]

 

Description

Rankin discusses the reasons women took industrial jobs; hiring procedures; attitudes of me to women entering the shipyards; the transformation of the craft unions into industrial unions; childcare; political differences in the unions; Soviet women on ships that came into the yards for repairs; piecework; shop stewarding; layoffs’ effects on women; work as a journalist for the “People”; the Labour-Progressive Party; left-wing theatre; the I.W.A. strike of 1946; organizing in the restaurants; women’s auxiliaries and equal pay struggles; women unwilling to leave their jobs after the war; early attempts to form the Office and Professional Employees International Union .

Transcription

Full transcription: Rankin, Jonnie
Edited by Subject: Rankin, Jonnie (edited)

 

 

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 1/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_655_sideA_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 2/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_655_sideB_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 3/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_656_sideA_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 4/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_656_sideB_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Video Interview [1987]

[Jonnie Rankin - 1/3]

Description: Johnnie Rankin discusses first arriving in Vancouver during the Great Depression, and the change in employment opportunities with the advent of the war. She also discusses working in the shipyard, including details on training, daily duties, her first day on the job, and the reaction of men towards working with women. Finally, she discusses joining the Boilermakers Union, and the status of women within the union.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 1/3]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie.

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-08-31

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_355

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Jonnie Rankin - 2/3]

Description: Johnnie Rankin discusses the position of women within the Boilermakers Union and the types of jobs she worked at the shipyard. She also discusses childcare, equal pay, and the existence of issues specific to women. She talks about what she learned from the trade unions, and how working changed her life. Finally, she discusses working in restaurants and approaching the Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 2/3]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-08-31

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_087

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Jonnie Rankin - 3/3]

Description: Johnnie Rankin discusses organizing in restaurants, going to business school, the 1946 strike and the role of women within it, the creation of the Labour Theatre Guild, and the political impact working during the war had on her.

More Information

Title: [Jonnie Rankin – 3/3]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Rankin, Jonnie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-08-31

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_088

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Photographs

Courtesy of Jonnie Rankin. Sara Diamond fond.