Jane Barnes Wisdom was born on March 1 , 1884 to Freeman W. Wisdom and Mary Bell Wisdom . She graduated from McGill University in 1907 with a B.A . She had a job as a ' visitor on staff ' at the Charity Organization Society of Montreal . Later , in June 1910 , she took a class at the New York School of Philanthropy , and after completion of that returned to Montreal , before taking a job with the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities from 1912 to 1916 . She was the executive director of two districts in that organization . The Bureau of Social Services in Halifax , Nova Scotia , named her their first executive secretary in July 1916 . She played a large role in the recovery efforts from the Halifax Explosion , working for the Halifax Relief Commission as Supervisor of the Rehabilitation Department . Following completion of those efforts , Wisdom served on the Nova Scotia Provincial Commission , and traveled around the United Kingdom . The following year , she returned to McGill to get a graduate degree from the Department of Economics . She was also an instructor of social case work in their Department of Social Science and School of Social Work from 1921 to 1924 . When she left McGill , she became the executive director of the Women 's Directory of Montreal until 1939 . After retiring from working as the first welfare officer for Glace Bay , Nova Scotia , Wisdom died on June 9 , 1975
Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
Jane Wisdom