{{short description|Canadian politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Florence Bayard Bird | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CC|size=100%}} | image = Florence Bird.jpg | office = Canadian Senator <br />from Ontario | appointer = Pierre Trudeau | term_start = 1978 | term_end = 1983 | birth_name = Florence Bayard Rhein | birth_date = {{birth date|1908|1|15}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1998|7|18|1908|1|15}} | death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=March 24, 2008|title= Florence Bird|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/florence-bird|encyclopedia= The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date= February 26, 2026}}</ref> | spouse = | party = Liberal | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Bryn Mawr College (BA) | occupation = | profession = | honorific_prefix = The Honourable }}
'''Florence Bayard Bird''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CC}} (January 15, 1908 – July 18, 1998) was a Canadian broadcaster, journalist, politician. She is best known for her work as chairwoman of Royal Commission on the Status of Women.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=March 24, 2008|title= Florence Bird|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/florence-bird|encyclopedia= The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date= February 26, 2026}}</ref>
==Background== Born Florence Rhein in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she attended Bryn Mawr College and in 1928 married journalist John Bird. They moved to Montreal in 1931. In 1937, they moved to Winnipeg where her husband worked for the Winnipeg Tribune. She also appeared on CBC Radio and Television as Anne Francis, a political analyst. Francis [Bird] made several appearances on the panel show, Fighting Words in the early 1960s.
She is best remembered for her work as chair of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.<ref>Profiled by Alan Edmonds in Maclean's Magazine, January 1, 1968; https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1968/1/1/cheer-up-girls-help-is-on-the-way</ref>
She was a member of the Senate of Canada from March 23, 1978 until January 15, 1983.
In 1971, she was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1983, she was named a recipient of the Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case.<ref name=GGACPC>{{cite web |title=Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case: 1983 Recipients |publisher=Status of Women Canada |date=April 27, 2015 |accessdate=February 11, 2016 |url=http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/commemoration/gg/recip-laure/1983-en.html}}</ref> She was a member of the Junior League.
== Archives == There is a Florence Bird fonds at Library and Archives Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Finding aid to Florence Bird fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=https://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000150.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=June 18, 2020|website=}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=10663}} *[http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-86/politics_economy/status_women/ Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women] *{{Canadian honour|Type=orc|ID=148|accessdate=May 24, 2010}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Florence}} Category:1908 births Category:1998 deaths Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:Canadian senators from Ontario Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:Liberal Party of Canada senators Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni Category:Women members of the Senate of Canada Category:Women in Ontario politics Category:20th-century Canadian lawyers Category:Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:Members of the Junior League Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada Category:Canadian women civil rights activists