Vera Perlin

{{Short description|Canadian activist (1902–1974)}} '''Elizabeth Vera Perlin''', OC (1902 – 1974) was a Canadian advocate for the rights of the mentally disabled and a reformer who influenced the entire school system of Newfoundland and broke new ground on a national scale with her vision and accomplishments. Perlin was the founder of the Newfoundland Association for the Help of Retarded Children, founded two years before the nationally orientated Canadian Association for Community Living.<ref name="vps">{{cite web |title=History |url=http://veraperlinsociety.ca/history |publisher=The Vera Perlin Society |access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=ijdcr/>

== Early life and education == Perlin was born in St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada), the daughter of Mitchie Ann (Manuel) and John Chalker Crosbie, married Albert B. Perlin.<ref name="vps" /> Her husband and family were part of the small but influential Jewish community in St John's.<ref name="cbc">{{cite web |title='It means an awful lot': Family members thrilled at uncovering of Ferman sign |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/jewish-grandson-ferman-st-johns-sign-1.4851849 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=22 August 2021 |quote="The Fermans were one of several Jewish St. John's families in the retail business. The community had about 150 families at its peak, and members like Vera Perlin and Leonard Miller made lasting contributions to the city's business and cultural life."}}</ref> She was educated at Holloway School in St. John's and private schools in Toronto, Ontario.

== Work == While volunteering at the United Church Orphanage in St. John's, Perlin encountered many foster children with developmental disabilities who were receiving no education as a result of special needs. As a member of the advisory board of the United Church Orphanage, she persuaded church officials to fund an experimental day school modeled after schools she had studied in Great Britain.<ref name="vps" /> Perlin recruited Molly Dingle as teacher and opened the school in the orphanage on Hamilton Avenue in 1954.<ref name="nflh">{{cite web |title=E. Vera Perlin and Molly P. Dingle |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/perlin-and-dingle.php |publisher=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref> In 1956, Perlin founded the Newfoundland Association for the Help of Retarded Children, which is now known as the Newfoundland and Labrador for Community Living.<ref name="vps" /><ref name="nflh" /><ref name="ijdcr">{{cite web |last1=Philpott |first1=David |title=A Critical Analysis of Newfoundland and Labrador's Model of Special education Management |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/uofc/Others/ijdcr/VOL01_03_CAN/articles/philpott.shtml |publisher=International Journal of Disability, Community & Rehabilitation |access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref> With the aid of donations and volunteer work the association opened the Vera Perlin School in 1959 on Patrick Street. In 1966, a multipurpose building was constructed to help support the growing program, initially named The Vera Perlin School, it has since been renamed The Perlin Centre.<ref name="vps" /> The program expanded and eleven branches were established outside of St. John's to further support those with developmental disabilities.<ref name="vps" /> The Vera Perlin Society, a community living organization is named after her.<ref name="vps" />

==Awards== * 1955, President of the Regional Council of Home and School Associations. * 1962, first Citizen of the Year Award given by St. John's<ref name="assem">{{cite web |title=Thirty-Sixth General Assembly of Newfoundland: Verbatim Report; Thursday, December 12, 1974 |url=https://www.assembly.nl.ca/HouseBusiness/Hansard/ga36session3/December12-1974.pdf |publisher=House of Assembly, Newfoundland and Labrador |access-date=22 August 2021 |pages=2–3}}</ref> * 1967, one of 11 Canadian women honoured as ''Women of the Century'' by the National Council of Jewish Women.<ref name=nflh/> * 1968, appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for her "services to the community in many organizations, particularly those dealing with the care and treatment of retarded children".<ref name=nflh/><ref name=assem/> * 1970, awarded an honorary LL.D. by Memorial University of Newfoundland.<ref name=nflh/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perlin, Vera}} Category:1902 births Category:1974 deaths Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador