The Aberdeen Women’s Institute was a member of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario. It served the hamlet of Aberdeen in Grey County, Ontario, and most of the surrounding township from 1926 to 1972. Miss Reta Rodgers (Mrs. John Fletcher McLean) and Mrs. David Lamb, both with a keen interest in improving rural life, organized a meeting at Aberdeen School to propose the formation of a local branch. With nearly every home in the area represented, it was unanimously decided to organize the Aberdeen Women’s Institute with Mrs. Jas. Haslett offering to host the first meeting on June 22, 1926. In addition to attending and hosting lectures and courses on varied topics, the Aberdeen Women’s Institute provided both material and financial donations to organizations including the Children’s Aid Society, Red Cross, war and disaster relief efforts, as well as local hospitals. In the mid-1930s, the wife of Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada from 1935 – 1940, suggested that all Women’s Institutes create local history books, which became known as the Tweedsmuir histories. The Aberdeen Women’s Institute participated in documenting the local history of its area through that project.