08/28/2026
đźš‚ All aboard for another Collection Feature Friday! (French translation below!)
"Mary O’Malley’s life was unique. A working wife and mother, she moved her family around PEI as her job dictated. So, what was that job? Mary worked for Canadian National Railway (CNR), as a Station Agent, the first and only woman on PEI to do so!
The daughter of a railway station agent, Mary understood the job from a young age. When her father became ill in the late 1930s, she quietly but unofficially assumed his responsibilities in Alberton and continued to do so until he died in 1941. After this period, Mary married, manufactured munitions in Ottawa for the war effort, and started her family. By 1945, Mary was back in PEI and looking for work.
Drawing on previous experience, she applied to be a Station Agent with CNR, but women had never officially worked as Station Agents before. Luckily, during Mary’s unofficial time as Alberton’s Station Agent, she gained the respect of several railway employees, and they recommended Mary for the role. In 1946, she became the Station Agent for Bedford and stepped into history!
Mary served in that role until 1968, when her fourth and final station, Bloomfield Station, closed. Mary retired in 1975 from CNR after 31 years of service."
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Image 1: "no #.telegraph.0002." Provided on loan courtesy of Art O'Malley, Mary's son.
Image 2: "Mary O'Malley with retirement gift, c.1975."
Both images provided (on loan) courtesy of Art O'Malley, Mary's son. Thank you, Art!
