Lillian Freiman

Lillian Bilsky Freiman (1885 – November 2, 1940), nicknamed The Poppy Lady, was a Jewish-Canadian philanthropist, and Zionist. In 2008, she was designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian Government for being "a gifted organizer and philanthropist who worked to improve the health and welfare of her fellow citizens."

In 1885, Lillian Freiman was born at Mattawa, Ontario to Pauline Reich, a homemaker, and Moses Bilsky, who was a Jewish-Canadian merchant and community leader, thought to have been the first Jewish settler in Ottawa. Her family was of Russian-Lithuanian descent.

She was the fifth of eleven children. Her sister Lucy would go on to marry Allan Bronfman, one of the founders of Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, the liquor distiller and marketer.

When the Great War broke out, Freiman set up 30 sewing machines in her home and organized Red Cross sewing circles to send blankets and clothing to the soldiers overseas. This sewing circle would become a Disraeli Chapter of the Daughters of the Empire. In addition, she co-founded The Great War Veterans Association, which would become the Royal Canadian Legion. The Association, by 1919, became the largest veterans' organization in Canada. Later, she was the first woman to become an honorary life member of the Royal Canadian Legion.

In 1919, the Vetcraft Shops, which employed returning servicemen to make furniture and toys, was created with Freiman's influence. When John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields became famous, many campaigns were introduced to have the poppy adopted as a symbol of remembrance and a means of raising funds for veterans. In 1921, Freiman crafted the first Canadian poppies in her living room. In 1923, the Vetcraft Shops took over the poppy making. She was a member of the National Poppy Advisory Committee and chaired Ottawa’s annual poppy campaign nearly every year until her death.

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