Elizabeth Sterling Haynes

Elizabeth Sterling Haynes (December 7, 1897 – April 26, 1957) was an Alberta theatre activist. Haynes was a driving force in the Little Theatre Movement in Alberta.

Early life Elizabeth Sterling was born in Seaham, County Durham, England, in 1897. Her family emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1905. Beginning in 1916, she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Toronto, attending the University of Victoria College. From their 1917 founding, Sterling was involved with the Victoria College Women's Dramatic Club (VCWDC). From 1918-19, she served as the club's vice president; she was elected president the following year. While working with the VCWDC, Sterling was influenced by Roy Mitchell, a leader of the Canadian Little Theatre Movement. At the University of Toronto, Sterling was one of the first actors to perform at the Hart House Theatre.

After university, Sterling taught for a year in upper New York state. In 1928, she founded the Alberta Drama League together with Ernest Sterndale Bennett, which became a model for the Dominion Drama Festival. She was the company's first artistic director, serving from 1929 to 1932. She and her husband moved east, away from Edmonton, in 1955.

Said Gwen Pharis Ringwood of her: Elizabeth was a force; a creative energy unleashed at a time when creativity was suspect and in a place where creativity was often ignored in the hope that it would go away. Edmonton's Sterling Awards are named in her honour.