In May 2023, after the close of the “Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum” exhibit, BCBHAS and Royal BC Museum entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that established a framework for continuing community collaboration. On July 29, 2023, the replica Train Station in the Old Town exhibit re-opened…
Category: Timeline Stories
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In September 2022, the Hogan’s Alley Society signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Vancouver for a Community Land Trust to revitalize the Hogan’s Alley neighbourhood. “We honour the Black community that lived in Hogan’s Alley by celebrating the history and ensure pursuits on the land honour the…
Between February 2020 and March 2022, the African Ancestry Project, led by Alice Muthoni Mũrage in partnership with BC Black History Awareness Society, conducted research through a survey, interviews, and focus group discussions. The history, data and stories of over 160 participants from BC were woven together and made part…
On April 6, 2020, 26-year-old D’Andre Campbell of Brampton, Ontario called 911 for help. Within minutes of their arrival at his home, two Peel Regional Police officers tasered him, and one shot and killed him. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in another brutal death…
In 1946 she challenged racial segregation by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. The award-winning $10.00 bill was unveiled in March 2018 and went into circulation in November 2018. In this same year, Viola Desmond was named a National Historic Person…
In September 2018 the City of Vancouver renamed 15 public spaces to commemorate the work of prominent local residents. The Cambie Street Plaza, located on the south side of the Cambie Street Bridge and north of the east off-ramp, was renamed the Barbara Howard Plaza after the esteemed athlete and…
Lincoln Alexander had more than a dozen business, provincial and national awards, honours, recognition and titles. This day commemorating him is now celebrated each year. He was recognized, among other reasons, as: One of the first Black men to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force The first Black Member…
On February 24, 2010, Halifax Mayor Kelly delivered the Africville Apology, which begins: “On behalf of the Halifax Regional Municipality, I apologize to the former Africville residents and their descendants for what they have endured for almost 50 years, ever since the loss of their community that had stood on…
Barack Obama was elected President on November 4, 2008, becoming the first African American to hold this office. He was re-elected in 2012 to serve a second term.
Thérèse Alexander was called to the BC bar in 1984 and was appointed a BC Provincial Court judge on January 8,1996 — the first Black woman in BC to be appointed. Her great-great-grandparents were Charles and Nancy Alexander. She served on numerous boards and commissions, is a recognized community advocate…
Africville residents trace their roots back to the late 1700’s. The community was founded chiefly by Black Loyalist Nova Scotians and formerly enslaved African Americans. The majority of residents were landowners in a close-knit community with stores, a school, a post office and the church. During the late 1960s, the…
The International Day was adopted by the UN six years after March 21, 1960 – the day police officers in a Black township in South Africa opened fire on a group of people peacefully protesting the oppressive apartheid laws. Sixty‐nine protestors were killed that day. “Apartheid” is a racist legal…
Edsworth Searles was the first Black lawyer called to the bar in BC. Canadian born, of British West Indian parents, Edsworth graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Law. Following his short time in Vancouver, he returned to Toronto. In 1959 he was called to the Ontario…
Viola Desmond went to the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia on November 8, 1946. She sat in a main floor seat and refused to move to the balcony, which was the only place Black patrons were permitted. She was arrested, dragged out of the theatre, spent a night…
The movie “Birth of a Nation,” with its laudatory depiction of the KKK and distorted portrayal of Black people, was controversial wherever it went and banned globally in some countries, states and cities. Many historians, scholars and academics agree the movie is inaccurate and misrepresentative of Black people and of…
Founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914, UNIA was part of a global movement to unite, empower, and improve the lives of people of African descent. The UNIA became one of the most successful Black organizations in world history. It had 1,000 divisions and claimed to have 6 million members in…
The Negro Christian Alliance (NCA) began to hear speakers, review papers, host discussions and debates, and provide opportunities for local talent to perform in the fall of 1910. The announcement for the first meeting stated, “All are cordially invited, regardless of colour or creed.” They organized and supported clubs and…
Some Black pioneers did return to the U.S. to fight in the Civil War and after the Civil War. The abolition of slavery in the U.S. in 1865 made returning to their former homes seem more possible. Mifflin Gibbs returned to the U.S. late in 1869 (after the Yale Convention).…
In 1865 the Davis Company was formed through a merger of the all-Black Harvey-Dixon Company and the all-white Davis Company. The new company found gold on a claim that had been abandoned by the all-white Aurora Company. After the gold discovery, the Aurora Company asserted that it still had rights…
The Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 did not mean immediate freedom form enslavement. Texas was the last and one of the largest bastions of institutional slavery, primarily because of the minimal build-up of Union troops. Plantation owners from areas relocated to Texas, forcibly taking the people they enslaved with…
Emery Barnes served on the BC provincial legislature for many years and was the first speaker in BC to be elected by a secret ballot. Through the advocacy of his family, Vancouver Parks Board named a multi-use, accessible park at the intersection of Richards Street and Davie Street in his…
The BC Black History Special Event Advisory Committee was formed to work in partnership with the Royal BC Museum to produce a Black History Special Event for February 1994 “in hopes of leading to a permanent and/or travelling Black History Exhibit”. There were thirteen committee members and seven committee supporters.…
In 1986 the City of Victoria undertook The Fort Victoria Brick Project to commemorate early Victoria pioneers and settlers. A double row of 1000 bricks was laid from 1000 to 1150 Government Street and in Bastion Square. The bricks for Sir James Douglas and Lady Amelia Douglas are in Bastion…
Toni Boot had been active in her community for many years, serving on various boards including Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen board, Okanagan Basin Water Board, Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital Board and Grasslands Conservation Council of BC. Toni Boot served as a councillor in Summerland, BC for four years and was then elected…
The commemorative stamp was issued to honour “Canada’s First Lady of Jazz.” She has fostered the values of equality and acceptance; is recognized as a civic leader and pioneer in the development of British Columbia’s music industry. She is celebrated for her extensive career as a jazz singer; one of…
Hogan’s Alley was the unofficial name for Park Lane in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood. With an estimated population of 800 at its peak in the 1950’s to 1960’s, it was a place to live and work together. The area was a hub, with thriving Black-owned businesses and a diverse and inclusive…
In 1986, the Vancouver Historical Society formally declared Joe Fortes as “Vancouver Citizen of the Century.” He was credited with saving at least 29 lives from drowning, including adults and children, as well as teaching three generations of Vancouver children to swim. This stamp was issued in his honour on…
An activist, feminist, opponent of racism, and champion of human rights, and the first Black woman elected to public office in Canada. Rosemary Brown contributed much to her adopted country after she came to Canada from Jamaica in 1950. She received many awards and honors, and greatly deserved being recognized…
In spring 1968, six Caribbean students at Sir George Williams University filed a complaint against biology professor Perry Anderson, making a case that he practised racial discrimination in his courses. The University dismissed the complaint. In response, some 200 demonstrators held a peaceful sit-in. Forceful police intervention resulted in extensive…
Doug Hudlin worked for the City of Victoria, but his love was being on the field as an umpire. He umpired generations of Vancouver Island ball players over four decades and is remembered as the “Gentleman Umpire”. The City of Victoria commissioned this plaque. It was unveiled at the National…
On July 9, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a National Apology to the No. 2 Construction Battalion and their Descendants, acknowledging the overt racism they had endured. Some excerpts from the Apology – Hundreds of young Black men wanted to serve their country and protect the freedom we hold…
Black men seeking to enlist for service in WWI were repeatedly turned away from military recruitment offices across Canada, but by 1916 the Allied leadership had become alarmed at the bloodbath that was taking place on European battlefields. The No. 2 Construction Battalion, the first and only Black battalion in…
Designed and developed by our Society, British Columbia Black Pioneers is a collection of short stories about women, men, families, and partnerships that show the intricacies of the events, experiences, and circumstances of everyday life of the Black pioneers, such as winning prizes at the earliest Saanich Fair in 1875,…
Mifflin Gibbs was designated as a Person of National Historic Significance on April 20, 2009. On February 19, 2017, Canada presented a plaque to that effect to BC Black History Awareness Society and the City of Victoria. It was unveiled at a ceremony on May 4, 2019 at Irving Park…
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) was a South African black nationalist who spent 27 years in prison for fighting against the country’s discriminatory apartheid system of racial segregation. After his release, Mandela became president of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1993 Mandela and then President de Klerk were awarded the Nobel…
Ontario was the first, in 1944, to pass a law protecting equality by banning publication or display of discrimination based on race or belief. Section 1 of the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960 recognized and declared that certain human rights existed and shall continue to exist in Canada without…
John Braithwaite spent 23 years as a councillor for the city of North Vancouver from 1972-1976 and from 1983-2002. He also had almost 40 years of experience as a social worker, especially dealing with troubled youth. To mark his outstanding community service, the 35,000 square foot John Braithwaite Community Centre…
Rosemary Brown (1930-2003) was an acclaimed community leader and elected representative. She was distinguished by many awards and recognition before and after being invested into the Order of Canada in 1996. 1972 – National Black Coalition Award 1973 – United Nations, Human Rights Fellowship 1989 – YWCA, Woman of Distinction…
150 passengers arrived on board the train of an engine, tender, baggage car, express and mail car, two emigrant sleepers, one first-class, one Pullman, and one private car. Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood became home to many Black porters employed by the railroad.
Charles Alexander, one of the Black pioneers, initiated and assisted in the building of the original Shady Creek church in Saanich in the 1860’s. He was one of its first lay preachers. The congregation built a new building, completed in 1895 at its current location. The name of the church…
John Freemont Smith was born in the Danish West Indies (now the Virgin Islands). He initially prospected in the Interior then spent some time in Victoria where he married and started a family. The family moved back to Kamloops where John owned and operated a retail business. In 1902 he…
Housing in Vancouver was, and is, extremely difficult for Black tenants and aspiring homeowners. Leonard Lane recognized this and, in 1959, opened the first Black credit union in BC, a branch of the BC Unity Credit Union. As a founding member and treasurer, he led the movement for economic and…
Charles and Nancy were married in Springfield Illinois, on December 25,1849. In 1899 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with many friends and well-wishers at their home in Lake Hill (a subdivision in Saanich, BC). Read more More than 400 descendants have been documented and many still live on Vancouver…
Marie Stark Wallace (1867 – 1966) was the third of four daughters of Silvia and Louis Stark. When Marie was in her nineties, she wrote the history of her family. After her death, her manuscript “From Slavery to Freedom: The History of the Stark Family” was published in The Gulf…
The Victoria Black People’s Society formed during 1975. The group focused on providing cultural and social activities and encouraging their children to learn about their history. They had an estimated 90 households as members. Among their achievements was the production of “A Catalogue of Information and Sources of Information Pertaining…
BC Black History Awareness Society in partnership with the Royal BC Museum opened, opened Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum on August 14, 2021. The exhibit presented the story of Afro-diasporic ‘British Columbia’ history, past, present and future. Written, told and designed by Black voices, this exhibition reclaims…
On May 14, 2021, retired BC Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly was stopped and handcuffed by Vancouver Police while out for a morning walk along Vancouver’s seawall. The officers told Justice Romilly that he “matched” the description of the suspect, who was described as a 40 to 50 year-old dark-skinned…
Statistics Canada reported from the 2016 census that close to 1.2 million people in Canada self-identified as Black. Findings included that: • The Black population was younger than the total population in Canada. The median age for the Black population was 29.6 years, while it was 40.7 years for the…
Toni Boot first served as a councillor in Summerland, BC (2014-2018). On October 20, 2018 she was elected Mayor, serving for four years. Sharmarke Dubow is a Somali Canadian politician and human rights advocate. He cast his first vote ever in an election on October 20, 2018 and, in this…