How Black People Helped Shape British Columbia
February 13, 2023
In a recent conversation with a friend, British Columbia was mentioned as an area with rich Black history—something that caught me off guard. In this conversation I learned about Black Canadians like Rosemary Brown, who was the first Black woman to sit in the legislative assembly of BC, and eventually was elected as Speaker of the BC legislature in 1994. I learned about Sharmarke Dubow, a Somali Canadian who, in 2018, became the first Black City Councilor to be elected in Victoria in 152 years. What I realized during this conversation was how little I knew about Black history in Western Canada, causing me to question how much other Canadians knew. And so, I decided to dig into the richness of BC’s Black history to understand how it has influenced current conditions.
Black Achievements in the 1800s
In 1833, the British Parliament passed The Abolition of Slavery Act, entering into force on August 1st, 1834, across the British Empire, legally ending the enslavement of Black people in British colonies. Although it represented a milestone, it’s reported that the Act’s impact was initially limited as it only liberated children under the age of six.
The first wave of Black settlers arrived in BC in 1858, largely owed to James Douglas, the Chief Factor for the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Governor of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island. At the time, Douglas invited Black people from San Francisco to settle on Vancouver Island. This led to successive waves of Black migration to BC, with some key historical Black Canadians emerging along the way, John Craven Jones—a Black teacher from Raleigh, North Carolina—was one of these people.
Jones settled in Salt Spring Island in 1859 to teach. During his time there he managed to garner community support to occupy land which he used to establish schools in Vesuvius and Fernwood in buildings that resembled sheds. In total he had about 25 students, managing to provide quality education to the students and expanding enrollment over the years.
In the five year span proceeding this, BC saw increased numbers of Black people in various industries. In particular, there was the emergence of the Victoria Pioneer Rifles Corps (VPRC), a Black militia unit in BC that was the first of several Black militia units formed in Western Canada. The Black men that formed this group were largely migrants from California. It was formed during the Pig War of 1859, which was a battle between the U.S and Britain over ownership of the San Juan Island. In the same year, Black migrants volunteered to join the Victoria fire brigade, but were ultimately rejected by white organizers because of racism. Being rejected, the group proposed a small, all-Black militia faction of volunteers to support the war. Subsequently, in 1860 the number of Black men enrolled in the VPRC began increasing with nearly 50 Black men enrolled and officially sworn by mid-1861.
The refusal to work with and also serve Black people continued to be a problem for decades to come. But some decided to fight against the system to take incremental steps towards equality. This was the case for Jacob Francis who in 1860 was refused service by two bar owners, leading him to file a discrimination lawsuit against them. Initially, Francis was unsuccessful; however, two years later the outcome of his second case altered the liquor service establishments and practices, helping to establish the conditions for equality in service in bars that Canadians in BC enjoy today.
After his success in this case, Francis went on to be nominated for a vacant seat in the Legislative Assembly. Although he didn’t win the seat, his achievements seemed to open the doors for others to take similar steps. This was the case for Mifflin Gibbs who was the first Black person to be elected and serve as a municipal councilor in BC, representing James Bay Ward from 1866 to 1869.
Another milestone reached in the fight for equal rights happened in 1872. In this year, BC enacted legislation for Black men to be on the official list of jurors, which had been illegal in the years prior. This changed through a petition by Black residents to the Legislative Assembly that requested their names to be added to the official list.
The next 40 years of progression in BC would create space for more historical milestones for people such as Emma Stark, who was the first Black teacher on Vancouver Island in 1874, and William Allen Jones, who was not only the first licensed Black dentist in BC, but he was the first licensed dentist ever in BC. Each and every time a Black person made a significant achievement, it opened the door for not only other Black people, but racialized communities as well. However, what caught my attention was the fact that Black women seemed to be the leading trailblazers in BC, breaking down doors in the battle for equality and were often on the front line. And to this very day we continue to see Black women on the front lines in both Canada and the U.S, functioning as leaders and organizers in the field.
Black Achievements in the 1900s
In 1911, the Canadian government imposed restrictions for Black people immigrating to Canada. Around the same time, Black people began settling in the East Side neighbourhood of Strathcona, Vancouver, creating a diverse but distinct community booming with businesses, restaurants, and entertainment venues that were Black owned and operated. This community came to be known as “Hogan’s Alley”.
Hogan’s Alley got its name from a comic strip by Richard Outcault. The comic had racist undertones against the Irish, but referenced an Irish ghetto in Hell’s Kitchen in New York. At the time, the description of a ghetto was synonymous with being described as a Hogan’s Alley, but over time, the roots of this name was lost, and Hogan’s Alley, the distinct Vancouver neighbourhood, was born.
A big part of the experience in Hogan’s alley were the train stations that hired Black porters as the predominant crewmen. It so happened that many Blacks settled in Hogan’s Alley because of its proximity to the Great Northern Railway Station. For Black people, being a porter represented status. This is because being a porter wasn’t a menial job, and it enabled them to travel.
Hogan’s Alley was a key place where the porters stayed, but it was also a place where performers would travel to, making it Hollywood-like before Hollywood even existed. Black performers such as the Crump Twins, Sammie Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, and Nat King Cole would all travel to Hogan’s Alley to mix and mingle, with one particular place that stuck out in the neighbourhood: Vie’s Chicken and Steaks.
Vie’s Chicken and Steaks was a restaurant owned by Vie and Bob Moore. The restaurant was started in 1948, staying open until the crack of dawn for musicians to hang out after their performances elsewhere in the City. While Hogan’s Alley and Vie’s restaurant thrived, Black people were continuing to make strides in the BC. A key person in this regard was George Garraway, who in 1954, was hired as the first Black Canadian train conductor. Meanwhile, Barbara Howard, a Canadian sprinter, became the first racialized person to be hired as an educator by the Vancouver School Board, and Eleanor Collins became the first Black or racialized artist of colour in North America to host her own national weekly television music show. The work of these people helped to add the representation of Black people in highly coveted positions, showing other Black people what was possible, and demonstrating to a predominantly white nation what Black people were (and are) capable of. To help capitalize on this period of change, Black residents founded the BC Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (BCAACP).
The unfortunate element to the story of the thriving Black population in Hogan’s Alley is the ending. By 1958 a pattern that we have seen with other historically Black communities across Canada and the U.S emerged in Hogan’s Valley. The City of Vancouver Council approved a redevelopment plan that called for the demolition of nearly all Strathcona, which resulted in the suspension of regular city maintenance, and no new construction. This caused property values to plummet, forcing owners in the community to sell so that houses could be expropriated. By the end of the 60s the wave of ‘urban renewal’, this being slum clearance, caused its destruction, with the government deciding to build ‘projects’, shifting from freehold houses to towered projects because they thought it would be better for the neighbourhood. However, it turned out to be far worse.
The ending of Hogan’s Alley was truly a loss for the Vancouver community. But the story of Hogan’s Alley has notoriously lived on so that its history is not forgotten. Today it lives on through the Hogan’s Society and other Black serving organizations that help to enrich our lives with the origin stories of our communities. So too does the achievements of the Black leaders, soldiers, politicians, teachers, and athletes that helped to open doors, even if the material effects weren’t seen during their time.
We celebrate the achievements of these Black Canadian’s today.
Happy Black history month!
Thanks for sharing the history.