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By Thean Sargeant
It’s common these days to see Black women in various positions throughout Toronto and Canada on the whole. However, this would not have been so common over 50 years ago when Black women had to overcome both racism and sexism to get to the positions they held. By doing so, they have paved the way for other Black women to fill those same roles today and achieve more.
The level of racism that these women faced in their day was enough to bar them from pursuing their passions. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, “many schools kept Black Canadians separate from White Canadians.” As we look at the women who had to overcome great challenges, remember, they faced inexplicable injustices and found a way to persevere.
Nurse: Bernice Redmon
Bernice Redmon was the first Black Torontonian nurse to practice nursing in Canada. She would later become the first Black woman inducted into the Victorian Order of Nurses.
Redmon was born in 1917 in Toronto. Her Blackness barred her from nursing colleges in Toronto as they were not accepting Black students into their programs. She travelled across the border to Virginia to study at St. Philip Hospital Medical College in 1945. Upon her return to Canada, she worked at the Nova Scotia Department of Health in Halifax. Years later, after Redmon’s monumental move, Canadian nursing schools began to allow Black women to study at their institutions.
Police officer: Gloria Bartley
After serving as a police officer in Trinidad and Tobago, Gloria Bartley moved to Toronto in 1958. In 1960, she became Toronto’s first Black female police officer just months after the city found its first Black male officer, Larry McLarty. Although she was able to join the force despite her race, Bartley faced sexism when she was forced to resign because she got pregnant.
Before 1972, it was mandatory for female officers to leave the workforce when they were starting a family. Bartley served until 1967. Although her career was relatively short, future police women would come to see her as a trailblazer. “I owe her a debt of gratitude,” now-retired inspector Sonia Thomas once said. “It’s because of her that I was able to attain historic heights.”
Teacher: Millie Burgess
Millicent Burgess is assumedly the first Black woman to obtain her teaching license in Canada and become a teacher in Toronto. Burgess’ journey began in 1950, when she was in Bermuda where she had won a scholarship to study in Canada. Her studies began in Hamilton and ended in Toronto, Ontario.
Due to a stipulation in the scholarship she received, Burgess returned to Bermuda to teach for three years. Later on, she married Edward Burgess and moved to Toronto in 1955. She was discriminated against by an interviewer for the Toronto Board of Education who wanted to prioritize local Canadians.
A fellow church member was later able to help Burgess get a job in 1957. She also went on to earn a degree from the University of Toronto. She taught for 32 years during which time she was also a consultant for the Toronto Board of Education.
Politician: Hon. Dr. Jean
Augustine Dr. Augustine was the first Black woman to become a Member of Parliament. Just like Burgess, Dr. Augustine became a certified teacher in 1963. She eventually worked her way up to becoming a school principal. Dr. Augustine would further her career by getting a Bachelors of Arts and Masters in Education by 1980.
In 1993, she was elected in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore district and would be re-elected four more times thereafter. By 1995, Dr. Augustine put a motion forward in Parliament for Black History Month to be recognized in February across Canada. The motion passed unanimously. Please read about all of Dr. Augustine’s contributions in detail here.
Honourable mention
Although she isn’t Torontonian, it would be remiss of me not to mention Viola Desmond. She is seen on Canada’s $10 bank note. Desmond was a successful Nova Scotian beautician who owned a beauty school and created a line of complexion products for Black women.
In 1946, after her car broke down in the small town of New Glasgow, she went to see a movie to pass some time while her car was being repaired. She originally wanted to sit at the front of the Roseland Theatre but the unspoken rule was that it was an area reserved for white people. The ticket she was given was one cent less than the floor ticket and it was for the balcony where Black people normally sat. Although she went back to ask for a floor ticket and said that she would be willing to pay the extra cent, she was denied. Desmond sat in the floor area anyway.
The manager came to have her removed and when she wouldn’t comply, a police officer was called. Desmond was injured during her removal from the theatre. She was kept overnight in jail. The next morning, in court, she was charged $26 for an attempt to defraud the provincial government, despite being willing to pay the one-cent tax difference between ticket prices.
The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NSAACP) encouraged Desmond to try to overturn the conviction, however, this did not change anything. Desmond was posthumously pardoned by Lieutenant-Governor Mayann Francis in 2010, 64 years after the incident.
Desmond’s story may have helped to change the racial landscape of Nova Scotia as the province legally ended racial segregation in 1954. For breaking/overcoming barriers, being inspirational, having made a significant change, and leaving a lasting legacy, Demond’s portrait was affixed to the $10 bill, replacing the collage of Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Agnes MacPhail, and James Gladstone.
Thean Sargeant
Thean Sargeant is a first-time writer for Black Voice. She likes to create interesting stories that others will enjoy.