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Bibliographical Survey

There has been a surprising amount of writing on the history of Blacks in Canada, although much of this work emphasizes the history of Black Loyalists and the Underground Railway. Many of these works suggest that the history of Blacks in Canada is unknown or forgotten, and it may well be the case that general public has little knowledge of this aspect of Canadian history. Nevertheless, among academics Blacks are probably one of Canada’s better-studied ethno-cultural communities.

The basic study, upon which most subsequent works rely heavily for general context, is Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada A History (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1971). This meticulous study provides an overview of Black history in Canada from New France to 1970, but it is also a serious discussion of larger historiographical and sociological issues such as the nature of the so-called Canadian “mosaic” of ethno-cultural communities and the degree of Canadian particularism in racial relations. In some specific areas Winks’ book has sparked additional research, which challenges certain details of his overview, but this book is the cornerstone of any study of Black history in Canada.

Colin A. Thomson’s Blacks in Deep Snow Black Pioneers in Canada (Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1979) is aimed at a more popular audience than Wink’s study, although it too covers a broad period from the 17th century to the early 1900s. Unlike Winks, Thomson makes little reference to events after World War I except in a final chronological timeline, and the focus of this book is clearly Black history in the Prairie Provinces. Thomson also published an article that became a chapter in his book entitled “Dark Spots in Alberta” in Alberta History, vol. 25 no. 4 (Autumn 1977) pp. 31-6 that gives a good overview of the debate in Alberta, and especially Edmonton, over Black immigration in 1911.

The subject of discrimination and discriminatory attitudes has been studied in vast detail. For example, Constance Backhouse has recently published a survey of race-related laws and legal decisions in Canada entitled Colour Coded: a legal history of racism in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 1999). Attempts to promote exclusionary immigration laws were very common in British Columbia and some of the methods used (Head Tax, medical examinations) were either used or proposed in 1911 to keep Blacks out of Canada. A good survey of discriminatory policies and popular opinion in British Columbia towards Sikhs, Chinese and Japanese immigrants can be found in W. Peter Ward, White Canada Forever Popular Attitudes and Public Policy Toward Orientals in British Columbia (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002) third edition. Two useful books for considering manifestations of prejudice and nativism in Alberta are William Peter Baergen, The Ku Klux Klan in Central Alberta (Red Deer, Central Alberta Historical Society, 2000) and Howard Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice A History of Nativism in Alberta (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1982). Baergen notes that the Ku Klux Klan in western Canada in the 1920s and early 1930s was primarily concerned with limiting the power and influence of the Catholic Church. Black immigration and communities were of little interest at that time to Canadian Klansmen. Palmer makes the point that the Government of Canada’s success in limiting Black, Asian and other non-European immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to Alberta limited public demand for “legal discrimination.” As a result, discriminatory attitudes were present but usually veiled.

The historian most associated with specific studies of Black migration from Oklahoma to western Canada is R. Bruce Shepard. Shepard’s original research on this topic was done for his master’s degree in History at the University of Saskatchewan. His thesis is entitled: “Black migration as a response to repression: the background factors and migration of Oklahoma Blacks to Western Canada 1905–1912, as a case study” (University of Saskatchewan: M.A. thesis. 1976). Based on material from this thesis, Shepard has published several articles including most notably: ”Plain Racism: The Reaction Against Oklahoma Black Immigration to the Canadian Plains” Prairie Forum, vol. 10 no. 2 (Fall 1985) and “Diplomatic Racism: The Canadian Government and Black Migration from Oklahoma, 1905–1912” Great Plains Quarterly, vol. 3 no. 1 (Winter 1983). He has subsequently published a new book aimed more at a popular audience that draws on material from his original thesis research and work on subsequent articles. It is entitled Deemed Unsuitable Blacks from Oklahoma Move to the Canadian Prairies in Search of Equality in the Early 20th Century Only to Find Racism in their New Home (Toronto: Umbrella Press, 1997). Shepard’s main interests are the background to the Oklahoma migrations and the response of Canadian citizens and government to the arrival of these “unsuitable” settlers. Shepard’s work only touches tangentially on the history of the communities produced by the Black migration, although he has written about the Maidstone/Eldon community, particularly in terms of its struggle to establish a school. The article which explores this topic is “The Little ‘White’ Schoolhouse: Racism in a Saskatchewan Rural School” Saskatchewan History, vol. 39 no. 3 (Autumn 1986.)

Harold Martin Troper’s Only Farmers Need Apply Official Canadian Government Encouragement of Immigration from the United States, 1896–1911 (Toronto: Griffin Press, 1972) is based on his Ph.D studies at the University of Toronto. As the title implies, it is a study of Canadian immigration policies and the campaign to attract American immigrants to western Canada. The book offers a broad contextual analysis of Canadian immigration policy and actual practises in the field. It also devotes a chapter to the Black immigration story, which Troper sees as the antithesis of larger Canadian policy objectives. In effect, it is a case study of attempts to prevent immigration of some while encouraging the immigration of nearly everyone else. Not surprisingly, the result is that Canadian policy makers and the government employees charged with executing that policy got themselves into some interesting conundrums as a result. Randy Widdis, With Scarcely a Ripple Anglo-Canadian Migration into the United States and Western Canada 1880–1920 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998) also covers some of the same general background to Canadian immigration policy as it related to American settlers. However, Widdis is often primarily concerned with the question of how returning Canadians figure in this larger wave of American immigration. He does not touch on Black settlers in western Canada in any specific fashion.

In Alberta, there has been more scholarly attention given to Black communities. Perhaps the best short overview, not just of Black immigration but Black experiences as homesteaders and citizens, is a chapter in Howard and Tamara Palmer (eds.), Peoples of Alberta Portraits of Cultural Diversity (Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1986). This is the classic study ethno-cultural communities in western Canada based on what has been termed the “single group” approach. Howard and Tamara Palmer wrote the chapter on Blacks in Alberta entitled “The Black Experience in Alberta.” Unlike Shepard, the Palmers try briefly to describe the processes of community formation and decline in Alberta and tie these to broader social and demographic patterns in Alberta and western Canadian history. The chapter offers brief summaries of the histories of specific communities, largely based on newspaper and local history material.

The Black community, particularly in Alberta, has taken a great interest in the history of early Black homesteaders and has produced several books that combine family and community history. Velma Carter and Wanda Leffler Akili wrote The Window of Our Memories (St. Albert: Black Cultural Research Society of Alberta, 1981) and Velma Carter and Leah Suzanne Carter updated this original work with The Window of Our Memories, volume two: the new generation (St. Albert: Black Cultural Research Society of Alberta, 1992). These two books, particularly the second volume, are an invaluable source for individual biographies and family histories of the original Black settlers from Oklahoma. In similar fashion, Gwen Hooks, The Keystone Legacy: Recollections of a Black Settler (Edmonton: Brightest Pebble Publishing, 1997) provides a wealth of personal information on the residents of this community, based largely on the recollections of her husband Mark Hooks. Several of the more prominent Black settlers in western Canada are featured in Velma Carter and LeVero Carter’s school textbook, The Black Canadians: their history and contributions (Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1989). Cheryl Foggo, who is descended from settlers at Amber Valley and Maidstone/Eldon, is a noted Calgary author and has used material based on the history of these Black settlements in books and plays.

As mentioned above, Amber Valley has attracted particular attention from filmmakers, television series, and academics. Judith Hill completed an M.A. thesis on Amber Valley at the University of Alberta in 1981 entitled “Alberta’s Black Settlers: a study of Canadian immigration policy and practice.” As the title suggests, this work is intended as a case study, but it also includes a careful analysis of community formation and details the development of the local economy at Amber Valley. Stewart Grow, “The Blacks of Amber Valley” Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol. 6 (1974) is another scholarly survey of the community. Donald Stone’s “The process of rural settlement in the Athabasca area” (M.A. thesis, University of Alberta, 1970) is useful for comparative material on homesteading experiences in the region.

Most of the communities covered in this report have been the subjects of local history volumes. The smallest of the Black communities, Campsie, is covered briefly in Barrhead District Historical Society, Trails Northwest: a History of the District of Barrhead, Alberta (Barrhead, 1967) and Barrhead History Book Committee, The Golden Years (Barrhead, 1978). Breton/Keystone is the subject of Gwen Hook’s book and it is touched upon briefly in Berrymoor/Carnwood Historical Society, Forests to Grainfields (Berrymoor, 19770. The Keystone community features more prominently in Breton and District Historical Society, The Ladder of Time (Breton, 1980). The community at Wildwood/Junkins is covered in Chip Lake Historical Society, Where the Lobstick Flows (Chip Lake, 1987). This local history has considerable material on Black settlers including information on schools, community organizations and several extensive family histories. Material on Amber Valley is included in Boyle and District Historical Society, Forests, furrows and faith: a history of Boyle and Districts (Boyle, 1982). This local history includes a short article on Amber Valley, some material on the schools that served the community and family histories for several prominent Black families. The community at Eldon is covered in some detail in North of the Gully History Book Committee, North of the Gully (Maidstone: Maidstone Mirror, 1981).