Edmonton City as Museum Project ECAMP

And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s

Browse the Exhibition

  • And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s
  • An Early Presence: Individuals and Single Families, 1900 – 1920
    • Arrivals in Late 1800s
    • Alberta’s Early Black Settlements
    • Sustained Opposition to Black Immigration
    • Social Exclusion
  • 1921-1945: Community Formation, Activism & Citizenship
    • “Our Negro Citizens” Newspaper Columns
    • ONC: Capturing Everyday Life & Challenging Stereotypes
  • 1945 – 1970: Immigration & Social Change
    • Changing Social Conditions, Occupations & Immigration
    • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
    • 1960s: Emigration from the Caribbean
    • Emigration of Teachers from the Caribbean to Alberta, 1960s
  • About the exhibition
  • Resources for further learning
  • And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s
  • An Early Presence: Individuals and Single Families, 1900 – 1920
    • Arrivals in Late 1800s
    • Alberta’s Early Black Settlements
    • Sustained Opposition to Black Immigration
    • Social Exclusion
  • 1921-1945: Community Formation, Activism & Citizenship
    • “Our Negro Citizens” Newspaper Columns
    • ONC: Capturing Everyday Life & Challenging Stereotypes
  • 1945 – 1970: Immigration & Social Change
    • Changing Social Conditions, Occupations & Immigration
    • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
    • 1960s: Emigration from the Caribbean
    • Emigration of Teachers from the Caribbean to Alberta, 1960s
  • About the exhibition
  • Resources for further learning

Featured Collection

An Early Presence: Individuals and Single Families, 1900 – 1920

Arrivals in Late 1800s

Dr. Jennifer Kelly

Initially, Black Canadians made their way to the North-West Territories as individual pioneers or accompanying traders. Most were attempting to make a living from the fur trade and found employment with companies such as the Hudson’s Bay Company.

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Alberta’s Early Black Settlements

Dr. Jennifer Kelly

Many Black immigrants who came to Alberta as family groups in the early 1900s had previously lived in Oklahoma Territory alongside the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw). Following the creation of the state in 1907, Black residents faced increased levels of discrimination through segregation laws and voter disenfranchisement.

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Social Exclusion

Dr. Jennifer Kelly

In the early 1900s, Black pioneers in Alberta often saw themselves as proud Canadian citizens and British subjects. However, they faced and fought exclusion from several aspects of Canadian life ranging from serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces to local theatres to swimming pools and access to housing.

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Sustained Opposition to Black Immigration

Dr. Jennifer Kelly

Newspapers frequently reported negatively on the arrivals of Black immigrants from the United States, including the Edmonton Bulletin, Edmonton Journal, and Calgary Eye Opener. The first group of Black peoples to arrive were noted rather disparagingly by one newspaper, “It was in 1908 that the first party arrived from the cotton fields of Oklahoma and settled along the Grand Trunk Pacific, the largest settlement being at Chip Lake.”

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See more of this exhibit

  • And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s
  • About the exhibition
  • Resources for further learning

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An initiative of the Edmonton Heritage Council.

The Edmonton City as Museum Project acknowledges that ᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / amiskwacîwâskahikan / Edmonton is located in Treaty 6 territory, and is a traditional meeting ground, gathering place, and travelling route of the Nêhiyawak (Cree), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Dene, and Nakota Sioux; whose resiliency, along with their histories, languages, and cultures, continues to enrich our shared heritage.

© 2023 Edmonton City as Museum Project ECAMP