Viola Desmond

Many thanks to NetGalley and Fernwood Publishing for an advanced digital copy of this informative and important book. I had previously read Viola Desmond's Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land by the same author. Whereas the earlier book focused on Black history in various parts of Canada, this much shorter book repeats the unjust treatment she received at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow in 1947 and tells the story of the long struggle for equal rights in Nova Scotia. Finally the Human Rights Bill ended discrimination in education, employment, housing, hotels. restaurants, etc. Many younger people are not aware of the extent of segregation in earlier years.

The book is very well researched, with pages of bibliography and notes. I did feel that there was some unnecessary repetition throughout the history.

Most of us have now learned about Viola Desmond and what happened to this intelligent and successful business woman from Halifax at the Roseland theatre in New Glasgow in 1947. Public awareness only became widespread when she was pardoned posthumously in 2010, and the pardon stated that no crime had ever been committed. We learned how she was manhandled forcefully from the theatre in 1947 and spent a night in jail for sitting in the downstairs section. She was charged of tax evasion of 1 cent and fined $26 dollars. This was 9 years before the name of Rosa Parks in the States became known for her refusal to sit at the back of a bus and whose resistance was taken up by Martin Luther King. Viola Desmond is is now seen as an icon against segregation and will be honoured this year by being the first woman in front of our paper currency. ($10 dollar bill). This book is due to be published in October at the time the money depicting and honouring her goes into circulation.

I liked that the book also emphasized her importance as an independant, successful business woman at a time there were very few opportunities for Black women. After teaching school for two years she saved her money and set out to accomplish her goal to become a beautician. The nearest place where she could train was in Montreal, and when she returned to Halifax she opened a beauty and hairdressing studio for Black clients. She traveled to New York for further courses. She also made products for hair and skin. This finally expanded into a school training young women as beauticians. She was on her way to Cape Breton on business when her car broke down in New Glasgow. While waiting for repairs decided to see a movie and ended up sitting in jail for the night.

I attended school in New Glasgow from 1944 until 1956 and almost always attended the Roseland theatre at least once a week. It is a shock to me that I never heard of her during all that time. I still wonder if my Black classmates knew about Viola Desmond. I knew that Black citizens always sat on the balcony during shows but never questioned it. I must have thought when younger that they preferred the balcony seats. There were also many other ways our coloured population were segregated in the town.

The first time I saw a coloured person sit in the main downstairs area in the Roseland was when I was in Grade 11, about 8 years after the shameful incident with Viola Desmond. I became nervous expecting a scene but nothing happened. After some time away I returned to New Glasgow in 1969. Segregation had ended rapidly following the fight for civil rights in the USA and the struggle for civil rights by some dedicated leaders and activists in Nova Scotia. The Roseland theatre had been replaced by one in the mall, but I am ashamed I still hadn’t heard of Viola Desmond and the brave activists for civil rights who followed.

This book also introduced me to two remarkable women. Wanda Robson, younger sister of Viola Desmond, who was active in having her sister pardoned in 2010. She went to university and graduated at the age of 77 . She since received an Honorary Doctorate for her work speaking, writing and educating people about the Black experience in Nova Scotia. She is still carrying on the task in her 90’s. I was also unaware of Pearleen Oliver who grew up in New Glasgow and moved to Halifax. She was instrumental in bringing Viola’s case to court, fighting for Black women to be trained in hospitals throughout Canada and to be employed thereafter in hospitals, and removing racially insensitive books from schools. I also found the stories of Nova Scotian activists Buddy Day and Rocky Jones interesting.

Recommended for anyone wanting to know about Black History in Nova Scotia, and about Viola Desmond in particular.

Viola Desmond (1914 - 1965) was a Canadian Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, NS, in 1946 when she refused to leave the whites-only area. She thought she was buying a ticket for the lower level but was sold a ticket for the balcony, where Blacks could sit. Viola refused to leave and was dragged out by the police. She was convicted of a tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the seat she used, which was more expensive. Her case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.

In 2010, Viola was granted a posthumous pardon, the first to be granted in Canada. The government of Nova Scotia also apologized for prosecuting her for tax evasion and acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination.

This is Viola's story ... Wanda Robson is Viola's younger sister and Graham Reynolds was Wanda's professor (Wanda went to university later in life and Wanda and Graham became friends). This book includes what was going on in Halifax during Viola's lifetime, Viola's marriage to Jack, her training as a beautician (because she was Black, she wasn't allowed to train in Halifax so had to go to Montreal, Atlanta and New York), opening her own beauty salon and beauty school, making her own beauty products for Black women, and more.

In late 2018, Desmond will be the first Canadian-born woman to appear alone on a Canadian bank note (the $10 bill).