The Archives will be installing our annual Black History Month exhibit in the Scott Library for the month of February 2011.
Running
01 February - 28 February 2011
Highlights
This year we will be highlighting selections from the Toronto Telegram fonds used in the recent publication Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada by Natasha L. Henry. The Toronto Telegram has a variety of historical photograph depicting Toronto's diverse black community. Events include Emancipation Day parades and memorial services, the West Indian Fair of Trade and Commerce, the West Indies Federation Banquet, Canadian Negro Women's Club events and street festivals.
Henry's book focuses on the social, cultural, political and education practices of Emancipation Day festivities across Canada. Traditionally held the 1st of August, Emancipation Day recognizes the passage of the Abolition of Slavery Act by British Parliament and was celebrated throughout the British Empire. Henry's book features several historical photographs from the Toronto Telegram, including military parades, beauty pageants and community festivals held as part of Emancipation Day celebrations.
We will also be highlighting photographs from the Jean Augustine fonds. Jean Augustine was the first female Member of Parliament of African descent to be elected to Parliament. As MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Augustine sponsored the bill that officially recognized Black History Month on the federal level in the 1990s.
The exhibit will also be highlighting research centres and archival holdings at York and in the Toronto area useful to students researching the black community in Ontario.
Sources and links:
Henry, Natasha L. Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada (Toronto: Dundurn Press) 2010.
