Month: February 2022

And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta

And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta

Jared

Launched in 2013, the Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP) is an initiative of the Edmonton Heritage Council that explores the history of our city through story. Through stories, podcasts and live events, ECAMP helps tell the stories that connect us, the stories that divide us, and the stories that nurture an appreciation of our differences as Edmontonians.

In our final instalment for Black History Month, it is our pleasure to share And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, a virtual exhibit highlighting the formation of Alberta’s Black communities from the late 1800s to the early 1970s. The banner image at the top of the page is courtesy of the Athabasca Archives.

“Strength of Will and a Heavy Dose of Hope”: The Story of Black Settlement at Keystone

“Strength of Will and a Heavy Dose of Hope”: The Story of Black Settlement at Keystone

Jared

Editor’s Note: February is Black History Month, a time to honour the legacy of Black Canadians and their communities. Throughout the post below are excerpts of the poem “Our Pioneers” by Gwen Hooks, appearing in the book The Keystone Legacy: Recollections of a Black Settler. The banner image above is Ron Smith, grandson of Elizabeth Hayes, in front of the Hayes family home. Breton, Alberta, circa 1950. Credits: Nellie Whalen, Breton and District Historical Museum.

Author’s note: I am grateful to the past work of the Breton and District Historical Society, who have made these compelling histories so accessible to the public through various public awareness initiatives. This post greatly relies Gwen Hook’s excellent book The Keystone Legacy: Recollections of a Black Settler. I would also like to express my gratitude to Allan Goddard of the Breton and District Historical Museum for being so gracious with his time and knowledge.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski, Indigenous Heritage Section

The Black Pioneers to a new land came,

Around the year of nineteen ten,

Oklahoma and Kansas they left behind

A strange new life to begin.

As heritage professionals, it seems an unwritten rule that we must stop and read every historic interpretive sign we pass. It was in this way I was first introduced to the story of Keystone, driving home from Paul First Nation in the summer of 2021. The big blue highway sign spoke of a distinctive community built by Black families who arrived in the area from Oklahoma in the spring of 1911.

I was familiar with the story of Amber Valley, understood to have been the largest Black settlement west of Ontario. I quickly learned, however, that Amber Valley was only one of several Black-founded communities in western Canada at the turn of the century. Others included Wildwood (east of Edson), Campsie (northwest of Edmonton), Maidstone (in west-central Saskatchewan), and Keystone, now named Breton, located southwest of Edmonton.

They left a country so warm and rich,

With fruit plus nuts and grain,

They chose Alberta that was rugged and cold,

Huge trees covered the rough terrain.

The origin stories for these communities are much the same. A chain reaction of land dispossession saw the settlement of Indian Territory, forcing the removal of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Peoples from their lands. Oklahoma statehood introduced Jim Crow laws and segregation, making the area incredibly dangerous for the Black families already residing in the new state. Thus began the Black migration north: from 1905 to 1912, between 1,000 and 1,500 African Americans moved to western Canada from the United States in search of a better life. However, upon arrival, pervasive racism in city centres prompted Black settlers to establish roots in rural areas.

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Athabasca public school designated a Provincial Historic Resource

Jared

Editor’s note: In 2021, a well-known landmark in the Town of Athabasca was designated a Provincial Historic resource and is now listed on the Alberta Register of Historic Places.

Written by: Ronald Kelland, MA, MLIS, Historic Places Research Officer

Front (west-facing) façade of the Athabasca Public School showing some of the building’s character-defining elements, notably the crenellated parapet roofline, variegated use of red brick and lighter-coloured stone highlights such as the foundation, front entry arch and cornice, lintels and sills, 2005. Source: Alberta Culture and Status of Women.

The Athabasca Public School is located in the Town of Athabasca, occupying a prominent, treed lot at the end of 48 Avenue. It has long been a significant landmark in the community. It has heritage value as a representation of pre-First World War construction and design trends for schools and as an excellent example of Edwardian-era, Collegiate Gothic architecture.   

Athabasca Landing, 1909. Taken from the north side of the Athabasca River. Source: Glenbow Archives, NA-2788-3.

A significant transportation hub for many decades where riverboat traffic met the trail head for the Athabasca Trail to Edmonton, Athabasca Landing was a booming community in the opening decade of the 1900s. Town status was achieved in 1911, with the community expected to be a major stop on at least one of the planned railways from Edmonton to northern Alberta. That expectation seemed assured when the much delayed Edmonton & Slave Lake Railway arrived in 1912. Following a devastating fire in August 1913, the town built back with a purpose. New structures would be mostly made of brick or stone and, driven by speculation on a bright future, were grander than one might otherwise expect in a community of Athabasca’s size.

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