Violet King Henry

Violet King Henry
Born
Violet Pauline King

(1929-10-18)October 18, 1929
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
DiedMarch 30, 1982(1982-03-30) (aged 52)
New York, New York, United States
Occupation(s)Lawyer, Activist
Known forFirst Black Canadian woman lawyer

Violet Pauline King Henry (October 18, 1929 – March 30, 1982)[1] was the first Black woman lawyer in Canada, the first Black person to graduate law in Alberta and the first Black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. She was also the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national YMCA.[2][3]

Early life

King studied at Crescent Heights High School, where she was president of the Girls Association in grade 12 and had her yearbook captioned with her unusual intention to study criminal law.[1] She started at the University of Alberta in 1948, joining the feminist Blue Stocking Club (modelled after the Blue Stockings Society), serving as Vice-President of the Students Union and the representative of the Students’ Union to the National Federation of Canadian University Students.[1] She became class historian for her final year and was the Alberta representative to the International Student Services Conference in Hamilton in 1952.[1] To finance her studies, she taught piano.[1] An active student, King was one of just four students to receive an Executive "A" gold ring at Colour Night,[4] the university's annual celebration of student contributions to the university – the other three students were future premier Peter Lougheed, Ivan Head (future advisor to Pierre Trudeau), and lawyer Garth Fryett.[1]

Legal studies

When King started her law degree, there were just three women in a class of 142.[1] King graduated with her law degree at the University of Alberta in 1953 and was admitted to the Alberta bar in 1954. At the time, these accomplishments were reported prominently by newspapers, including The Calgary Herald, The Albertan, and The Edmonton Journal.[5] King’s legal achievements were highly recognized as significantly historic in Canadian law.[6]

Ties to African-American settlement in Alberta

King's father John and his extended family moved to Amber Valley, Alberta[7] in 1911, as part of a group of African American farmers migrating from Oklahoma to Alberta, both as part of the Great Migration and to avoid racist laws. They settled in Keystone, Alberta (now Breton, Alberta) southwest of Edmonton. They came to Canada as part of a Canadian government campaign to entice Southern US farmers to the Canadian Prairies, although Clifford Sifton's plan had expected white settlers.[8][9]

King's parents, John and Stella, moved to Calgary in 1919, where her father worked as a porter and her mother worked as a seamstress.[5] Many African Americans, including her father, worked as porters in Canada. Both of her parents were considered important members of the Calgary community of Black persons.[2][3] When she graduated, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a key player in the civil rights movement, gave significant attention to her achievements and both the union's president and vice president travelled from New York and Detroit to make a presentation to her in Calgary.[5] She was also treasurer of the Calgary Brotherhood Council.[10]

Career

King practiced Criminal law in Calgary, articling with E.J. McCormick.[11] Though, King did more than just article with E.J McCormick, as through the great efforts of her own, King worked on criminal cases, being assigned five murder cases, and represented clients in domestic violence.[12] Successfully, she appealed an adjournment for a client she represented.[12] King also notably worked on estate law cases.[13] King dedicated many years to being a lawyer, and habitually spoke about racial, gender,[12] and inter-religious relations.[14]

She later moved to Ottawa, around 1956, to join the federal civil service in a senior administrative role at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, where she was promoted twice.[5] She served during the time that Ellen Fairclough was named Canada's first woman member of cabinet and Minister of Immigration. By 1962, the Department had taken major steps to eliminate racism and respect the new Bill of Rights.[15]

In 1963, King moved to the United States, working in executive roles for the YW/YMCA in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois, gaining prominence for helping African Americans find work.[16][17][5]

In 1965, King married Godfrey C. Henry, a Trinidadian-American and graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Political Science, and they lived in Newark, NJ. In 1966 King-Henry gave birth to her only child, daughter Jo-Anne Henry.[18]

In 1976, she was appointed Executive Director of the national Council of YMCA’s Organizational Development Group, becoming the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national YMCA.[5][2][3]

King was 52 years old when she died of cancer in New York City in 1982.[17]

She was featured in the documentary, Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley by filmmaker Cheryl Foggo in 2017; King was a bridesmaid at Foggo's mother's wedding.[2][3]

Legacy

In 2021, the Federal Building Plaza located in Alberta was officially renamed the “Violet King Henry Plaza, [19] [20] ” to recollect King’s Canadian legacy and activism in dismantling systemic, racial and gender barriers.[21]

In 2022, King continues to be honoured for her remarkable work and contribution to Canadian law and Black education in Canada, through the University of Alberta’s “Violet King Henry Law School Award,” scholarship of $20,000 for Black students at the university’s Faculty of Law.[22]

King is remembered for her resilience in defying oppression in society and the workplace for people of colour throughout her career and during her speech at the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority Banquet.[23] [24]

King accomplished an impressive number of achievements that were deemed unreachable for Black women. [25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Thompson, Katherine. "Featured Centenary 'Firsts' Story: Violet King (U of A Law 1953)". University of Alberta. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Milestones in the History of African Americans and the YMCA". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Bell, David. "Hidden history explored in new doc as Alberta celebrates Black History Month". CBC. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. ^ https://www.govikings.ca/information/colour_night. {cite web}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Violet King". University of Alberta. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. ^ Bailie, Rachel K. (October 2022). "Minority of One: Violet King's Entry to the Legal Profession". Canadian Journal of Women and the Law. 24 (2): 301-327. doi:10.3138/cjwl.24.2.301. S2CID 144748236. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Alberta Black settlement subject of new doc". CBC Calgary. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Violet King". University of Alberta. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  9. ^ Greene, Gael (6 February 2009). "The Quest for Land and Freedom on Canada's Western Prairies: Black Oklahomans in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1905–1912". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Moments in Canadian History of Black Labour". Public Service Alliance of Canada.
  11. ^ De Lorme, Jack (3 June 1954). "Violet King, lawyer, Calgary, Alberta". The Albertan: 1. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Zurowski, Monica (26 February 2021). "Honouring a trailblazer: The country's first Black female lawyer was Calgary's Violet King Henry". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. ^ Smith, Dr. Malinda, S. "Beyond a Single Story: Black Lives and Hidden Figures in the Canadian Academy". Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Retrieved 19 February 2023.{cite web}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Ibrahim, Awad; Kitossa, Tamari; Smith, Malinda S.; Wright, Handel K. (February 2022). Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy: Teaching, Learning, and Researching while Black. University of Toronto Press. p. 142-151. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Immigration Regulations, Order-in-Council PC 1962–86, 1962". Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Did You Know Who was the First Black Female Lawyer in Canada?". Women’s Legal Mentorship Program. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  17. ^ a b "February is Black History Month – 2016". The University of British Columbia. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  18. ^ Daughter Jo-Anne Henry
  19. ^ "Violet King Henry Plaza". National Black Coalition of Canada Society – Edmonton. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Celebrating the Legacy of Violet King Henry". Government of Alberta. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  21. ^ "Violet King Henry – The Story Behind Canada's First Black Female Lawyer". The Legal Archives Society of Alberta. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  22. ^ Rojas, Carmen. "Honouring an Unparalleled Legacy: The newly established Violet King Henry Law School Award funded by Miller Thompson LLP carries on the spirit of a remarkable alumna". Faculty of Law. University of Alberta. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  23. ^ Ruck, Lindsay. "Violet King". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Beta Sigma Phi sorority banquet guests, Calgary, Alberta". Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. De Lorme, Jack. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  25. ^ Kost, Hannah (27 February 2022). "Black History Month: The legacy of Violet King, Canada's first Black female lawyer". CBC News. Retrieved 15 March 2023.


External Links

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Preview of references

  1. ^ McMaster, Geoff. "U of A researcher unearths hidden female figures of Canadian black history:Political scientist launches video". Faculty of Arts. University of Alberta. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. ^ Derworiz, Colette (4 February 2021). "One of the biggest Black settlements in Western Canada' has a rich history". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  3. ^ Law, Communications. "Violet King shattered both glass ceilings and racial barriers: Alumna first Black woman to practise law in Canada". Faculty of Law. University of Alberta. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. ^ Snowdon, Wallis (6 February 2017). "'Secret Alberta': New documentary bring Amber Valley back to life". CBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. ^ Thompson, Katherine. "Honouring Violet King, '53 LLB:First black person to graduate law in Alberta and be admitted to the Alberta Bar". Faculty of Law. University of Alberta. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  6. ^ Mohatarem, Kashmala Fida (20 January 2021). "Canada Post honours Black community of Amber Valley, Alta., with new stamp". CBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  7. ^ Pike, Helen. "Plaza renamed to hour trailblazing Black Calgarian". CBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Heritage Calgary Plaque Recognizes Residence of Violet King". Heritage Calgary. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.