1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. We have 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: had a lot of requests over the years for an 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: episode on Viola Desmond, who was jailed and tried and 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: convicted after refusing to leave her seat in a segregated 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: movie theater in Glasgow, Nova, Scotia. In that's probably what 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: she's the most known for today, thanks in part to 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: the efforts of her younger sister, Wanda Robson, which started 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: a little over twenty years ago. But Viola Desmond was 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: also an entrepreneur. She was inspired by the story of 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: Madam C. J. Walker to start her own business. She 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: established the first beauty salon for black women in her area, 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: and she founded a school to train other black women 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: to do the same. So she's one of those people 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: where her life a lot of times gets summarized as 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: this one moment that there's a whole other story. Viola 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 1: Irene Davis was born in Halifax on July six. Her father, 19 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: James Albert Davis, held several jobs over the years, including 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: working as a barber, a stevedore and eventually a car dealer. 21 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: Her mother, Gwendolen Irene Johnson Davis, was the daughter of 22 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: a Baptist minister. A lot of sources described this as 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: an interracial marriage because Gwendolen's mother was white and her 24 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: father had what's described as a small amount of African ancestry. 25 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: In the words of Viola's sister, Wanda, quote, while Mum 26 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: considered herself colored, moms certainly looked white. Yeah, there are 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: various papers I read about about Viola Desmond that talk 28 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: about how this would have affected their family. Um, it 29 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: doesn't come up a lot though, and her sister's writing 30 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: about the family. So it's hard is how how much 31 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: of that is speculative and how much effects there like 32 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: actual lived experience. In addition to Viola and Wanda, James 33 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: and Gwendolen had thirteen other children, nine of whom survived childhood. 34 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: The older children helped with the younger ones, and since 35 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: Viola was the youngest of the four older girls, she 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: took a big interest in her younger siblings care and education. 37 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: And this was especially true as her older sisters got 38 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: married and left the house. Uh, there's some gender divide here. 39 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: But also the family was mostly girls, a lot of 40 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: girls in the family. This family did struggle at times, 41 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: especially during the Great Depression, but Wanda Robson describes their 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: home as one where you could just feel the love, 43 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: and their parents made sure that the children never felt deprived. 44 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: We really don't have a lot of personal detail or 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: reflections about Viola's life. She did not leave any journals 46 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: or letters, but we do know a few things thanks 47 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: to her sister's writing. The family was devoutly religious. Since 48 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: Gwendolen had been raised Baptist, she often went to Baptist services, 49 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: and James was Anglican. They didn't seem to be concerned 50 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: about which churches their children joined as they grew up, 51 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: as long as they went to church, and Viola and 52 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: her siblings ultimately joined four different denominations. Viola herself received 53 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: confirmation at Trinity Anglican Church. The Davis's were also a 54 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: respected part of the black community in Halifax and were 55 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: active in church and community organizations. At this point, the 56 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: Halifax area had two primarily black neighborhoods. One was in 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: the North end of Halifax itself, and the other was Africville, 58 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: which was on the outskirts of the city. In many ways, 59 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: both of these communities were thriving. They were socially very 60 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: close knit. They were home to black owned businesses and 61 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: community groups, but they were also the targets of racism 62 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: and discrimination. One reason, then, the black population was clustered 63 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: into just these two areas, is that many property deeds 64 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: for other parts of the city came along with racially 65 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: restrictive covenants, and he specified that the property could only 66 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: be sold to a white buyer. Africaville, in particular, was 67 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: also excluded from a lot of basic city services like 68 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: clean water, a sewage system, and trash collection, even though 69 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: its residents were paying city taxes. The Davis has lived 70 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: in the North End, and when Viola was three years old, 71 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: their neighborhood was devastated by the Halifax Explosion. This explosion 72 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: took place when two ships collided in Halifax Harbor on 73 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: December six, nineteen. More than seventeen hundred people died, and 74 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: the explosion was particularly destructive and deadly in the Richmond 75 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: neighborhood of Halifax's North End and the Megama community of 76 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: Turtle Grove just across the Harbor. The Davis has lived 77 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: just a few blocks back from the water, and the 78 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: explosion shattered the windows of their home as well as 79 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: causing other damage. Viola was in her high chair at 80 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: the time in a window blind fell over her from 81 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: the blown out window. For a moment, her family was 82 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: afraid that she had been killed. When Viola started elementary school, 83 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: it was that one of the only integrated schools in 84 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: Nova Scotia at the time. Public schools all over Canada 85 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: were often segregated by race, although only Nova Scotia and 86 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: Ontario had segregation laws on the books. These laws were 87 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: written in such a way that they allowed for segregated schools, 88 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: but once they were in place, white officials often used 89 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: them as a justification to force black children to attend 90 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: separate schools. Outside the scope of this podcast, Canada also 91 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: had a system of residential schools for Indigenous students, which 92 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: we talked about on the show before. These separated Indigenous 93 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: children from their families and their communities and forced them 94 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: to assimilate with white culture and an active cultural genocide. 95 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,919 Speaker 1: Viola's grandfather had been part of a successful effort to 96 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: integrate some of the public schools in Halifax that started 97 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy six. This opened up the possibility for 98 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: black students to attend high school since there were no 99 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: segregated high schools for black children in Halifax, but Viola 100 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: and her siblings still experienced racism within those integrated schools. 101 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: For example, Viola's sister Wanda, recalled an incident in which 102 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: Viola and their mother confronted her Grade two teacher, who 103 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: required black children to sit in the back of the 104 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: room but invited the students who made the highest test 105 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: scores to sit in the front row. Wanda had the 106 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: top score of the whole class, and her teacher had 107 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: tried to move her Integrade three rather than allowing her 108 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: to sit in the front. Yeah, this wasn't a reward. 109 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: It was a Wanda is clearly smarter than all the 110 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 1: rest of us, We're going to move her into like 111 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: in a very sarcastic way. It's an infuriating story. Um 112 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: Viola earned her high school diploma in two and after 113 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: that she became a teacher. Teaching. Colleges wouldn't admit black 114 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: students in Nova Scotia, so black teachers qualified by taking 115 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: an exam. After she passed her exam, Viola taught for 116 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: a couple of years that segregated schools for black children, 117 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: which was the only place that black teachers were allowed 118 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: to teach. She didn't want to be a teacher forever, though. 119 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: She had read an article about beauty entrepreneur and philanthropist 120 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: Madam C. J. Walker and was really inspired by her example. 121 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: Madam C. J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in Louisiana 122 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty seven. She was the first child in 123 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: her family to be born into freedom after the end 124 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: of the U s Civil War. She took the name 125 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: Madam C. J. Walker after marrying Charles James Walker, using 126 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: Madam to give her line of beauty and hair products 127 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: a more refined and luxurious name. She also established schools 128 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: of beauty culture and trained thousands of black people in 129 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: skills like hair care, beauty, in the treatment of scalp conditions. 130 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: She's credited as the first woman in the US to 131 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: become a self made millionaire. Viola wanted to do something 132 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: similar in Nova Scotia, where there were no beauty schools 133 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: that accepted black women, and there were also no beauty 134 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: salons in Halifax that would take black women as customers, 135 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: although there were some barbershops for black men. One was 136 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: owned by Jack Desmond, who became a barber after an 137 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: on the job injury put an end to his career 138 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: in construction. Jack opened his shop in nineteen thirty two 139 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: and he and Viola started dating just before she went 140 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: to Montreal to study at Field Beauty Culture School. This 141 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: was one of the few beauty schools in Canada that 142 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: accepted black students. She started studying there in four and 143 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: he would travel to Montreal by train to visit her. 144 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,719 Speaker 1: They got married in ninety six, and once Viola got 145 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: back to Halifax, they were both active in church and 146 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: community organizations. In n seven, Viola opened Viz Studio of 147 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: Beauty Culture next to her husband's barbershop, and she immediately 148 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: developed a dedicated group of clients, some of them traveling 149 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: from other parts of Canada to see her. Her salon 150 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: also became a social hub for the neighborhood. People described 151 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: her as charismatic, optimistic, kind, and deeply devoted to her family. 152 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: She was also independent and ambitious, and soon she wanted 153 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: to continue her training, and we will get into that 154 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: after we paused for a sponsor break. Viola Desmond's first 155 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: stop in Continuing her education was at Apex College in 156 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: Atlantic City, New Jersey, where she trained under Sarah Spencer Washington. 157 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: Sarah Spencer Washington, Madam C. J. Walker, and any Turnbow 158 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: Malone are regarded as three of the primary founders of 159 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: the black beauty culture industry in North America. All three 160 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: women started their own salons, developed their own beauty and 161 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: hygiene products, and established their own schools to train other people, 162 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,839 Speaker 1: especially other Black women, to support themselves and bolster their 163 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: communities by establishing their own beauty businesses. This work was 164 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: connected to the idea of racial uplift. That's an idea 165 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: originally put forth by figures like W. E. B. Du 166 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: Boys and Booker T. Washington that the black race could 167 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: improve its own circumstances from within through things like education, culture, 168 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: and racial pride. The philosophy of racial uplift and its 169 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: legacy are complicated. This was rooted in the idea of respectability, 170 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: and it also had connections to eugenics, including the idea 171 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: that the most educated, intelligent black people, or the talented 172 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: tenth should act as guides and leaders for the rest. 173 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: It also made black people responsible for dismantling white people's racism, 174 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: and there were proponents of racial uplift and others who 175 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: criticized the black beauty culture industry, interpreting that industry as 176 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: reinforcing beauty standards that replicated what was considered attractive in 177 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: white people. Some of that perception stems from misinformation, though, 178 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,679 Speaker 1: for example, Madam C. J. Walker is wrongly credited with 179 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 1: inventing the hot comb that was really invented by French 180 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: hairdresser Marcel Gratta in the eighteen seventies. Some of the 181 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: most popular skin lightning creams and hair straighteners of this 182 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: era were marketed to black consumers, but they were actually 183 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: developed and sold by white people, including Dr Fred Palmer, 184 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: who was a white pharmac this who developed a skin 185 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: whitener that contained mercury, and a hairdresser that was described 186 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: as softening hair and straightening kinks. At the same time, 187 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: lighter skin was generally seen as more attractive than dark skin, 188 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: and colorism was and of course continues to be widespread. 189 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 1: And it's also true that many of the hairstyles these 190 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: women developed and taught others to do involved straightening people's hair. 191 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: But the women who founded the black beauty culture industry 192 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: really didn't interpret what they were doing as a replication 193 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 1: of white beauty standards. Instead, it was a chance to 194 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: help black women bring out their own beauty and to 195 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: look good and feel good about themselves and see to 196 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: the unique needs of black people's skin and hair. For generations, 197 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: white people had tried to rob Black women of their 198 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,079 Speaker 1: agency over their own bodies through the institution of slavery, 199 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: and the beauty industry offered a way to reclaim that agency. 200 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: Many also saw beauty culture as an act of resistance 201 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: against racism, basically showing white people that Black women were 202 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: ladies too. So to return to Viola Desmond. In addition 203 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: to learning more about things like hairdressing and the treatment 204 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: of scalp conditions, she also learned chemistry and the basics 205 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: of wig making while at APEX. When she got back 206 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: to Halifax in y she really wanted to learn more 207 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: about wig making. She enjoyed it and she was good 208 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: at it, and she also worked with clients who wanted 209 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: access to everything from small hairpieces to full custom made wigs. 210 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: So she went back to the US again, this time 211 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: for a wig making apprenticeship in New York City. According 212 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: to Wanda Robson, their mother was so worried about Viola's 213 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: safety in New York that she sewed her money into 214 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,719 Speaker 1: her bra before she left. Once Desmond finished her apprenticeship, 215 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: she went back to Halifax and moved her salon to 216 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: a larger space, one where she could set up wefting 217 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: loom for making wigs. It also had space where she 218 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: could mix and package her line of skin and hair 219 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: care products. She sold these under the name Cepia by 220 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: Viola Desmond, and they included hair glosses, oils, and palm aids, 221 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: as well as face powders and lipsticks designed for people 222 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: with darker skin. She described her face powder as having 223 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: a nut brown color and one that was quote especially 224 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: blended to enhance dark complexions. In four she opened the 225 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: Desmond School of Beauty Culture, which had five students in 226 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: its first graduating class. The program expanded over the next 227 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: two years, growing to about fifteen students at a time, 228 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: and then these students would go on to establish their 229 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: own beauty salons and employ other black women at those salons, 230 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: and Desmond's business was a big success. She earned enough 231 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: money to buy her own car, which was not common 232 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: at all for black women at the time. She used 233 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: this to travel all over Nova Scotia to teach classes, 234 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: sell her products, and make deliveries, often traveling by herself 235 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: to do so. As she traveled, her experiences with racism 236 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: and segregation could really vary from one place to another. 237 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: While there were some laws on the books in Nova 238 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: Scotia that related to race in some way, including the 239 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: school segregation law that we talked about earlier, when it 240 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: came to public accommodations like movie theaters, hotels, and restaurants, 241 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: there was no law requiring segregation, but there was no 242 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: law forbidding discrimination based on race either. There were, however, 243 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: several court decisions that allowed discrimination by private businesses. The 244 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: most famous is known as the Christie case. On July 245 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: eleven six, Fred Christie and Emil King were refused service 246 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: at the York Tavern in the Forum in Montreal because 247 00:15:55,600 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: Christie was black. Christie filed suit, and his lawyer Are 248 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: argued that York Taverns liquor license meant it had a 249 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: duty to serve all customers regardless of race. The first 250 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: court that they appeared before agreed with this, but then 251 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: on appeal a higher court ruled that quote a merchant 252 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: or trader is free to carry on his business in 253 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: the manner that he conceives to be best for that business. 254 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: Christie appealed that decision, and the Supreme Court of Canada 255 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: ruled that freedom of commerce outweighed customers right not to 256 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 1: be discriminated against. So businesses in Canada had the right 257 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: to discriminate against customers, but whether they actually did so 258 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: could really vary. We have already talked about barbershops and 259 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: beauty salons, beyond that, some restaurants served black customers while 260 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: others did not. Some hotels rented rooms to black people 261 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: but not others. Some movie theaters had integrated seating, while 262 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: others required black people to sit together they're in a 263 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: specific section. This could also really vary from city to city, 264 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: and from one business to another within a city, and 265 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: it could change from one owner or manager to another. 266 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: On November eight, n Viola Desmond was traveling through New Glasgow, 267 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: Nova Scotia on her way to Sydney, Nova Scotia, when 268 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: her car broke down. She was able to get to 269 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: a mechanic, but the repair was going to take some time, 270 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 1: so she got a hotel room and she decided to 271 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: go see a movie at the Roseland Theater. She didn't 272 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: go to the movies very often, but she had time 273 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: she did not have anything else to do. The movie 274 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: playing was Dark Mirror, starring Olivia to have aland whose 275 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: performances Desmond had enjoyed in movies that she had seen. 276 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: Because she was not local, Desmond didn't know that the 277 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: Roseland Theater segregated its seating by race. White customers sat 278 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: downstairs while black customers sat upstairs in the balcony. This 279 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: had been the case for years in some black high 280 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: school students had been removed from the theater for trying 281 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: to sit downstairs. New Glasgow resident Carrie Best heard about 282 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: this and wrote and spoke to the owner, Norman W. Mason, 283 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: trying to get him to reverse the policy, but he refused, 284 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: so she and her son went to the theater and 285 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: tried to get a seat on the main floor, and 286 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: when they were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, 287 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,879 Speaker 1: she filed a lawsuit. Much like in the Fred Christie case, 288 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: the court ruled that the owner had the right to 289 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: refuse service to anyone, So five years later, Viola Desmond 290 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: went to the ticket counter at the same theater and 291 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: asked for a downstairs ticket. The ticket seller, Peggy Mellinson, 292 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: gave her some change and a ticket for the balcony. 293 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: Desmond had no reason to think she had been given 294 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: anything other than what she had asked for, and she 295 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,959 Speaker 1: tried to go downstairs, but when she handed her ticket 296 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: to the ticket taker, Prima Davis, and then tried to 297 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: go inside, David told her she had a balcony ticket. 298 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: Desmond thought this was just a mistake, and she went 299 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,719 Speaker 1: back to the counter to correct it, and Melanson told her, quote, 300 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: I'm not allowed to sell downstairs tickets to you people. 301 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: It was clear to Desmond what Melonson meant by this, 302 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: and she decided to sit on the main level of 303 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: the theater anyway, ignoring Davis's attempt to stop her. Soon, 304 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: the manager, Henry McNeil approached Desmond and told her to 305 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: move to the balcony. Desmond pointed out that she had 306 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: asked for a main floor ticket and that when she 307 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: realized she had one for the balcony, she had tried 308 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,120 Speaker 1: to exchange it. She said she needed to sit downstairs 309 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: because she could not see well from the balcony, and 310 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: pointed out that there were plenty of available seats. McNeil 311 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: told her that the theater had the right to segregate 312 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: its seating and that if she did not leave, he 313 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: would call the police. When an officer arrived, he told 314 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: Desmond that if she didn't leave, he would throw her 315 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: to the theater, based on an affidavit she filed in 316 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,479 Speaker 1: support of her appeal. Desmond didn't believe he would do 317 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,880 Speaker 1: this obviously, she knew racism and discrimination existed. She had 318 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: experienced some overt racism while studying in the United States. 319 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: She had heard the experiences of her clients at the salon, 320 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: one of whom was actually carry best. The idea that 321 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: an officer might physically remove her from the theater when 322 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: she had done nothing wrong didn't really enter her mind. 323 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: She stayed where she was. When she refused to move, 324 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: the officer grabbed her and dragged her into the lobby. 325 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: She struggled against him, trying to grab onto the door 326 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: frame as she was pulled past it, and she lost 327 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: her purse and one of her shoes in the process. 328 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: Someone handed her lost shoe and her purse to her, 329 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: and then the officer and the theater manager carried her 330 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: out to the street. Where she was put into a 331 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: taxi that took her to the town jail. She was 332 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: put in a cell and kept there overnight, where she 333 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: was too terrified to sleep. Viola Desmond was put on 334 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: trial the very next morning, which we will get to 335 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: you after a sponsor break. On the morning of November nine, 336 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 1: barely twelve hours after she was forcibly taken out of 337 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: the Roseland theater, Viola Desmond was put on trial. The 338 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,239 Speaker 1: downstairs ticket at the theater cost forty cents, including a 339 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: three cent amusement tax, but the upstairs ticket was thirty cents, 340 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:45,360 Speaker 1: including a two cent amusement tax, so she was charged 341 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: with trying to defraud the provincial government of the one 342 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: cent difference in that tax. The tax was required at 343 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: movie theaters under Nova Scotia's nineteen fifteen Theaters, Cinematographs and 344 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: Amusements Act, although it was the theater, not the law, 345 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: that had set different prices for upstairs and downstairs tickets. 346 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: This was a private prosecution, with the theater manager bringing 347 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: the charges. The only legal official present at the trial 348 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: was the magistrate, Roderick McKay. It wasn't standard procedure at 349 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: the time to inform people of their rights, and Desmond 350 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: was not told that she had the right to legal 351 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: counsel or the right to have the trial postponed until 352 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: she had actually consulted with a lawyer. No one explained 353 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: what was happening or what was expected of her. A 354 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: series of witnesses was called, including the cashier, the ticket taker, 355 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: and the theater manager, and after each of them was questioned, 356 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: Desmond was asked if she had any questions. She had 357 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: no idea she was being asked if she wanted to 358 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: cross examine these witnesses. She thought she was just being 359 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: asked if she had understood what they had said. She 360 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: did understand, so she said she had no questions. When 361 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: Desmond took the stand herself, she pointed out that she 362 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,199 Speaker 1: had tried to buy the more expensive ticket, including the 363 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: additional tax, she had not been trying to evade paying it, 364 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: but she wasn't given the opportunity to enter any evidence herself, 365 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: or even told that that was something she could do. 366 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: Desmond was found guilty and find twenty dollars plus court costs, 367 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: With those six dollars and costs going to the theater manager. 368 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: Nobody mentioned Race during these proceedings, but it was clear 369 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 1: that the real issue was not a tax. It was 370 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,400 Speaker 1: her refusal to sit where the black patrons were expected 371 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: to sit, but that tax was the only thing they 372 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: could prosecute her for. When Viola Desmond was released and 373 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: her car was ready, she abandoned the rest of her 374 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 1: business trip and went back home. Her husband had grown 375 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: up in New Glasgow and when she told him what 376 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: had happened, and he was unsurprised. She saw a doctor 377 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: about her injuries and he told her she should talk 378 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: to a lawyer. He also wrote letters about the incident 379 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:14,479 Speaker 1: on her behalf to various government officials. Desmond's friends and 380 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 1: family were divided about what she should do. Some, including 381 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: her husband, thought it was best to just let it go. 382 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: Her friends, per Lene and the Reverend William Oliver, who 383 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: had helped found the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement 384 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: of Colored People, encouraged her to appeal, and the n 385 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: s a a CP raised money for it. Carry Best, 386 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: who at this point had become a journalist and a 387 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,880 Speaker 1: human rights activist, covered Desmond's arrest and trial and appeal 388 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: process in the newspaper The Clarion, which Best had helped 389 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: found Sometimes. The Clarion is described as the first newspaper 390 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: in Nova Scotia with a black editor and publisher, but 391 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: at least one earlier paper, The Atlantic Advocate, was in print. 392 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: From nineteen fifteen and nineteen seventeen. Only a handful of 393 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: black lawyers were practicing in Nova Scotia, and Desmond chose 394 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: a white lawyer named Frederick William Bissit. First, he filed 395 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 1: suit against Harry McNeil in the Theater on the grounds 396 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: that Desmond had been assaulted, maliciously prosecuted, and falsely arrested 397 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: and imprisoned, but for unknown reasons, this suit never made 398 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: it to trial. In December of nineteen forty six, Visit 399 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: applied for a writ of cirtiary before Nova Scotia Supreme 400 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,959 Speaker 1: Court Justice Maynard Brown Archibald, asking him to quash Desmond's conviction. 401 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: In Canada, a writ of cercary usually comes into play 402 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 1: when a traditional appeal isn't an option for some reason, 403 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: or when there's just an obvious error that was made 404 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: in a lower court. Visit argued that the magistrate had 405 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: not had jurisdiction to convict Desmond. It is not clear 406 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,199 Speaker 1: why Bisit chose to pursue this course rather than appeal 407 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: through the lower courts. The deadline for an appeal had passed. 408 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: It had to be done within ten days of the conviction. 409 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: He had issued a writ in the civil suit just 410 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: five days after the conviction, so it doesn't seem like 411 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: he was just taking too long. It's possible that the 412 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: appeal deadline passed before it became clear that the civil 413 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: case wasn't coming to trial. Regardless, Archibald decided against Desmond 414 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: on January twentieth, ninety seven, saying that the proper procedure 415 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 1: would have been an appeal, and that since the magistrate 416 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: did have jurisdiction, a sortiary process was not available to her. 417 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,360 Speaker 1: Bessett tried again, this time taking the matter to the 418 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 1: full Nova Scotia Supreme Court. The four justices each expressed 419 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: differing opinions on why, but they all agreed that the 420 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: case should be dismissed, and that decision was announced on 421 00:26:55,760 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: May seventeenth seven. It was clear to it some of 422 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: the justices that this case really wasn't about a theater tax, 423 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,119 Speaker 1: although there were virtually no references to race in the 424 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: written record. In his concurring opinion, Justice W. L. Hall wrote, quote, 425 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: One wonders if the manager of the theater who laid 426 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 1: the complaint was so zealous because of a bona fide 427 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: belief that there had been an attempt to defraud the 428 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: Province of Nova Scotia of the sum of one cent 429 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: or was it a surreptitious endeavor to enforce a Jim 430 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: Crow rule by misuse of a public statute. Desmond's case 431 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: had been widely covered in newspapers in Canada and parts 432 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: of the United States, and this whole process had put 433 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: a lot of strain on her and her family. People 434 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: continued to disagree about whether she should have pursued the case, 435 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: with some feeling like she had drawn unwanted attention to 436 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: the black community in Nova Scotia. Others instead questioned why 437 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,640 Speaker 1: Bissett had not tried to make an equal right argument 438 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: that could have been applied more broadly. Desmond, of course, 439 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: was deeply disappointed in this outcome. Her marriage had already 440 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: been strained. Viola was a lot more ambitious than Jack was, 441 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: and he was increasingly uncomfortable with and frustrated by all 442 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,919 Speaker 1: her travel and time away from home. But he was 443 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: also strongly opposed to her decision to go to court. 444 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 1: He thought it would stir up trouble and that she 445 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: should handle it herself through prayer. Sometime after the final 446 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,959 Speaker 1: court ruling, they separated. Viola gave up her plans to 447 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: establish beauty franchises all over Canada and started focusing on 448 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: real estate, buying and fixing up homes to rent them 449 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: to black families. Eventually, Desmond closed her business and moved 450 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: first to go to business school in Montreal and then 451 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: to go to New York City to become an entertainment agent. 452 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: She made ends meet as she got started in this 453 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: business by working as a cigarette girl at Small Paradise 454 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: Club and Arleam, which is also where she had worked 455 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: her way through her wig making apprenticeship. In nineteen fifty four, 456 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: which was the year Desmond moved to Montreal, Nova Scotia 457 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: repealed its legislation that allowed segregation in public schools, although 458 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: the last segregated school in Nova Scotia did not close 459 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: until nineteen eighty three. In nineteen fifty nine, Nova Scotia 460 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: passed the Fair Accommodation Act, which prohibited discrimination in places 461 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: like movie theaters and restaurants. Other civil rights legislation had 462 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: already been passed in other parts of Canada, and additional 463 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: laws followed as black people in Canada advocated for equal rights. 464 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: Although racism and discrimination continued, Many people in the North 465 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: End neighborhood, where Desmond had spent most of her life 466 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: were forced out of their homes or otherwise displaced during 467 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: urban renewal projects in the nineteen fifties and sixties, and 468 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: starting in nineteen sixty four, Africville was systematically destroyed. Viola 469 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 1: does Men died on February seventh, nineteen sixty five, at 470 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: the age of fifty. Her cause of death was reported 471 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: as an intestinal bleed. Although her death seemed really sudden, 472 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: members of her family had noticed that she seemed unwell 473 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: when she returned to Halifax following the death of her 474 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: mother in nineteen sixty three and of her father in 475 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four. In two thousand, the National Film Board 476 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: of Canada produced a documentary called Journey to Justice, which 477 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: was focused on black people who had taken civil rights 478 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: cases to court from the nineteen thirties through the nineteen fifties, 479 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: including Viola Desmond. That same year, Viola's sister, Wanda Robson, 480 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,479 Speaker 1: audited a course called the History of Race Relations in 481 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: North America at what is now Cape Breton University. The 482 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: professor Dr Graham Reynolds mentioned Viola Desmond during class, at 483 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:57,240 Speaker 1: which point Wanda Robson said, that's my sister. I love that. 484 00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: I mean, I hate that it's something their whole fan 485 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: only had to go through, but I love that. She 486 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: was just sitting in class and was like, that's my sister. 487 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: Robson decided to return to college and finish her bachelor's 488 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: degree at the age of seventy three, graduating in two 489 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: thousand four, and she started pursuing a formal apology for 490 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: her sister. She also wrote a book about their family, 491 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: including talking about her sister and her sister's experience at 492 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: the Roseland Theater. She called that book Sister to Courage, 493 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: and that came out in Desmond wound up getting more 494 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: than an apology. On April fift Lieutenant Governor Mayn Francis 495 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: issued a Royal Prerogative of Mercy a k A. A 496 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: free pardon for Viola Desmond. This took place at a 497 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: ceremony in Halifax, and Nova Scotia Premier Daryl Dexter issued 498 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: a formal apology as well. A portrait of Desmond was 499 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: unveiled a few months later and was installed in the 500 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: Government House ballroom. The same year all of this was happening, 501 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: the Viola Desmond Chair of Social Justice was established at 502 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: Cape Breton University. Had Desmond lived to see this, she 503 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: would have been nine. In Viola Desmond appeared on a 504 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: Canadian postage stamp. An exhibition on her life and experiences 505 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: opened at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in ten. 506 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: In sixteen, it was announced that Viola Desmond would appear 507 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: on Canadian currency. The ten dollar note bearing her image 508 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: was released on November eighteen. The book Viola Desmond, Her 509 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: Life and Times was published in twenty eighteen as well. 510 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: This was a collaboration between Dr Graham Reynolds and Wander Robson, 511 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: and then also in twenty eighteen, Desmond was named a 512 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: National Historic Person in Canada and became the subject of 513 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: a Google doodle. In February of one, the government repaid 514 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: Viola Desmond's fine to her sister Wanda. Adjusted for inflation, 515 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: that was one thousand dollars, which Robson used to fund 516 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: a scholarship at Cape In University. Wanda Robson died in 517 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: February of two at the age of Sometimes Viola Desmond 518 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: is described as the Canadian Rosa Parks, often with the 519 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: note that Rosa Parks should really be called the United 520 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: States Viola Desmond, since Desmond refused to leave her seat 521 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: at the movie theater nine years before, Parks refused to 522 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: leave her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus, and 523 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: these two women do have a lot of things in common. 524 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: They both made an in the moment decision to push 525 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 1: back against racism by not leaving their seat. They were 526 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: both also petite and well dressed, churchgoing women who were 527 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: very well respected in their communities, which is one of 528 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: the reasons why Rosa Parks was asked to be a 529 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: plaintiff in a test case to try to overturn segregation 530 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 1: laws in the United States. But this comparison really flattens 531 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: both women's experiences down to just one moment of refusing 532 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: to leave a seat, when they both had full lives 533 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: of very different accomplishments outside of that moment and it's aftermath. Also, 534 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: it erases the experiences of people who also refused to 535 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: give up their seat before either Desmond or Parks, including 536 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: Carrie Best, who we talked about in this episode, and 537 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Jennings Graham, who we will have as an upcoming 538 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: Saturday classic. Yeah, sometimes referred to as nineteenth century Rosa 539 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: Parks similarly kind of a limited comparison as we talked 540 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: about in that episode, but we'll be in folks as feeds. 541 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: Do you have a listener mail? I do? This is 542 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:41,799 Speaker 1: from Brianna or possibly Brianna. Uh did not get a 543 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: chance to write back and ask, but uh, this email 544 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: begainst Dear Holly and Tracy. I've been meaning to write 545 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: this email for a while now, so that what I 546 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: originally was going to write has turned into a couple 547 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,240 Speaker 1: of things. I'm entering my fifth year in a PhD 548 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,279 Speaker 1: program setting medieval literature, and it's been a rough year 549 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: with the pandemic hangover my students and I have been experiencing, 550 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,319 Speaker 1: and also that whole business of having to write a dissertation. 551 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,600 Speaker 1: How do you even do that? Anyway? For both Unearthed episodes, 552 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: I used the episodes as motivation to finish a project, 553 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: so I just wanted to say thank you for those episodes. 554 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: I'm an archaeology nerd and I always look forward to them. 555 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,879 Speaker 1: They're a good motivator to get things done. I hope 556 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: Tracy's last negative experience putting the episodes together didn't sour 557 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,640 Speaker 1: her on the experience completely. I also wanted to especially 558 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: say thanks for including the paper on the medieval hand grenade. 559 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 1: I kept waiting for one of you to make a 560 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: Monty Python and the Holy Grail joke when you were 561 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,359 Speaker 1: talking about it. I included that paper in a footnote 562 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 1: in my chapter about alchemy because the substances they found 563 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,439 Speaker 1: in the hand grenade are also substances used by alchemists. 564 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: I don't suggest that the particular object the writers identified 565 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: as a hand grenade was actually an alchemical vessel. It 566 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:00,360 Speaker 1: seems to be the wrong shape, but it seems logical 567 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,279 Speaker 1: to me that some of those vessels may have been 568 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: used for that purpose. I did make a Monty Python joke, 569 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:09,399 Speaker 1: and the footnote hopefully gets to stay in I also 570 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,520 Speaker 1: wanted to share a pie recipe that's popular in my family. 571 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,360 Speaker 1: Piemaking is kind of a tradition in my family, and 572 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,240 Speaker 1: it's something we take very seriously. I have vivid memories 573 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: of the back counter and my grandma's kitchen being covered 574 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: with six or eight pies on holidays, and my aunt 575 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: and cousin have both worked in food service and their 576 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: pies are famous in our area of Montana. When I 577 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,719 Speaker 1: worked at their restaurant one day, this lady who wasn't 578 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:34,880 Speaker 1: from the area flagged me down and asked me about 579 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 1: the pies. She said, kind of like she had caught me. 580 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: Are your pies holemade? I said yes, and she added 581 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: even the crust, and I said yes, ma'am, everything is 582 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: always homemade. I'm including the recipe for Amish cream pie. 583 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 1: No idea where the name came from. I don't think 584 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:53,919 Speaker 1: there's an Amish pedigree to it. This one is really 585 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,560 Speaker 1: popular and will barely last twenty four hours when it's 586 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: on sale. I wish I could make you one and 587 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: ship it your way, but pies travel very well. And 588 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,719 Speaker 1: you said you're moving offices. So again, thanks for the 589 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:08,319 Speaker 1: Unearthed episodes and for the podcasts, Brianna uh and so 590 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,440 Speaker 1: we will stick this pie recipe on our social media. 591 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: It's very easy, though, because you just mixed together three 592 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,759 Speaker 1: quarters cup of sugar, two and a half cups of 593 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 1: half and half, a quarter teaspoon of salt, three and 594 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: a half tablespoons of cornstarch heaping or packed and cook 595 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:26,759 Speaker 1: that until thick, and then add in half a cup 596 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 1: of brown sugar, half a cup of butter, and a 597 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,479 Speaker 1: tea spoon of vanilla that goes into a pie shehell 598 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at three fifty for fifteen or 599 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:36,960 Speaker 1: twenty minutes until it's bubbly around the edge, and then 600 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: you let it cool off, store in the fridge. That 601 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: sounds really delicious. I went down a little rabbit hole 602 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: about whether it may or may not be Amish in origin. 603 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: There are a whole lot of Amish pies um, this 604 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:55,799 Speaker 1: specific one did not find a reference to. I know 605 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,279 Speaker 1: there are some foods that are described as Amish that 606 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: have nothing to do uh with Amish people at all. 607 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,760 Speaker 1: And just kind of got it fixed with that moniker 608 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: um because of feelings, basically, So I thought about whether 609 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,840 Speaker 1: to put a holy hand grenade joke uh in the 610 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: Unearthed episode we talked about the medieval hand grenade, and 611 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: I wound up not doing it. So I'm glad I 612 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 1: got a chance to just read this email well where 613 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:24,360 Speaker 1: it is in there. I kept thinking about that scene 614 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:26,800 Speaker 1: and money Python and the Holy Grail as I was 615 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: reading that part of the unearthed stuff. UM never fear. 616 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,719 Speaker 1: That whole experience did not sour me on doing Unearthed. 617 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: It was really what was going on in the world 618 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,719 Speaker 1: in that moment that made it a frustrating Unearthed process, 619 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:45,279 Speaker 1: not the Unearthed thing itself. I think regardless of what 620 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: I had been working on, it would have been challenging 621 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:52,319 Speaker 1: given the amount of chaos that was currently happening at 622 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,440 Speaker 1: that moment. Uh. Speaking of chaos, we've also gotten a 623 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 1: few tweets from people who point out that the word 624 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: meaning chaos in Italian is pronounced cows approximately. Um. I 625 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 1: didn't get to that in my frantic cramming of Italian 626 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: on duo lingo before we went to Italy, So thanks 627 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,959 Speaker 1: to folks who have tweeted about that. If you would 628 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 1: like to send us a note about this or any 629 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,360 Speaker 1: other podcast where at History podcast that I Heart radio 630 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: dot com. We're all over social media at Missed in History, 631 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,920 Speaker 1: which is where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 632 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,719 Speaker 1: And you can't subscribe to our show on the I 633 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app or wherever else you like to get 634 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 1: your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 635 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,759 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio for more podcasts from i 636 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,239 Speaker 1: Heeart Radio, Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or 637 00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:50,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.