VIOLA DESMOND: NOTEWORTHY CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Walk of Fame | Martin Bierens

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In light of worldwide protests against racism and police brutality in response to the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis Police Department officers, I, along with many of us in the MMSt community have been educating myself on racial inequality/violence both in and out of the museum community. As part of my personal goal to become better informed on this issue, I have decided to examine the life of historical Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond. 

Canadian $10 Bank Note Featuring Viola Desmond, released 2018. Source.

Viola Desmond is perhaps the most recognizable face of the civil rights movement in Canada. You only need to open your wallet and look at a ten-dollar bill to see her. In 2018 Desmond replaced Canada’s first Prime Minister and architect of the Residential School system, John A. MacDonald to become the first solo woman featured on a Canadian banknote. Desmond features prominently on the front of the bill with a map of the historic North End of Halifax, where Desmond’s business was located. The backside of the bill features the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The museum was selected for the bill because it was the first museum dedicated to focusing on human rights and equality. (The decision to include the CMHR was prior to the reports of racism and discrimination, experienced by workers of CMHR by management, and the #CMHRStopLying campaign established by Thiané Diop.)

Before Viola Desmond was featured on the ten-dollar bill, she lived a successful, yet tragic life. Born in Halifax in 1914, Viola was one of ten children of James and Gwendolin Davis. Her father James was Black, and her mother Gwendolin was White, at a time when it violated social norms. As a child, Viola quickly realized her aspiration to open a beauty salon, she noticed that there was a lack of beauty products for Black women. Unfortunately, due to her race Desmond was rejected from beauty schools in Nova Scotia, forcing her to train in Montreal and New York City. Returning to Nova Scotia, Desmond opened her own beauty salon and school which focused on Black women, The Desmond School of Beauty Culture. She opened her school so that other Black women would not have to travel from home as she had to receive proper training. Along with the salon and school, Desmond also established a line of beauty products, Vi’s Beauty Products.

Face Power from Vi's Beauty Products. Source.

Desmond had established herself as a successful entrepreneur in Halifax and was growing her business across Nova Scotia when she was arrested in Sydney on November 8, 1946. Desmond’s car had broken down earlier that day forcing her to spend the night in Sydney. She decided to pass the time by viewing a movie at the Roseland Film Theatre. Desmond bought a ticket wishing to seat herself on the floor section of the theatre, to which a theatre employee said, “I can’t sell downstairs tickets to you people.” There were two sections of the theatre, the floor, and the balcony. Though there were no formal laws or any signage in the theatre, it was understood that the theatre was segregated, with White patrons allowed on the floor and Black patrons forced to view from the balcony. This method of racial segregation appears to be uniquely Canadian, according to Former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia and Black woman, Mayann Francis.

“The racism in the United States was truly in your face. In Canada, the racism was very polite – sort of undercover.”

Desmond selected a seat on the floor, and was quickly approached by a theatre worker who attempted to force her to change seats, she refused because she was nearsighted and had a better view on the floor. The police were called and forcibly removed Desmond from the theatre, injuring her hip.

Roseland Film Theatre, Sydney, Nova Scotia During Period of Segregation. White People on Main Floor and Black People on Balcony. Source.

Desmond was held in jail overnight, where she was not informed of her rights to a lawyer or bail. Because there was not a formal law enforcing racial segregation, the court charged her with tax evasion. Because the ticket-seller sold Desmond a balcony seat, she did not pay the full tax for a floor seat. The amount of tax Desmond evaded was one cent. Desmond was forced to pay a twenty-dollar fine (equivalent to $300 today), for a one-cent violation. This charge is emblematic of the covert racism in Canada, while the official charge was not related to her race, it is obvious that the charge came as a result of racial discrimination.

Desmond, with the help of the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the Roseland Film Theatre, despite resistance from her husband. However, due to the covert nature of Desmond’s charge, the official language of the case focused entirely on tax evasion with no reference to Desmond’s race, and the lawsuit was unsuccessful.

After the trial, Desmond closed her business, and her marriage fell apart. Eventually, she would leave Halifax and settle in New York, where she would die from gastrointestinal bleeding in 1965. Before her experience at the theatre, Desmond was a woman full of life and optimism. After that day it seems that this radiant energy was forcibly drained from her.

Former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Mayann Francis (Left) and Viola Desmond's Sister Wanda Robson (Right) at Ceremony of Viola Desmond's Legal Pardon in 2010. Source.

The actions of Viola Desmond helped to spark the modern civil rights movement in Canada. In 2010, Mayann Francis granted a posthumous pardon to Desmond. The pardon recognizes the error of the charge, deeming Desmond innocent of any crime. Francis at the time remarked, 

“Here I am, 64 years later – a Black woman giving freedom to another Black woman.”

If you would like to learn more about Viola Desmond, she is featured in an exhibition at the CMHR, The Bank of Canada Museum, The Bank of Canada Webpage, a Heritage Minute, and the Nova Scotia Museum.