My column in today's Winnipeg Free Press is about the life of George H. Beckford and the plight of Winnipeg's Black railway porters in the 19-teens and 20s.
Beckford came to Winnipeg in 1913. Initially, he appeared determined not to become a railway porter, one of the only careers open to Black men in the city at the time. Twice he started working as a porter then soon left to go into business. In the end, he spent 34 years with the CNR.
During the 1940s, Beckford became one of the city's most respected labour leaders. He was chair of the Sleeping Car Porters Union, on the executive of the Brotherhood of Railway Employees, and a long time member of the executive of the Winnipeg Labour Council.
Sources of information about Beckford are few, but I think I managed to cobble together a decent biography. Hopefully it will spark someone else to dive into labour archives at the local and national level to find out more.
More Canadian Railway Porter History
- North of the Colour Line: Sleeping Car Porters and the Battle Against Jim Crow on Canadian Rails, 1880-1920
- The Road Taken National Film Board of Canada
- Beckford portrait source: Canadian Labour Congress photo archive
For more of my posts and columns celebrating Manitoba's Black history!
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