Celebrating Manitoba's Black History

Over the years, I have written a number of blog posts and columns highlighting prominent people and places that celebrate the history of Manitoba's black community. Here they are all in one place!

At the Black History Manitoba website, you can find out more about upcoming events and projects.

Hewburn Nathaniel Greenidge (1893-1921) came to Winnipeg in 1913 to enroll at the Manitoba Medical College. The war interrupted his studies, but in 1920, he became the first black to graduate from the University of Manitoba and Manitoba's first black doctor.

- H. N. Greenidge: Manitoba's first black doctor West End Dumplings

Norman and Sarah Lewsey came to Winnipeg from Guyana in 1908. They raised a large family and welcomed many newcomers from their home country as lodgers in their home. 

- Norman and Sarah Lewsey West End Dumplings

Percy Haynes (1911-1992) is one of my favourite personalities from Winnipeg's past. He was a star athlete, celebrated musician, the first black to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy, and an all-around community leader. He is best remembered for Haynes' Chicken Shack, the long-time Lulu Street restaurant / night spot that played host to the likes of Harry Belafonte and Oscar Peterson.

- Percy Haynes West End Dumplings (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- 257 Lulu Street Winnipeg Places
- Farewell to 257 Lulu Street West End Dumplings

Billy Beal (1874-1968) was a Renaissance man who settled in the Swan River region in 1906. He was the long-time secretary of the local school division, an amateur astronomer, the doctor's helper, and ran the region's first library using his own vast collection of books.

- Swan River's Billy Beal (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- Every inch a Gentleman Winnipeg Free Press
- On the trail of Billy Beal West End Dumplings

George Beckford (1890-1976) seemed reluctant to become a railway porter, one of the few jobs dominated by blacks in early Winnipeg. In the end, he spent 34 years with the CNR and became a respected local labour leader.

- Labour Leader George Beckford
- Longtime porter became labour leader, pillar of black community Winnipeg Free Press

Reverend Dr. Joseph T. Hill (1877-1949) was a southern American preacher who spent many summers as a popular guest preacher at predominantly white churches in Winnipeg in the 1920s and 1940s. He is credited with founding Pilgrim Baptist, Winnipeg's first black church.

- Rev. J. T. Hill, his Winnipeg summers, and the founding of Pilgrim Baptist Church

Winnipeg's Aaron Black Jr. (1945- ) is often overlooked when celebrating early black hockey pioneers, largely because he spent his career in the WHA, not the NHL. He is considered the second black professional hockey player and the first to score a hat trick at the pro level.

- Aaron Black Jr.: The second Black professional hockey player

Photographer L. B. Foote took this photo of the Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg on the front steps of the Bank of Montreal Building at Portage and Main in 1922. I was curious to find out the backstory of what turned out to be a short-lived part of Winnipeg's musical history.

- Behind the Photo: Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg West End Dumplings

The nondescript Craig Block on Main Street is one of the few remaining buildings directly associated with Winnipeg's early black community. In 1922, it became home of the locally organized Order of Sleeping Car Porters, which some claim is the first black union in North America. Other black organizations joined it and the building became a community hub.

- Craig Block, 795 Main Street Winnipeg Places

Many black celebrities have dropped in on Winnipeg over the decades. Here is the backstory of some of these visits.

- Duke Ellington, Omar Williams, and their Banning St. jam session West End Dumplings
- The day Sammy Davis Jr. came to town West End Dumplings
- Jesse Owens at Osborne Stadium (an expanded version in the Free Press)