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Prior
Issue (Archive) Black people were in the Province of New Brunswick even before its earliest settlements. They came as Indian captives, explorers, workers in the fur trade and early industries but the majority arrived after the American Revolutionary War both as free blacks and slaves.
Through the years they have continued to face prejudice and many black people in this area have fought and won some of the battles against discrimination. Dr. Frederick Douglas Hodges was born in 1918, a descendant of a Black Loyalist. During the war he was in the R.C.A.F. as a radio and telephone operator. For five years, he was president of the Saint John District Labour. In 1974, he was elected city councillor, making him the first black person to be elected to public office in Saint John. In 1981, he received the Order of Canada and in 1984, he received an honourary degree, Doctor of Laws, from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. Mrs. Lena O’Ree also accomplished a great deal for the Black community. She had one basic philosophy “take the wrong and make it right - one at a time”. In 1931, she hosted the first black radio show in Saint John. Her biggest battle came with the YWCA. No black women were allowed to join. Mrs. O’Ree approached the Y and requested that that rule be changed. Permission was grudgingly given on two conditions that she would get ten black women together and they would attend only at a certain time. They called themselves The Recreation Club of the YWCA. In 1959, the Liberal party in gratitude for the Black vote, asked Mrs. O’Ree if it could do anything for the Black community. Her request was that Blacks be admitted to the dining room of the Admiral Beatty Hotel which at that time was the biggest and best hotel in Saint John. Her request was granted. In 1979 Nick Skinner and David Peters started a project known as PROBE (Provincial Resources of Black Energy) to let kids 15 or younger become aware there were opportunities available here. People worked together and the project was a success and a new initiative, called PRUDE, was created. It was set up to look after the black community especially the youth. The money came from the Secretary of State and the City of Saint John. Ralph Thomas has been President of the organization for the past 12 years. He explains, “The original purpose of PRUDE was to look after the visible minority black community. As it grew it became multi-cultural because wherever or whoever suffers from discrimination PRUDE helps to fight it but it is primarily for the black community because if we don’t look out for the black community who will? Therefore we look after our community first but if someone comes looking for help they will receive the same help as if they were black. Saint John was built in a big way by black labour - together we sweat to develop this community”.
This summer PRUDE has a new initiative, they are offering to provide step-on guides to do black history bus tours of Saint John which will include a tour of a black history display at the New Brunswick Museum. To book a tour and for further information please call 632-1616. For further information on PRUDE go to their website: www.prude.ca Got a comment or suggestion? ownwords@nbnet.nb.ca |
The British had offered all blacks freedom if they fought on the side of the British - hundreds of them managed to escape from their owners and fought against the Americans. At the end of the war, many of them were shipped to Nova Scotia which at that time included what is now New Brunswick. Here they were given grants of land but they were half the size of the grants which were given to the white Loyalists and the grants were a fair distance away from any sizable town. One of those New Brunswick settlements was Willow Grove. It is approximately 16 miles from Saint John and originally there were about 500 people sent there. Life in a new country was very hard and it was especially difficult for people living so far from the main centre. The winters were long and bitter and there were many hills to transverse on a walk between Saint John and Willow Grove. But by standing together and hard work they survived and many of their descendants still live in Saint John today. 
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