by Rod Mickleburgh Research by Donna Sacuta and Bailey Garden Esi Edugyan may have won the 2018 Giller Prize for her novel about the astounding exploits of Barbados-born Washington Black, but the story of William Fitzclarence “Fitz” St. John was the real thing. His long, remarkable life, which, like the Read more…
Written and researched by Bailey Garden Born January 27, 1900 in Alberta, Clarence Clemons moved to British Columbia from Edmonton sometime in 1937. He soon found work on the docks as a longshoreman employed by Empire Stevedoring Co. and settled into the predominantly black neighbourhood of Strathcona in East Vancouver. The heart of this Read more…
Written and researched by Donna Sacuta JANUARY 18, 1893: A light snow fell on Nanaimo harbour. The British steamer Bawnmore – a coastal freighter carrying a non-union crew – was anchored at Esplanade Wharf. The crew had not been paid for months. Shortly after 11 pm a small boat pulled Read more…
by Donna Sacuta The Labor Arts Guild: An Ambitious Wartime Project In November 1944 and again in 1945 — as the Second World War neared its end — two art exhibitions celebrating labour took place at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The first exhibition included 150 works; in 1945 there were Read more…
Throughout his 50 years in Prince Rupert, George Bernard Casey was a steadfast representative of the working class and its union organizations. Born in Ontario in 1876, George Casey headed to the United States as a young man where he spent time as a “hobo”, ending up in jail on Read more…