Viola Davis Desmond was a Halifax businesswoman and civil rights activist who was arrested for challenging racial segregation in a theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in 1946. It was also common practice for the New Glasgow theatre to assign tickets based on race with an amusement tax determined by seat location. She hired a lawyer who wasn’t very good and lost her case. However, because she was of African descent she wasn’t allowed to attend the school. Her body was put to rest at the ‘Camp Hill Cemetery’ in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was one of 15 children and her parents, James and Gwendolin Davis, … Biography . Born to Nicholas Michael Herbert and Ann Bates in Ireland in October 1824. Viola Desmond Timeline July 6, 1914 Born Viola Irene Davis in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she was the daughter of James Davis, a self-employed barber and businessman, and Gwendolyn Irene Johnson, a homemaker. By 1946, she was making her dreams come true. Viola Desmond was born in 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She belonged to a large family with 10 children. Initially members of the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NSAACP) feared a racist backlash debated whether to assist her. Viola Desmond Family, Childhood, Life Achievements, Facts, Wiki and Bio of 2017. On November 8, 1946, during a business trip to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, she experienced car trouble. She was featured in a commemorative stamp released by ‘Canada Post’ in 2012. In July 2016, a ferry in Halifax harbor was named after her. In the coming years, Viola opened The Desmond School of Beauty Culture – providing black women with a school option on Canada’s east coast. The Google Doodle for July 6, 2018 celebrates the Canadian civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond on what would have been the Nova Scotian’s 104th birthday. Viola Davis Desmond was one of the most successful Canadian, Black or White, entrepreneurial women of her time. She was then forcibly removed, put under arrest for 12 hours, and fined $20. However, the actual reason for her arrest was not the difference in cost, but the fact that she had refused to vacate a seat reserved for the whites. However, she gained the support of the church and decided to fight her case. Explore Viola Desmond's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. Black women in Nova Scotia were restricted from going to beauty salons and studying beauty culture, so Desmond attended schools in Montréal and New York. Her proposal was to include the existing Edward Cornwallis statue among three other statues of Acadian Noël Doiron, Black Nova Scotian Viola Desmond and Mi'kmaw Chief John Denny Jr. The lawyer who fought her case donated his fees to the ‘NSAACP,’ which put the money to good use. The first ‘Nova Scotia Heritage Day,’ celebrated in February 2015, was dedicated to her. Viola Desmond is remembered as a citizen who stood for a cause. She started making several business trips to popularize and sell her beauty products. Viola Desmond (born Clark) was born on month day 1934, at birth place, New York, to Dearcy Clark and Eva Clark (born Fritz). Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by colour family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} William "Bill" Morneau, Canada's finance minister, right, and Wanda Robson, sister of Viola Desmond, smile on stage during an event in Gatineau,... StWanda … Browse 40 viola desmond stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The Story of Viola Desmond Viola Desmond. She belonged to a large family with 10 children. While waiting for her car to be repaired, she took in a movie at Roseland Theatre, which was segregated with a main floor for white patrons and a balcony for black patrons. Her father was raised in a middle-class black family and eventually became a barber. After completing her training, she returned to Halifax to open her own hair salon called ‘Vi’s Studio of Beauty Culture.’ Her salon catered particularly to the black community. Many of those familiar with Desmond’s action compare her to famed American civil-rights activist Rosa Parks and her 1955 refusal to vacate a bus seat so that a white passenger could sit down in Montgomery, Alabama (CBC 2006) but Martin and Desmond’s family emphasize the Canadian and Nova Scotian context for her example of ‘direct action’. Since people of African descent were not allowed to join beautician training in Viola’s hometown, she moved to Montréal, Atlantic City, to start training as a beautician at the ‘Field Beauty Culture School’ and finally completed her training from one of Madam CJ Walker’s beauty schools in New York. {{-*error}} 0.0 based on 0 rates. Desmond's image now graces the new $10 Canadian bill. She married Jack Desmond, who owned a barbershop on Gottingen Street. To see this page as it is meant to appear, please enable your Javascript! Her father, James Albert Davis, was a barber. In December 2016, she became the first non-royal Canadian woman to be featured on a Canadian $10 note. She and her fourteen siblings grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the children of Gwendolin and James Davis. Her father, James Albert Davis, was raised in a middle-class Black family, and had worked for several years as a stevedore before establishing himself as a barber. However, she wanted to address the needs of the black community by introducing beauty products for people with dark skin. Her mother was the daughter of a white minister and his wife. She graduated and came back with her husband Jack Desmond to Halifax to build a beauty salon. Civil rights pioneer, Viola Desmond, was a Black-Canadian businesswoman who was jailed and fined in 1946 for refusing to give up her seat in the whytes-only section of a Canadian movie theatre. She was ordered by the manager to go to the balcony. Although racial mixing was not uncommon in early 20th-centu… She grew up with 10 siblings! She was the subject of the children’s book ‘Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged’ by Jody Nyasha Warner and a song written by Canadian social activist and singer Faith Nolan. Soon, she decided to close her business and move to Montréal to join a business college. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Viola Desmond. Viola Desmond - Viola Desmond - Trial: In the morning, Desmond was taken to court and charged with attempting to defraud the provincial government based on her alleged refusal to pay a one-cent amusement tax (i.e., the difference in tax between upstairs and downstairs ticket prices). However, the government insisted that it was a case of tax evasion. Viola Desmond was born thin Nova Scotia July 6, 1914, to James and Gwendolin Davis, which was her maiden name. When justice did prevail, it was 64 years later. Viola Desmond, Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian who in 1946 defied the segregation policy of a movie theater in Nova Scotia, taking a seat in the whites-only section. Her mother, Gwendolin Irene (Johnson) Davis was the daughter of a white minister and his wife. 64 years later, in April 2010, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia invoked the ‘Royal Prerogative’ to posthumously pardon Viola Desmond, granting her full remedy and accepting that the conviction was an error. In November 1946, she refused to vacate a seat reserved for the whites in a movie theater in New Glasgow. However, there was an understanding among both the whites and the blacks to keep to themselves in public places. Following this, she moved to Montréal and ultimately settled in New York, US. After getting married, she joined her husband’s barbershop to make it a combined barbershop and hairdressing salon. For her whole childhood, she had wanted to become a professional hair and skin care for the blacks. 128 matching entries found. Unaware of the segregation policy, Desmond proceeded to the main floor. Although segregation based on color was enforced by law in the US, there was no such law in Canada at that time. Viola Desmond was an African Canadian woman from Nova Scotia. She was 50 years old when she died of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in February 1965. Here's all you need to know about her. Viola Desmond was born July 6, 1914. Her father, who worked as a stevedore before opening a barbershop, was black, while her mother was white. CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. When she was growing up, Viola noticed that there was a lack of professional hair and skin care products that were available to black women, and aspired to become a beautician to help address the need. Viola is the first Canadian woman to appear on a bank note. Viola had 6 siblings: Darcy Clark, Patricia Holmberg (born Clark) and 4 other siblings. Looks like something went wrong. She lived in a time when black women were expected to be servants in houses, and black men were expected to be servants on trains. ‘Cape Breton University’ named a ‘Chair in Social Justice’ and established a scholarship campaign in Viola’s honor. Home › Canadian › Viola Desmond July 6, 1914 185 views ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Thanks for rating! Desmond was born Viola Irene Davis on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Starting in 2018, Viola Desmond is going to be the first Canadian woman to be featured on a regularly circulating Canadian ten-dollar bill, Sorry, you have Javascript Disabled! Eventually, they did but were defeated when the Nova Scotia Supreme Court dismissed the application for judicial review in 1947. Her husband was black and worked as a barber. Viola grew up in a middle-class mixed-race family, one of ten children of James Albert and Gwendolin Irene DavisOne. Although she was charged with tax evasion, since she was sold a ticket for a cheaper seat reserved for black people, she gave rise to a movement of black people who fought for equal rights. Wanda Robson, who is Viola Desmond's youngest sister, recalls the many accounts she's heard over her 90 years from her older siblings. Each year, as many as 15 black women graduated from her school and started their own ventures that provided further job opportunities to the black community. Her marriage ended soon after. Join us at the virtual Viola Desmond Legacy Lecture featuring Indigenous rights advocate, Michèle Audette. She was from a middle-class mixed-race family; her mother was white and her father black. Desmond's birth name was Viola Irene Davis and she was born in Halifax, N.S., in 1914. After graduating from high school, Desmond worked as a teacher in Black schools. North-end on 6 July 1914 to James Davis and Gwendolyn Johnson Davis. She later married Jack Desmond. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/viola-desmond-40917.php, Celebrities Who Look Beautiful Even Without Makeup, The Top 25 Wrestling Announcers Of All Time, Famous Role Models You Would Like To Meet, Celebrities Who Are Not In The Limelight Anymore. She came into prominence as an activist when she refused to vacate a seat in a theater that was reserved for white people. Viola Desmond (1914 - 1965) was a Canadian Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, NS, in 1946 when she refused to leave the whites-only area. Her portrait has also been put up in the ‘Government House’ in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was born in Halifax’s . Those purchasing a downstairs ticket paid a tax of three cents while patrons in the balcony paid a tax of two cents. He had been brought up in Glasgow and was accustomed to be treated badly by white-skinned people. Ironically Desmond was charged with tax evasion for her failure to pay the proper tax for a downstairs ticket. When Desmond refused, the manager called the police. Viola Desmond has become one of the most iconic figures in the Canadian civil rights movement, and has been honoured in a Google Doodle. She was neither informed about her legal right to a lawyer nor granted bail. The … Desmond was born Viola Irene Davis on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When Viola finished her education she returned to Halifax where she opened a very successful salon. Viola Desmond - Viola Desmond - Trial: In the morning, Desmond was taken to court and charged with attempting to defraud the provincial government based on her alleged refusal to pay a one-cent amusement tax (i.e., the difference in tax between upstairs and downstairs ticket prices). The story of Viola Desmond, an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s. Viola Desmond Legacy Lecture with Michèle Audette. Viola Desmond Biography, Wiki, Age, Parents, Siblings, Cause of Death, Family, Bill,... 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The four statutes would be positioned as if in a conversation with each other, discussing their accomplishments and struggles. She was born on July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and died on February 7, 1965 in New York, New York, United States aged 50. She was born on July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and died on February 7, 1965 in New York, New York, United States aged 50. Please try to rate again. She thought she was buying a ticket for the lower level but was sold a ticket for the balcony, where Blacks could sit. When word of her situation reached Halifax, the black community raised funds to hire legal counsel for Desmond to launch an appeal of her verdict. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Viola Desmond. The story of her courageous refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination provided inspiration to a later generation of Blacks in Nova Scotia and in the rest of Canada. Viola Desmond was brought up in a large family with 10 siblings. In January 2018, she was named a ‘National Historic Person’ by the Canadian government. Childhood & Early Life She was born Viola Irene Davis, on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to James Albert Davis and Gwendolin Irene Davis. Viola made the decision to head to Montreal to attend school – she also travelled to Atlantic City and New York to pursue her education. Her father was black and her mother was white, which was not very common in Canada in those days. Many Blacks in Halifax and across Nova Scotia rallied to her side. The first Black-owned newspaper kept the story alive. Viola Desmond born Viola Irene Davis, was a Canadian Business owner and beautician. Viola Desmond was a Canadian citizen of mixed race, who championed the cause of equal rights for people with dark skin, in early 20th century. She was the daughter of James Albert and Gwendolin Irene Davis. 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She had nine siblings: Olive Scott, Helen Fline, Alan Davis, Constance Scott, Wanda Robson, Eugenie Parris, Emily Clyke, John Davis, and Gordon Davis. She was born as one of 15 children by James Desmond and Gwendolen Davis. Complete Viola Desmond 2017 Biography. She was born Viola Irene Davis, on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to James Albert Davis and Gwendolin Irene Davis. Showing search results for "Viola Desmond" sorted by relevance. The story of her courageous refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination provided inspiration to a later generation of Blacks in Nova Scotia and in the rest of Canada. Her father, who worked as a stevedore before opening a barbershop, was black, while her mother was white. During that disaster she was blown from her high chair. 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