John Ware (born in 1845), was an African-American cowboy best remembered for his ability to ride and train horses and for bringing the first cattle to Southern Alberta in 1882, helping to create that province’s important ranching industry. [Read more…]

Everyone knows Lewis & Clark, but did you know that there was a black man who was also part of the expedition? His name was York. As William Clark’s slave from boyhood, he participated as a full member of the expedition and was present when the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean. [Read more…]

Albert Jackson was born a slave in Delaware around 1856 and his mother Ann Maria Jackson fled in 1858 with her seven children to Philadelphia, where African-American abolitionist William Still ran a station of the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves get to Canada. The family settled in Toronto and in 1882, when many Black men worked as labourers or in the service industry, Jackson landed a government-appointed job as a letter carrier. On his first day, white postmen refused to train him because he was black, so he was reassigned to hall porter. [Read more…]