Canadian university honours first Black graduate

[sistactry]

unu probably run dis already, if so, please delete~

<span style="color: #006600">Canadian university honours first Black graduate
Building renamed in recognition of Jamaican-born Robert Sutherland
Wednesday, March 04, 2009

TORONTO, Canada:

Administrators at the Queens University, in Toronto Canada have voted to rename one of its core faculty buildings in honour of its first recorded black graduate, Jamaica-born Robert Sutherland.

The naming honours the man who was the country’s first black university student, graduate and lawyer, as well as the University’s first major benefactor, Queens officials confirmed.

In a release issued late last week, school officials said the Board of Trustees had ‘unanimously approved a student-initiated motion to name the Policy Studies Building after alumnus Robert Sutherland,’ with an unveiling ceremony planned for later this year.

The proposal to rename the building came from students, and was presented and discussed at a December board meeting where it received overwhelming support.

“The initiative and enthusiasm of the students involved is a credit to the University, and is what Queen’s is all about,” principal Tom Williams said.

perfect fit

“This particular form of recognition and this particular building are a perfect fit for a distinguished individual who plays a significant role in the University’s history.”

Student Rector Leora Jackson said the initiative was a perfect match.

“We were looking for something that would appropriately reflect the life and achievements of Robert Sutherland, as well as the impact his gift had on the University,” she said.

“Dedicating the Policy Studies Building is ideal because it marks a permanent recognition of Queen’s diverse roots and the multiple individuals and communities that have shaped, and that continue to shape, the University and Canada.”

Sutherland, who was born in Jamaica to unknown parents, (though there is some evidence his father was Scottish) came to Queen’s in 1849, just eight years after the university was founded. He is the first known university student and graduate of colour in Canada.

Sutherland led an extraordinarily successful academic career at Queen’s, winning 14 academic prizes, including one for general merit in Latin that was awarded after a vote by fellow students.

He was an excellent debater and served as treasurer of the Dialectic Society, which has become today’s Alma Mater Society.

apprenticeship

Sutherland graduated in 1852 with honours in classics and mathematics and went on to study law through apprenticeship and examination. He qualified in 1855 and was British North America’s first known black lawyer.

He started his legal career in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) and then settled in Walkerton, south of Owen Sound, where he practised law for more than 20 years, served briefly as the town’s reeve, and had connections to the Underground Railroad and the Black Diaspora.

He died, unmarried, in 1878 after contracting pneumonia.

Sutherland had drawn up his will just three weeks before his death and left his entire $12,000 estate to Queen’s. It is unclear why he did so, but friends recalled that he often said Queen’s was one place where “he had always been treated as a gentleman.”

His donation was the largest that any one person had yet given to the university and came at a time when Queen’s was battling its way out of poverty. The university had lost most of its endowment in a bank collapse a few years earlier.

Sutherland’s gift was used to launch a fundraising campaign that helped stop Queen’s from being annexed by the University of Toronto.

Memorial

In appreciation, Principal George Munro Grant ordered that a large granite tombstone be placed on his grave in Toronto’s Mt Pleasant Cemetery - where it still stands - to mark his connection with Queen’s.

“The Board fully supports the students’ ongoing commitment to ensuring significant recognition of Robert Sutherland on campus,” said Board Chair William Young.

A task force created by students in the mid 1990s led to a room being named for Sutherland in the student centre. There’s also a memorial plaque, prizes and several student assistance funds that recognize Sutherland’s significance to Queen’s.
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[diabolical_Tanya]

Re: Canadian university honours first Black graduate

[sistactry]

Re: Canadian university honours first Black graduate

all day today, i've just been getting so many positives news about Ja,

[SistahD]

Re: Canadian university honours first Black graduate

more here.... <a href="http://multiculturalcanada.ca/Encyclopedia/A-Z/j1/2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Migration, Arrival, and Settlement
</a>


From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Jamaicans/George E. Eaton


In July 1796 three shiploads of Jamaican Maroons – 600 people altogether – were landed by a British fleet in Halifax, exiled by the colonial government of Jamaica. The Maroons found the severe winters uncongenial and began agitating for migration to Sierra Leone, which they achieved in October 1800, following in the footsteps of former American slaves who also had initially settled in Nova Scotia, as well as a group of freed slaves, who had gone from England in 1789 to settle in Sierra Leone.

Among other early Jamaican immigrants to Canada were the black businessmen J. Cathcart, Peter Lester, and Willis Bond, who in the 1860s generated controversy in Victoria when they cast their ballots, on the grounds of British nationality, to a candidate other than the one supported by American-born blacks. Another black Jamaican, John Robert Giscome, was an adventurer, explorer, and gold miner who had trekked to the goldfields of California via Panama. Lured to British Columbia four years after gold had been found along the Fraser River, he settled near Quesnelmouth, where he became neighbour and partner of Bahamian-born Henry McDame. In 1862 the two prospected in northerly British Columbia and reconnoitred by canoe much of the water system between the Fraser and the Peace River. In a year-long exploration, Giscome noted the strange geological formations in the Rocky Mountains and collected sulphur specimens. His account of the expedition appeared in the British Columbian. His portage route to Lake Summit became Giscome Portage in his honour. In the 1870s he began prospecting along the Peace. In 1874 he and others, including McDame, formed the Discovery Company, and he mined successfully for several years. Giscome Rapid, Giscome Canyon, McDame Creek, Mount McDame, and McDame Lake recognize the two men’s exploits.

From the 1870s on, carpenter James Barnswell, who had been attracted to Victoria during the gold rush, built some of Victoria’s most elegant homes. <span style="font-weight: bold">In Ontario, Jamaican-born Robert Sutherland graduated from Queen’s University in 1852 with honours in classics and mathematics and graduated from Osgoode Hall in Toronto in 1855, to become Canada’s first black lawyer. Sutherland ran a prosperous practice in Walkerton until his death in 1878. A bachelor, he left his entire fortune of $12,000 to Queen’s – the largest bequest ever received by the university to that date. Kingston placed a plaque in Sutherland’s memory at Queen’s in 1973.
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In 1914 Harry Gairey arrived in Toronto via Cuba. Gairey began working with the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1936 as a sleeping-car porter, and he helped organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which obtained changes within the CPR that would allow for black persons to be treated and promoted fairly. A follower of Marcus Garvey, Gairey became a leading crusader against discrimination, helped in the 1950s to organize the Negro Citizenship Association, and worked for changes in Canada’s immigration laws.

Garvey himself visited Toronto in 1924 to establish a branch of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which purchased its first building in 1926. Jamaicans Mabel Kirkwood and Violet Williams served on the executive, and Agatha King and Esmond Ricketts were prominent supporters. Debarred from entering the United States, Garvey attempted to disembark in Montreal and in Hamilton in October 1928 to visit UNIA branches but was blocked by immigration authorities. In 1937, however, he held a regional UNIA conference in Toronto, conducted a summer school in African philosophy, and visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1938, Garvey attended the UNIA’s eighth international convention in Toronto, while Jamaica was trying to cope with the rebellion of the black populace, influenced by his doctrines and the UNIA.

During both world wars, Jamaicans came to Canada to join the armed forces. As well, during the late 1920s and 1930s, Jamaicans in modest numbers attended leading Canadian universities as alternatives to British and American institutions, and the trend became more pronounced during the 1950s and 1960s.

Between 1900 and 1925 in Canada, domestics, blacksmiths, and foundry workers were brought in from Jamaica by business persons who paid a $15 landing tax. In Toronto during the early 1920s Alfred Barclay ran his own trucking business, and the Reverend Cecil Stewart established the Afro-Community Church, the largest black church in Toronto. Jamaican immigrants began arriving in Canada in significant numbers about 1950, in response to shifts in Canadian immigration policy that emphasized labour-force and labour-market considerations. In 1955 Canada set up the first regularized scheme for admission of Jamaican immigrants, under which an annual quota of unmarried female household help could enter the country on temporary employment visas and obtain permanent residence after a year’s service; over 1,000 women were admitted over a nine-year period. In the 1950s also, as a result of representations made by Caribbean governments and community activists in Canada, Jamaican nurses began to be admitted as “cases of exceptional merit.” During the 1980s the nurses formed the Health Care Team in Toronto and the Association of Black Nurses in Montreal. Jamaican-born nurses have also had their own island association.

In 1962 Canadian immigration policy began to emphasize education skills and job prospects, and by 1967 visiting Canadian immigration teams had been replaced by a permanent immigration office in Jamaica. Between 1965 and 1969, some 13,439 Jamaicans gained admission, as opposed to 2,662 between 1960 and 1964. Initially, males were the first to migrate, as reflected in the higher ratio of males to females and the preponderance of males in the 20–49 age cohorts. By 1969, however, the balance had swung in favour of females. During the 1960s, dependants accounted for about one-third of immigrants admitted, with young children and teenagers accounting for about 26 percent of the dependants as late as 1969.

During the 1970s, rising immigration rates showed more women than men and a high proportion of children (between 50 and 58 percent each year). Of the 62,591 immigrants admitted that decade, females accounted for about 56 percent; Canada needed female workers especially in service and clerical occupations, and a large proportion of women entered as spouses. As well, entrepreneurs and professionals found life difficult under the democratic-socialist People’s National Party and immigrated as families or to be united in Canada.

In the 1980s numbers fell by nearly half to 34,124, but the bulge of under-nineteens persisted, averaging 43 percent from 1980 to 1989. That figure began tapering off in 1990, with a sharp decline to 25 percent in 1991. There were corresponding increases in the 20–29 and 30–39 age groups. Combined, they increased from 30 percent in 1980 to 52 percent in 1991. Indeed, in 1991, workers accounted for 61 percent of immigrants, reflecting Canada’s use of immigration for filling labour-force needs. During the 1980s immigration continued to be dominated by females – at 56 percent – a pattern carried forward into the 1990s.

Many immigrants left behind dependants, including spouses, children, and grandparents, to follow as circumstances dictated. The escalating proportion of the young, particularly of the 10–19 age group, increased the number of Jamaican-born predominantly black children in Canadian schools.

According to the Canadian census of 1991, there were then over 35,000 individuals of Jamaican ethnic origin in Canada (20,910 single response, and 15,595 multiple response). That census also reported that 104,550 people had been born in Jamaica. Statistics from both the Jamaican and Canadian governments, however, indicate that between 1960 and 1991, 123,418 Jamaicans entered Canada as immigrants. During the 1970s perhaps 10,000–15,000 Jamaican immigrants and their offspring, holding British passports by virtue of birth, migrated from the United Kingdom to Canada, thereby augmenting the Jamaican ethnocultural communities.

When asked their reasons for immigrating to Canada in a 1981 study, the majority of those sampled, including Jamaicans and West Indians, responded that it was to “seek for adventure.” Political disquiet has also prompted migration to Canada. During the 1970s many professional and business people left Jamaica because of the PNP government. Almost four times as many Jamaicans immigrated to Canada during the 1970s as in the 1960s.

While most Jamaican professionals settled in Toronto, scores of well-to-do families, white and light-skinned, as well as members of the corporate and legal elites, chose Vancouver. Many of this group and their children have launched business and professional careers. By the mid-1980s Victor Seton had emerged as the largest real-estate developer in Burnaby and Seattle and become a leader in the Jewish community, both in Canada and internationally.

Education has spurred migration to Canada. In the post-1945 era of self-government and then independence, education was universally viewed as both the handmaiden of modernization and the vehicle for opportunity and social mobility. This was epitomized by introduction of tuition-free secondary and university education and a national youth service in 1973. Expanding education and training can, however, be self-defeating, if there are not jobs for graduates. Canada’s introduction of more liberal immigration policies and of a point system that favoured education and vocational training attracted many such people.

Recent studies have confirmed that Jamaican and Caribbean migrants have furthered their education on arrival in Canada and hoped for better schooling for their children. Jamaican-born parents are disappointed if a child is not doing well in school or is not emulating their educational or professional attainments.

Jamaicans have shown strong preference for Canadian urban settings, which provide the greatest scope for their linguistic and occupational skills. In 1991 English-speaking Canada claimed 94 percent of the country’s Jamaican immigrants, with Ontario the first choice of 83 percent. The Census Metropolitan Area of Toronto was home to 83 percent, with the CMAs of Ottawa-Hull, Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa, London, and Windsor accounting for almost all of the remainder. Females outnumbered males by 54 to 46 percent in Ontario, and figures were similar for Toronto. In Alberta, 97 percent lived in Calgary and Edmonton. In Manitoba, 97 percent resided in Winnipeg, while in British Columbia, Vancouver and Victoria accounted for 83 percent. In the Maritimes, the Jamaican-born population of 175, mostly males, all resided in Halifax, and the same pattern obtained for New Brunswick (Saint John) and Newfoundland (St John’s). In Quebec, where women outnumbered men by 59 to 41 percent, as high as 97 percent of the 6,370 Jamaican-born lived in Montreal.

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Re: Canadian university honours first Black graduate

.... and more
Jamaican History Month (2007)

Robert Sutherland was born in Jamaica around 1830. It is probable that his father was a Scotsman, but who that man was, or what his status was, has so far not been established. It is assumed that his mother was a Black or Coloured Jamaican.
He entered Queen’s University (or more correctly ‘Queen’s College’ at that date) in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1849 after spending some time at Queen’s College School, a small high school in Kingston then affiliated with the college. There is no information on how or why he went to Canada, and to Queen’s, which had opened in 1842, having been granted a charter in 1841. At the time of Sutherland’s admission the College, founded to educate men for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, was housed in somewhat cramped quarters in four houses on William Street. If his father was in fact a Scot, the college’s Presbyterian affiliation may have been the attraction. Sutherland was the first undergraduate of African ancestry to attend the institution.
Sutherland was a popular student, and had an excellent academic record. He won 14 academic prizes during his three year course, one being a prize for Latin awarded by his fellow students. He graduated in 1852 with honours in classics and mathematics, one of only two students to win double honours that year. He was an active member of Queen’s first student society, a debating club called the Dialectic Society. He took part in ten debates, his side winning in seven of them. He chaired one debate, and supplied the topic for another – ‘Whether Philosophy or Poetry has done more towards civilization of the human race’.
After graduation he studied law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. He was called to the bar in 1855, the first man of African ancestry to become a barrister in Canada. He practised first in Berlin (now Kitchener) and then, for the rest of his life in Walkerton, which had several Black settlements nearby. He lived in a modest brick house, and worked chiefly on conveyancing, dealing with land title registrations, preparations of indentures, and wills. In 1869 the Ontario Gazeteer and Directory listed him among the 78 names of Walkerton’s “leading citizens”; he was a respected member of the community and served briefly as reeve of the town.

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Re: Canadian university honours first Black graduate

...and more ...

Queen's U - Alumni


QueensU.ca » Alumni » Robert Sutherland Robert Sutherland
Queen's alumnus,
first known university student and graduate of colour in Canada,
and British North America's first known black lawyer.
Who was Robert Sutherland?
Recognition on Queen's Campus for Robert Sutherland
Robert Sutherland Visitorship
The Robert Sutherland Prize
Robert Sutherland Award for Excellence in Debating
Robert Sutherland – Harry Jerome Entrance Award
Robert Sutherland Memorial Entrance Bursary
The Robert Sutherland Fellowships




<span style="font-weight: bold">Who was Robert Sutherland?</span>

Robert Sutherland (c1830-1878) was the first student and graduate of colour at Queen's and one of the university's most important early benefactors.

He was born in Jamaica to unknown parents, though there is some evidence his father was Scottish. He came to Queen's in 1849, just eight years after the university was founded. He is the first known university student and graduate of colour in Canada.

Sutherland led an extraordinarily successful academic career at Queen's, winning 14 academic prizes, including one for general merit in Latin that was awarded after a vote by fellow students.

He was an excellent debater and served as treasurer of the Dialectic Society, which has become today's Alma Mater Society.

Sutherland graduated in 1852 with honours in classics and mathematics and went on to study law through apprenticeship and examination. He qualified in 1855 and was British North America's first known black lawyer.

He started his legal career in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) and then settled in Walkerton, south of Owen Sound, where he practised law for more than 20 years, served briefly as the town's reeve, and had connections to the Underground Railroad and the Black Diaspora.

He died, unmarried, in 1878 after contracting pneumonia.



Sutherland's Will


He had drawn up his will just three weeks before his death and left his entire $12,000 estate to Queen's. It is unclear why he did so, but friends recalled that he often said Queen's was one place where &quot;he had always been treated as a gentleman.&quot;

His donation was the largest that any one person had yet given to the university and came at a time when Queen's was battling its way out of poverty. The university had lost most of its endowment in a bank collapse a few years earlier.

Sutherland's gift was used to launch a fundraising campaign that helped stop Queen's from being annexed by the University of Toronto. In appreciation, Principal George Munro Grant ordered that a large granite tombstone be placed on his grave in Toronto's Mt Pleasant Cemetery - where it still stands - to mark his connection with Queen's.


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Recognition on Queen's Campus for Robert Sutherland
Robert Sutherland Hall
In February 2009, Queen's Board of Trustees unanimously approved a student-initiated motion to name the Policy Studies Building at 138 University Avenue after alumnus Robert Sutherland.

An unveiling ceremony is being planned for later in 2009.

&quot;We were looking for something that would appropriately reflect the life and achievements of Robert Sutherland, as well as the impact his gift had on the University. Dedicating the Policy Studies Building is ideal because it marks a permanent recognition of Queen's diverse roots and the multiple individuals and communities that have shaped, and that continue to shape, the University and Canada.&quot; – student Rector Leora Jackson

&quot;This particular form of recognition and this particular building are a perfect fit for a distinguished individual who plays a significant role in the University's history. The initiative and enthusiasm of the students involved is a credit to the University and is what Queen's is all about.&quot; – Principal Tom Williams

Robert Sutherland Plaque in Grant Hall
In 1973, the City of Kingston dedicated a plaque in Grant Hall to his memory.

Robert Sutherland Memorial Room
In the fall of 1996, the AMS established a committee called the Robert Sutherland Task Force to &quot;seek a space on campus which would be appropriate to recognize the contributions of Robert Sutherland, the university's first major benefactor and first Black graduate.&quot; This group made recommendations that led to several more memorials.

In 1997, the Robert Sutherland Memorial Room was established on the second floor of the John Deustch University Centre.

It was named &quot;in memory of Robert Sutherland, in recognition of his generous support of Queen's through a large estate gift, the first major bequest received by the University.&quot; (John Deustch University Council recommendation to the Board of Trustees)

The room, which houses a dedication plaque and the Sutherland Prize award board, continues to be used for meetings, lectures, performances and receptions. It was renovated and rededicated by the university in November 2006.


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Robert Sutherland Visitorship
The Robert Sutherland Visitorship brings to campus a noted speaker with expertise in the areas of equity, community diversity and race relations. It was established by the John Deutsch University Centre Council in 1997 on the recommendation of the Robert Sutherland Task Force.

Currently funded through the John Deutsch university Centre, the Visitorship Committee has brought a number of distinguished visitors to the campus since 1998.

Past visitors have included:

1998. Dr. Esmeralda Thornhill, Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University
Inaugural Public Lecture: &quot;Lessons for Now: Life and Times of Robert Sutherland&quot;

2000. Enid Lee, international consultant - public speaker, facilitator, writer and community builder - on language, culture and race as they relate to equity in education and organization development
Public Lecture: &quot;Fanning the Flames for Equity in Hard Times: A Conversation for Black History Month&quot;

2001. Ken Wiwa, journalist and author, In the Shadow of a Saint
Public Lecture: &quot;In the Shadow of a Saint: Memory, Community and the Quest for Social Justice&quot;

2002. Dr. Patricia McFadden, sociologist, activist, writer and publisher and recipient of the Hellman/Hammet Human Rights Prize in 1999.
Public Lecture: &quot;Becoming Post Colonial: African Women Change the Meaning of Citizenship&quot;

2003. Faith Nolan, singer, songwriter and activist.
Public Lecture: &quot;Talking and Singing 'bout the Jailhouse Blues: Challenging the Growth of the Prison Industrial Complex&quot;

2004. William Commanda, Elder, Romola Trebilcock, co-ordinator, Circle of All Nations.
Public Lecture: &quot;A Circle of All Nations - A Culture of Peace&quot;

2005. Dr. George Elliott Clarke, poet, playwright, screenwriter, author.
Public Lecture: &quot;Towards a Pedagogy of African-Canadian Literature&quot;

2006. Dr. Afua Cooper, dub poet, sociologist, and historian.
Dr. Cooper holds a Ph.D. in African-Canadian history with specialties in slavery and abolition. Her book, The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal, was short-listed for the 2006 Governor General's Literary Awards (nonfiction).
Public Lecture: &quot;Acts of Rebellions: Black Women and Men Engage Slavery in Upper Canada&quot;

2008. Lawrence Hill, bestselling author of seven books, including two published in Canada and internationally in 2007: The Book of Negroes (a novel) and The Deserter's Tale: the Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from the War in Iraq

2009. This year's public lecture by Sunera Thobani, professor at UBC's Centre for Women's and Gender Studies, has been postponed.
The Public Lecture will be: &quot;Gender, Islam and the War on Terror&quot;. Rescheduling is in progress.

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The Robert Sutherland Prize
This prize is presented annually by the Alma Mater Society to a graduating and self-defined student of colour who has shown leadership and initiative at Queen's, most specifically in the area of encouraging and fostering diversity on campus.

Recipients:

1997-98: Donna Wallen
1998-99: Cherilyn Scobie
1999-00: Ray Dziet
2001-02: Amma Bonsu
2002-03: Jonathan Daly
2003-04: Mark Adamaley
2005-06: Jacqueline Kiggundu
2006-07: Tka Pinnock
2007-08: Eden Abraham, Darcel Bullen

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Robert Sutherland Award for Excellence in Debating
This award is presented annually by the Alma Mater Society &quot;to the member of the Debating Union who has distinguished him/herself as an outstanding contributor to the Union, exemplified the principles of fair play and sportsmanship, and has demonstrated superior skill and dedication while representing Queen's University on the national and/or international debating circuit(s).&quot;


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Robert Sutherland - Harry Jerome Entrance Award
Established in April 2008 by Queen's University, in cooperation with Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) and the Harry Jerome Scholarship program to honour Robert Sutherland (BA 1852), the first person of African heritage to graduate from Queen's University.

Awarded to black students entering the first year of any direct-entry undergraduate degree program at Queen's University on the basis of demonstrated financial need, academic achievement and contribution to the black community or other volunteer activities.

The award is renewable for three years provided a satisfactory academic average has been maintained each year and financial need remains evident.

Learn more about awards and bursaries...

Robert Sutherland Memorial Entrance Bursary
Established by the Afro-Caribe Community Foundation of Kingston and District, with donations from friends and colleagues of the Foundation.

Awarded to a student entering any undergraduate program at Queen's on the basis of financial need, good academic standing and involvement in and/or contribution to the African or Caribbean communities in Canada.

Learn more about awards and bursaries...

The Robert Sutherland Fellowships
The Robert Sutherland Fellowships (formerly known as Graduate Dean's Scholarships for Aboriginal and Canadian Visible Minority Students) were established in 1992 to help diversify the campus by attracting applications from visible minorities that are under-represented at Queen's.

Awards are available to incoming Aboriginal students, African Canadian students and other Canadian visible minority students.

The awards will be made through a competition held each year in May-June. Application must be made when a student applies for graduate study at Queen's. Value =$10,000.