Page13The first segregated school for Black children in Saint John was "The African School", opened in August of 1820. This followed the request of the Lieutenant-Governor of NB that "coloured children be taught in a seperate branch of the institution". In 1848 the NB legislature provided a grant for the "Negro Day School" in Loch Lomond. There were forty students. Four years later, a committee of Whites and Blacks attempted to establish a permanent school for "coloured children" in Saint John.
The first Black to attend university in the province was Arthur Richardson. He began in 1883 at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and graduated in 1886 with Honours in Classics. The first Black woman to attend was Mary Matilda Winslow. She entered UNB in 1901 and graduated with Honours in 1905. Both Mr. Richardson and Miss Winslow had to seek employment outside the province, being unable to obtain teaching positions in NB schools. Miss Winslow found a teaching position in Nova Scotia, but eventually moved to the United States.
Miss Melvina Henderson was the first Black to graduate from
Saint John High School. She graduated with honors in the 1930's. Her
metriculation (provincial government exams) marks were so high she was accused
of cheating. She was made to rewrite all exams under close supervision. The
second exams were just as exceptional as the first act. Miss Henderson's marks
remained. She won a scholarship to Teacher's College and continued her academic
excellence.
On May 24, 1970, the first grant from
the educational fund set up under the sponsorship of PROBE (predecessor of
PRUDE) was presented to Kevin Langford. The grant was to aid Kevin, a grade 7
student at Lorne School, in his pursuit of musical training. Making the
presentation were two members of the educational fund committee, Rev. Bruce
Roberts (left) and Clifford Skinner (right).
In the early 1970's, District 20 of Saint John and the
Department of Education had to deal with a Grade 12 student who refused to
study Huckleberry Finn in her Literature class, citing it as rascist. It
came down to a question of literary standards and a clash of cultures. With the
aid of Mr. Frederick Hodges, Mr. Joseph Drummond, and the Human Rights
Commission of NB, Huckleberry Finn was banned from NB classrooms.
Miss Brown graduated from St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia with a B.
A. degree. She graduated from Atlantic University (the oldest Black University
in North America) in 1988 with a Master's Degree in Social Work. She, too, left
the province. She has worked in the states of Missouri, South Carolina and
Georgia.
8 More
All pages © Heritage Resources and New
Brunswick Community College - Saint John.