Full Name
Date of Birth
July 6, 1914
Place of Birth
Date of Death
February 7, 1965
Place of Death
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education
- Field Beauty Culture School (Montreal, Canada)
Spouse’s Name
Known Affiliates Names
- Wanda Robson (sister)
Affiliated Organizations’ Names
- Desmond School of Beauty Culture (founder)
Major Events
- Incident at the Roseland Theatre (1946)
- Conviction and fine for tax evasion (1946)
- Unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (1946)
- Posthumous pardon (April 15, 2010)
Brief Biography
Viola Desmond, born on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was a Canadian civil and women’s rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. She built a career and business as a beautician and was a mentor to young Black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture. In 1946, Desmond confronted the racism that African-Nova Scotians routinely faced when she was arrested, jailed overnight, and fined for refusing to accept an act of racial discrimination at a movie theater in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Her unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia attracted broad attention, confirming for African-Canadians that the law did not protect them and sparking their activism. Desmond’s resistance to racial discrimination was an important milestone in Canada’s human rights history. She passed away on February 7, 1965, in New York City, New York, U.S.[1][2][3][4][5].
Citations: [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond [2] https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/viola-desmond [3] https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/viola-desmond [4] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Viola-Desmond [5] https://opentextbc.ca/abealfreader4/chapter/the-story-of-viola-desmond/