Black-and-white photo of the highly decorated interior of a barbershop with two Black men standing with their arms resting on large barber’s chairs.

ONLINE EXHIBIT: Black Histories in Ontario: The Alvin D. McCurdy Collection

Economy, education, community and family

The McCurdy collection tells many stories about the daily lives of Black people in Ontario, from work and home life to religion, education, social activities, and family—including McCurdy’s own.

Living off the land

Formerly enslaved people acquired land through settlement programs and individual purchases, built homes and established themselves as an integral part of the Ontario community. The mortgaging and purchase of property was part of the personal and business life of the Black community in Ontario in the 19th century.

Black-and-white photo of a man and woman with a dog standing in front of a house with wooden siding in winter.

Long rectangular piece of paper bearing a neatly hand-drawn sketch of a plot of land, the elements of which are labeled with identifying text.

Large, cream-coloured mortgage document bearing printed text and handwritten script and signatures. The heading at the top reads “This Indenture.”

The workplace: professionals and tradespeople

Members of the Black community moved into the professions, including law and medicine. Fred H. A. Davis (whose father, Delos Rogest Davis, was one of the first Black lawyers in Ontario) was called to the bar in 1900 and practised for many years in the Amherstburg area. Dr. Mary Waring was a physician in the Windsor area in the later 19th century. Many people were also involved in skilled trades and the union movement, helping to improve living conditions and fighting for workplace equality. McCurdy was a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America for many years.

Black-and-white photo of a man and woman seated, and at work, at a large desk in an office filled with boxes and papers.

Black-and-white vertically oriented rectangular full-length portrait photo of a Black woman in a long dress, fur stole and hat.

The right to education

Black community leaders fought for their children’s education rights. For many years there were segregated schools, like the Marble Village Coloured School, until the last one closed in 1966. Black teachers were essential, training others and working in sometimes poorly equipped schools. John Alexander (one of the first educators to challenge the idea of segregated schools) taught at the Anderdon Township School for $600 a year in 1914. Ethel Alexander received several certificates, including one to teach as a missionary. Attendance records are a vital resource about younger community members.

Black-and-white photo of seven children of different ethnicities standing in a line, arranged by height, in front of a small wooden schoolhouse during the wintertime.

Paper certificate bearing printed text and handwritten script, including a signature and date, titled Honorary Teacher’s Certificate.

Paper document bearing a printed table that includes a handwritten list of names and numerical tabulations.

Church and community life

Religion played a major role in Black communities. Amherstburg had several Black churches, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the British Methodist Episcopal Church. The Baptist Church also had a strong presence, and one of the oldest Black churches in Ontario is the Amherstburg First Baptist Church, built between 1838 and 1845. The McCurdy collection includes the papers of Ethel Alexander, from Amherstburg, who taught as an Anglican missionary in British Honduras (Belize). This combination of education and faith inspired many to offer their service beyond their immediate community.

Cover of a paper booklet with a simple printed text, titled Programme of the One Hundred Eighth Annual Session of the Amherstburg Regular Missionary Baptist Association of Ontario, and dated August 26th through the 29th 1948.

Black-and-white photo of an ethnically diverse group of school children sitting on and standing in front of a wooden gate, accompanied by a Black woman in a long dress.

The Black community and Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal order, and Prince Hall Freemasonry—named after a freeborn Black American who was initiated into an Irish Constitution Military lodge in Boston in 1775—came to Ontario in 1852. Early lodges provided a welcoming social environment. Many men in Ontario were Masons, and their wives, daughters and sisters belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star. Records from lodges, along with churches and schools, are often some of the earliest records of Black society in Ontario. McCurdy’s own contributions were recognized in 1960 when he received the Grand Master’s Award.

Black-and-white photo of a group of Black men dressed in suits, ties and aprons symbolic of their Masonic membership standing facing each other in two rows, on a city street in front of a market.

Blue and white paper document with printed text and handwritten script that reads M. W. Grand Lodge, Grand Master’s Award and bears signatures, a date and a red official seal.

A tireless genealogist

McCurdy’s interest in Black history in and around Essex County was also inspired by research into his own family. His Resource Files (F 2076-3) and Genealogical Files (F 2076-4), which include newspaper clippings, document transcriptions, biographies and death notices, are the result of decades of research. His own notes offer valuable insights. The collection includes hundreds of photographs of his family, including his great-grandfathers. Generations of local Black dynasties are represented by other photographs, including the Adams, Banks, Stokes and Thomas families, among many others.

Black-and-white photo of a Black man in military uniform standing outdoors in front of a military vehicle.

Black-and-white bust-length portrait photo of a Black man in a suit, framed within an octagonal aperture cut into a cream-coloured mat.

Black-and-white photo of a large ethnically diverse group of people standing and seated outdoors on a sunny day and organized in a series of rows.

Find more photos from the Alvin D. McCurdy fonds on Wikimedia Commons.

Back to: Chapter 02

From slavery to settlement

Next up: Chapter 04

The legacy of the collection

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