Guest editor: Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD
University of Ottawa
It’s been an honour to participate in the development of this two-volume series of The Officers’ Quarters, devoted to Black history in New Brunswick. When I was first invited to embark on this journey in 2019, those of us at the Fredericton Region Museum were amazed at what little representation of Black history existed within the museum’s walls. Certainly, significant groundwork had already commenced in 2017, however, with the publication of a special Black History edition of The Officers’ Quarters. Thanks to guest editor Mary Louise McCarthy-Brandt, and the York-Sunbury Historical Society publication team, the stage was set to explore lesser-known aspects of Fredericton’s past. In that issue, readers were introduced to the historic slavery trial of Nancy; as well as descendants of Black Loyalist Solomon Kendall who lived on “The Hill” in Lower Queensbury. Readers were also reminded of the extraordinary significance of St Peter’s Church in Springhill, where there existed an “equality in Christ” rarely witnessed in Canadian history. This landmark publication left many of us wanting to learn more.
So it was that in 2019 a group of us came together, to share ideas, explore avenues of research, and invite others to contribute their knowledge towards developing a permanent exhibition for the Fredericton Region Museum about the history of Black settlers in York-Sunbury counties. Our intent was to establish a permanent space that would counter existing narratives within the museum, where the richness of Black history had been almost completely overlooked.
Then something terrible happened that shock the foundation of our world. Through live media streaming, North America witnessed the cold-hearted and merciless murder of George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police. This was followed by several police shootings in Canada, resulting in the tragic deaths of D'Andre Campbell and Regis Korchinski-Paquet (to name only a few). Enough was enough. It seemed that no longer was our purpose to simply reveal a lesser-known aspect of Fredericton’s past. As Canadians cried out that Black Lives Matter, there also arose a unified desire to learn more about the roots of slavery, racism, and oppression in our nation. In this context we felt more determined than ever to see this exhibition project though to completion. Frederictonians needed to know that Black Lives Matter in the past as well as the present. The results of our research, and those of our colleagues, are presented here within these two volumes—as our sincere contribution to righting Canada’s wrongs.
Since the arrival of Black Loyalists in 1783, there have been settlers of African descent who have contributed greatly to the development of New Brunswick. Working ever so silently, without recognition or applause, families and communities have banded together to contribute in significant ways to the social enfranchisement of themselves and their neighbours. In these two volumes you’ll learn their stories—braided together as witness to determination, perseverance, and self-empowerment. I invite you to reflect upon the history presented here, as well as in the accompanying museum exhibit entitled Our Black History: Early Black Settlers of York-Sunbury Counties, 1783 – Present, which opens on National Emancipation Day, August 1, 2021. Think about how you might change your own perspective on the past as well as the present.
As both Mary Louise McCarthy-Brandt and Graham Nickerson explain in their thoughtful commentaries, it is imperative that historians listen to the silences, and recognize the gaps in New Brunswick’s history—gaps that have led to a sense of unbelonging in museums like the one where we have undertaken this project. In 2020, the Canadian Museum Association called for museums to “recognize the legitimate aspirations, indeed rights of those communities historically denied equal and full access to speak and be heard” . I believe that the contributing authors herein have each in their own way responded to this call. How will you respond?
I am indebted to Mary-Louise McCarthy-Brandt, Jennifer Dow, and Graham Nickerson, who were the core members of this curatorial team and contributed greatly to the development of this journal series:
Volume 37 content:
• Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD - Editorial Introduction
• Mary Louise McCarthy-Brandt, PhD – Diasporic Narratives: Lived Experiences of Canadians of African Descent in Rural New Brunswick
• Kathie McAlpine, MD, MPH, MS - Mary Matilda Winslow’s Legacy: “My Activities since Leaving UNB”
• Julia Sheehan – Esther Taylor Burgess and St Peter’s Church
• Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD – A Tale of Three Quilts: Honouring a Quilting Legacy
• Mary Louise McCarthy-Brandt, PhD - An Interview with June Carty (June 17, 2020)
• Lawrence Hill – Freedom Bound: The Book of Negroes
• Rhonda Simmons – Black Outsiders
Volume 38 content:
• Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD - Editorial Introduction
• Graham Nickerson – The Long Walk to Sierra Leone: A Black Loyalist Diaspora
• Sheryl Bartlett - Adam Wise and the former Black Community of Lake George
• Greg Marquis,PhD - Black Migration and the Civil War: The Story of George Henry Albert and Rebecca Wise Albert
• Kieran Valk – Dubious Labeling: The Case of Two New Brunswick Collars
• John W. Lutz - Manny McIntyre: Elite Athlete & Sports Icon (1918-2011)
• george elliot Clarke, PhD – Approaching “Hammertown”; or, discovering George & Rue
• Rhonda Simmons – Black Outsiders
Copies can be purchased online via the Fredericton Region Museum: https://bit.ly/33pxfHo
