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Jan 27, 2013 · Viola Irene Desmond (née Davis), businesswoman, civil rights activist (born 6 July 1914 in Halifax, NS; died 7 February 1965 in New York, NY). Viola Desmond 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.
Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre.
Viola Desmond (born July 6, 1914, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada—died February 7, 1965, New York, New York, U.S.) was a Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian who built a career as a beautician and was a mentor to young Black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture.
Jan 29, 2018 · By refusing to change seats and by fighting her conviction in court, Viola Desmond directly challenged segregation in Canada. She was not the first Black woman in Canada to push back against racism.
Dec 8, 2016 · A portrait of Desmond hangs in Government House of Nova Scotia, and earlier this year, Historica Canada released a Heritage Minute detailing her act of civil disobedience.
Viola (Davis) Desmond was a Nova Scotia-born African Canadian woman, beautician, teacher and entrepreneur from Halifax, who awakened Nova Scotia society to Human Rights issues in 1946.
Jul 3, 2019 · Who is Viola Desmond? This biography details how she fought segregation, leading her to become the first Canadian woman on the $10 banknote.
An African-Canadian businesswoman, she confronted the anti-Black racism that African Nova Scotians routinely faced by refusing to move from her seat in the “whites-only” section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow on 8 November 1946. For this she was arrested, jailed overnight, and fined.
Dec 13, 2021 · Her courageous act laid bare the realities of racism in Canada. Desmond devoted the rest of her life to fighting racism and injustice. She was issued a posthumous pardon by the Nova Scotia government in 2010 and in 2016 became the first Canadian woman to be depicted on a Canadian banknote.
Feb 6, 2012 · On Nov. 8, 1946, Viola Desmond stood up against a racially segregated movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Her courageous stand, nine years before Rosa Parks' action, was a seminal event...
