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The Trailblazing Life of Viola Desmond: A Civil Rights Icon
Key Selling Points
This book celebrates Canada's civil-rights struggles, a chapter of history that often goes unmentioned.
This book is co-authored by and uses rare firsthand interviews with Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond's youngest sister, as well as with civil-rights expert Dr. Graham Reynolds, professor of history and Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice at Cape Breton University.
This book goes beyond Viola's pivotal moment in the movie theater to tell the story of her childhood, her career as a teacher in a segregated school and her role as a pioneering entrepreneur in Black beauty culture.
It will inspire readers aged 9 to 12 and show how one ordinary person can overcome obstacles and make a positive difference in the world.
Viola's legacy is commemorated on the Canadian $10 bill. She's the first woman other than Queen Elizabeth II to appear alone on a bill in Canada.
This book celebrates Canada's civil-rights struggles, a chapter of history that often goes unmentioned.
This book is co-authored by and uses rare firsthand interviews with Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond's youngest sister, as well as with civil-rights expert Dr. Graham Reynolds, professor of history and Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice at Cape Breton University.
This book goes beyond Viola's pivotal moment in the movie theater to tell the story of her childhood, her career as a teacher in a segregated school and her role as a pioneering entrepreneur in Black beauty culture.
It will inspire readers aged 9 to 12 and show how one ordinary person can overcome obstacles and make a positive difference in the world.
Viola's legacy is commemorated on the Canadian $10 bill. She's the first woman other than Queen Elizabeth II to appear alone on a bill in Canada.
84 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2023
3 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 15, 2024
If you are Canadian, and have a $10 dollar bill in your wallet, there's a good chance it will have Viola Desmond's picture on it. This book tells the story of this remarkable woman.
In New Glasglow, Nova Scotia, on November 8th, 1946, nine years before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, Viola Desmond refused to leave the white's only section of a movie theatre. The police were called in, she spent the night in jail, and was accused and convicted of tax evasion (the one cent difference between tax in the balcony and floor sections). She paid the fine and returned home. She took her case to the supreme court of Nova Scotia where she lost. Finally, in 2010, Viola Desmond was pardoned and the premier of the province apologized for how she had been treated.
Viola grew up in a large family who put a lot of stock into doing well in school and getting a good education. They were activists who tried to make the world better for all black people. In 18 76, her grandfather managed to get schools in the North End, where they lived, desegregated. When she graduated she wanted to go to teacher college and become a teacher. At that time black students were not allowed to go to the only teacher college, and even if she went somewhere else, she would only have been able to teach in a segregated school for black children. She challenged the teacher training tests, passed and began teaching.
Not long afterwards she quit and opened up a hair salon for black women. Soon she became a successful business woman.
There is so much I love about this book. Mostly I appreciate that it provides a woman's perspective of racism.
I really like the layout. Sections in yellow are reflections from her younger sister, Wanda. It's because of Wanda that justice was finally achieved for Viola. There are numerous sidebars (highlighted in teal) that explain historical events, define relevant terms, and provide mini biographies of important individuals.
The end of the book includes a timeline, a glossary, a section on resources, and an index.
In New Glasglow, Nova Scotia, on November 8th, 1946, nine years before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, Viola Desmond refused to leave the white's only section of a movie theatre. The police were called in, she spent the night in jail, and was accused and convicted of tax evasion (the one cent difference between tax in the balcony and floor sections). She paid the fine and returned home. She took her case to the supreme court of Nova Scotia where she lost. Finally, in 2010, Viola Desmond was pardoned and the premier of the province apologized for how she had been treated.
Viola grew up in a large family who put a lot of stock into doing well in school and getting a good education. They were activists who tried to make the world better for all black people. In 18 76, her grandfather managed to get schools in the North End, where they lived, desegregated. When she graduated she wanted to go to teacher college and become a teacher. At that time black students were not allowed to go to the only teacher college, and even if she went somewhere else, she would only have been able to teach in a segregated school for black children. She challenged the teacher training tests, passed and began teaching.
Not long afterwards she quit and opened up a hair salon for black women. Soon she became a successful business woman.
There is so much I love about this book. Mostly I appreciate that it provides a woman's perspective of racism.
I really like the layout. Sections in yellow are reflections from her younger sister, Wanda. It's because of Wanda that justice was finally achieved for Viola. There are numerous sidebars (highlighted in teal) that explain historical events, define relevant terms, and provide mini biographies of important individuals.
The end of the book includes a timeline, a glossary, a section on resources, and an index.
June 21, 2023
A book that will be very welcome for many educators, this tells the story of a woman involved in desegregating her community long before Rosa Parks kept her bus seat for herself, thank you very much. Viola Desmond became a young entrepreneur in the world of black hairdressing, having already gone through one whole load of hurdles race-wise, in becoming a teacher when few schools treated coloured students that well, and nobody would train a non-white teacher. En route somewhere with her salesperson hat on, the car broke down, stranding her overnight with time to kill, so she went to a cinema, requested multiple times to pay the extra for a downstairs seat, and eventually got thrown in jail, with the allegation she had not attempted to stump up the one cent premium. The sole reason, instead, was that the downstairs was supposed to be for white audiences only.
In a darkened cinema, of course, the colour of those sat around you really matters.
Anyway, despite the ignominy of facing court and a fine, she appealed, and so was unwantingly, mistakenly (it cost her her marriage), put in the limelight of civil rights, as I say years before similar was to happen in the US. This book, peppered with verdicts and thoughts of her baby sister, who the world only lost in 2022, is colourful, interesting, and a testimony to a very interesting woman. I did think the narrative could have been presented in a fashion for the different box-outs to flow with the rest, but that seems unlikely to happen, with some being background context, and some examples of similar events from years away from these happenings. I've certainly seen them amalgamated better elsewhere. But that aside, there are minor quibbles at the worst. This conveys the background, events and subsequent happenings as regards Ms Desmond, meaning people may find little wrong in handing over the ten dollar notes now bearing her face to get a copy. A strong four stars.
In a darkened cinema, of course, the colour of those sat around you really matters.
Anyway, despite the ignominy of facing court and a fine, she appealed, and so was unwantingly, mistakenly (it cost her her marriage), put in the limelight of civil rights, as I say years before similar was to happen in the US. This book, peppered with verdicts and thoughts of her baby sister, who the world only lost in 2022, is colourful, interesting, and a testimony to a very interesting woman. I did think the narrative could have been presented in a fashion for the different box-outs to flow with the rest, but that seems unlikely to happen, with some being background context, and some examples of similar events from years away from these happenings. I've certainly seen them amalgamated better elsewhere. But that aside, there are minor quibbles at the worst. This conveys the background, events and subsequent happenings as regards Ms Desmond, meaning people may find little wrong in handing over the ten dollar notes now bearing her face to get a copy. A strong four stars.
August 9, 2024
This title is nominated for the 2025 Hackmatack Award in the English non-fiction category. Based heavily on in person interviews with Wanda Robson (Viola's sister), the book tells the story of Viola's life and experience as a Black woman living in Nova Scotia in the 20th century & how she ended up as the first non-royal woman to be pictured on Canadian currency. The book was well designed and very readable, with short but engaging chapters. I particularly liked the personal touch added by the 'notes from Wanda' pages. I think that Viola's story is one of strength of character and perseverance in the face of adversity and unfair treatment, and should be read by all elementary school kids in our Country. Highly recommended.
November 5, 2025
Our $10 lady.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews