Railway porter, labour activist.
Born in Texas in 1907, he and his family settled on a farm near North Battleford, Saskatchewan in 1910. At the time of the 1931 federal census, he was working as a railway porter at Calgary, Alberta. He later moved to Winnipeg to take a job as a sleeping car porter for the Canadian National Railways.
A chance encounter with Prime Minister John Diefenbaker led him to launch a complaint about racial discrimination by his employer as well as his labour organization, the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers. In 1964, the company and union were ordered to eliminate the discriminatory labour practices. He became one of the first black sleeping-car conductors and he retired in 1972 as a supervisor.
He was married twice, first to Emma ? (c1896-?) and second in 1944 to Alice May Brown (1924-2003) with whom he had two daughters and a son. The family lived at 663 McAdam Avenue (c1965). Shortly before his death, he received an honorary doctorate from York University in recognition of his labour activism.
He died in October 2002 and was buried in the Green Acres Memorial Gardens.
1931 Canada census, Ancestry.
“Porters accuse CNR,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 January 1964, page 38.
“Union - Railways reach agreement,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 February 1964, page 35.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“Railway activist changed lives,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 May 2002, page 3.
“They will never be forgotten” by Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 2002, pages A6-A7.
Obituary [Alice May Williams], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 December 2003.
“Remember Black hero in schools, teacher urges,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 March 2024.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 March 2024
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