Workers’ History Museum Tributes

James Calbert “Cal” Best was born into a segregated Canada; as a boy, he and his mother were fined when they refused to leave the Whites-Only section of their local theatre. In the next decades, the cultural landscape changed considerably as new avenues opened to the Black community. […]

Bonnie Robichaud’s struggle for justice began over forty years ago. At that time sexual harassment in the workplace was not uncommon and was actually considered to be part of normal working conditions, certainly not grounds for serious complaint. […]

John taught a range of Canadian History and Urban History courses. He was the co-founder and editor of Urban History Review. When speaking about Ottawa, he brought the general patterns of different neighbourhoods to life –such as the Irish domestic servant, and the French-Canadian mill worker. […]

Penni Richmond was a highly respected and much admired trade unionist, feminist and social justice advocate.  Her accomplishments warrant being recorded, remembered and appreciated. […]

With Ed Finn’s passing at the age of 94, Canadian citizens in general and working people in particular lost an important voice in their struggle for economic and social equality. Born in Spaniard’s Bay and raised in Corner Brook in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, essentially a colony of Britain, Ed left school before finishing Grade 11[…]

Deirdre was born in 1946 in Dartford England and came with her family to Canada in 1951, just in time to start school. Her parents, Olive and Gerry, were proudly working class and she grew up listening to her father, labour leader Gerry Gallagher, talk about injustice and workers’ rights. At 16 years old she left school to work with her father at his[…]

“Pigs will fly before you girls get into the nursing group”.  As with many women who are dismissed in their fight for equitable treatment, this taunt only strengthened the resolve of Ruth Walden and her colleagues.[…]