Black History Month spotlight: Wilma Morrison

While Black people have been living in Canada for hundreds of years the month of February was designated as Black History Month in 1995. Wilma Morrison, who grew up in Hamilton was ahead of the game when it comes to preserving and sharing the story of Black Canadians.

READ MORE: How the City of Hamilton is celebrating Black History Month

Even in her teen years, Morrison knew she and other Black Canadians were outcasts and she had to act. Close family friend Aileen Duncan remembers one particular incident when Wilma and friends tried to go bowling in downtown Hamilton, “when the owners had seen that it was a group of Black kids, they refused to let them in. So Wilma being Wilma, she didn’t have a problem in starting a protest there.”

In a documentary about her life, Morrison said it wasn’t until she took part in celebrations at the end of the second World War that she finally got a sense of what equality felt like, “everybody met in downtown Hamilton, and everyone was hugging and kissing each other and it was the one time in my life that I felt that I was much a part of the general community.”

READ MORE: Black History Month spotlight: Jack Washington

Even when she tried to better herself for that community, it turned its back, “I decided that I would try to get into nursing and that wasn’t available. The hospitals weren’t ready for Black nurses at that time.” Eventually, Morrison got her chance and she was one of the first Black women in Hamilton trained at the General hospital.

Healthcare wasn’t Morrison’s only passion. Decades before Canada officially recognized February as Black History Month, Wilma had the drive to keep her people’s story front and centre.

When living in Niagara Falls, Wilma worked as a custodian at the Nathaniel Dett Chapel British Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1814. The church was a meeting place for slaves who escaped to Canada from the U.S. through the underground railroad.

When the church was threatened to be sold and demolished Morrison knew it was time to step up again. Morrison fought hard for the church, setting up a small library filled with Black history eventually called the Norval Johnson Heritage Library, she also received $5,000 from the Ontario Historical Society. The church was eventually named a designated historical site in 2000. The Norval Johnson Heritage Library has since moved to the St. Catharines public library.

READ MORE: Black History Month spotlight: Tillie Johnson

Wilma’s passion for history was so strong, she had to share it with others through the Niagara Freedom Trail Tours. Morrison’s steadfast dedication to maintaining Black history was commemorated with the Black Military History of Niagara Travelling Exhibit.

Morrison died in 2020 at the age of 91.