Given a forecast for heavy snow, the Probus meeting on Feb. 13, 2025 is cancelled.
John Steckley
Initially in putting together the latest edition of my sociology textbooks I planned to add the name and maybe a paragraph about the first Canadian Black woman to become a doctor. I thought it would be easy. It turned out not to be so. Eventually I found Sophia B. Jones (1857 – 1932), who was born and raised in Chatham, known in the 19th century as the Black Mecca, being the northern address of the Underground Railroad. She wanted to become a doctor, but was turned down by the University of Toronto. She was determined to achieve her goal, so she went south to the University of Michigan, where she was accepted and became the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in 1885.
She soon became a pioneering teacher of nursing in several different southern states. Learning this, I thought to write an article about her, but set my sights higher when I discovered the achievements of other members of her family. Her grandfather was a slave in North Carolina, but on Sundays, he worked for himself and earned enough money to buy the freedom of his family. Three of her uncles moved to British Columbia in the 1850s, one became the first and only teacher for several years on Saltspring Island. Another became the first licensed dentist is the province. There are many such successful members of her family. A book was born.
I have a PHD in Education, and taught for 30 years at Humber College. I have published almost 30 books, most of them about the Wendat and their language. I have worked on the language for 50 years.