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Viola Desmond

Activism · NS

Activism

Refused a whites-only cinema seat in 1946 — Canada's civil rights pioneer.

Quick Facts

BornJuly 6, 1914
DiedFebruary 7, 1965
Age51 years
ProvinceNS
Era1919-1945
💡 Viola ran a successful beauty salon and school in Halifax, training Black women in cosmetology at a time when they were excluded from white-owned schools.

Viola Desmond was a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who in 1946 refused to leave a whites-only section of a New Glasgow cinema. She was arrested, convicted, and fined. Her case became a landmark moment in the Canadian civil rights movement.

🍁 Why They Matter to Canada

Viola Desmond's courage helped expose the racial segregation that existed in Canada — a fact many Canadians were not taught in school. In 2018 she became the first Canadian woman on a regularly circulated banknote — the $10 bill.

📅 Life Timeline

🎂
1914
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia
⭐
1937
Opens Vi's Studio of Beauty Culture
Established a successful salon in Halifax and began training Black women in cosmetology, as they were barred from white-owned schools.
⭐
1946
Refuses to leave whites-only cinema section
On November 8, Viola's car broke down in New Glasgow. She went to a film and sat in the main floor section — reserved for whites. She was forcibly removed, arrested and fined $20.
⭐
1947
Legal battle and public attention
The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People supported her case, bringing public attention to racial segregation in Canada.
🕊️
1965
Passed away in New York
⭐
2010
Granted a posthumous free pardon
The Nova Scotia government issued a formal apology and pardon — the first posthumous pardon in Canadian history.
⭐
2018
Appears on the Canadian $10 bill
Viola Desmond became the first Canadian woman to appear on a regularly circulating Canadian banknote.

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