We're collaborating with the North York Historical Society again this year to spotlight black North Yorker's who have made an impact in our community.
By Susan Goldenberg, North York Historical Society Board Member
In connection with February being Black History Month, here is the story of notable black North Yorker Donald Willard Moore about whom The Canadian Encyclopedia says: “Donald Moore had a lifelong career in fighting racial injustices and racist immigration policies in Canada.” He lived on Drewry Avenue in central North York in a home he built himself. He belonged to the North York Horticultural Society which bestowed a “meritorious award” on him in recognition of his gardening talent.
Moore was born in Barbados on November 2, 1891. His father was a cabinetmaker and member of the Barbados Harbour Police Force. At 21, he left his family behind and emigrated to New York City, then moved to Montreal where he got a job with the Canadian Pacific Railway, headquartered in Montreal, as a sleeping car porter. In 1918 he enrolled in Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University’s dentistry course but had to stop when he was hospitalized for 18 months with tuberculosis. He returned to Toronto and e took a job as a tailor, a trade he’d learned in Barbados, at a cleaners and dyers business, and eventually bought it. He made it a gathering place for West Indians in the city.
In 1951 he founded the Negro Citizenship Association (NCA), a civil rights, social and humanitarian organization. He was its first director. On April 27,1954, Moore led a 34-member delegation to Ottawa to meet with federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Walter Harris, urging him to get rid of Canada’s discriminatory immigration laws which banned Black Caribbeans. The government gradually accepted them, starting with nurses and domestics.
In 1956, Moore and two other NCA members purchased a 12-room house in downtown Toronto and converted it into a recreation centre for the West Indian community.Moore retired from business and public life in 1975 and became an avid gardener at his Drewry Avenue, North York home. He received numerous awards including the Order of Canada (1990).He lived until 102, dying in his sleep in August 1994.
Learn more about the North York Historical Society
website: www.nyhs.ca
Email: info@nyhs.ca
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