Viola fits the bill
CBU hosts special ceremony honouring late Viola Desmond, who helped kick-start Canada’s civil rights movement
Viola Desmond is once again the face of change — or to be more precise, the face of the new Canadian $10 bill.
Nearly three-quarters of a century after she challenged racial segregation at a New Glasgow movie theatre, the iconic Nova Scotia businesswoman and civil rights activist has been posthumously honoured with the unique distinction of being the first woman to be depicted on a Canadian banknote.
Desmond, who was born in Halifax as Viola Irene Davis, died in 1965 at the age of 50. But her legacy has only grown with time. After all, in 1946 it would have been a long stretch to think that a young Black woman who refused to leave a whites-only section of a Nova Scotia cinema would someday grace the front of a Canadian banknote. Not only does her picture now adorn the bill, but it does so in a vertical manner, the first note to be printed that way in Canada.
On Tuesday, at the Cape Breton University library, a special ceremony was held to acknowledge last week’s introduction of the new $10 bill. More than 100 people turned out for the occasion that featured Desmond’s sister Wanda Robson and CBU cultural and creative studies professor Graham Reynolds, who launched a book they penned together called “Viola Desmond: Her Life and Times.”
The 92-yearold Robson told the gathering that she remembers her older sister as being a forward-thinking woman even at a young age.
“What a dynamo! — I loved her, but I thought that she was a pain in the neck, you know how sisters are,” she said, eliciting a collective laugh from the crowd that included academics, students and interested persons from the community.
“She was trying to tell me, and to tell all of us, that education is so important and she got that from our mother who always asked us where we were going to be if we didn’t have an education.”
For Reynolds, who holds the university’s Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice, it was the culmination of years of study and research which included the many hours he spent with Robson, who returned to school and graduated from CBU in her mid-seventies.
“This is a beautiful illustration of the power of commitment and the realization that one person can make a huge difference and if you put your mind to it you can change the world,” said Reynolds.
“What we’re witnessing today is a power unleashed through the power of education itself and that gives us a sense of self-confidence and a sense of vision to want to change and make the world a better place and to correct the injustices of the past.”
CBU president David Dingwall was also on hand to applaud both Desmond’s recognition and the desire of her sister to tell the story not only of Viola’s theatre incident, but of her success as a pioneering African-Canadian businesswoman.
“Viola’s courage has become a historic and nationally recognized and celebrated story,” said Dingwall, who served as the president and CEO of the Bank of Canada for two-and-a-half years in the mid-2000s.
“Through the power of education Wanda Robson found the encouragement and outlet to tell her sister’s story — the rest is history.”
The ceremonial event, which featured a few tribute songs by the Jubilee Singers (formerly
known as the Inspirational Singers), also included a money exchange courtesy of the Bank of Canada. People attending the event were encouraged to bring an old $10 bill and had the banknote replaced with the newly printed Viola Desmond bill that officially went into circulation on Nov. 19.
The bank’s regional director of currency, Monique LeBlanc, said banknotes are more than just legal tender.
“They also tell the stories that have shaped our country and they provide opportunities to continue shaping our country by sparking conversations every time they change hands,” said LeBlanc, a native of Margaree Forks.
She went on to explain that
the process of putting Desmond’s image on the $10 bill began when the Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Minister of Finance agreed that the time had come to feature an iconic Canadian woman on the front of a regularly circulating banknote.
LeBlanc noted that Canadians were asked who should adorn such a bill and the long process eventually resulted in the selection of Desmond. She explained that the development of the bill involved a lot of people, including historians, researchers and graphic designers.
She also explained that the new banknote’s artwork includes a map of Desmond’s home neighbourhood in north Halifax, while the reserve side features an image of the Winnipeg-located Canadian Museum for Human Rights and an eagle feather that symbolizes Indigenous ideals such as truth, power and freedom.
Following the ceremony, LeBlanc set up shop for the long queue of people looking to exchange their old bills for the new Viola Desmond bill.
And each and every one of the recipients of the new banknote stated they had no intention of spending the new $10 bills.
CBU vice-president Gordon MacInnis was one of the first to get his hands on some of the new money: “These are going to my kids — it’s important that we remember what Viola Desmond did.”
Added university administrative support employee Sonya MacDonald: “I won’t be spending these — they are special and are going in my memories book.”
Sydney retiree Donald Lucas said he plans to give his pair of new bills to his young grandchildren: “I’ll tell them about the history and how important Viola Desmond was.”