Unsung pioneer in city history gets his due
Escaped child slave sparked Toronto’s blacks to demand justice 130 years ago
The family of Albert Jackson — an escaped slave who overcame prejudice to become Toronto’s first black postman in 1882 — will be honoured today by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
About 100 members of the Jackson family will be in Toronto for the event — some travelling from the United States. The CUPW will give family members a commemorative poster honouring Jackson’s achievements.
“It means a great deal for the family,” said Jackson’s great-grandson, Jay Jackson. “But I think it means more for the city of Toronto.”
The story of Albert Jackson, a former child slave from the U.S. who escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad, is part of an important chapter in the city’s history, he said.
“It’s a great thing for them to be honouring him,” said Faith Jackson, whose late husband was one of Jackson’s grandsons.
The CUPW learned of Jackson’s legacy following a Toronto Star article published in February 2012. It detailed how Jackson showed up for his first day on the job in May 1882 but was met by indignant postal workers, outraged that his appointment placed him in a higher position than some white workers.
Jackson was reassigned to the menial job of hall porter, which only fuelled the controversy. For weeks, the local press reported on the story, which led the city’s black community to demand justice.
The issue attracted the attention of then prime minister John A. Macdonald, who intervened. Two days later, Jackson was back on his mail route — and he remained a postal worker until his death in1918. The Jackson family’s journey to Canada was mentioned in Karolyn Smardz Frost’s book I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad, and the letter carrier controversy was written about by researcher Colin McFarquhar in a 2007 article for the journal Ontario History. Still, little was known about Toronto’s first black postman. In an unusual twist, Patrick Crean, who published Frost’s book, later learned that he lived in a Brunswick Ave. home once owned by Jackson himself. He proposed that a neighbourhood laneway be named the Albert Jackson Lane, which was approved by council.
The Star story about Jackson was widely circulated by members of the CUPW, which “generated a lot of excitement,” said Mark Brown, the union’s Toronto Regional Education and Organizing Officer.
“We’re trying to say ‘thank you,’ ” said Brown, the first black elected to a regional office of CUPW.
“When you look at (Jackson’s) story it’s not just about a struggle about the obvious: racism. It’s also a struggle for dignity, respect and fairness in the workplace.”
The public event will be held today at 3 p.m. It will take place at the Ontario Federation of Labour, 15 Gervais Dr. in Toronto.