Making Place: A Map of Black Calgary

For decades, Black Calgary was mostly confined to undesirable pockets in the city core. Although the people resented these boundaries and the strictures that enforced them, proximity meant friends and family were always nearby. In the early-to-mid 1950s circumstances began to change, and greater financial security led to the scattering of community. Fortunately, the dissolution of Black East Calgary did not shatter the bonds formed among the members and descendants of the Black migration of 1910 who had left the northern farms to try and make a life in the Prairie cities.

This map ends in 1970. Around that time, immigration from the Caribbean and Africa increased significantly. Those populations have enriched our lives, and while a map tracing their contributions would be compelling, it would require much more space. This map focuses on the earlier years that made place for us all.

Each element on the map connects to at least one other, and the first events connect to the last. The Stampede Corral where Floyd Sneed triumphed in 1970 was housed on the same Exhibition Grounds where John Ware triumphed in 1893. In this way, we are able to follow the dots, recognizing that the survival of communities was not inevitable. Someone who walked ahead did the work.