On February 25, historic Sunnyside Resident Violet King Henry was honoured with a commemorative plaque outside her former home. Here is the speech HSCA Heritage Committee Chair Lorna Cordeiro delivered at the event.
A few years ago, during Black History Month, I came across the story of Violet King. The article mentioned that her parents home was located in my community, just a few blocks from where I live. Suddenly a connection and sense of place began to form in my mind.
So, I visited the CPL and with the help of Librarians Carolyn Ryder & Christine Hayes & with additional assistance from historian Alan Zakrison we were able to piece together the story of Violet King’s life in Sunnyside.
As humans we all love stories. And this home tells the story of the King family (who lived here from 1929 to the early 70s); their struggles and their triumphs as no plaque alone could. And we are fortunate that it has survived and that it still stands along with some other historical buildings and streetscapes to allow us to see through the eyes of Violet King, and provide context on what her daily life in our city would have been like.
So if we look at a typical day, she and her family wouldn’t have had to go far to shop - next door was a grocery store. It may not look the part now but at one time, it was part of the Jenkins Groceteria chain. It was founded by a Calgarian and was the 1st self serve grocery store in Canada. And they would have also frequented the Vendome Block (which housed a grocery store) or walked to the East Sunnyside Grocery store (last known as Sammy’s and currently being repurposed into a cafe). And they would have had their meat delivered by bike from Holbrook’s Butchers which once stood across from the Sunnyside Bungalow school, and their milk delivered by horse & cart until the 1940s.
To get to work, Violet’s father John could have easily taken Streetcar number 8 - which stopped at the loop in front of their house.
Violet & her siblings would have likely attended elementary school at the Sunnyside Bungalow school, built in 1919 and still standing and she would have walked up the existing path on McHugh Bluff to get to Crescents Heights High School where she excelled as a student
The family may have taken in movies at the Plaza, gone tobogganing and skiing on Hillhurst Hill (directly north of Riley Park). and the family may have attended the Morleyville Baptist Church, later known as the Lifesport building – which, we hope, will be restored shortly and once again become a community hub.
There were a lot of amenities in our community but there were many challenges to deal with, some were felt by every Sunnysider - such as the frequent flooding and mudslides that occurred here. And some challenges were targeted and even more difficult to overcome, such as ongoing racism. The Kings would have definitely paid attention to the 1940s Anti-Black Race riot in Calgary – when more then 200 soldiers and civilians smashed the windows of a black musician’s home & threatened to do him harm simply because someone thought that a white woman paid too much attention to him. (1)
If they had tried to go to the Crystal Pool and Rink which was a popular destination for Sunnysiders they might have been refused entry. In 1948, a complaint was filed by a black woman on behalf of her neice. The Manager’s response was: sometimes when there were a few (people) in the pool a Negro might be allowed in, but “generally they are barred. This applies to Chinese and Japanese too”.(2)
Having historical context such as these examples makes Violet King and her family’s accomplishments even more amazing. Similarly, having some remaining tangible built history gives us a better understanding of their story. Even in relatively new cities like ours, “we live our lives against a rich backdrop formed by historic buildings, landscapes and other physical survivals of our past” (3); the people who came before us, formed out community and give us our cultural identity. History gives us context, strengthens community ties, our feeling of responsibility & ownership and like this house, gives us a sense of place.
Sources:
“The Story of Calgary’s 1940 Anti-Black Race Riot” - Bashir Mohamed
The Calgary Herald, August 24,1948
Heritage Perth website
Additional References:
“Hillhurst-Sunnyside Historical Context Paper” (2022) – Heritage Calgary & Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association
“Hillhurst-Sunnyside Remembers”(1878) - Margaret Tanko