Joseph Drummond

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Joseph Drummond
Born
Joseph Stewart Drummond

(1926-04-07)April 7, 1926
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
DiedJanuary 13, 1975(1975-01-13) (aged 48)
Saint John, New Brunswick
OccupationActivist
MovementCivil rights

Joseph Stewart Drummond (April 7, 1926 – January 13, 1975) was a Canadian activist based in Saint John, New Brunswick. He became involved with the NAACP and the civil rights movement in the United States and later in his home province of New Brunswick.

Drummond was a key figure of the NBAACP, New Brunswick's branch of the NAACP. In 1964, he led a sit-in at a Saint John barbershop to protest against barbers refusing to serve Black people. He also served as a member of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and as the National Black Coalition in Canada's vice-chairman. Drummond was also a parliamentary candidate for the New Democratic Party during the 1972 federal election.

Life and career[edit]

Joseph Stewart Drummond was born on April 7, 1926 in Saint John, New Brunswick to parents John Drummond and Agnes Stewart.[1] While serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, he gained an interest in civil rights and became involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) while in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1941.[2] In 1949, he helped lead a Canadian Seamen's Union strike.[3] In 1957, he started participating in activism; he was made to leave the Navy soon afterwards. In 1961, Drummond became a field worker in the NAACP's New York City headquarters and joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference two years later.[2]

Drummond also became involved with the NAACP as well as civil rights activism in his hometown of Saint John.[2] On May 12, 1964,[4][5] while serving as the vice-president of the New Brunswick Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NBAACP),[6][7] he led a sit-in with two other NBAACP members at a barbershop in Saint John's Haymarket Square to protest against the owner's refusal to serve Black men.[5][8] The owner, Tom Arbing, proclaimed having "never cut a colored person's hair in 55 years."[4][9] When interviewed by the Telegraph-Journal, Drummond stated that "few barbers in Saint John are abiding by the New Brunswick Fair Accommodations Act," adding that "It is a terrible thing in a democracy when you send a child to a barbershop and he returns and asks why he was refused a haircut." He also spoke about discrimination beyond barbershops in the city,[4] as well as about difficulties Black people faced in relation to accessing suitable housing and employment.[10] The sit-in made national coverage; the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission was established in its aftermath.[11]

Drummond served as the National Black Coalition in Canada's vice-chairman and was also a member of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission,[2] which he later resigned from in 1971, citing his "frustration of trying to do a job and unable to get it done."[12][13] Drummond was also briefly involved in politics, running as the New Democratic Party candidate for the federal Saint John—Lancaster riding during the 1972 federal election;[2] he labelled himself as "an amateur politician" and had a focus on the "forgotten electorate," such as people who lived on welfare.[14] He lost to the incumbent Thomas Miller Bell, a Progressive Conservative.[15]

Death and legacy[edit]

Drummond died at the hospital on January 13, 1975 in Saint John, at the age of 48. His funeral was held three days later.[13] In 2021, a mural containing two portraits of Drummond and Lena O'Ree, another civil rights activist in the city, were displayed in Saint John's north end neighbourhood.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141)". Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "New Brunswick race tight". The Leader-Post. 4 October 1972. p. 14. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  3. ^ "RACIAL VIOLENCE PLANNED FOR CANADA?". The Didsbury Pioneer. 29 May 1968. p. 3. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "The Saint John Barber Shop Sit-In". Backyard History. 8 February 2024. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b Wright, Julia (3 January 2019). "The hidden history of Saint John's Haymarket Square". CBC News. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Barber Shop in St. John Target of Demonstration". The New York Times. 13 May 1964. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  7. ^ Waters, Rosanne P. (2015). "CANADA AND THE TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT" (PDF). Thesis. McMaster University: 81. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  8. ^ "Joseph Drummond" (PDF). University of New Brunswick. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Saint John liberties group stages sit-in". The Toronto Star. United Press International. 13 May 1964. p. 2. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Barber Shop Has Sit-In". The Canadian Press. Star-Phoenix. 13 May 1964. p. 36. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  11. ^ Blanchfield, Mike (March 16, 1990). "Minorities and the police; Race relations director has experienced intolerance". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "Joseph Drummond leader of blacks". The Toronto Star. 15 January 1975. p. 55. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Obituary - Joseph Drummond". The Montreal Star. The Canadian Press. January 15, 1975. p. 74. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Pedersen, Mark (27 October 1972). "Progressive Conservative whip facing tough battle". The Brandon Sun. Saint John, N.B. The Canadian Press. p. 15. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. ^ "How Ontario and the Atlantic provinces voted". Star-Phoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 2 November 1972. p. 6. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  16. ^ Fortnum, Travis (1 March 2021). "Saint John mural honours Black heroes - New Brunswick". Global News. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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