WRITTEN BY: Strathcona Place Society, Marms (SPS Member)
Original blog can be accessed at this site.
The community of Amber Valley, Alberta was founded in 1910 by African American families from Oklahoma, Texas, and other nearby states. Seeking a life away from segregationist Jim Crow laws, racial hostility, and violence in the US, they came in response to the Canadian government’s offer of free land in the western part of the country. Make no mistake, there was prejudice here too, but it was not as dangerous for Black people here. And so the new Black Canadians dug in, determined to make a new home for themselves and their children, in the swampy, difficult new land of hope in northern Alberta. Amber Valley today is something of a ghost town, but the children of Amber Valley have migrated all over the west, including to Edmonton, where many of these stalwart Canadians live today.
You can read more about Amber Valley here and watch the documentary, “Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley” here.
Campus UNICEF 