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Black Canadian Scientists To Know!

February 25, 2021

By Celia Du /

As February and Black History Month come to a close, we want to highlight some historical and current Black Canadian scientists you may not have heard of. We also acknowledge that there are many unknown contributions to Canadian science made by Black scientists. If you know of any others, please share these stories with us and your networks throughout the year!

Sophia Jones

Dr. Sophie Bethena Jones was born in Chatham, Ontario in 1857 to activists James Munroe Jones and Emily Frances Jones. Her family, according to Chatham historian Gwen Robinson, “was a family that did a lot of things.” William Jones, Sophie’s paternal uncle, was the first dentist in British Columbia.

Her medical journey started at the University of Toronto, and continued at the University of Michigan, whose medical education for women at the time was less limited. There, she became the institution’s first Black female doctor. In 1885, she also became the first Black faculty member at Spelman College and established their nursing training course before she moved to St. Louis and Kansas City to practice medicine. Throughout her career, she was passionate about advancing public health and health equity, evidenced in an article she wrote in 1913 as well as her endeavours throughout her career.

William Allen Jones

William Allen Jones, nicknamed Painless Jones, was the first dentist licensed under the British Columbia Dental Act in 1886. According to BC Black History Awareness Society, Wiliam “had found a home and the kind of life he wanted in western Canada. When Barkerville was restored as a gold rush town tourist attraction, the office of Dentist Jones, complete with chair and instruments became a feature on the main street.”

Douglas Salmon

Canada’s first Black surgeon, Dr. Douglas Salmon was born in 1923 and raised by his widowed aunt after his parents passed away. His aunt had been trained as a nurse but could not work due to racism. He was one of four Black students at University of Toronto’s medical school and went on to become a successful surgeon.

Knowing how much a scholarship he had received helped him through university, his family “wanted to extend the same opportunity to students today,” his wife, Beverley, says.

With his family, Beverley helped establish the Dr. J. Douglas Salmon Award for Black Medical Students for the University of Toronto. “Douglas and the other Black medical students in his class really had to assert themselves to get a good placement, even though they all graduated in the top third of their class. I think even today Black students have to prove themselves by working harder.”

In 1967, Dr. Salmon joined the Scarborough Centenary Hospital and later became president of the medical staff there and chief of general surgery. He was the first Black person in Canada to hold these positions, and was awrded the Canadian Black Achievement Award, Medicine.

Beyond his medical accomplishments, he was passionate about music,. Not only was he a pianist and had formed a musical group, “Doug Salmon & his Orchestra,” he was a protest leader on the Racial Discrimination Committee. The committee fought for the rights of Black people to enter Toronto’s Palais Royale to see jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington.

Anna Jarvis

Professor Emerita Anna Jarvis’s 40-year medical career began in Jamaica and has taken her across Ontario. Upon reflecting on her career, she wrote, “I realized how much my own life and career had been influenced by serendipity, willingness to work hard and ‘try things new and untested’, and an insatiable curiosity about the human condition.”

She moved to Canada when her husband was accepted at the University of Toronto’s anesthesia program. Her applications for residency were unsuccessful but her persistence and willingness to work anywhere and anytime was clear. “Serendipity again,” she says, “there were unexpected vacancies in the paediatric training program.” In her fourth year, she worked as chief resident under Dr. Harry Bain, who introduced her to “Canada’s incredible lands and the unique challenges” of Indigenous communities.

Her career also involved contributing to the transformation of Canada’s emergency medical services and first-responders. When she arrived in Canada, paramedics did not exist. When these services were established from 1984, she was invited to teach some of the first cohorts of paramedics. “That was a whole adventure and certainly, I never thought working in paediatrics, I’d have the chance to be a part of that,” she recalls.

Dr. Jarvis held various academic appointments at the University of Toronto and clinical positions at hospitals, received the Order of Ontario and various teaching awards, and continues to demonstrate her commitment to mentoring students. Now, the Paediatric Emergency Medicine Section of the Canadian Paediatric Society established a Teaching Award in her name.

Dr. June Marion James

Born in Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. June Marion James was the first Black woman admitted to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine. She earned Specialist Certificates in Pediatrics and Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and named a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Canada) and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. She began her career at the Winnipeg Clinic in 1976, where you can find her still today.

Dr. James co-founded Manitoba’s Family Allergy College and served as a councilor and later, president for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. With over 20 boards and committees under her belt, she was also involved with organizations such as the Caribbean Canadian Association, the Winnipeg Foundation, United Way, the Congress of Black Women, and the Manitoba Museum. She was also instrumental in founding the Harambee Housing Co-op, which provides affordable social housing in Winnipeg.

She has received numerous awards, including the YMCAs Woman of the Year (1981), the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), the Order of Manitoba (2004), and the Volunteer Centre Award for Outstanding Community Leadership (2005).

Dr. Donald Holness

Dr. Donald Holness delved into the field of diving and aerospace medicine after completing his Doctorate in Physiology with a major in Neurophysiology. His research contributed to the development of better technologies used by divers and pilots of high-performance aircrafts. A lover of Jass, he enjoyed educational and recreational travels, genealogy research, writing his memoirs, golfing and curling during his retirement.

More Black Canadians in STEM to follow!

Along with these influential scientists throughout Canadian history, we want to add to our previous list of Black scientists in Canada to follow on social media. Do you know anyone else we should add to the list? Let us know!

Paul Bzonek, PhD candidate in behavioral and conservation ecology at the University of Toronto (Website, Twitter)
Dr. Nicole S. Smith, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, coral reef and invasion ecologist at Simon Fraser University (Website, Twitter)
Ismalia de Sousa, Doctoral student in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia (Website, Twitter)
Tamar Huggins, Multi-award-winning tech entrepreneur, author, and education trailblazer (Website, Twitter, Instagram)
Dr. Trevor Charles, Microbiologist at Waterloo University (Twitter)
Janelle Hinds, Founder of Helping Hands (Twitter)
Nicole Mortillaro, Senior Science Reporter at CBC and editor of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Twitter)
Morris Scantlebury, Child Health & Wellness Researcher and Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Calgary (Website, Twitter)
Dr. Marthe Kenny Charles, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia and Medical Microbiologist at Vancouver General Hospital (Website, VMDAS International Women’s Day 2020)