User:Shirley Gyles

The Coloured Women’s Club of Montreal, the oldest Black women’s organization in Canada was founded in 1902 by seven American women whose husbands worked primarily for the Pullman Company as Porters. Educated men, these husbands could not find work in their respected fields and were left with no other alternative other than to travel from the United States to Canada, where they resided in the City of Montreal, predominantly in the Ste Antoine District of Montreal, today known as Little Burgundy. A number of these men began working for the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways as sleeping car porters. Being in the centre of downtown, both Railway stations were in close proximity to Little Burgundy. The wives also educated in their own right moved to Montreal to be closer to their husbands and while their husbands were out of town, these ladies often found themselves with much time on their hands. They quickly banded together to form a social club as they were ostracized from other women’s groups in Montreal. Some of the wives had been members of the Colored Women’s Clubs in the US, organizations which had come from the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. Founders of the NACWC included Harriet Tubman, Margaret Murray Washington, Frances E.W. Harper, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell. Its two leading members Mary Church Terrell was the first president and Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin was on the of the vice presidents. Ostracized from various other groups, these women, at first, came together socially and eventually in response to the specific needs of their community (the St. Antoine district, today called Little Burgundy). Through their organization they dedicated themselves to the mutual aid and the struggle against poverty and social exclusion. Some of these women were Black Cross Nurses, members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Community League (U.N.I.A - ACL). Black Cross Nurses were assigned to take care of the Black Soldiers returning from the war. It was also at that time of the 1902 and 1904 epidemics, that the Coloured Women=s Club emerged from being a social club to become a self-help organization. Under the guidance of their first President, Anne Greenup, they organized temporary shelters for the soldiers coming back from the Boer War. These women insightfully responded to the spiritual, material and emotional needs of the community as a whole. In 1907, the Coloured Women=s Club contributed to the founding of Union United Church (Montreal=s oldest Black church) and has since worked in conjunction with that institution to establish scholarships for Black students. Those women did voluntary work in Montreal area hospitals, counseled unwed mothers and helped the homeless and the unemployed. The CWC purchased burial plots in a cemetery so that the needy could be buried with dignity. They volunteered immeasurable time and effort to Union United Church and the NCC (then the Negro Community Centre). Over the many decades, the women of the CWC have welcomed and helped many Black families in difficulty with such deeds as providing winter clothing for families newly arrived from the Caribbean. They have been a steadfast beacon in the Black community. Their benevolent and charitable work was recognized in 1997 by the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l=Immigration du Québec. The Quebec Citizenship Prize awarded annually by the Government of Quebec is called the Anne Greenup Award for the Fight against Racism and the Promotion of Civic Participation is given in honour of the Club=s first president. It goes to individuals or organizations instrumental in building support networks, establishing strong ties of solidarity between generations and reinforcing citizen’s belief in belonging to the national community. Present-day social conditions and programs no longer give rise to the same kinds of needs that brought Club women together in much earlier times. In keeping with the theme of helping the community, we have more recently refocused our emphasis on education. In December 1999, for example, the Club published a cookbook that has sold over 2500 copies to date and raised thousands of dollars for scholarships for C.E.G.E.P students. The CWC continues to be instrumental in dynamic teaching about the Black experience in North America. For the past fifteen years, we have conducted annual African Canadian Heritage Tours throughout Southern Ontario, Nova Scotia, the United States and the Caribbean along the route the Underground Railroad. These trips have proved highly insightful and informative, helping to broaden everyone=s knowledge of the Black Diaspora in North America. Since 1998, various members have been featured in the Round Table Black History Month Calendar. In June 2000, our President went to Ottawa, where then Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson opened In 1999, our group of mostly senior citizens, the oldest being 96 years old, compiled and published a cookbook ‘The CWC Millennium Cookbook’ which has sold over 1200 copies to date. This has added much needed capital to our scholarship fund. The club continues to be instrumental in the dynamic teachings of the Black experience in North America. Since 1999, we have conducted African Canadian Heritage Tours to southern Ontario, Nova Scotia and the United States, following the path and visiting sites along the route of the Underground Railroad. These trips have been very insightful and informative and have helped to broaden everyone’s knowledge of the Black Diaspora in Canada. Canada=s official Centennial Rose Garden at Rideau Hall, together with a Bench inscribed in honour of the "Montreal Coloured Women=s Club, Founded in 1902." In 2002, they were awarded the Trailblazer Award by the Black History Month Round Table. In that same year, CWC President, Shirley Gyles was named Woman of the Year by the Montreal Council of Women. In March 2007, the CWC went to South Africa and Zimbabwe with a group totaling sixty-four participants, where they learned more about the Black Experience and in July of 2009, they went to Morocco, Senegal and the Gambia where once again they were exposed about the history of Blacks Featured in various newspaper articles, television stories and documentaries, including the Ontario high school text book, Black History, Africa,The Caribbean and the Americas, Emond Montgomery Publications Limited as part of the High School curriculum in Ontario, they have also been featured in, Herstory 2007, the Canadian Women’s Calendar, Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. The current President Mrs. Shirley Gyles is also featured in “Whos Who in Black Canada 2, compiled by Dawn Williams. The Coloured Women's Club of Montreal continues to thrive and at the present time has fifteen active members. They do not receive any public funding and rely totally on their fundraising activities to continue their scholarship program. This is done in the form of teas and tributes dedicated to a Quebecer who has not only made an exemplary contribution to Quebec society and consequently to all of Canada, but who has also been instrumental in bettering our community in an outstanding way. Always community minded and involved and continuing in the steps of their predecessors, in 2004 the President, Shirley Gyles was elected President of the NCC/Charles H. Este Cultural Centre (Founded 1927) (Formerly the Negro Community Centre). Members of the CWC volunteered at the Negro Community Centre, giving courses and providing lunch meals to the students of Royal Arthur School. The centre has been closed for almost twenty years and a new vision has been set forth for its reopening. This redevelopment and revitalization project is being spearheaded by Mrs. Gyles; it is to be a seven million dollar project. In April of 2007, the city of Montreal granted Shirley and her Board of Directors 2.5 million dollars. She continues to lobby the two levels of government for the remaining amount to start ground breaking in the very near future. Although the club started out with American women, it now includes not only American women, but those from Canada, the Caribbean and Africa.