Gail Arlene Ito, Author at

Independent Historian

Gail Arlene Ito is a retired Elementary School Administrator from Regina, Saskatchewan .She has a 30 year background in elementary education, special education and administrative roles in several elementary schools. Ito attended the University of Regina, Seattle Pacific University and the University of Washington, earning a Bachelor of Education, a Post Graduate Diploma and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.

Ito has a 40 year involvement in the community of Regina and many volunteer activities include being a member and coach of the Saskatchewan Field Hockey Assoc. helping to organize the annual tournaments at Taylor Field. Ito has worked with the Regina Teachers Club to raise funds for research for Parkinson’s disease. She has also been a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders committee to promote ticket sales and donations for the Food Bank.

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990)

Sammy Davis, Jr. was born on December 8, 1925 in Harlem, New York. His parents, Sammy Davis, Sr., an African American, and Elvera Sanchez, a Cuban American, were both vaudeville dancers. They separated when young Davis was three years old and his father took him on tour with … Read MoreSammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990)

Julius Lester (1939-2018)

Scholar and civil rights activist Julius Lester was born January 27, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a Methodist minister. Lester spent much of his childhood in Missouri, where in the 1940s and 1950s he dealt with southern attitudes about race and segregation before and during the Civil Rights movement. In … Read MoreJulius Lester (1939-2018)

John Nobles (c. 1880s-c. 1940s)

Map of the Coachella Valley Image Ownership: Courtesy Matthew Trump (CC BY-SA 3.0) John Nobles was a black pioneer who mysteriously came to own a large swath of land in the 1930s in the Coachella Valley, California. This happened at a time when the sale … Read MoreJohn Nobles (c. 1880s-c. 1940s)

Thomas Peters (1738-1792)

Born in Africa and enslaved in America, Thomas Peters is best known for his influence in settling Canadian blacks in the African colony of Sierra Leone. The earliest documentation of Peters’ life is as a 38-year-old slave in North Carolina. When the Revolutionary War began … Read MoreThomas Peters (1738-1792)

David George (1742-1810)

David George, a slave and later a Baptist minister, was born in 1742 on a plantation in Virginia. His parents had been brought from Africa as slaves, and the cruel treatment they suffered prompted George to run away to South Carolina where he hid for … Read MoreDavid George (1742-1810)

The Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes (1890s-1920s)

Nova Scotia is considered the place of origin of modern ice hockey. The quantity of natural ponds ideal for skating, combined with the British gaming tradition helped facilitate the geographic and social conditions necessary for the development and creation of the game now known as … Read MoreThe Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes (1890s-1920s)

Black Loyalists Exodus to Nova Scotia (1783)

The Black Loyalists were the approximately 3,000 African American supporters of the British during the American Revolution who were repatriated to British Canada at the end of the conflict. Most settled in Nova Scotia and established what would be for decades, the largest concentration of … Read MoreBlack Loyalists Exodus to Nova Scotia (1783)

Abraham Doras Shadd (1801-1882)

Abraham Doras Shadd, the first Afro-Canadian to hold public office, was born in free Wilmington, Delaware on March 2, 1801, to parents Jeremiah Schad and Amelia Siscoe. Shadd earned a respectable living as a shoemaker, supporting his wife and thirteen children. His passion, however, was … Read MoreAbraham Doras Shadd (1801-1882)

The Quest for Land and Freedom on Canada’s Western Prairies: Black Oklahomans in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1905-1912

In the following article Canadian independent historian Gael Greene examines the arrival of black emigrants from Oklahoma in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. These pioneer settlers carved out communities on one of the last frontiers in North America. Many Canadians feel pride about … Read MoreThe Quest for Land and Freedom on Canada’s Western Prairies: Black Oklahomans in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1905-1912

Stephen Blucke (?-1792)

Colonel Stephen Blucke led an all-black Regiment that fought for the British during the American Revolution. He settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia in 1783 and became a leader in the Black Loyalist community. During the Revolutionary War, the most famous of the Black Loyalist Military … Read MoreStephen Blucke (?-1792)