Emily Arabella "Emma" Stark (born February 17, 1856) was a Canadian teacher. She was the first Black Canadian teacher in

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

and the first teacher in the new North Cedar School, in 1874.

Early life

Emily Arabella (Emma) Stark was born on February 17, 1856, in California, United States, to parents Louis (1816–1895) and Sylvia Stark (1840–1944), who had been slaves in the United States. In 1860, Stark arrived with her family on

Salt Spring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled ...

, B.C. While on Salt Spring Island, her siblings John Edmond (1860–1930), Abraham Lincoln (1863–1908), Hannah "Anne" Serena (1866–1888) and Marie Albertine (1867–1966) were born. The Estes-Stark family moved to Cedar,

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

, in 1875, where Stark's youngest sister Louisa Edna was born (1878–1971).

Education

Stark attended Salt Spring Island Central School, and she completed secondary school at Nanaimo high school. Her instructor was primarily John Craven Jones, a graduate of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. Afterwards, Stark graduated high school; she trained to be a teacher.

Career

Stark became a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

at the age of 18 years. In August 1874, she was hired to teach in a one-room school in the Cedar District; her starting salary was $40 per month. She lived in a cabin that was provided for the teacher. Students who lived a long way from the school boarded with Stark, including her younger sister Marie.

Personal life

Stark married James Clarke on December 28, 1878.

Death

In 1890, Stark died at the age of 34 from tuberculosis.

References

External links

Emma Stark
a
BC Black History Awareness Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Emma 1856 births 1890 deaths Canadian educators Canadian women educators Black Canadian women American emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia 19th-century Canadian women educators Educators from California Tuberculosis deaths in British Columbia 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis