Rella Aylestock Braithwaite (January 29, 1923 – July 23, 2019) was a Canadian author. She was born in

Mapleton, Ontario Mapleton is a rural township (Canada), township in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, located within Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County. Communities The largest and central community in Mapleton i ...

, a descendant of Black pioneers who settled in the

Queen's Bush The Queen's Bush was an area of what is now Southwestern Ontario, between Waterloo County and Lake Huron, that was set aside as clergy reserves by the colonial government. It is known as the location of communities established by Black settlers, ...

area. Her ancestors escaped slavery in America through the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

, and lived in the first African-Canadian pioneer settlement in Ontario. Braithwaite was educated in

Listowel, Ontario Listowel is an unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, located in the Municipality of North Perth. Incorporated as the Town of Listowel in 1875, it was dissolved in 1998 following amalgamation with several other communities in the northe ...

. In 1946, she and her husband Bob settled in the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

suburb of

Scarborough Township Scarborough (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Census 629,941) is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the eastern part of the City of Toronto. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue (Toronto), Steele ...

; she served on the local school board. She wrote a column on Black history for the ''Contrast'' newspaper. In 1975, Braithwaite published ''The Black Woman in Canada'' on outstanding Canadian Black women. She also helped the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in Ontario develop a Black Studies guide for use in the classroom. Her daughter is singer Diana Braithwaite.

References

1923 births 2019 deaths Black Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian women journalists Journalists from Ontario Canadian women historians Black Canadian women writers {{Canada-nonfiction-writer-stub