Violet Pauline King Henry (October 18, 1929 – March 30, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and activist. King was the first Black woman lawyer in Canada, the first Black person to graduate law in Alberta, and the first Black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. She was also the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Personal life

Family

King's father John and his extended family moved to

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of ...

, Alberta in 1911, as part of a group of African American farmers migrating from Oklahoma to Alberta, both as part of the Great Migration and to avoid racist laws. They settled in Keystone, Alberta (now

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

, Alberta) southwest of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. They came to Canada as part of a Canadian government campaign to entice Southern US farmers to the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

, although Clifford Sifton's plan had expected white settlers. King's parents, John and Stella, moved to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

in 1919, where her father worked as a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

and her mother worked as a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

. Many African Americans, including her father, worked as porters in Canada. Both of her parents were considered important members of the Calgary community of Black persons. When she graduated, the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids (commonly referred to as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation o ...

, a key player in the civil rights movement, gave significant attention to her achievements and both the union's president and vice president travelled from New York and Detroit to make a presentation to her in Calgary. She was also treasurer of the Calgary Brotherhood Council.

Early life

King studied at Crescent Heights High School, where she was president of the Girls Association in grade 12 and had her yearbook captioned with her unusual intention to study criminal law. She started at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in 1948, joining the feminist Blue Stocking Club (modelled after the

Blue Stockings Society The Blue Stockings Society was an informal women's social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century that emphasised education and mutual cooperation. It was founded in the early 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey and ...

), serving as Vice-President of the Students Union and the representative of the Students’ Union to the

National Federation of Canadian University Students The National Federation of Canadian University Students (NFCUS) was a national university student organization founded in 1926. It is the oldest and first national student organization in Canada. It was the primary student organization in Canada du ...

. She became class historian for her final year and was the Alberta representative to the International Student Services Conference in Hamilton in 1952. To finance her studies, she taught piano. An active student, King was one of just four students to receive an Executive "A" gold ring at Colour Night, the university's annual celebration of student contributions to the university – the other three students were future premier

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth. ...

, Ivan Head (future advisor to

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

), and lawyer Garth Fryett.

Legal studies and career

Law school

King graduated with her law degree at the

in 1953 and was admitted to the Alberta bar in 1954. At the time, these accomplishments were reported prominently by newspapers, including

The Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The Ca ...

, The Albertan, and

The Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

. When King started her law degree, there were just three women in a class of 142. King’s legal achievements were highly recognized as significantly historic in

Canadian law The legal system of Canada is pluralist: its foundations lie in the English common law system (inherited from its period as a colony of the British Empire), the French civil law system (inherited from its French Empire past), and Indigenous ...

. King was the first Black woman lawyer in Canada, the first Black person to graduate law in Alberta and the first Black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar.

Legal practice

King practiced

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

in Calgary, articling with E.J. McCormick. Though, King did more than just article with E.J McCormick, as through the great efforts of her own, King worked on criminal cases, being assigned five murder cases, and represented clients in

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. Successfully, she appealed an

adjournment In parliamentary procedure, an adjournment ends a meeting. It could be done using a motion to adjourn. A time for another meeting could be set using the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn. Law In law, to adjourn means to suspend or postp ...

for a client she represented. King also notably worked on estate law cases. King dedicated many years to being a lawyer, and habitually spoke about racial, gender, and

inter-religious Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the indi ...

relations. She later moved to Ottawa, around 1956, to join the federal civil service in a senior administrative role at

Citizenship and Immigration Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; )Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Department of Citizenship and Immigration (). is the depart ...

, where she was promoted twice. She served during the time that

Ellen Fairclough Ellen Louks Fairclough (; January 28, 1905 – November 13, 2004) was a Canadian politician. A Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1950 to 1963, she was the first woman ever to serve in the Canadian Cabinet ...

was named Canada's first woman member of cabinet and Minister of Immigration. By 1962, the Department had taken major steps to eliminate racism and respect the new

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

YMCA executive roles

In 1963, King moved to the United States, working in executive roles for the YW/

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, gaining prominence for helping African Americans find work. In 1965, King married Godfrey C. Henry, a Trinidadian-American and graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Political Science, and they lived in Newark, New Jersey. In 1966 King-Henry gave birth to her only child, daughter Jo-Anne Henry. In 1976, she was appointed Executive Director of the national Council of YMCA’s Organizational Development Group, becoming the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national YMCA. King was 52 years old when she died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in New York City in 1982.

Legacy

King is remembered for combating

oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. No universally accepted model ...

in society and in the workplace for

people of colour The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

throughout her career and during her speech at the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority Banquet. She accomplished an impressive number of achievements that were deemed unreachable for

Black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

. Political scientist Malinda Smith featured King in a research project, funded by the

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation (), commonly called the Trudeau Foundation (), is a Canadian charity founded in 2001 named after former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Donations to the charity increased when Justin Trudeau became t ...

, to highlight the achievements of women in Canadian black history through a series of brief videos and thereby "make the hidden visible". King was also featured in the documentary ''Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley'', by filmmaker Cheryl Foggo in 2017; King was a bridesmaid at Foggo's mother's wedding. In 2021, the Federal Building Plaza located in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

was officially renamed the Violet King Henry Plaza, to recollect King’s Canadian legacy and

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

in dismantling systemic, racial and gender barriers. In 2022, Heritage Calgary and the UCalgary Black Law Students' Association presented a plaque recognizing the former residence of the King family to the residence's owner Angela Pucci. Also in 2022, in honor of King's contributions to

and Black education in Canada, the

created a $20,000 scholarship named after her, the Violet King Henry Law School Award, available to Black students studying at the university's faculty of law. On October 18th, 2023, a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

was released on what would have been King's 94th birthday, to celebrate her birth.