Who is Mifflin Gibbs? Uncovering B.C.s Black history | British Columbia | CBC

WHO IS MIFFLINGIBBS?

Uncovering B.C.s Black history

Mifflin Gibbs was the first Black person elected to public office in B.C. and helped guide the colony into joining the Confederation of Canada. But most B.C. students likely dont know who he is because local, Black history isnt mandated in the school curriculum.

By Ashley Moliere

Photo: C.M. Bell Studio Collection; Design:AndrewMcManus/CBC

Politician, entrepreneur, father, husband these are just a few of the words used to describe Mifflin Wistar Gibbs.

In Victoria, one can find many things commemorating the life and legacy of this Black pioneer. Theres a plaque dedicated to Gibbs in Irving Park marking where he used to live and the City of Victoria declared Nov. 19 Mifflin Wistar Day in 2017 to commemorate the day he was elected to city council in 1866, making history as the first Black person elected to public office in what is now British Columbia.

But despite that, Gibbs remains somewhat of a mystery to future generations even though he helped guide B.C. into the Confederation of Canada.

Journalist Ashley Moliere chats with writer Crawford Kilian about the life of Mifflin Gibbs in North Vancouver, B.C. (BenNelms/CBC)

Growing up in B.C. in the 2000s, we barely learned about local, Black historical figures such as Mifflin Gibbs in public school. Its possible to finish high school education without ever learning about Black segregated schools in Canada or anything, really, about Black history in our country. In my experience, when slavery was discussed, I remember the history was presented positively as though Canada didnt also have slavery, and its only involvement was as a safe haven for American slaves fleeing to Canada using the Underground Railroad.

And as someone who is part Black, its important to me to see my community reflected in the provinces history. Black people helped make B.C. into what it is today. Thats why I embarked on this project to learn about Mifflin Gibbs for Black History Month.

First Black person elected to public office in what is now B.C. in1866.
His store was the first competitor for the Hudsons Bay Company inVictoria.
Gibbs was elected to represent Salt Spring Island at the Yale Convention, where delegates debated whether B.C. should join the Dominion of Canada.

Writer Crawford Kilian published the first edition of his book Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia in 1978. It outlines the hardships and triumphs of B.C.s first Black citizens and how their legacy lives on in the province today. (BenNelms/CBC)

Mifflin Gibbs journey

One name I came across time and time again during my research was Crawford Kilian. The retired college teacher and writer studied the life of Gibbs and other Black settlers in B.C. and wrote about his discoveries in the book Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia.

I met up with Kilian on a blustery January morning near his home in North Vancouver, B.C., where he told me everything he knew about Gibbss life, which included a brief but influential stint on Vancouver Island.

I think its good to know that it wasnt just a bunch of, you know, white guys with funny beards who did everything important in British Columbia, that there were all kinds of people who didnt get any glory, Kilian said. They werent remembered in anything, but they were here and they made a very big difference to what happened to the rest of us.

This is part of what drew the historian to learning about people like Mifflin Wistar Gibbs.

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs was born free on April 17, 1823, in Philadelphia. When Gibbs was eight, his father died, and Gibbs dropped out of school and learned carpentry so he could work to support his family.

Even though Gibbs had left school, he said in his autobiography Shadow and Light: An Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century, that he continued his education by joining the Philadelphia Library Company, a literary society for men of colour.

In the 1840s, he joined famous slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass on a speaking tour across the United States. After the tours conclusion, Gibbs felt down on his luck, according to his autobiography. He expressed his depression to a friend, who replied What! Discouraged? Go do some great thing.

This was the inspiration for the title of Kilians book, which was first published in1978.

Crawford Kilian holds the third edition copy of his book Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia. (BenNelms/CBC)

In 1850, at the age of 27, Gibbs headed west to San Francisco and started his life there with only 10 cents in his pocket. He was able to build a successful store with his business partner Peter Lester and start the states first Black-owned newspaper, Alto California. But life became increasingly dangerous for Black people in California after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1857 that African Americans were not American citizens and not entitled to freedoms.

In 1858, Gibbs and Lester joined hundreds of other Black people who left California after an open invitation from governor of the colony of British Columbia, Sir James Douglas, to come and settle.

Gibbs travelled from San Francisco to Victoria in 1858 on a ship named the SS Republic, according to his autobiography Shadow and Light: An Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century. (JohnFraser/CBC)

Once he settled in Victoria, Gibbs made money in the real estate business by investing in property. He and Lester started a store named after themselves that sold food and equipment to miners, which, according to Kilian, made them the first competitors to the Hudsons Bay Company within the colony.

I cannot describe with what joy we hailed the opportunity to enjoy that liberty under the British lion denied us beneath the pinions of the American Eagle, said Gibbs in Shadow and Light.

Gibbs briefly returned to the U.S. to marry his wife, Maria Ann Alexander. He brought her back to Victoria, where they had five children and raised them in James Bay.

In the 1860s, Gibbs embarked on a political career. He ran for city council more than once, but was finally elected in 1866.

At one point, the Black community was large enough in a small town to be politically significant in the way the colony was run, said Kilian.

Royal BC Museum archivist Genevieve Weber holds a letter written by Mifflin Gibbs after he returned to the U.S. (MikeMcArthur/CBC)

In the letter, Weber said Gibbs reminisces about his time in Victoria and talks about the trees he planted in his yard, which is now Irving Park in Victoria. (MikeMcArthur/CBC)

A photo of sugar art made by a confectioner in the late 1800s commemorates some of the politicians at the Yale Convention, including Mifflin Gibbs on the far right. Obviously people were talking about it, said Weber. (MikeMcArthur/CBC)

Gibbs wrote an autobiography called Shadow and Light: An Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century. It was published in 1902. (MikeMcArthur/CBC)

Just two years later, Gibbs was one of 26 delegates that was part of the Yale Convention, where they hashed out how B.C. could join Confederation. According to Kilian, Gibbs was a strong advocate of joining the Dominion of Canada and one of the main reasons B.C. became part of Canada in 1871.

He wanted, you know, clearly like everybody else, he wanted B.C. to come in on good terms. Im sure he was heavily promoting the Canadian railway and so on, said Kilian.

Gibbs took charge of a coal-mining project in Haida Gwaii a year later and built the first tramway in B.C. that hauled coal to the provinces shoreline, where it was used within the colony and exported to the U.S. Shortly thereafter, he moved back to the United States.

In his autobiography, Gibbs reflects on his decade in B.C. acknowledging the graciousness of the people and a place where he had received social and political recognition.

Then regret modified, as love of home and country asserted itself, he wrote.

It was quite a career for a guy who showed up originally in San Francisco with 10 cents in hispocket.Crawford Kilian

(BenNelms/CBC)

Dr. Verna Gibbs is the great-great-great-grandniece of Mifflin Gibbs. Shes pictured here visiting Victoria in 2019 when the city unveiled a plaque in his honour.(John-EvanSnow)

Mifflin Gibbs legacy

If you look for them, acknowledgements of Mifflin Gibbss legacy can be found in present-day Victoria. Theres a plaque dedicated to him at Irving Park in the James Bay neighbourhood that was unveiled in 2019. Just down the street, a study room was named after him in 2018 at the local branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library. So, with all of this evidence of his significance in B.C., why didnt I get to learn about him, and why arent kids today hearing his story and that of other Black pioneers?

Kilian said the Black community was a big part of the colonys population in the 1860s. But by the 1880s and 1890s, the community had gotten smaller because some had returned to the U.S. following the Civil War.

They werent noticed that much. So we tended to forget about them and they went on living their lives, you know, having kids and grandchildren and carrying on, he said. But they were no longer part of the political force they had been in the [18]60s. So we forgot.

Mifflin Gibbs and his business partner, Peter Lester, owned a store selling food and supplies at the corner of Government and Yates streets in Victoria in the 1860s. Today, a two-storey building stands where that store once was.(Image # A-03006 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and MikeMcArthur/CBC)

Kilian believes if Douglas hadnt invited Californias Black community to B.C., more American miners would have come north following the Gold Rush and the province could have been annexed to the U.S. right up to Alaska.

In 1867, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Canada became the Dominion of Canada under the British North America Act. The province of Canada is divided into Ontario and Quebec. In 1870, Ruperts Land and the North-West Territory were acquired by Canada by the Hudsons Bay Company. Manitoba is created using part of this land. In 1871, British Columbia joined the Dominion of Canada to become its sixth province. Source:GovernmentofCanada (JohnFraser/CBC)

Today, Gibbs does not have any family still living in B.C. But his great-great-great-grandniece Dr. Verna Gibbs came up to B.C. from San Francisco to unveil the bronze plaque in Irving Park in 2019.

It was just cool for some reason San Francisco seemed to be a beacon that was calling both of us almost a hundred years apart.Verna Gibbs

(John-EvanSnow)

Silvia Mangue Alene is the president of the BC Black History Awareness Society. (MikeMcArthur/CBC)

Teaching Black history in schools

Silvia Mangue Alene, president of the BC Black History Awareness Society, a nonprofit that works to preserve and showcase B.C.s Black history, is pushing for changes to B.C.s school curriculum to include more Black historical figures.

Mangue Alene said the group had been working with the Ministry of Education to update B.C.s school curriculum, but talks stalled because of the provincial election in October 2020.

The Ministry of Education said in a statement it continues to connect with organizations such as the BC Black History Awareness Society to identify teacher and student resources. It also said Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside looks forward to working with the Community Roundtable on Anti-Racism in education community leaders from a wide range of groups to better understand the impact of racism on B.C. students in the months ahead.

The BC Black History Awareness Society advocated for the plaque to be installed and was at the ceremony unveiling it.(MikeMcArthur/CBC)

It is important to teach people about history, Mangue Alene said. And also, when you learn about other peoples history, it reduces discrimination. It reduces the barriers of ignorance and prejudice.

When a Black kid goes to school and learns that a Black person was in a position of leadership, it really warms your heart, it really makes you feel better, it makes you grow a little bit more. It gives you self-confidence, so all of those little things are important because they make you a stronger person. Self-esteem is very important.Siliva Mangue Alene

(MikeMcArthur/CBC)

When I think back to the few times when I was younger and learned about historical Black figures who helped change the world for the better, I remember being filled with pride. It reinforced the idea to keep going, to keep working hard, and to keep fighting negative stereotypes by sharing these stories with my peers. But the onus to learn about these people who contributed to our history shouldnt be put on Black and biracial people.

But its been almost 11 years since I graduated from high school. I wanted to know if things had changed at all in terms of students learning about Black history.

UBC student Naomi Hudson argues that more Black history should be included in B.C.s curriculum.(BenNelms/CBC)

Naomi Hudson graduated high school in Delta, B.C., last year and now attends the University of British Columbia. She wrote an op-ed for the CBC this past summer arguing Black history should be mandated in B.C.s curriculum.

I talked about my experience in Grade 5 and seeing just a couple of paragraphs about Black Canadian history in the textbook, and that was about the extent of it, she said. Its unfortunate to say, but not much from my experience, not much has improved in that regard.

Black history is history, Hudson said.

This is one of the most diverse provinces in the country and every single ethnic group has had a role in contributing to making B.C. what it is today, so I think its important that we learn about that not just for Black history, but for everyones history as well.
Naomi Hudson

(BenNelms/CBC)