Industrial Island - African-Caribbean Migration to Cape Breton Canada, 1900-1930

Abstract

The late 19th and early 20th centuries evidenced extreme changes in industry and urbanization which fueled the movement of people worldwide. Included in this movement was an African Diaspora migration up and out of the Caribbean Basin and into the United States and elsewhere, as people sought to escape economic hardships within the region. Some took the opportunity to make their way to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where they labored for the Dominion Iron and Steel Company. The story of their migration to Cape Breton is of interest because they have remained a footnote in Canadian migration history. This thesis offers an opportunity to look at the lived experiences of these African Caribbean migrants and the community they created in Whitney Pier. This community served to spread notions of racial uplift and Black nationalism, evidenced by its involvement in the then growing Garvey movement.