The Road to Now: A History of Blacks in Montreal
Dorothy W. Williams
[Social History]
The reach of black history is long--blacks have been a part of the Canadian experience since the sixteenth century. They have figured in Canada's story from the original European explorations to the period of enslavement, and from the coming of the railroads to the present day. Montreal, a city so crucial in the making of Canada, has always had a distinct black community. Yet the historical record remains silent, causing Montreal's black population to be invisible even today. The Road to Now provides a long-overdue historic overview of the black presence in Montreal.
Dorothy Williams returns to the roots of black history by chronicling slavery in Montreal, which lasted officially in New France for seventy-one years. The author also describes the impact of the railways on Montreal's black community and charts the evolution of the black community's institutions.
This revised and expanded edition contains an epilogue covering the last twenty years of black history in Montreal, as well as the addition of photos to the text.
Praise for The Road to Now:
"Williams' readable analysis provides a solid portrait of Montreal's black community... [It] could serve as a comparative study to the black experience in other major Canadian cities... an excellent piece of local historical research."--Canadian Social Studies
"[A] well-researched account... In the preface to her book, Dorothy W. Williams offers the reader her 'effort to describe the many facets of black presence in Montreal.' She has achieved her aim admirably well."--Montreal Serai
Dorothy W. Williams is the author of Blacks in Montreal, 1628-1986: An Urban Demography and the recipient of the Mathieu da Costa Award given by the Black Coalition of Quebec.
CANADIAN RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 2006
US RELEASE DATE: APRIL 2006
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