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If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to stop by the display case at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Sir James Dunn Law Library’s first-floor level (basement) to view an exhibit celebrating African Heritage Month 2017, whose theme is “Passing the Torch: African Nova Scotians and the Next 150 Years.”

Stephen Murray, the IT Support Specialist at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, curated the exhibit in the glass-topped case, which contains 13 pieces of archival memorabilia, mostly about James Robinson Johnston, the first Black law student to graduate from our law school in 1898. (Tragically, Johnston was murdered by his brother-in-law just nine days before his 39th birthday in March 1915.)

Murray is a member of the new Dal Libraries Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which is composed of members from all five of the university’s libraries. Each library is creating its own display to recognize African Heritage Month.

"James Robinson Johnston paved the way for other Black students. He’s an important part of not only the law school’s history but also Dalhousie’s history."
— Stephen Murray

“I picked James Robinson Johnston because he graduated from Dalhousie with a Bachelor of Letters in 1896 and with a law degree in 1898,” says Murray. “He was the first Black law student and a Dalhousie Trailblazer.”

The display includes the following items:

• framed photo of Johnston, his marriage certificate, and the 1900 Supreme Court application to be a lawyer

• November 1991 National (a monthly newspaper for lawyers) article “James Johnston: ‘The Martin Luther King of Nova Scotia’ ”

• February 1992 Chronicle-Herald article “Murdered Promise”

• Fall 1992 Dalhousie Law Journal article “The “Colored Barrister”: The Short Life and Tragic Death of James Robinson Johnston” by Barry Cahill

• April 1993 Chronicle-Herald article “First black studies program raises $1m”

• 1996 announcement of Dalhousie’s first James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, which was held from 1996 to 2002 by Esmeralda Thornhill, a lawyer and tenured Dalhousie law school professor

• 2005 book James Robinson Johnston: The Life, Death and Legacy of Nova Scotia’s First Black Lawyer written by his great-great-grand-nephew Justin Marcus Johnston

Murray encourages everyone to look at the exhibit, which will remain in place for February and possibly even longer. “James Robinson Johnston paved the way for other Black students,” he says. “He proved that it doesn’t matter where you come from, it’s what you do with your life. He’s an important part of not only the law school’s history but also Dalhousie’s history.”