Our Board of Directors
Team Details
Dr Dorothy Williams, Ph.D
founder and Board of Directors
E-mail: dorothy@lejeuneinstitute.ca
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Dorothy Williams, Ph.D., is a historian who specializes in Black Canadian history. She has authored three books, and has contributed to other scholarly and academic publications. Her first book was Blacks in Montreal: 1628-1986 An Urban Demography, was written at the behest of the Quebec Human Rights Commission, in 1989, during their study of racism in Montreal’s housing market. Her second work published in 1997, The Road to Now: A History of Blacks in Montreal, remains the only chronological study of Blacks on the island of Montreal.
Her most recent book in 1998, Les Noirs à Montréal, Essai de démographie urbaine, was a translation of Blacks in Montreal. While studying for her Ph.D., she contributed chapters on Black Canadian print culture, for two volumes of The History of the Book in Canada, (University of Toronto, 2005, 2007). Her thesis, “Sankofa: Recovering Montreal’s Heterogeneous Black Print Serials”, (McGill University, 2006) focused specifically on the range of Black print culture in Montreal. In addition, she has penned popular articles in magazines and newspapers.
Topic of Expertise
History, Gender – Black Women, Education, Language
, Railroads / Porters, Slavery, Blacks in Canada, Black institutions, Racism discrimination, Biography, Sir George Williams University Affair, Blacks in Quebec, Blacks in Montreal, Little Burgundy, The Black Periodical Press, Black Health, Historiography, Human Rights – Law Justice, Personal biography & memoir, Jazz
Books Published
The Road to Now: A History of Blacks in Montreal
LES NOIRS à MONTREAL, 1628-1986
BLACKS IN MONTREAL 1628-1986:An Urban Demography (Reprint)
Awards
2023 LAC Scholar Award, LAC Foundation, Ottawa
2022 Judge John G. Dennison Award, Ottawa Black Historical Society
2022 Black Changemakers, CBC Montreal
2022-2023 Dorothy W. Williams Actrice de changement/Changemaker, Afro Musée. Inauguration Exhibition
2021 Prix femme de Scotia
2018 Black Canadian Women: Stories of Strength, Courage and Vision, Heritage Canada
2016 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women, 100ABCWomen
2011 Girls’ Action Foundation, Spark
2011 Black History Month 20th Anniversary, Laureat
2010 Woman of Merit Award, Playmas Montreal
2007 Represented Her Excellency, Governor General of Canada, The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean. On her behalf delivered her address at the premiere of “100 Years of Faith”, Montreal, April 15, 2007