Harold H. Potter facts for kids

Harold Herbert Potter (born March 27, 1914 – died May 8, 2004) was a very important Canadian sociologist. He was the first Black Canadian to be hired as a sociology lecturer at a Canadian university. This happened in 1947 at Sir George Williams College in Montréal, which is now part of Concordia University.

Harold Potter's Life Story

Growing Up in Montréal

Harold H. Potter was born in Montréal. He grew up in a neighborhood called Little Burgundy. This area was home to many working-class, English-speaking Black families in Montréal.

His parents were Alfred Moore Westerby Potter and Gertrude Miller Potter. They both came from British Guiana (now Guyana). They arrived in Canada in the early 1900s, even though it was hard for non-White people to immigrate then. They got married in 1913, and Harold was their first child. He had two younger brothers, Donald and Calvin.

Family Fighting for Fairness

Harold's childhood was shaped by his family's efforts to overcome racial prejudice. His father, Alfred, worked as a "redcap" porter at Windsor Station. He fought for a union to improve workers' rights. In 1943, porters finally got official union recognition.

Alfred was also a leader in the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Montréal. This group worked to unite and empower Black people around the world. Alfred even hosted UNIA meetings at their family home. He helped share information for the UNIA's Black Star Line, which was a shipping company owned by Black people. He was known as a key helper for Marcus Garvey, the UNIA leader. Alfred also helped fight against racial discrimination. In 1936, he supported a court case against a tavern that refused to serve people because of their race.

Harold's mother, Gertrude, was also a community leader. She volunteered and worked part-time at the Negro Community Centre, which opened in 1927. She also rented rooms in their home to Black American tourists. Many hotels at the time would not let Black people stay there. In 1955, Gertrude wrote a letter supporting racial equality. She believed that everyone should have the same opportunities based on their skills, not their race.

Harold's brother, Calvin Cuthbert Potter, was one of the first Black people to work at Montréal City Hall. He served as a soldier in World War Two. After the war, he earned several university degrees and became a chartered accountant. He taught at McMaster University and later became the head of the Finance Department at Concordia University.

Harold's Education and Talents

Harold Potter was active in public life from a young age. He was especially involved with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and its college, Sir George Williams College. At 14, he was already winning awards for playing the piano and for public speaking. He was the top student in his high school class in 1932.

From 1935 to 1939, Harold studied at Sir George Williams College. He earned many awards for his excellent grades and his contributions to student life. He even won a medal from the French government. During the summers, he worked as a camp counselor at the YMCA.

Harold was also the editor of the Georgian, the college newspaper, in 1938–39. He composed "The Georgian Marching Song" for the college in 1937. He also helped create and conduct the "Georginatics," which were popular annual song and dance shows. These shows sometimes made fun of famous leaders of the time. Harold composed many different types of songs for these shows. During the war, he traveled with a YMCA musical group to entertain soldiers. He loved classical music by composers like Bach and Chopin, and he followed the careers of Canadian musicians Oscar Peterson and Glenn Gould. He continued to play the piano every day throughout his life.

Working and Studying After the War

In the early 1940s, Harold worked at the Central YMCA. He also worked briefly at an electric protection company. In 1942, he was elected to the Board of Governors at Sir George Williams College, representing the alumni.

That same year, Harold joined the Canadian Army. He worked in a special group that designed training materials and developed psychological reports for soldiers. He left the army as a sergeant.

In 1947, Harold started his master's degree at McGill University. Soon after, he was hired as a sociology lecturer at Sir George Williams College. This made him the first Canadian-born Black sociologist at a Canadian university. After finishing his master's degree in 1949, he became an assistant professor.

In 1950, Harold went to the University of Chicago to work on his PhD in Sociology. However, he returned to teach at Sir George Williams College without finishing his degree, because he had a job waiting for him.

Harold helped start the Sir George Williams Association of University Teachers in 1951. He later became the president of this association in 1956.

In 1954, he became an associate professor. He taught about how society works and about families. He also studied the types of jobs Black Canadians had. In 1960, Sir George Williams College became Sir George Williams University. Harold was put in charge of hiring staff and setting up the new Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He became a full professor and was the first head of the department in 1963-64 and again in 1966–67.

In 1964, Harold had a son named Evan Harold. He married Evan's mother, Theresia Hebein, in 1970.

In 1969, while he was teaching at a university in the United States, Harold saw the strong feelings about race on American campuses. Some Black students felt he wasn't being strong enough in his protests.

Back in Montréal, Sir George Williams University also faced social changes. In 1969, an event known as the “Sir George Williams Affair” happened. Students accused a professor of racism, which caused a big discussion across Canada about racial discrimination. Harold Potter said he had never experienced discrimination at Sir George Williams.

In 1974, Sir George Williams University joined with Loyola College to form Concordia University. Harold retired from Concordia in 1977. He passed away on May 8, 2004.

Harold Potter's Ideas and Work

Harold Potter's studies were influenced by the Chicago school of sociology. This way of thinking focused on studying real-life urban communities, social problems, and different job groups. For his master's thesis, Harold studied "The Occupational Adjustments of Montréal Negroes." He looked at the limited job opportunities for Black people in Montréal in the early 1900s. He found that many Black men worked as sleeping car porters, and many Black women worked as domestic servants. He concluded that the "physical visibility" (meaning, being Black) limited their job choices.

Harold was a careful observer of Black public life in Canada and other countries. He was a great teacher and speaker, and he often spoke to the media.

He regularly talked about race and prejudice. He believed that prejudice was decreasing, especially after World War Two. He thought the war showed that society needed to be fair and give everyone equal chances. In 1949, he said that "racial superiority causes war." He also suggested that if the economic system caused prejudice, it should be changed. He gave credit to the Jewish community in Montréal for fighting prejudice and helping Black residents succeed.

Harold believed that the achievements of successful Black Canadians, like doctors, business leaders, and the famous pianist Oscar Peterson, proved that Black people were talented and productive. He argued that Black Canadians deserved their place in Canada and were not a group that couldn't fit in. In 1960, he even predicted that a Black person might one day become President of the United States. However, he also had some critical views about Caribbean immigrants who arrived in Canada in the mid-20th century.

In 1968, Harold was one of many public figures who signed an open letter to the prime minister. They asked Canada to establish official relations with China.

In 1971, Harold wrote a positive review of a book called The Blacks in Canada: A History. He pointed out that the book missed some parts of the history of successful Black Canadian academics and business people. He also believed that Black people in Canada had a better experience than those in the U.S.A.