Plaque to honour first Canadian-born Black lawyer will be placed in Saint John Law Courts

Abraham Beverly Walker was a trailblazer in New Brunswick in the 1800s. 

“He is the Canadian equivalent of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King in my mind,” said Peter Little, a historian and the author of "Abraham Beverley Walker: Lawyer, Lecturer, Activist."

Next week, a plaque with Walker's story will be installed at the Saint John Law Courts to honour him.

"The plaque recognition actually grew out of an effort to actually get a headstone for him because he's buried in a cemetery here in Saint John," said Damon Levine with PRUDE Inc., a non-profit organization in Saint John, N.B.

Last year, PRUDE, which stands for pride of race, unity, dignity through education, the New Brunswick Black History Society, and lawyers from the province raised enough money to put up a monument on Walker's gravesite.

"We had extra money left over, so we decided to put that into a plaque to be placed in the Saint John Law Courts, which makes sense because he was Canada's first Canadian-born Black lawyer,” Levine said. 

Walker was not only a lawyer but also a civil rights activist and newspaper publisher.

"I think it goes back to writing a wrong because he was so horribly treated by members of his profession. Not all, like he had allies in the legal profession.... but he really bore the brunt of a lot of racial animosity because he was the first Black lawyer,” Little said.

Neil Clements, a lawyer in Saint John, looks forward to seeing the plaque in the law court.

"It tells me that we're moving forward. It means that they recognize the challenge of our community, when it comes to being members of the legal profession. There's a reason it took 170 years for me to show up after Abraham,” said Clements.

The historian behind a book on Walker says he'd like to see institutions in the province go a step further in recognizing Walker’s accomplishments. 

"I would like to see either the new school that's going to be built eventually in the south end named after him or... the faculty of law building on the UNB campus in Fredericton,” Little said.

The plaque will be revealed in the Black History Room of Brunswick Square in Saint John next week before making its way to the Saint John Law Courts.