Lew Bobb seated at a piano, playing with his jazz band in Medicine Hat, 1961. Archives Accession #253A-02..--PHOTO COURTESY ESPLANADE ARCHIVES
While many are aware of February being Black History Month, we also have a very important day on August 1st: Emancipation Day. On this date, Britain’s Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which came into effect across the entire British Empire, including Canada, and laid the pathway to freedom for Black Canadians.
In Archives, we are privy to some small parts of Black Canadians’ lives, in the stories that we have in our holdings. Through research, I was able to make a connection to one David George Lewis (Lew) Bobb, a Black jazz pianist, pilot and teacher who spent years in Medicine Hat as a teacher at C.H.H.S., and member of the Kiwanis Club. It was a fascinating journey following Lew’s life through the newspaper in the early 1960s. He was often described as “much-loved”, “lively” and “humourous.” As well, he headlined the Ember Jazz Club (on Fourth Avenue in the SE Hill) with his own musical group called the Lew Bobb Trio in the 1960s.
Sadly, while doing my research in late 2020, I also came across Mr. Bobb’s short and modest obituary, noting his passing in 2021 in New Zealand. In the obituary was a note for friends and fans to connect by writing to a post office box. I searched through our collections, printed the photographs we had of Mr. Bobb, and included a small note about the research I was doing, and sent it away. I was contacted in return by Mr. Bobb’s widow, Carol, the love of his life for 56 years. Speaking with Carol, she graciously arranged to have Mr. Bobb’s memoirs sent to our Archives-as not only was he a fantastic musician and celebrated veteran, but he was also a published author. In his memoirs, he speaks about Medicine Hat: “When applying to teach I was aware that there might be opposition in some communities to having a person of colour teach their children […] It must be stated that there were persons in that agrarian community for whom aggression was the solution to problems. That I managed to avoid confrontation was thanks to timely warnings from friends […] Fortunately, when [I] obtained position in Medicine Hat, Alberta at Crescent Heights […] I found the town so friendly that it would have been very, very easy to have spent my entire life there.” I was captivated while reading through the memoirs. Just as Mr. Bobb had made an impact on Medicine Hat, so had Medicine Hat made an impact on him. To hear of his thoughts and feelings about coming to the prairies to teach, through racism and blatant mistreatment, was absolutely fascinating.
We are proud to now have a copy of Mr. Bobb’s memoirs in our collections. This is an important reason why we remember Emancipation Day; recognizing we have a long way to go for the people who have had to persevere through the difficulties thrust upon them and to ourselves continue to highlight and uplift Black experiences in our community.
To learn more about Lew Bobb or to take up research of your own, visit our Archives, open Tuesday – Friday, 12-5pm or visit our website http://www.esplanade.ca.
Excerpt from Lew Bobb’s Memoir – “Life in the Margins” (2019).”
Jennifer Utrera Barrientos is an assistant archivist at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
