Black Canadian history
September 4, 2026
Rose Fortune black businesswoman and Canada’s first female police officer
On my arrival at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, I visited Garrison Cemetery, among the oldest cemeteries in Canada and home to the oldest surviving English gravestone. It’s also the resting place of Rose Fortune, a Black businesswoman and Canada’s first self-appointed port constable, who kept order on the Annapolis Royal wharf for over two decades. […]