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Viola Desmond and the vertical $10 note

The Halifax harbour ferry named Viola Desmond, photographed in 2019; it does not show Desmond or the bank note.
The Halifax harbour ferry named Viola Desmond, photographed in 2019; it does not show Desmond or the bank note. Halifax Harbour Ferry Viola Desmond · Colin Stepney · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
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In 1946, Viola Desmond, a successful Nova Scotia businesswoman, refused to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre; her court case inspired the pursuit of racial equality across Canada. In 2018 she appeared on Canada’s first vertical bank note, the $10 note.

Scope & context

Desmond’s 1946 stand and her recognition on the $10 note, not a full biography or the history of segregation in Canada.

Sources behind this record

1