Alene explained the importance of documenting
stories of Black Canadians in British Columbia.

“The history taught in schools is very white-centric,
so it’s up to us to tell our stories. When you’ re
oppressed, you don’t sit down and take it, you need to
rise up and tell your own history. My goal is to log the
history of Black pioneers in British Columbia, along with

Black people who’ve shaped Canada over the years.”

One of these stories includes Vancouver’s
lost history of Hogan’s Alley.

During the first six decades of the twentieth century,
Park Lane was nicknamed Hogan’s Alley, which ran on the
southwestern edge of Strathcona, only to be replaced with the
Georgia Viaduct we now know today. It was effectively wiped
out during the 1970s as the city attempted to address poverty
in Hogan’s Alley, and to provide a transportation route for

people who lived in the suburbs yet worked in the city.

The area was the first and only Black community
in Vancouver and a part of Chinatown.
Hogan’s Alley was where Jimi Hendrix’ paternal

grandmother, Nora Hendrix, called home, and is where he
spent a large portion of his childhood. A musically-
gifted family overall, Nora Hendrix also sang Vaudeville

with her husband in Seattle and Vancouver.

Another notable Black woman who lived in Hogan’s Alley was
the first Canadian woman to have her own national television
show, Eleanor Collins. Historica Canada describes Collins as
Vancouver’s “first lady of jazz,” who worked for CBC radio and
television for decades. She eventually moved to Burnaby in 1942
with her husband, Richard Collins,

family. They were the first Black family to move to Burnaby

in order to start their

at this time,
them well.
family’s move to Burnaby,

and the community of Burnaby did not receive
They attempted to petition against the Collins
an effort that ultimately failed.
Moreover, Barbara Howard also lived in Vancouver at

this time. According to Historica Canada, “at only 17 years
old, she broke the British record for the 100-yard dash,
qualifying to represent Canada at the 1938 British Empire
“the first Black female
athlete to represent Canada in international competition.”

Games in Australia.” This made her

When the freeway was built, it wiped Hogan’s Alley

completely off the map. Home to a variety of Black-owned

businesses and featuring the only Black church in the city
at the time,

an entire community was displaced due to the

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

 

introduction of the freeway. It also managed to displace

Italian, Chinese, and Japanese Canadians who lived in the area.
Many Black men worked as porters on the Great Northern Railway
because it was one of the few jobs available to them amid the

city’s discrimination. The railway was nearby Hogan’s Alley,

making the street a convenient location for porters to live.

Urban renewal was the policy used that involved building
infrastructure on top of areas with alleged urban decay.
Similar to the gentrifying policies of today, urban renewal
plans tended to disproportionately affect minorities who
lived in poorer neighbourhoods, such as Hogan’s Alley.
“The City declare[d]

Strathcona as industrial. As this makes mortgages or money

According to blackstrathcona.com, eastern

for renovations difficult to get, the neighbourhood [began

deteriorating]” in 1930. The city’s lack of upkeep took a
toll on the neighbourhood, therefore causing the slum-like

conditions Vancouver was so keen to erase by the ‘70s.

The removal of Hogan’s Alley — not to mention the lack
of city funding put towards maintaining the neighborhood's
conditions — is an example of institutional racism in British
Columbia.
business owners,

In the not-so-distant past, an entire community of
and fellow Vancouverites was forced
It’s not

purely coincidental that the viaduct was chosen to run directly

families,
to disperse in order to make way for the viaduct.

through the only concentrated Black community in Vancouver.

Luckily, with the turn of the 21st century — thanks to
members of the Black community today in Vancouver — the city
has slowly but surely begun the process of honouring Hogan’s
The Northeast False Creek

was passed. The plan aims to provide 100 per cent

Alley. Announced on February 13,
Plan (NEFC)
rental homes, of which 70 per cent will include homes for

ordinary or fixed-incomes, a Black cultural centre, archives,
and other infrastructure to improve the community’s quality of
life.

with the cultural centre and archives providing Black history.

This will help keep the stories of Hogan’s Alley alive,

Alene also noted how these stories help to improve
relations between minority and majority groups in BC.

but we don’t often

In order to dismantle racism, we

it makes it that
much harder to hate someone whose struggle you’ve heard.”

“We live in a multicultural society,
know each other’s stories.
need to learn each other’s history. That way,

Finally, Alene discussed the importance of having Black
history taught to those who are a part of the Black community.
“Tt’s very simple. It’s seeing someone like
That role

models who look and sound like you helped shape

you doing something that you want to do.

Canada and that you can too. It’s empowering.”

Though Hogan’s Alley was destroyed, its impact on Vancouver
and Canadian culture are still felt to this day. People such as

Eleanor Collins, Nora Hendricks, and Barbara Howard are a part

of the city’s backbone, and their contributions are something

to be immensely proud of. With the NEFC plan underway,

 
 

it is possible for its legacy to live on as an important

 
 

part of Vancouver’s history. Moreover, it is a reminder to

 
 

Vancouverites about the danger of gentrifying areas, and

 
 

how such actions can lead to the loss of cultural history.

 
     

“THE HISTORY TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS IS VERY

WHITE-CENTRIC, SO IT’S UP TO US TO TELL OUR
STORIES.” - SILVIA MANGUE ALENE, PRESIDENT

OF THE BC BLACK HISTORY SOCIETY

Artwork source: https://forbiddenvancouver.ca/2017/03/08/history-deviant-alleys-vancouver/