Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, one of the province’s black pioneers, was recognized with the unveiling of a bronze plaque installed at Irving Park on Saturday.
The plaque, commissioned by Canada’s Historic Sites and Monuments Board, honours Gibbs, who was a politician, businessman and advocate for black settlers and their rights.
“Having Dr. Verna Gibbs, his great-great-grandniece unveil the plaque gelled it for us,” said Fran Morrison, secretary and director for the B.C. Black History Awareness Society. “It’s about ancestery and remembering. It also connects people’s origins and culture.”
The plaque will let people know about the role Gibbs played in Canada’s early history, Morrison said.
Gibbs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1823. He moved to B.C. in the 1850s and became the first black person to hold public office in British Columbia, serving as Victoria city councillor from 1866 to 1869. He also helped push for British Columbia’s confederation with Canada.
Although a carpenter by trade, Gibbs found success as a merchant in San Francisco during the Gold Rush of 1849. Upon hearing of reports of gold found on the Fraser River, he decided to move north in 1858, along with 800 other black settlers.
For Gibbs, Victoria represented a chance to escape some of the racism he endured in California, and he became the recognized leader of the black community on Vancouver Island.
He prospered as a merchant, purchasing a one-storey building near today’s corner of Government and Yates streets.
In 1870, Gibbs returned to the United States. When he returned for a visit in 1907, he was received as a distinguished former resident.
He died July 11, 1915, in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 92.
