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Viola Desmond

Viola Desmond was a Halifax-born businesswoman who, with her husband, owned a combined barbershop and beauty parlour in the city. In 1946, after her car broke down in New Glasgow, Desmond went to the Roseland Theatre to pass the time while repairs were being made. Told that she would have to sit in the balcony, the only part of the theatre where Blacks were allowed, she defied that policy and took a seat on the main floor. Desmond was injured during her removal from the theatre, and was arrested and fined for “defrauding” the government of the one-cent difference between the amusement tax on the main floor and the balcony. She fought the conviction and ultimately won, helping set the stage for the end of Nova Scotia’s segregation laws in 1954. Desmond died in 1965, and the province formally apologized to her family in 2010.

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