Harold Herbert Potter (March 27, 1914 – May 8, 2004) was the first Canadian-born Black sociologist hired by a Canadian post-secondary institution when he was appointed lecturer in Sociology at Sir George Williams College (now part of Concordia University, Montréal, Canada) in 1947.
Biography
Early life, family, and background
Born in Montréal, Harold H. Potter grew up in Little Burgundy, the home of Montréal's working-class, English-speaking Black community.Lovell's Montréal Alphabetical Directory,1921-1940. http://more.stevemorse.org/Montréal_en.html. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
Potter was the son of Alfred Moore Westerby Potter (1885–1947) and Gertrude Miller Potter (1890–1979). Alfred and Gertrude were both émigrés from British Guiana (now Guyana) who—despite a Canadian immigration system that sought to deny entry to non-Whites—managed to make their way to Canada in 1907 and 1910 respectively. They were married in June 1913. Harold was their first child. He was followed by his two brothers, Donald Dinsmore Potter (1915–1976) and Calvin Cuthbert Potter (1919–1999).
The politics of overcoming racial prejudice was foundational to Potter's childhood. Alfred, Harold Potter's father, was a union-seeking redcap train station porter at Windsor Station in Montréal. It was not until 1943 that Alfred and other CNR porters received official union recognition and a first collective agreement.Harold Herbert Potter, "The Occupational Adjustments of Montréal Negroes, 1941–48." MA thesis (McGill University, 1949), p. 144; Sarah Jane Mathieu, North of the Color Line, p. 205. By 1919, Alfred was hosting the Montréal chapter of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the family home and attending conventions in Harlem. Alfred was the stock representative of the UNIA’s Black Star Line in Montréal and he used his position as a porter to relay UNIA information across the Canada-U.S. border. A letter directed to FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, described Potter as Garvey's "right hand man".Carla Marano, "'For the Freedom of the Black People': Case Studies on the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Canada, 1900–1950", PhD dissertation, (University of Waterloo, 2018), pp. 71, 76; "Sons of Africa in world's work," Montreal Gazette, 16 April 1921, p. 8. As the Montréal UNIA president in 1928, Potter informed a large gathering waiting to hear Garvey speak that the UNIA leader had been arrested by Canadian immigration officials."Marcus Garvey's arrest ordered", Montreal Gazette, 31 October 1928, p. 14. The following year, Potter travelled to Kingston, Jamaica where, adorned in "regal attire", he served as "His Highness the Potentate" for the first international UNIA convention.Richard Hart, "The Life and Resurrection of Marcus Garvey", Race 9:2 (1967), p. 231; "Convention of Negro Peoples of the world", Kingston Daily Gleaner, 20 August 1929, p. 24. At the convention, Potter spoke of the conditions of Black Canadians and called on the UNIA to support Black-owned businesses.Marano, "For the Freedom of the Black People", p. 78. In 1936, Alfred vice-chaired the Fred Christie Defence Committee to support a Supreme Court challenge against the Montréal York Tavern for refusing to serve people on the basis of race.James W. St.G. Walker, Race,' Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada: Historical Case Studies (Waterloo, Ont.: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and Wilfrid Laurier University, 1997), p. 143; "Fred Christie Case (Christie v. York)", Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fred-christie-case. Retrieved 14 November 2021. Alfred was also a partisan and executive member of the local Conservative Party."Officers are elected", Montreal Gazette, 7 March 1931, p. 36; "Colored electors support Taillefer", Montreal Gazette, 1 April 1932, p. 10. Stumping for one city council hopeful in 1926, Alfred paraphrased Booker T. Washington: "If you try to keep the Negro down [in Montréal] you will stay down too," said Alfred. "Don't think that the colored people live in a lower standard than anyone else, as that is false.""Dr. L.T. Lavigne to run in St. Joseph", Montreal Gazette, 8 March 1926, p. 6.
Gertrude, Harold Potter's mother, was also a leader in Montréal's Black Community. Gertrude was a volunteer fundraiser and a part-time worker for Charles Este's Negro Community Centre from its opening in 1927."Out to Secure $6,500", Montreal Gazette, 8 June 1927, p. 13; June Bertley, "The role of the Black community in educating Blacks in Montreal, from 1910 to 1940, with special reference to Reverend Dr. Charles Humprey Este", PhD dissertation, (McGill University, 1982), p. 130; Negro Community Center, NCC/Charles H. Este Cultural Centre, http://jasonaltidor.com/ncc/. Retrieved 14 November 2021. Showing entrepreneurial savvy and a dedication to race solidarity, Gertrude also rented out rooms of the family's modest apartment to Black American tourists who would have been denied accommodation at local hotels. In 1955, Gertrude wrote a letter to the editor in support of racial equality and against the South African apartheid system. "Racism and nationalism are man's invention", she wrote, and they are "the product of selfishness and pride, and the excuse for keeping less fortunate people in subjection." Gertrude appealed to Christian notions of justice and truth and argued that since "equality should be based on merit" then "justice demands that all should be given the same opportunities".Gertrude Potter, "South Africa and Racial Equality", Montreal Gazette, 25 February 1955, p. 8.
Harold's brother, Calvin Cuthbert Potter, was among the first—if not the first—person of colour to be employed at Montréal City Hall. He served six years as a soldier in World War Two and was demobilized in 1946 at the rank of sergeant. Upon his return, he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Sir George Williams College, and master's degree and a PhD from McGill in 1954. He became a chartered accountant and a lecturer at McMaster University before finishing his career at Concordia University as the Chair of the Department of Finance. He received many awards for his involvement in the political struggle for an independent English education system in Quebec."Calvin Cuthbert Potter", Montreal Gazette, 3 November 1999, p. F13.
Education and early artistic achievements Harold Potter was engaged in public life at an early age, especially within the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and its Sir George Williams College on Drummond Street.Drummond Street YMCA, https://www.concordia.ca/offices/archives/buildings/sgw/drummond-ymca.html. Retrieved 14 November 2021. At 14-years-old, Potter was winning piano awards and speaking contests at the YMCA."Boy's hobby show very successful", Montreal Gazette, 25 April 1927, p. 7; "Boy's hobby show formally opened", Montreal Gazette, 10 April 1931, p. 6; "Fathers and Sons Brought Together", Montreal Gazette, 23 November 1931, p. 3. He was high school valedictorian in 1932."Noble characters seen as solution", Montreal Gazette, 15 October 1932, p. 15.
Between 1935 and 1939 Potter received a B.A. from Sir George Williams College (SGWC). During his undergraduate degree, Potter received the French Government Bronze medal, the Hirschberg award for high scholastic standing, the Alumni Association award for significant contribution to student life, and the Board of Governors medal for creative expression."Sir Geo. Williams issues prize list", Montreal Gazette, 2 June 1938, p. 19; "Ralston delivers plea to students", Montreal Gazette, 2 June 1939, p. 13. Over the summers, Potter worked as a camp counsellor at the YMCA Kamp Kanawana."Camp group named", Montreal Gazette, 15 May 1935, p. 5; "Named to camp staff", Montreal Gazette, 13 May 1936, p. 5; "'Y' campers stage reunion meeting", Montreal Gazette, 9 May 1938, p. 18. Potter was editor of the Georgian, the newspaper of Sir George Williams College, in 1938–39, a position that would be held a decade later by novelist Mordecai Richler. "It was a dull, straight, serious and earnest newspaper," said Potter when the paper folded in 1980.Jennifer Hunter, "The Georgian's last edition", Montreal Gazette, 3 April 1980, p. 4; Harold H. Potter fonds, https://concordia.accesstomemory.org/harold-potter-fonds. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
Potter composed "The Georgian Marching Song" in 1937, a SGWC hymn extolling the virtues of student life. He was also the co-producer, composer, and conductor of the "Georginatics" in 1939 and 1940, an annual song and dance revue. Songs from the 1939 "Georginatics" included "Fancy Meeting You" which satirized Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Chamberlain working in a milk bar in the 1890s. Potter composed dozens of show, swing, and waltz tunes for the popular "Georginatics"."Little theatre news", Montreal Gazette, 8 April 1939, p. 16, 15 April 1939, 10, 22 April 1939, p. 10; "Y.M.C.A. show is opened", Montreal Gazette, 2 May 1939, p. 17; "'Georginatics' revue is all-college effort", Montreal Gazette, 9 March 1940, p. 10; Harold H. Potter fonds, https://concordia.accesstomemory.org/harold-potter-fonds. As war broke out, Potter travelled with a YMCA ministrel troupe to military camps in Ontario and Quebec. As part of the "Lazy River Ministrels" Potter played the role of a "Tambo" endman."'Y' Group Entertains", Montreal Gazette, 5 August 1940, p. 11; "Minstrel show added to YMCA open house", Montreal Gazette, 30 December 1941, p. 3; "Entertainment Held", Montreal Gazette, 15 January 1942, p. 5. Potter's musical tastes ranged widely but he had a particular fondness for Bach, Liszt, and Chopin. He followed the careers of two Canadian musical prodigies, Oscar Peterson and Glenn Gould, closely. He would continue to play, or as he put it, "practice", the piano daily throughout his life.
Employment, Second World War, and post-war academic career In the early 1940s, Potter worked in the Boys Work Department of the Central YMCA. He was also briefly the assistant to the Plant Manager at the Dominion Electric Protection Company. In recognition of his service to Sir George Williams College, Potter was elected to the Board of Governors as the alumni representative in 1942."H.H. Potter appointed", Montreal Gazette, 14 December 1942, p. 10.
That same year, Potter enlisted in the Canadian Army. He started out in the Signal Corp infantry but ended up with the Canadian Army Organization Research Group, at the army base in Petawawa, Ontario, after an American research psychologist convinced Potter's commanding officer to reassign him. Potter spent the war designing instructional materials for recruits, illustrating educational booklets, and developing psychological reports. He demobbed as a sergeant.
In 1947, Potter enrolled as a master's student at McGill University. On the recommendation of Carl Dawson, founder of McGill's Department of Sociology, Henry F. Hall, SGWC Dean, hired Potter as a sociology lecturer.Harold H. Potter fonds, https://concordia.accesstomemory.org/harold-potter-fonds. In 1949, following the defence of his thesis, Potter was promoted from SGWC lecturer to assistant professor."Promotions are approved", Montreal Gazette, 23 April 1949, p. 3.
In 1950, at the same time as Daniel G. Hill, contemporary Black sociologist and future research collaborator, arrived in Canada to start his master's in Sociology at the University of Toronto, Potter went south to pursue his PhD in Sociology at the University of Chicago. With a job waiting, Potter returned to teach at SGWC without completing his degree.