Remembering Alberta’s Sleeping Car Porters

The Canadian History of Sleeping Car Porters has been amplified recently, including as the subject of the Giller-Prize winning novel The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr. Yet the local history of Porters in Calgary and across the prairies, and the links between their unionization efforts and the development of anti-discrimination organizations in Alberta is not widely known. Join us at The GRAND on March 7, 2024 for an evening of memory and music to celebrate Alberta porters within local, national, and international history.

A pre-event reception will take place in The GRAND Lobby at 6:30pm. The evening will feature presentations by Cheryl Foggo, Saje Mathieu, and Suzette Mayr. There will be musical performances by Miranda Martini and Dallas Hayes-Sparks, and a special guest appearance from Judy Williams Graham, a porter descendant.

This event is sponsored by the Calgary District Labour Council, the Canadian Committee on Labour History, Mount Royal University, the University of Calgary, the Calgary Institute of the Humanities, and The GRAND.