Henry Black,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(February 14, 1875 – August 29, 1960) was a contractor and real estate developer in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

, where he served as mayor, and from 1931 to 1934 he chaired the Saskatchewan Relief Commission.

Biography

Black was born in

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, in 1875.Marchildon, George P.; and Don Black (2006). "Henry Black, the Conservative Party and the Politics of Relief." ''Saskatchewan History'' 58(1):4-17. After completing his education, he managed the general store at a railway construction camp in

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikiwikiweb:Λέων, � ...

, Ontario.Henry Black fonds
Saskatchewan Archival Information Network. Retrieved 26 August 2015. In 1899 he moved to

Kaslo Kaslo is a village on the west shore of Kootenay Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. A member municipality of the Central Kootenay Regional District, the name derives from the adjacent Kaslo River. At 2016, the ...

, British Columbia, a mining town, where he operated a lumber, coal, and shipping business. He arrived in Regina in 1903 and became a contractor and real estate speculator, benefiting from the fledgling city's construction boom. At first in partnership with Archibald McGregor, and then independently, he built department stores, schools, farmer markets and apartment blocks. In 1910 he married Jennie Barker, and they had five children together. Black's first son, Henry Kenneth "Ken" Black, went on to become a prominent Regina architect. In 1917 with a group of local investors, Black established the Prairie Biscuit and Confectionery Company, a wholesale baking enterprise, but the business couldn't withstand the sugar shortage imposed by the First World War and it ceased operations before the end of 1918. He served as a Regina alderman from 1915 to 1917, and was twice elected mayor, in 1918 and 1919. During Black's first term as mayor, Saskatchewan was stricken by the

influenza pandemic An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region (either multiple continents or worldwide) and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the last ...

, and he had to ban all public gatherings in the city including church services. In his second term, he was credited with convincing Regina labour leaders not to participate in a general strike along the lines of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Black unsuccessfully ran for the Conservatives against Premier William Martin in the 1921 provincial election. He again served as a Regina alderman from 1923 to 1924. In 1931, Black was asked by the government to assume the chairmanship of the Saskatchewan Relief Commission. Coupled with the onset of the Depression, the failure of crops in a largely agricultural province was disastrous. In its first year alone, the Commission distributed relief to 305,000 people, close to one-third of Saskatchewan's population. It operated camps and dining halls for homeless men in Regina,

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

, and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, using those places as bases to provide men with jobs on farms. The Commission managed the provincial government's relief programs until August 1934, and Black oversaw the spending of $35 million ($525 million in 2005 dollars). In recognition of his voluntary work with the Relief Commission, he was made in 1935 a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

. In 1937, at the age of 63, he once again ran for mayor of Regina, but was defeated. He continued to manage his business interests in Regina until his death in 1960.

References

External links

Henry Black fonds
Saskatchewan Archival Information Network

Regina Leader Post, 29 August 1960 {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Henry Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan 1875 births 1960 deaths