Calvin Ruck
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Calvin Ruck | |
|---|---|
| File:CalvinRuck.jpg | |
| Canadian Senator for Nova Scotia | |
| In office 1998–2000 | |
| Nominated by | Jean Chrétien |
| Appointed by | Roméo LeBlanc |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Calvin Woodrow Ruck September 25, 1925 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | October 19, 2004 (aged 79) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Party | Liberal |
Calvin Woodrow Ruck CM (September 4, 1925 – October 19, 2004) was a human rights[1] activist and a member of the Senate of Canada. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia; his parents were immigrants to Canada from Barbados.
Ruck's life has been documented in a book entitled Winds of Change: Life and Legacy of Calvin W. Ruck, which was penned by his granddaughter, Lindsay Ruck.
Associations and activism
[edit | edit source]He held a number of positions within the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and was a member for most of his adult life. In the 1950s and 1960s, he organized campaigns against businesses in the Dartmouth area, including barber shops, which refused to serve black people. He worked with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission from 1981 to 1986. He campaigned tirelessly for the Canadian Government to recognize the heroics of Jeremiah Jones during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Awards
[edit | edit source]- 1979: Received diploma from the Maritime School of Social Work at Dalhousie University. The School of Social Work now awards a Calvin W. Ruck scholarship yearly.
- 1992: Awarded the Governor General's Commemorative Medal in 1992 for his work in the community.
- 1994: Named to the Order of Canada.[2]
Political life
[edit | edit source]In 1998, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, where he served until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2000.
He died at his home in Ottawa on October 19, 2004, at the age of 79.
Books published
[edit | edit source]Ruck published two books about Canada's No. 2 Construction Battalion, the only all-black battalion to serve in World War I:
- Canada's Black Battalion: No. 2 Construction, 1916-1920 (Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
- The Black Battalion : 1916-1920 : Canada's best kept military secret (Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
See also
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Governor General of Canada: Honours Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Jan 26, 2007
External links
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- 1925 births
- 2004 deaths
- Liberal Party of Canada senators
- Members of the Order of Canada
- Canadian senators from Nova Scotia
- Dalhousie University alumni
- Canadian civil rights activists
- Canadian military historians
- Canadian male non-fiction writers
- Canadian people of Barbadian descent
- Black Nova Scotians
- Black Canadian politicians
- Politicians from Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Writers from Nova Scotia
- Black Canadian activists
- 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada