Rosemary Sadlier
*Rosemary Sadlier was born on this date in 1977. She is a Black Canadian social justice activist, researcher, author, and consultant.
Born and raised in Toronto, she has teaching and social work degrees. Her roots in Canada reach back to pre-Confederation: her mother’s family can be traced to 1840, while her father’s ancestors arrived in New Brunswick in 1793. She is the past President, serving for 22 years as the unpaid leader of the Ontario Black History Society.
Sadlier was the driving force of the secured commemoration of February as Black History Month at all levels of the Canadian government; she secured August 1st as Emancipation Day municipally in 1995 and provincially in 2008 with a national declaration achieved in 2021. She saw the creation of the national day for the Hon. Lincoln Alexander. She has given delegations to the UN Rapporteur on Race Relations, the Federal and Provincial Governments, and on consultative work with the Royal Ontario Museum, The Ward heritage interpretative group, the Bi-National Study of the Underground Railroad, and heritage conferences.
Previously, she served on the final selection committee of the national Mathieu Da Costa Challenge for Canadian Heritage and is now on the Canada Post Stamp Advisory Committee. As an educator, she has developed or contributed to the Black Canadian curriculum and national exhibits and was an appointed member of the College of Early Childhood Educators. As an author, Sadlier has written seven books on African Canadian history. Sadlier is dedicated to social justice and seeks to educate and empower others using the frame of Black History.
