Alfred Waddell (physician)
Trinidadian physician (1896–1953)
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Alfred Ernest Waddell (25 August 1896 – 20 March 1953) was a Trinidadian physician and civil rights activist who is known for treating Viola Desmond's injuries following her 1946 arrest for sitting in a whites-only section of a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada.[1]
25 August 1896
Alfred Waddell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alfred Ernest Waddell 25 August 1896 Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago, British West Indies |
| Died | 20 March 1953 (aged 56) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
Burial place | Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax |
| Alma mater | Dalhousie University (MD, 1933) |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Treating Viola Desmond's injuries following her arrest in 1946 |
| Spouse | Emilia Maria Castillo |
| Children | 4 |
Early life and career
Born in 1896 in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago (then a colony of the British West Indies), Waddell moved to Harlem, New York, with his wife in 1923 and studied at Columbia University; he aspired to practise medicine in Trinidad, which meant he needed a medical degree from the British Commonwealth.[2][3] He then moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and became one of the first Black physicians to graduate from Dalhousie University in 1933.[3][4] He was one of the only physicians who provided house calls to the Black Nova Scotian communities of Africville, Beechville, Hammonds Plains, and Preston; he usually did this by borrowing cars from people and many patients could only pay him with chickens and eggs.[1][2] He additionally helped administer polio vaccines to these communities during an outbreak in the 1930s.[1]
Waddell was also involved in civil rights movements; in the 1930s, he helped to desegregate a swimming pool at the Halifax Common after one of his children was asked to leave.[1] He also helped to raise money for Ethiopia following its invasion by Fascist Italy.[3] In 1946, Waddell treated Viola Desmond following her arrest for sitting in a whites-only section of a cinema in New Glasgow, and additionally wrote letters to the provincial and federal government to try to get the conviction overturned.[1] He was a funder and contributor to The Clarion, a Black newspaper.[1]
Legacy
In 2001, Waddell was the subject of Before His Time, an episode of the A Scattering of Seeds documentary series.[4] Dalhousie University featured him as a "Dalhousie Original" in 2018.[4] In 2024, a street in Halifax's Cogswell District was named after Waddell; the street is a few blocks away from the location where he established his first practise.[1] His name was originally in the running as one of the options for the renaming of Cornwallis Street, which was ultimately renamed to honour Nora Bernard.[1] Waddell's granddaughter is judoka AnnMaria De Mars and his great-granddaughter is professional mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey.[3][5]