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Emma Stark, First Black School Teacher In Cedar District

Black and white grainy oval portrait photograph of a young black woman with prominent eyes and long black curly hair parted in the middle swept back off her face.

Source: Ladysmith Archives

Story: “The mysterious death of Louis Stark” from the notes given by Myrtle Holloman, Granddaughter of Louis Stark housed in the Ladysmith Archives.

Date: Circa 1875

Emma Stark (1857-1890), daughter of a black immigrant who had come up to British Columbia from California in 1858 to escape possible slavery, was hired in August 1874 at the age of 17 to teach in a one-room school in the Cedar District with a starting salary of $40/month.