Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes National Historic Event

Stamp commemorating Black History: Colored Hockey Championship and the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes National Historic Event
Stamp commemorating Black History: Colored Hockey Championship, 2020
© Canada Post Corporation / Library and Archives Canada

The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes was designated as a national historic event in 2024.

Historical importance: maritime segregated competitive hockey league, only league of its kind in Canada and in the world in the early 1900s, illustrates how African Canadian communities fought for equality in sports and social change in Canada.

Commemorative plaque: address to be confirmedFootnote 1

Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHLM)

The CHLM was the only all-Black men’s ice hockey league in Canada. It was formed in 1895 by African Canadian Baptist community leaders and intellectuals in Dartmouth and Halifax, soon expanding in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Championship matches attracted multiracial crowds, and journalists reported on the fast-paced and rule-bending hockey. Still, the players endured racism on and off the ice. The league was reorganized in the 1920s and some clubs continued on into the 1930s. Led by influential African Nova Scotians, the CHLM provided opportunities to advance social change and fight for equality.

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
English plaque inscription

Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes

The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHLM) was the first and only all-Black men’s ice hockey league in Canada and is an example of how African Canadian communities fought for equality and social change. It was created in 1895 in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, by leaders and intellectuals within the African Canadian Baptist community during a time of racial discrimination in sports and in Canadian society more generally. The league soon evolved from a few teams into a competitive league in the Maritimes, as the popularity of organized ice hockey in Canada rose in the early 20th century. By the early 1900s, championship matches entertained multiracial crowds and journalists reported on the fast, rule-bending hockey. Still, these innovative players continued to endure racism. After facing difficulties, the league was reorganized in the 1920s, and a few clubs continued in the 1930s. This segregated league was the only hockey league of its kind in Canadian history.

Commemorative plaque for the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes National Historic Event
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada commemorative plaque for the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes National Historic Event

In 1895, Black Baptist leaders and intellectuals associated with churches in Dartmouth and Halifax created three teams (the Eurekas, the Jubilees, and the Stanleys) to attract young men of African descent to Sunday worship and to foster a sense of pride within the community. During the next couple of decades, more all-Black men’s hockey teams were formed in Truro, Amherst, and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia and one in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. At this time, overt anti-Black racism influenced the few existing hockey leagues in Canada to bar Black players from joining their teams. All-Black hockey clubs and their players faced many barriers, including limited access to indoor ice time. This meant that matches were often played in poor conditions. Despite these challenges, the Colored Hockey Championship matches were highly competitive and attracted large and multiracial crowds, notably during the peak years between 1900 and 1905 and into the 1920s. It was unusual at the time for white spectators to attend all-Black sporting events. These matches also attracted the attention of the press. Journalists for the widely read Acadian Reporter and the Truro Daily News reported on the players’ entertaining, fast, hard-hitting, and rule-bending brand of hockey. The Dartmouth Jubilees’ original goaltender, Henry Franklyn, introduced what is today known as the butterfly style of goaltending in 1900, and around that time the Halifax Eurekas’ Eddie Martin began using the slapshot. That was before these techniques seemed to have been permitted in other Canadian leagues.

Archival image of Africville Sea-Sides hockey team, part of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes National Historic Event
Africville Sea-Sides team, circa 1922
© Tom Connors Collection / Nova Scotia Archives / 1987-218 no 133 / negative N-1726

At the same time, under the management of James A. R. Kinney and James Robinson Johnston, early 20th-century leaders for the advancement and equality of Black Nova Scotians, the league also served to effect social change. But in 1905–1906, a major dispute pitted leaders of the African Canadian community against landowners and the Halifax administration when railway companies wanted to run tracks through the seaside community of Africville, resulting in the CHLM clubs losing ice time and media coverage.

The CHLM faltered during the First World War, as did many other sports leagues and teams whose members served overseas. In the 1920s, it was revived and reorganized. Racism and economic hardships its hockey clubs and players faced on and off the ice, however, eventually led to the league’s decision to disband. Some teams continued to compete into the 1930s. With the demise of all-Black hockey came the slow acceptance of African Canadian players into other hockey leagues. CHLM players inspired generations of Black youth to hone their athletic skills and eventually compete at the highest levels.

“The Government of Canada's recognition of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHLM) as an event of historical significance entrenches its importance in Canadian hockey history. The league, through its highly talented players, who defied the established racist myths about their abilities and intelligence to play hockey, helped revolutionize the game as we know it today with their style of play and innovations such as the butterfly-style of goaltending and the slap shot. This recognition provides an excellent opportunity for all Canadians to learn more about the CHLM's history."

Bob Dawson
Sports Writer, Diversity Management Consultant and Black Hockey Historian

This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the plaque unveiling in 2025.

The National Program of Historical Commemoration relies on the participation of Canadians in the identification of places, events and persons of national historic significance. Any member of the public can nominate a topic for consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

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