The Demise of a Black Organization: The Home Service Association (1921–65)

Abstract

During World War I the Overseas Comfort Club (occ) provided home necessities for Black Canadian servicemen overseas. As an outgrowth of the occ, Toronto's Home Service Association (hsa) came into existence providing in-home supports for Black community members in need. In 1938 the hsa became an independent community centre and broadened its mandate to provide counselling, health and legal supports, and recreational programming. Thriving and described as a welcoming home base for the Black community, it sheltered many from the harsh segregationist anti-Black neighbouring community centres. By 1965 the organization was all but defunct. Relying on archival textual data (information on programming, correspondence, minutes of meetings, grant applications, and annual reports), I argue that its demise was strategic on the part of the state and functioned in a measured and incremental fashion. For demise to occur a complex and interrelated series of social and political processes must take place. First we see the identification of a wrong — corruption, lack of transparency — which is followed by an array of committees, auditors, and evaluators that scrutinize programs and practices. All of this is followed by the attribution of mismanagement, lack of leadership, and finally the state’s reassurance to the public that the organization will be cleaned up, monitored, and/or defunded. This article examines the hsa’s pivotal role for the Black community, its systemic struggles to stay viable, and the state’s attempts to delegitimize and discredit an organization vital to a Black community.