Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk

Clotilda Adessa Douglas-Yakimchuk was born Clotilda Adessa Coward in Whitney Pier, Nova Scotia.[1] Growing up, her family dealt with racism while living in Whitney Pier. Her father was forced to quit his job at the steel plant due to discrimination, and her sister was unable to find a job.[2]

In 1954, Coward became the first black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing.[3] After graduating, Coward married Benson T. Douglas, a Grenadian who graduated from Dalhousie School of Law with a LLB and LLM.[4] She would later earn her post graduate psychiatric nursing certificate from the Nova Scotia Hospital.[5] She earned her Diploma in Adult Education from Saint Francis Xavier University.

After earning her nursing qualifications, Coward Douglas began her career at the Nova Scotia Hospital as Head Nurse of the Admission/Discharge Unit.[6] Shortly thereafter, Coward and her husband Benson Douglas moved to Grenada, West Indies, where she served as a Director in a mental health hospital.[7] This was also where she earned her post graduate midwifery diploma from Colony Hospital in Grenada, West Indies.[3] By 1967, Coward Douglas moved back to Canada and accepted a position as Staff Nurse at the Sydney City Hospital.[6] After her husband Benson T. Douglas died, Coward Douglas many years later married Dan Yakimchuk in 1983.[8] A few years later, she became the first black person to be elected president of the Registered Nurses Association of Nova Scotia.[3] During this time, Douglas-Yakimchuk also founded the Black Community Development Organization and advocated for Cape Breton University to create a nursing degree program.[7] She retired as director of education services at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney in 1994.[3]

In 1991, Douglas-Yakimchuk was the recipient of the Harry Jerome Award for her cultural and community achievements.[7] In 2003, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.[9] In 2010, she received her Honorary Doctor of Laws from Cape Breton University. In 2018, Douglas-Yakimchuk was appointed a Member of the Order of Nova Scotia.[10]