Black History Month: How Robert Sutherland saved Queen’s University

Robert Sutherland was the first Black lawyer in Upper Canada and the first Black man known to have earned a university degree in North America.

Robert Sutherland began his career in 1849 at 203 William St. in Kingston, Ont., the former site of Queen’s University.

Sutherland was the first Black student at Queen’s and went on to become Canada’s first Black lawyer.

What many might not know is how Sutherland saved the university from dire financial straits in its early years.

“Queen’s simply would not exist without Robert Sutherland, and I think that’s an important statement to make — especially now as we celebrate African heritage during Black History month,” says Queen’s alumnus Greg Frankson.

A successful lawyer, Sutherland left his entire $12,000 estate to Queen’s when he passed, at a particularly crucial time for the school.

The bequest was very timely, Frankson says.

“The university had just lost its endowment in a bank failure and was about to be taken over by the University of Toronto,” Frankson says. “That bequest helped to save Queen’s as an independent institution.”

According to Frankson, $12,000 in 1878 was roughly equivalent to the entire annual budget of Queen’s at the time.