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HRM Archives photo 312-1F-001 (cropped from original)
George H. Diggs represented the Preston District (#30) on the Halifax County Council from 1908-1917 and again from 1920-1930 . In this 1916 group portrait, he is pictured in the first row, second from the left, or second to the left of Warden Charles E. Smith, seated in the ornate chair.
In 1899, the district of Preston elected the first African Nova Scotian to public office - Councillor Thomas Johnson, who continued to serve until 1903.*
George Diggs was the second longest-serving councillor in the Preston area, next to Allan W. Evans (1931-1961), and followed closely by Wayne F. Adams (1979-1994), who went on to become the first black member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
The Municipal Archives recently made public a series of County Council photographs - search for a listing of them in the HRM Archives Database. Unfortunately we have not yet discovered a photograph of Thomas Johnson, first black County Councillor.
*According to Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia's page on Municipal Democracy: http://www.bccns.com/d250/municipal.html
HRM Archives acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through Library and Archives Canada to assist with processing of County of Halifax records.
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