Parks Canada has officially recognized Montreal entrepreneur and proprietor of the legendary jazz club Rockhead’s Paradise, Rufus Rockhead, as a person of national historic significance. The designation was announced this morning via the official Parks Canada website.
“Today, on behalf of the Government of Canada, I am honoured to recognize Rufus Nathaniel Rockhead as a person of national historic significance.” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a statement. “A talented entrepreneur, Rockhead left an indelible mark on Canadian culture, fostering the birth of the Montréal jazz scene at his world-famous nightclub, Rockhead’s Paradise. He fought intolerance and racism to create a showcase for young Black musicians and helped launch the careers of many of Canada’s top jazz artists.”
Born in 1896 in Maroon Town, Jamaica, Rufus Nathaniel Rockhead migrated to Canada in 1916 settling in Montreal and later serving in the First World War with the Canadian Forestry Corps in France. Returning to Montreal in 1919 after being honourably discharged, Rockhead later worked as a railway porter with the Canadian Pacific Railway until 1927. He pivoted into entrepreneurship by launching a hat cleaning and shoeshine business in the Montreal borough of Verdun where he married Elizabeth “Birdie” Weeks and raised their three children.
In 1928, Rockhead purchased the Mountain Hotel in Little Burgundy, a historic, well-known Black community located in St-Antoine district of Montreal. The building had three floors that housed a tavern, lunch counter, a dining room, nightclub and a hotel. The second-floor hosted the nightclub that would become Rockhead’s Paradise.
Rockhead’s Paradise became a must-see travel destination for tourists visiting Montreal as well as a space for burgeoning Black musicians to hone their craft and have the platform to perform their work in front of a live audience. The club would launch the careers of jazz musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones, Harold “Steep” Wade and the Sealey Brothers to name a few. It would be visited by jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday, making it an important stop on Montreal’s jazz circuit.
However, Rockhead’s Paradise would face its own challenges being one of the only Black-owned nightclubs in Canada at that time. Rockhead lost his liquor license twice and due to racist, discriminatory policies was forced to close the club between 1953-1960. The club would remain opened until 1980 when Rockhead’s son Kenneth sold the club. The building was later demolished in the mid-1980s. Rufus Rockhead died in 1981 at the age of 85.
Today, Rufus Rockhead is remembered for his tenacity, charisma and a champion for the advancement of the Black community in Montreal, “whose interests he cared deeply about.” This isn’t the first time Rockhead has been recognized, the city of Montreal named a street in his honour back in 1989 in the south-west area of the city.
Parks Canada’s National Program of Historical Commemoration recognizes significant persons, places, and events that have shaped our country as one way of helping Canadians connect with their past. More than 2,250 designations have been made nationwide. To nominate a person, place or historic event in your community, visit the Parks Canada website for more information.
