Desmond was convicted after refusing to leave her seat in a segregated movie theater in Nova Scotia in 1946. But she also established the first beauty salon for Black women her area, and founded a beauty school for Black women.  

Research: 

• Bingham, Russell. "Viola Desmond". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 16 April 2021, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/viola-desmond. Accessed 09 August 2022.
• Bishop, Henry V. “Viola (Davis) Desmond (b. 1914 — d. 1965): Stand For Justice.” Nova Scotia Archives. https://archives.novascotia.ca/desmond/background/
• Canadian Museum for Human Rights. “One woman’s resistance: Viola Desmond's Story.” https://humanrights.ca/story/one-womans-resistance
• Flynn, Karen. “Remembering Viola Desmond.” Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. 11/2021. https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/remembering-viola-desmond?language_content_entity=en
• "Fred Christie Case (Christie v York)". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 06 June 2020, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fred-christie-case. Accessed 12 August 2022.
• Henry, Natasha. "Racial Segregation of Black People in Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 08 September 2021, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/racial-segregation-of-black-people-in-canada. Accessed 10 August 2022.
• Parks Canada. “Viola Desmond National Historic Person (1914-1965).” https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/res/information-backgrounder/Viola_Desmond
• Reynolds, Graham and Wanda Robson. “Viola Desmond: Her Life and Times.” Roseway Publishing. 2018.
• Robson, Wanda. “Sister to courage : stories from the world of Viola Desmond, Canada's Rosa Parks.” Wreck Cove, N.S. : Breton Books. 2010.
• The Halifax Chronicle. “Dismisses Desmond Application.” 5/19/1947. page 14. Via Nova Scotia Archives. https://archives.novascotia.ca/desmond/archives/?ID=28
• "Viola Desmond." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631009722/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=1380ef8c. Accessed 8 Aug. 2022.
• Walker, Barrington. “The African Canadian Legal Odyssey: Historical Essays.” Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2012.