Alton C. Parker was a pioneer. Appointed Windsor’s first black police constable in 1942, promoted in 1951 as Canada’s first black police detective, he hosted hundreds of local children and families for the annual Uncle Al’s Kids’ Party before his death in 1989.

Among the accolades he earned was an honorary doctorate from the University of Windsor in 1987 and the renaming in his honour of the park where he held his summer parties. Alton C. Parker Park in the 400 block of Brodhead Street is the site of a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of his hiring, Friday, August 31, from 11 a.m. to noon. The public is invited.

Constable Mike Akpata of the Windsor Police Service, a UWindsor grad himself (BA 1989), says the event will commemorate an historic milestone.

“Attitudes towards blacks were different in 1942,” he says. “Blacks in positions of authority were rare.”

Parker originally met some resistance, but made the most of the opportunity to prove himself, Akpata says: “Constable Parker was dedicated to his duty and his community, and eventually he was accepted by members of the service.”

Brodhead Street runs between Mercer Street and Howard Avenue just north of Erie Street.

Watch a documentary on Parker by Brian Cowan of the Centre for Teaching and Learning: