Clara at the Door with a Revolver

Book excerpt: On the night of October 6, 1894, Frank Westwood was shot to death by an unknown assailant as he stood in the doorway of his home. Six weeks later, Clara Ford – a Black tailor and single mother known for wearing men’s attire – was arrested and confessed to the murder. But as the details of her arrest and her history with Westwood emerged, Clara recanted, testifying that she was coerced by police into a false confession. Carolyn Whitzman tells the story of a courageous Black woman in nineteenth-century Toronto and paints a portrait of a city and a society that have not changed enough in 125 years.