Background
Born in Independence, Missouri, he grew up in the western United States.
Born in Independence, Missouri, he grew up in the western United States.
In 1948, he graduated with a Bachelor from Howard University.
In 1950, he moved to Canada to study sociology at the University of Toronto. He received an Master of Arts in 1951 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1960. From 1955 to 1958, he was a researcher for the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto.
From 1958 to 1960, he was Executive Secretary of the North York Social Planning Council.
In 1960, he was the assistant director of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation. From 1961 to 1962, he taught in the department of sociology at the University of Toronto.
In 1962, he was the first full-time director of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In 1972, he became Ontario Human Rights Commissioner.
In 1973, he resigned to found his own human rights consulting firm.
From 1984 to 1989, he was the Ontario Ombudsman. He founded the Ontario Black History Society. In 1981, he wrote the book, The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada.
In 1993, he was awarded the Order of Ontario.
They had three children: singer-songwriter Dan Hill, author Lawrence Hill, and poet and novelist Karen Hill.