OHT Logo
Search IconSearch
Events IconEvents
My Itinerary Icon Itinerary
FR
FR

Heritage  MattersRead more stories about Black heritage

3 Article with Article Header 3

The new knowledge required to work with these unfamiliar ingredients and to survive in Canada’s harsh environment would have …View 3 Article with Article Header 3

Josiah Henson (Photo: Schlesinger Library, Harvard University)

Celebrating Josiah – Introducing the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History

“I’ll use my freedom well.” Josiah Henson made this promise to Captain Burnham, who helped him and his family in the last part …View Celebrating Josiah – Introducing the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History

A provincial plaque was unveiled in 2010 as part of the Emancipation Day event at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden to commemorate Hugh Burnett and the National Unity Association.

Setting the record straight – Updating four Black history plaques

I’d like to tell you about Solomon Moseby. In 1837, Moseby fled to Niagara to escape slavery in Kentucky. When his extradition …View Setting the record straight – Updating four Black history plaques

Kendra Campbell, Archives of Ontario Researcher

To be dignified, stylish and Black in the 19th century was to defy expectations

In summer 2018, the Black Artists’ Networks Dialogue Gallery and Cultural Centre (BAND) presented Redefining Black Identity, an …View To be dignified, stylish and Black in the 19th century was to defy expectations

F 2076-16-3-2/Unidentified woman and her son, [ca. 1900], Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, Archives of Ontario, I0027790.

We’ve always been here: Black women’s history of voting rights and politics in Canada

The history of Black women’s voting rights in Canada must be understood in the context of their evolving social status in the …View We’ve always been here: Black women’s history of voting rights and politics in Canada

The Honourable Jean Augustine.

From Happy Hill to Parliament Hill: An interview with trailblazer Jean Augustine

Among her many accolades, the Honourable Jean Augustine has the distinction of being Canada’s first Black female Member of …View From Happy Hill to Parliament Hill: An interview with trailblazer Jean Augustine

A plate adorned with a scene from Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Photo courtesy of Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants Inc. and Infrastructure Ontario)

Hopes for the future

My life as an archaeologist often consists of hour upon hour of painstaking analysis of small bits and pieces of everyday life. …View Hopes for the future

North Buxton Maple Leaf Band at a tattoo hosted in North Buxton, 1960 (Photo courtesy of Adrienne Shadd)

Reflections on my hometown

In the year of the 150th birthday of Canada, I would like to pay tribute to my hometown. North Buxton started out in 1849 as a …View Reflections on my hometown

Leap of Faith mural by the George Brown School of Design team at the Lucie and Thornton Blackburn Conference Centre.

Digging for the Promised Land

In 1985, the Toronto school board and Ontario’s culture ministry created the Archaeological Resource Centre. There, …View Digging for the Promised Land

Afua Cooper at Emancipation Day celebrations at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, Dresden

The Black history of Ontario inspires me and defines who I am

Peggy Pompadour haunts me. I walk through the streets of Ye Olde Towne Toronto and I feel her presence – this Black enslaved …View The Black history of Ontario inspires me and defines who I am

African dance troupe at a south-central Franco-Ontarian festival (Photo: Emanuel da Silva)

Portrait of a growing diversity

Ontario has the largest number of francophones outside Québec. While that number has increased since 1951, it has not grown …View Portrait of a growing diversity

The “Colored Corps” provincial plaque unveiling (1994)

Fighting for freedom

What must Richard Pierpoint have thought in 1812 when he heard the war drums beating again? Abducted from Senegal at the age of …View Fighting for freedom

Dudley Laws (Photo: Mesfin Aman)

A tribute to Dudley Laws

In February 2011, Dudley Laws checked himself out of hospital against medical opinion to honour a commitment previously made to …View A tribute to Dudley Laws

Ontario Heritage Trust plaque commemorating the Dawn Settlement

Overcoming historical amnesia: Recognizing people of African descent as pioneers and community builders

Essential Canadian history often recognizes people of African descent solely through the heroic stories of the Underground …View Overcoming historical amnesia: Recognizing people of African descent as pioneers and community builders

Len Gibson (Photo: Union of British Columbia Performers Archives)

Len Gibson: Ontario dance pioneer

In this year declared by the United Nations as the International Year for People of African Descent, I think about dance in …View Len Gibson: Ontario dance pioneer

The Henson family arrives on the Canadian shore the morning of October 28, 1830. Source: Uncle Tom’s Story of His Life, An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson.

The life of the mind in the Promised Land

In the spring of 1861, a young black Philadelphian named Parker Theophilus Smith sold his belongings – including his extensive …View The life of the mind in the Promised Land

Ontario Black History Society logo

Recognition, justice and development

How do we recognize people of African descent in Ontario? How do we deal with their issues to provide them with justice? How do …View Recognition, justice and development

Former Governor General Michaëlle Jean shares a moment with Dr. Afua Cooper (right) and her daughter Habiba Diallo (centre) at the Harriet Tubman Institute event on August 27, 2011.

The UNESCO Slave Route Project: Itineraries of African-Canadian memory

In honour of the United Nations’ designation of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent, the Harriet …View The UNESCO Slave Route Project: Itineraries of African-Canadian memory

Celebrating Emancipation Day at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden (Photo: Keith Blackwell Photography)

Resources: Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent

What's on the shelf

The Journey from Tollgate to Parkway: African-Canadians in Hamilton, by Adrienne …View Resources: Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent

Former student Manani Jones (left) received the Most improved student award from Principal Hyman at the inaugural AAS gala in June 2010. Photo: Africentric Alternative School

The journey of the Africentric Alternative School

As traditional approaches to education continued to negate, under-represent and marginalize the contributions of …View The journey of the Africentric Alternative School

Illustration of Richard Pierpoint by Malcolm Jones, 1.E.2.4-CGR2 © Canadian War Museum

Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent

The United Nations (UN) has designated 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent. The UN recognizes that, …View Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent

A provincial plaque was unveiled on July 31, 2010 as part of the Emancipation Day event at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden to commemorate Hugh Burnett and the National Unity Association.

Changing perspectives on the past

The Ontario Heritage Trust’s provincial plaque program has existed for more than 50 years. Throughout this time, it has …View Changing perspectives on the past

Wilma Morrison received a Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 from the Ontario Heritage Trust, presented by The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander (left) and The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Wilma Morrison: A life of activism

By now, many people in the heritage community and the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario are familiar with the woman who is …View Wilma Morrison: A life of activism

Celebrating Emancipation Day at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden (Photo: Keith Blackwell Photography)

Looking beyond the law

This International Year goes beyond recognizing the contributions that African-descended people have made toward the economic, …View Looking beyond the law

Using ground penetrating radar at the Henson Family Cemetery in 2011.

Breaking ground virtually: Looking through the Henson Family cemetery

Many have forgotten how influential Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was at the time of its 1852 publication. It …View Breaking ground virtually: Looking through the Henson Family cemetery

First Baptist Church, Chatham

Religious freedom in the promised land

Eli Johnson toiled on plantations in Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky before making his bid for freedom in the “promised …View Religious freedom in the promised land

The Windsor Tower of Freedom monument honors the harrowing journey made by thousands in search of freedom and pays tribute to Ontario’s role in the Underground Railroad.

Ontario’s Black heritage network

In 2007, the Ontario Heritage Trust undertook a number of initiatives, with funding support from the Ministry of Citizenship …View Ontario’s Black heritage network

John Graves Simcoe. Photo: Toronto Public Library (TRL 1516)

Chloe Cooley and the limitation of slavery in Ontario

On March 14, 1793 Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Queenston, was bound, thrown into a boat and sold across the river …View Chloe Cooley and the limitation of slavery in Ontario

Slave ship (Photo: Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site)

Timeline to freedom

3500 BC to 332 BC – Slavery is practised in ancient Egypt as prisoners are sold as …View Timeline to freedom

Henson family arrives in Canada (Photo: Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site)

Slavery in Ontario

Slavery – one of the world’s oldest institutions, practised in almost every society – became increasingly identified with the …View Slavery in Ontario

Born a slave in Maryland in 1789, Josiah Henson escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Settling in southwestern Ontario, he worked to improve life for the black community and helped to establish the Dawn Settlement. Henson would go on to become an internationally recognized abolitionist, preacher and conductor on the Underground Railroad. His former home is now part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden.

Carving out a place in our history

Josiah Henson travelled to London, England in 1851 to attend the first World’s Fair – also known as the Great Exhibition or …View Carving out a place in our history

Homewood Museum in Maitland

Heritage by numbers

Ontario’s heritage is an immense and complex jigsaw puzzle. Every individual element of heritage creates a whole . . . a sort …View Heritage by numbers

Josiah Henson

"I'll use my freedom well"

A world-class exhibit honouring a Canadian of national historic significance was launched this spring at the internationally …View "I'll use my freedom well"

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. The property containing Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is part of 200 acres of land purchased in 1841 to establish the Dawn Settlement – a refuge for the many fugitives from slavery who escaped to Canada from the United States. It remains an important part of Ontario’s Black history.

The birth of Black History Month

Ontario’s Black History Month began in the United States as “Negro History Week.” This American celebration of Black history …View The birth of Black History Month

Emancipation parade in Windsor, August 1952 (Photo © Archives of Ontario)

Celebrating Emancipation Day: The greatest freedom show on earth

His name was Walter Perry; they called him "Mr. Emancipation." Born in Windsor in 1899, this great-grandson of slaves drew …View Celebrating Emancipation Day: The greatest freedom show on earth

Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Inside Uncle Tom's Cabin

At a bend in the Sydenham River near the town of Dresden stands Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site. The museum – built on the site …View Inside Uncle Tom's Cabin