A publication of the Ontario Heritage Trust November 2011 HeritageMatters

Special Edition Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent

In this issue: The life of the mind in the Promised Land Overcoming historical amnesia Changing perspectives on the past

www.heritagetrust.on.ca Feature story A message from the Chairman Celebrating the International Year Heritage is as much about the future as it is about the past. An understanding of the past helps us to build for People of African Descent, Pages 2-3 Heritage a better future. Heritage Matters is published in English and French This year has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year for People of African and has a combined circulationMatters of 9,200. Digital copies are available on our website at Descent. While we can use this time to celebrate the province’s Black heritage, it must also be a time to reflect www.heritagetrust.on.ca. on its significance. Ontario is home to a large and long-established community of African descent whose Advertising rates: members have made, over many generations, an immense contribution to the life and development Black and white Business card – $125 plus HST of this province. ¼ page – $250 plus HST The stories in this Special Edition of Heritage Matters illustrate the broad character of Ontario’s Black Inserts – Call to inquire about our exceptional rates. heritage. They teach us about the many ways in which the Black community has played a substantial part in For information, contact: building and shaping the social, cultural, political and economic fabric of this province. They provide us with a Ontario Heritage Trust 10 Adelaide Street East, Suite 302 greater knowledge and appreciation of the ways in which people of African descent have contributed to the , Ontario M5C 1J3 narrative of Ontario. They enrich our understanding of this province and of the important place of the Black Telephone: 416-325-5015 community within it. Fax: 416-314-0744 Email: [email protected] We should also take this opportunity to salute the active role played by Canadians of African heritage, again and again, in the defence of Website: www.heritagetrust.on.ca and, by extension, in the preservation of our shared history and institutions. © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2011 © Ontario Heritage Trust, 2011 The long-standing contributions of the many community leaders and members of the Black Heritage Network of sites and organizations, Photos © Ontario Heritage Trust, 2011, unless otherwise indicated. who have done so much to safeguard this important history, are also deserving of our recognition. I would encourage you to visit Produced by the Ontario Heritage Trust www.heritagetrust.on.ca/slaverytofreedom to learn more about the network. (an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture). Join me as we acknowledge this important year. Together, we can celebrate and broaden our understanding of the significant role of the Editor: Gordon Pim Black community in telling Ontario’s stories. Guest Editor: Dr. Afua Cooper Graphic Designer: Manuel Oliveira This publication is printed on recycled paper using vegetable oil-based inks. Help us protect our environment by passing along or recycling this publication when you have no further need for it. Aussi disponible en français. Thomas H.B. Symons, CC, O.Ont, FRSC, LLD The inclusion of any advertisement or insert in this publication does not imply or constitute an endorsement or acceptance by the Province of Ontario of any of the advertisers, products or services advertised. The Ontario Heritage Trust is not responsible for errors, omissions or misrepresentations contained in any advertisement or insert. E&OE ISSN 1198-2454 (Print) ISSN 1911-446X (PDF/Online) 11/11 A message from Jean Augustine

COntents Friends, The International Year for People of African Descent aims “to strengthen international, national and regional Greetings ______1 cooperation to benefit the people of African descent, and to recognize and promote their political, economic, Feature story: Celebrating the International Year social and cultural contributions from their diverse heritage and culture.” In Ontario, we celebrate this diverse for People of African Descent ______2 heritage and culture and take the theme of the year – recognition, justice and development – as a challenge the life of the mind in the Promised Land ______4 to do more. We also recognize the need to address issues that still haunt the well-being of people of African descent. Len Gibson: Ontario dance pioneer ______5 Ontario has a rich history of the African-Canadian presence. Ours has always been a legacy of struggles A tribute to Dudley Laws ______6 and challenges, but strong leadership has always enabled us to turn challenges into opportunities. Looking beyond the law ______8 I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the Ontario Heritage Trust, the support the journey of the Africentric Alternative school ______8 of contributors to this issue, and to all Ontarians who are working to ensure that we have a diverse, inclusive Recognition, justice and development ______9 society where people of African descent are respected and valued, and where they can be acknowledged as Overcoming historical amnesia: Recognizing people of African descent productive members of society. I read somewhere that we will be known forever by the tracks we leave behind. As we focus on issues impacting people of African as pioneers and community builders ______10 descent, Ontarians have the opportunity to leave their own “tracks” behind. the UnesCO slave Route Project: Itineraries of African-Canadian memory ______12 Jean Augustine, PC, CM, BA, M.Ed., LLD (Hon) Wilma Morrison: A life of activism ______13 Changing perspectives on the past ______14 Jean Augustine was appointed as the first Fairness Commissioner for Ontario in March 2007. She was also the first African-Canadian woman to Black heritage resources ______16 be elected to the House of Commons. She cares passionately about education and the challenges faced by newcomers to the province.

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

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Ontario Heritage Trust or the Government of Ontario. Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent By Dr. Afua Cooper The United Nations (UN) has designated 2011 as the kidnapped and sold into the transatlantic slave trade, discrimination in the courts. Further, Oliver notes that (storyteller) Wilma Morrison. Tamari Kitossa speaks International Year for People of African Descent. The and ended up in the northern states. During the popular media continue to present in to African-Canadians and the law, and how this UN recognizes that, worldwide, people of African American Revolutionary War, he escaped from slavery demeaning ways: as poverty stricken, pathological law has been used as a double-edged sword in the heritage still face racial discrimination and oppression and fought on the side of the British, later settling in and criminal. Oliver further identifies the invisibility of lives of many Black Canadians. Afua Marcus as a result of slavery and colonization. Ontario; he also fought for the British during the War Black history as one of the reasons that Black people reminds us that dance has always been an In declaring the year’s theme as “Recognition, of 1812. Enslaved Ontario woman Chloe Cooley was continue to face various forms of racial discrimination. instrumental part of Black life by focusing on the Justice and Development,” the UN has called on an early human rights champion. Josiah Henson According to the 2009 Statistics Canada police life and work of Len Gibson. Mesfin Aman grounds member states to take steps to redress this opened the first industrial and manual trades school report on hate crimes, “Blacks continue to be us into the present by examining how civil rights oppression. Responding to this call from the UN, the in Canada. And, in more recent times, Jamaican- victimized by hate crimes more than any other group.” leader Dudley Laws has changed the civil rights Ontario Heritage Trust has dedicated this issue of Canadian Rosemary Brown changed the Canadian Hate crimes directed against Black Ontarians and landscape in Ontario. And Thando Hyman explores Heritage Matters to Ontario’s 250-year African- political landscape when she became the first Canadians have increased by 34 per cent since 2008 the successes of the Africentric Alternative School Canadian heritage and history. Black woman to run for the leadership of a federal – particularly in Toronto, Ottawa and the Kitchener- and how this school has helped build pride among Ontario’sHorizontal Black heritage dates - Centred back to the /period Black partyand – Whitethe New Democratic Party – in 1972. WaterlooVertical area. - Centred / Black and White young VerticalBlacks. - Centred / Black and White with Reversed White of the French regime. As early as 1745, Black oarsmen Black Ontarians throughout the past two and a Some of the leading authors and scholars of Black Ontarians are aware that the arena of – enslaved and free – worked in the lucrative fur trade. half centuries have built communities, towns and Ontario’s Black experience – found here in this Special heritage, history and culture is a critical one in our We find evidence of these Black boatmen working in cities, have raised families and have used their skills Edition of Heritage Matters – have responded to the struggle for our human rights. This issue of Heritage Toronto, Cataraqui (Kingston) and Niagara Falls. and talents for the development and progress of the call to make Black history visible and to use history as Matters is a step in that direction. This heritage was created and shaped by Black province. a tool to break down stereotypes and promote people from diverse origins and experiences. In Though the accomplishments, contributions and greater awareness of the province’s Black past. addition to Blacks from the ancien régime, we have achievements of Black Ontarians are legion, the All the authors focus on one or all aspects of Scholar, historian and poet, Dr. Afua Cooper is the Loyalist military families who gained their freedom as history of Black people in Ontario has been Black people as agents in the creation of their own James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian a result of fighting for the British. There were also underrecognized, marginalized or forgotten. And history, and the need for recognition, justice and Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Her enslaved Africans who laboured for their white these were no mere accomplishments. Pierpoint, for development for Black people. Rosemary Sadlier scholarly expertise includes slavery, abolition and Loyalist owners. There were the 19th-century Funded by theexample, Government helped found of Ontario a new nation and country. shows the role the Ontario Black History Society has Canada in the African Diaspora. Underground Railroad immigrants from the United Despite the tremendous gains African-Ontarians have played in ensuring that Black history be recognized States. As the century progressed and the 20th made, racial discrimination continues to thwart our and valued. Nina Reid-Maroney and Marie Carter century unfolded, Black people from the Caribbean steps and has had a negative impact on the both look at the accomplishments of some 19th- began contributing to Ontario’s Black history. And, development of our communities. century Black Ontarians beyond the Underground after the Second World War, immigration from For example, Senator Donald Oliver notes in the Railroad narratives.Funded by Karolyn the Government Smardz Frost of informs Ontario us continental Africa increased. article “What it Means to be Black in Canada” (The of another UN project and its relevance for African- Funded by the Government of Ontario Here are just a few of their stories. Born and Mark, July 14, 2011) that Blacks in Canada continue Canadian heritage. Adrienne Shadd highlights the raised in Senegal, West Africa, Richard Pierpoint was to face severe unemployment, racial profiling and stellar role and work of community historian and griot Horizontal - Centred / Colour Vertical - Centred / Colour Vertical - Centred / Colour with Reversed White The Ontario Heritage Trust is proud to commemorate the International Year for People of African Descent. “This International Year offers a unique opportunity to redouble our efforts to fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance that affect people of African Illustration of Richard Pierpoint by Malcolm Jones, 1.E.2.4-CGR2 © Canadian War Museum descent everywhere.” Funded by the Government of Ontario Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Funded by the Government of Ontario 2 Funded by the Government of Ontario 3

Horizontal - Centred / Black and White with Reversed White Horizontal - Centred / Colour with Reversed White

{ the width of the i in Ontario; must have that ‘i’ measured space all around Ontario logo

Funded by the Government of Ontario Funded by the Government of Ontario The life of the mind Len Gibson: Ontario dance pioneer in the Promised Land By Nina Reid-Maroney By P. Afua Marcus

In this year declared by the United sister Thelma. By the time Gibson was Roof, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Nations as the International Year for 19, he started studies on scholarship Hello Dolly, Finian’s Rainbow and People of African Descent, I think with Katherine Dunham in New York Salome Bey’s Indigo. about dance in African Diaspora and later became a member of His contribution to the Toronto communities. This art form is one of Dunham’s resident company. There, he dance community was noted and the important cultural posts that plays was introduced to Afro-Cuban documented for over 30 years. When a healthy role in the spiritual and and took courses in tap, jazz, Spanish, Gibson left Toronto, he returned to physical lives of African-Canadian oriental percussion, costume and Vancouver where he continued to communities in Ontario. visual design. work in dance, theatre and television The late Len Gibson was a He trained with Jose Limon and until his death in 2010. He received contemporary dance pioneer who Syvilla Fort, among other noted dance the 2000 Harry Jerome Award for came to Toronto and encouraged the pioneers. In the 1960s, Gibson toured Lifetime Achievement in the arts. He present African-Canadian dance Europe, performing as an actor, singer, also received an Award of Distinction community that exists in this province dancer and choreographer. He was and the Black Dancers in Canada to stake their presence in the also a principal dancer with award. Gibson is remembered as a Canadian dance world. Gibson’s work Vancouver’s Theatre Under the Stars, dance pioneer and a serious purveyor ethic enabled the dance community where he wrote and choreographed of the craft. who studied with him to envision a Bamboula, a double-first – the first career in dance. Noted members of the musical to be produced for the P. Afua Marcus is a dancer, a teacher African-Canadian dance community Canadian Broadcasting Corporation of African and African Diasporic dance who were students of Len Gibson (CBC) from Vancouver and the first forms, an actor, a community 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. included: Debbie Costello, Len Henry, interracial cast in North America. This developer and social activist. She is Josiah Henson. Dr. Shani Williams and Vivine Scarlett. production predated any interracial currently writing a history of Black Leornard “Len” W. Gibson was cast work done by American artists. dance in Canada. Photo: Union of born on November 13, 1926 in When Gibson settled in Toronto, In the spring of 1861, a young black Angles, the Saxons, the Danes, the Franks term meant to dwell on the purposeful Performers Archives Philadelphian named Parker Theophilus and the Normans do when the Roman agency of ordinary people who believed Athabasca, Alberta. His family later he opened The Studio of Dance Smith sold his belongings – including his Empire encroached upon their territories?” that, in the face of oppression and settled in British Columbia. His parents Theatre Arts. He later taught at the extensive library of ethnography, history, Smith’s response to racial prejudice was sweeping historical forces that they could arrived in Canada from the southern Yorkville Performing Arts Studio. mathematics, natural science, metaphysics, formed in the intellectual world of Black not control, ideas mattered. One hundred United States and the Caribbean. By Gibson accumulated credits as a performer, director and choreographer moral philosophy, ethics and logic – and Philadelphia, but it found a swift application and fifty years later, the example of one The late Len Gibson was a the age of five, Gibson – a self-taught in film, television and radio on moved his family to Dresden in then- in the complex ideological terrain of the Philadelphia shopkeeper of modest means contemporary dance pioneer tap dancer – was performing in local productions such as Fiddler on the Canada West. One of his first letters from Promised Land. provides compelling reasons for historians who came to Toronto and shows in Vancouver, along with his his new home included an account of a These brief lines from Smith’s of the African-Canadian experience to focus helped enable the present public celebration at which the local correspondence offer an eloquent reminder new attention on the life of the mind. African-Canadian dance superintendent of schools spoke on the that migration to 19th-century Canada meant community that exists in this subject of slavery. not only the movement of people, but the province to stake their When Parker Smith heard the largely movement of ideas. Smith’s letters show us Nina Reid-Maroney is a professor of history at the presence in the Canadian Black abolitionist audience being advised to particular and clearly delineated threads in a University of Western Ontario. Her specialties are dance world. wait for a “white deliverer” to bring freedom vast web of connection that reached across intellectual history of Black freedom seekers and to the enslaved, he responded with a history national borders and ran throughout the gender studies. lesson: “I wonder what white people ever conceptual structures of the “Black Atlantic.” waited until God sent them a deliverer to I think of Smith’s traversing of this rescue them from slavery. What did the landscape as an intellectual migration – a

4 5 A tribute to Dudley Laws By Mesfin Aman

In February 2011, Dudley Laws checked years – from England to Canada. It Any attempt to write the history of himself out of hospital against medical became apparent to all in attendance Dudley Laws must include the history of opinion to honour a commitment on March 23 that, on being given the BADC. Although Laws was the previously made to inmates at Joyceville assurances that the work was indeed charismatic and courageous leader of Institution in Kingston, Ontario to carrying on, Laws was able to relent his the organization, BADC has always been participate in Black History Month physical struggle and, four hours later, comprised of progressive elements of the celebrations. The following month, on died, leaving the Black community with African-Canadian community spanning the evening of March 23, Laws a tremendous void. generations, nationalities, gender and summoned a small cadre of community Who then was Dudley Laws? From a class. These elements helped to shape activists chiefly from the Black Action practical perspective, he was a welder, a Law’s legacy by practising the concept Defense Committee (BADC) to his man of humble beginnings, the son of of the extended family. hospital bedside for an urgent meeting. Ezekiel and Agatha Laws, hailing from There is a misconception that Laws Although terminally ill, Laws Saint Thomas parish in . He and the BADC were singularly focused continued to address agenda items that shared this birthplace with Paul Bogle, on issues of anti-Black racism. An accurate he deemed unresolved. These two the Baptist deacon and national hero representation of history, however, will examples were fitting testaments of who fearlessly led ex-slaves on a march show several campaigns in coalition with selflessness, an unwavering into Spanish Town in 1865 to present the South Asian community, the Sikh commitment and a steely discipline in their discontent with the injustices of community, the Filipino community, the the service of African people for over 50 the colony. Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, the

Photo: Mesfin Aman Photo: Mesfin Aman

Toronto Coalition Against Racism, First sounds of Louis Armstrong or Nat King courage and belief that action and Nations and advocacy on behalf of many Cole. He could go tête-à-tête against advocacy would bring about the non-Black victims of police actions. Dudley Renaissance men such as Milton Blake or necessary changes for equal rights and Laws lived the political dictum of Martin Colin Kerr in reciting classical poetry and justice. This is the same premise in which Luther King Jr., who stated that “injustice literature from memory. He could spar 150 years ago the oppressed men and anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” with his best friend Hewitt Loague to women of Morant Bay – the birthplace of Laws had an excellent pulse of the establish who had the smoothest moves Dudley Laws – would rise up to change community and was pragmatic in his and lightest feet on the dance floor in the course of history for years to come. approach to the myriad of problems that their sweet serenades of soul music. And, faced Black people. He recognized that along with the late Jack Johnson, he times had changed, as had dynamics of played an important role in keeping alive Mesfin Aman is an educator, social activist and community, and he was willing to work the oral and social tradition of the wake. member of the Black Action Defence Committee. with new ideas, different people and in Rooted in Africa and the Caribbean, the new ways. He was also open to working wake is an important tradition that assists with all people – irrespective of age, in the collective bere avement of loved ideological persuasion, dogma or cultural ones by celebrating life, community and background – as long as the effort was culture through ritual, food, drink and song. sincere and about the inspiration of In the final analysis, though, Dudley oppressed people. Laws and the BADC would triumph and It is also important to note that be responsible for significant public policy Dudley Laws cannot be defined solely by reform, anti-racism legislation and the his political advocacy. He was also a civilian overseeing of police agencies. keeper of culture and a man of song, More importantly, African-Canadians poetry and dance. He could croon to the would be instilled with the necessary

Photo: Mesfin Aman Photo: Mesfin Aman

6 7 Looking beyond the law By Tamari Kitossa Recognition, justice This International Year goes beyond similar abuses that could be seen to of an evolving society. Governments and recognizing the contributions that conceal a historic bias toward the African. an informed electorate must work But is there any truth behind this bias? together to overcome racial prejudice. The African-descended people have made By Rosemary Sadlier toward the economic, cultural and material For example, the Ontario Commission on African struggle for justice can be seen as and development enrichment of the West. It is also a call for Systemic Racism identifies the war on one against law itself. But, looking beyond an appraisal of racist actions that continue drugs as the chief reason for the explosion the law, western societies must embrace a to impact African-descended peoples. of African-Canadian imprisonment in world where inequality – in all its guises – How do we recognize people of African the most-accessed African-Canadian textbooks that ignore their histories – It is ironic that, at the height of the Ontario. There is no evidence, however, is banished. descent in Ontario? How do we deal with website, www.blackhistorysociety.ca. a shortcoming that strips people of the North Atlantic slave trade, Europeans that African-Canadians use or sell drugs their issues to provide them with justice? In 1979, the OBHS successfully story of themselves. pontificated on the rights of man while more than others. Additionally, while How do we facilitate and acknowledge petitioned the City of Toronto for the first The OBHS is involved in a range of denying their extension to African people. African-Canadians represent less than two Tamari Kitossa is an Associate Professor at Brock their contributions to the development of Black History Month proclamation. Clearly, new initiatives to engage youth through Many people see this as an example of the per cent of the Canadian population, they University in the Department of Sociology. His our society? While the legacy of the this acknowledgement provides support the Africentric Resources being compiled law being manipulated against the African. comprise more than six per cent of federal research areas include African-Canadians and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was racism, part for issues of recognition, justice and for educators. Another OBHS project is Despite strokes of the pen to abolish the inmates. law, gender and justice, and sexuality and of the challenge of the International Year development. But there continue to be the creation of a centre for African- more overt expressions of exploitation, the Legal systems must be constantly identities. for People of African Descent is creating obstacles to overcome. Canadian culture and history to be a law still needs to be reviewed to prevent monitored and adjusted to meet the needs the opportunities to raise awareness on an The OBHS has participated in several space that informs African-descendant ongoing basis. preparatory conferences for the World students and other community members The Ontario Black History Society Conference Against Racism (WCAR) and about the important legacy of our past (OHBS) was formed to study, preserve and special consultations carried out by United and the hope of our tomorrow. promote Black history and heritage. Since Nations-appointed Independent Experts 1978, through the tireless efforts of this providing opportunities for various volunteer-run provincial heritage communities to share their experiences Rosemary Sadlier is the President of the Ontario The journey of the Africentric organization, a number of initiatives have and offer suggestions for transformation. Black History Society. Sadlier has used her been undertaken – from the creation of One of those experts, Gay McDougall, position and commitment to Ontario’s Black the first African-Canadian historical film, listed a number of areas requiring history to bring about changes pertaining to Black improvement in Canada. Among her By Thando Hyman an oral history collection, resource centre, studies in school curricula and in the heritage Alternative School nominations of people/places and events points, she mentions the pervasive issue community. She is also the author of several This approach was also viewed provincially mandated curriculum for historic recognition, school for African-descendant students who are books on Black history. as an effective means of addressing has translated to academic presentations, free-standing exhibits and learning through curriculum and the high dropout rate and successes. This includes the achievement gap affecting students inaugural Grade 3 class exceeding of African descent. Many parents the results of the Toronto District were also seeking approaches that School Board and the province of they were not afforded. Ontario, thus showing that alternate It is in this context that the models and Africentric education Africentric Alternative School (AAS) can garner the desired results. opened its doors on September 8, Lastly, the school has fostered 2009 at Sheppard Public School (a a healthy community of students, school with declining enrolment) staff, parents, volunteers and offering classes from Junior advocates, resulting in increased Kindergarten to Grade 5. The AAS levels of partnerships and stated three key outcomes for its engagement in line with the students: high academic African concept of “it takes a achievement, high self-pride and a village to raise a child.” The AAS high motivation to succeed. To continues to seek and develop date, the school has enjoyed many more relevant and successful successes. approaches to education that can 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 school has approximately be replicated in the larger society. 190 students today with a waitlist, As traditional approaches to Four-Level Government/African and has expanded to Grade 7, education continued to negate, Canadian Community Working increased to three full-day Thando Hyman is the principal at the under-represent and marginalize the Group (1992) initiated a new kindergarten classes and plans to Africentric Alternative School. contributions of African-Canadians, pedagogy in education that took increase capacity to Grade 8. vocal critics of the report entitled into account the history, culture and The integration of diverse Toward a New Beginning – The tradition of the students and made perspectives, experiences and Report and Action Plan of the these experiences central in learning. histories of African people into the

9 8 included social institutions and Pennsylvanian William Whipper rights activists – in a variety of professional services. From 1853 to owned the majority of the original historical projects. 1873, their investments and presence townsite after 1853, and held the injected new life into the Dawn mortgages on a number of properties Settlement. In 1854, the community he sold, allowing others to make a Marie Carter is an independent historical Overcoming historical amnesia: had developed a flour mill, lumber start – including at least one early researcher. She has done ground-breaking mill, warehouse, an inn for travellers, white industrialist who would later be work in the history of African-Canadians who a corn mill and various shops in credited as a town founder. Whipper migrated to southwestern Ontario during the Dresden. These individuals also and his associates, meanwhile, would 19th century. Recognizing people of African descent as included professionals who taught at pass into historical obscurity. schools and provided the community The community at Dresden is with a number of long unrecognized working to rectify this and other firsts, including the town’s first doctor instances of historical amnesia by pioneers and community builders By Marie Carter (Dr. Amos Aray) and first real estate recognizing these early pioneers and agent (J.B. Hollensworth). community builders – and later civil

Did you know? The British American Institute was a manual labour school established in 1841 through the efforts of J.C. Fuller, a Quaker from New York, Reverend Hiram Wilson, an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, and the Reverend Josiah Henson, a former slave. Henson and Wilson, on behalf of a board of directors, purchased 300 acres in Dawn Township at present-day Dresden to establish the school. A Did you know? In 2010, an settlement formed around the school Ontario Heritage Trust plaque was and came to be known as the Dawn installed on the town’s main street to Settlement. The Ontario Heritage Trust commemorate Hugh Burnett and the interprets this history at Uncle Tom’s National Unity Association whose Cabin Historic Site. activism at Dresden led to the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Act and the Fair Accommodation Practices Act in Ontario. New history projects continue to reflect the multicultural Essential Canadian history often contributions similar to those of white like the Whippers, Hollensworths, nature of the town’s early history recognizes people of African descent settlers in developing the townsite? Hills, Shadds and Charitys had a and development. solely through the heroic stories of the Answering this question has led to significant impact on the Dawn Underground Railroad. These stories a radically different understanding of Settlement and the emerging alone, however, do not represent the the Dawn Settlement area and its community of Dresden. diversity of African-Canadians and citizens. People of African descent The extended family or business their contributions. who settled here emerged as diverse associates of prominent Underground In 2003, in Dresden, Ontario, individuals, including enterprising Railroad operatives like William developers of the Trillium Trail former slaves who cleared land and Whipper were concerned with Historical Walk rejected the idea that introduced new crops such as tobacco developing an infrastructure that the accomplishments of early Black and hemp, and skilled tradespeople. A would assist those who had fled north pioneers were confined to their stories large percentage were also freemen, in successfully building a new life – as of escape. It posed an important including professionals, business well as supporting their own families, question. If the majority of the owners, and an elite group of whom they had moved north for population in their early community successful people who brought their safety after the passage of the were people of African descent, considerable resources with them and draconian 1850 Fugitive Slave Act in would some of them not have made invested it in the community. Families the United States. That infrastructure The Dresden Cemetery gravesite memorial of Mary Anne Whipper-Hollensworth – William Whipper’s sister – is one of the rare pieces of physical evidence that remains of the community’s connection to a group of well-to-do Pennsylvanians. (Photo: Marie Carter)

10 11 The UNESCO Slave Wilma Morrison:

Route Project: Itineraries of A life of activism By Adrienne Shadd

African-Canadian memory By Karolyn Smardz Frost

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. 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. In honour of the United Nations’ designation This was the fourth Institut Interdisciplinaire scale, and to link with similar itineraries of 2011 as the International Year for People Virtuel des Hautes Études sur les Esclavages around the globe. of African Descent, the Harriet Tubman et les Traites (IVHEET), and bore the theme of The project is being developed by Dr. By now, many people in the heritage Hamilton, Morrison was a member of Stewart teachers’ colleges) did not admit Black Institute for Research in the Global Migrations Slavery, Memory, Citizenship. Paul Lovejoy, Canada Research Chair in community and the city of Niagara Falls, Memorial Church’s youth group when, back students. It was a full-circle moment when of African Peoples at has Itineraries of African Canadian Memory African Diaspora History, Distinguished Ontario are familiar with the woman who is in the 1940s, this group monitored local she was bestowed an honorary doctorate launched a major initiative to help raise public was launched to identify and designate Research Professor at York University, practically synonymous with Black history – restaurants that had a reputation for denying from Brock University in June 2010. awareness about Ontario’s and Canada’s rich places evocative of the African-Canadian and a longtime member of the UNESCO Wilma Morrison. In recent years, she has service to Black customers. Confronted with a As Canadians laud our role in welcoming and deep African-Canadian heritage. The first experience as a UNESCO Itinerary of Memory. International Scientific Committee; been showered with awards and honours for group of teens, the restaurants served them fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, partner to join in this exciting collaboration The initial focus is on historic sites in Ontario, Underground Railroad-era archaeologist and her work in saving the R. Nathaniel Dett without incident; this activity paved the way Wilma Morrison’s inspiring story reminds us – between the UN Educational, Scientific including those associated with colonial-era historian Dr. Karolyn Smardz Frost; and Hilary British Methodist Episcopal Chapel and for equal accommodation practices in the that Canada has its own history of racial and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the slavery, and with the escape of thousands of Dawson, genealogist, historian and heritage establishing the Norval Johnson Memorial city’s restaurants, clubs and dance halls. They ignorance and intolerance. Harriet Tubman Institute and community enslaved African-Americans to Ontario on the professional. Library. In January 2011, she was one of 30 also staged a one-day sit-in at the Alexandra groups, government agencies and heritage fabled Underground Railroad. Eleven African- recipients of the – the skating rink when they were refused organizations – was the Ontario Heritage Canadian heritage sites commemorated by province’s highest award for its citizens – for admittance there. Morrison insisted on Adrienne Shadd is an author and historical Trust. Ontario Heritage Trust provincial plaques Karolyn Smardz Frost is a historian, university her efforts in ensuring that the pioneers of meeting with the fire and police departments researcher. Her specialties are women and The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, were recognized by UNESCO at the professor and author. Her specialties are historical African descent be remembered and to ask why Blacks and other minorities were gender, community history and migration. She former Governor General of Canada and International Scientific Committee meeting in memory, slavery and antislavery. Her most recent acknowledged. not hired. This got the ball rolling at the fire has researched the history of Black immigrants now the UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti, Columbia in May 2011. book, I’ve Got a Home in Gloryland: A Lost Tale of the Less well-known is that she was a civil department and Blacks were eventually hired. to Ontario. announced the UNESCO Slave Route Project: Later phases of the project will include Underground Railroad, won the Governor General’s rights activist before such a term was part of Morrison always wanted to be a teacher, Itineraries of African Canadian Memory partnering with institutions, communities and Award for non-fiction in 2007. our everyday lexicon. Growing up in but the normal schools at the time (today’s initiative on August 23, 2011 as part of the agencies across Canada to designate sites Harriet Tubman Institute’s summer institute. of African-Canadian memory on a national

12 13 Changing perspectives

Explore the Trust’s Online Plaque Guide at on the past By Sam Wesley www.heritagetrust.on.ca/plaques. Or trace the perilous path of 19th-century Blacks as they fled to the sanctuary of the The Ontario Heritage Trust’s provincial the terminology used in plaque texts, are these overarching historical narratives to north along the silent tracks of the plaque program has existed for more than not ends in themselves, but are part of a reveal omissions, hierarchies, Underground Railroad by visiting 50 years. Throughout this time, it has wider process of reexamination. contradictions, distortions and motivations www.heritagetrust.on.ca/slaverytofreedom. commemorated several people, places and Prior to the 1960s, the heritage that operate within the narratives that events relating to Ontario’s Black heritage. landscape was dominated by the notion were previously largely hidden or ignored. An examination of these plaques reveals that a single overarching historical narrative They have delved into the complicated that significant changes have occurred over could accurately and comprehensively anatomy of how histories, cultures and time in the program’s approach to Black explain who we were and where we came identities are constructed and have argued heritage – changes that are reflected in from. That single narrative was often both that the historical past is not something altered terminology, redirected emphasis exclusionary (in that it overwhelmingly absolute and unalterable, but a sustained and a growing number of provincial represented one dominant perspective) and dialogue between past and present plaques that commemorate Black heritage. inflexible (because history was viewed as perspectives – in other words, an ongoing These shifts in approach to Black something unalterable). There was a process. heritage – evident not only in the plaque pervasive notion that things had either International scholars such as Benedict On August 23, 2007, this provincial plaque was unveiled to commemorate Chloe Cooley and the 1793 Act to program but in cultural, political, social and happened or not happened and could be Anderson, Edward Said, Arjun Appadurai Limit Slavery in . The plaque was unveiled by The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander, then-Chairman of the Ontario Heritage Trust. educational institutions throughout the described accurately or inaccurately. This and the Canadian, Charles Taylor, have province – have resulted from several often imbued the historical narrative with claims emphasized the role of imagination in the interconnected influences, including the to objectivity and authority that construction of histories, identities and civil rights movement, multiculturalism and marginalized other perspectives – including nationalities. This emphasis on imagination events have had on people. Instead, it the voice of Chloe Cooley – an enslaved Furthermore, the plaque program is post-colonialism. It is important to those of Black Ontarians. does not suggest that history is in any way reminds us that the historical past is woman whose cries, as she was violently self-consciously part of a process by which remember that greater Black heritage But, in recent decades, historians and make-believe or unreal, nor does it something that we, in the present, invoke forced into a boat on the Niagara River and historical memory is invoked, and its success representation in plaques, and changes to scholars have peeled back the layers of diminish the real impact that historical and frame. We bring our collective and sold to an American, so distressed some is achieved through partnerships and individual imaginations to bear on past inhabitants of the province that Lieutenant consultation. events by creating context, envisioning Governor introduced Community partners, Trust staff and connections, filling in gaps, describing the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada in external researchers all contribute to the history with current terminology and 1793; the voice of Dr. Anderson Ruffin creation of each plaque. Yet those who projecting our own thoughts and Abbott – the first Canadian-born doctor of read these plaques bring to them their own experiences onto it. African descent and a president of the meanings, experiences and interpretations. As individuals, communities and Wilberforce Educational Institute; the voices Voices from the present and the past societies have a degree of agency that we of Hugh Burnett and the tireless interact and the dialogue continues. bring to the process of history creation – campaigners of the National Unity agency that can be used to change, broaden Association; The Provincial Freeman and diversify that process. With this in mind, newspaper and the many voices therein that Sam Wesley is the Acting Plaque Program concerted efforts have been made to redress championed social reform; and the collective Coordinator with the Ontario Heritage Trust. imbalances in the way our history has been voices of the early settlers of Black perceived and to make room for multiple communities in Puce River, Queen’s Bush, voices and experiences – including those Otterville and Hamilton. that have been previously marginalized. The Provincial Plaque Program is Changing approaches to Black heritage, uniquely positioned to respond to this shift evident in the provincial plaque program identified in historiography. With more than and elsewhere, reflect this spirit of pluralism. 1,200 plaques throughout the province, the Together with community partners, the plaque program demonstrates that history Provincial Plaque Program has helped, in is variegated. Plaques have proven to be a recent years, to interpret a variety of voices fitting medium through which to impart a from Ontario’s Black history. These include: diverse array of stories and experiences. A provincial plaque was unveiled on July 31, 2010 as part of the Emancipation Day event at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott (1837-1913). Historic Site in Dresden to commemorate Hugh Burnett and the National Unity Association.

14 15 Black heritage resources

the Journey from tollgate to Parkway: My name is Henry Bibb: A story of slavery and Freedom Websites African-Canadians in Hamilton By Afua Cooper By Adrienne shadd Kids Can Press, 2009. Often shocking, always compelling, Afua Cooper’s novel Black History Canada Harriet tubman Institute United nations education Guide www.un.org/en/events/iypad2011/ Dundurn Press Ltd. 2010. When the Lincoln Alexander Parkway was is based on the life of Henry Bibb, an American slave who after repeated attempts http://harriet.tubman1.yorku.ca/ index.shtml named, it was a triumph not only for this distinguished Canadian, but for all escaped in 1841 to become an anti-slavery speaker, author and founder of a Black www.blackhistorycanada.ca/ news/welcome_to_the_ African Canadians. It had indeed been a long journey from the days in the newspaper. Cooper takes painstakingly researched details about slavery and education.php international_year_for_people_of_ Official United Nations website 1880s when a Black woman named Julia Berry operated one of the tollgates weaves an intimate story of Bibb’s young life, which is overshadowed by african_descent commemorating the International Year for This web resource enhances a student’s leading up to Hamilton Mountain. The Journey from Tollgate to Parkway inconceivable brutality. People of African Descent. examines the history of Blacks in the Hamilton-Wentworth area, from their knowledge and appreciation of the Black- The Harriet Tubman Institute is campaigning to status as slaves in Upper Canada to their settlement and development of Ontario’s African Canadian Heritage: Collected Writings by Fred Canadian experience through engaging have Underground Railroad sites and other community, their struggle for justice and equality, and their achievements, Landon, 1918-1967 discussion and interactive activities. sites showcasing Africa’s presence in Canada presented in a fascinating and meticulously researched historical narrative. By Karolyn smardz Frost, Bryan Walls, Hilary Bates neary and recognized and designated by UNESCO’s Frederick H. Armstrong Black History Month Museum “Itinerary of Memory” program. emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada Dundurn Press Ltd. 2009. Ontario’s African-Canadian Heritage is composed www.cic.gc.ca/english/games/ By natasha L. Henry slavery to Freedom of the collected works of Professor Fred Landon, who for more than 60 years wrote museum/flash/flash-game.asp Dundurn Press Ltd. 2010. This new, well-researched book provides about African-Canadian history. The selected articles have, for the most part, never www.heritagetrust.on.ca/ This educational initiative, developed by insight into the creation, development and evolution of a distinct African- been surpassed by more recent research and offer a wealth of data on slavery, slaverytofreedom Canadian tradition through descriptive historical accounts and appealing abolition, the Underground Railroad and more, providing unique insights into the Citizenship and Immigration Canada in images. The social, cultural, political and educational practices of Emancipation abundance of African-Canadian heritage in Ontario. Though much of Landon’s partnership with Black cultural institutions and Developed by the Ontario Heritage Trust, this Day festivities across Canada are explored, with emphasis on Ontario, research was published in the Ontario Historical Society’s journal, Ontario History, historical sites across Canada, allows users to web resource promotes Ontario’s Black Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia. some of the articles reproduced here appeared in such prestigious US publications travel through different historical periods and heritage sites and groups, and provides online as the Journal of Negro History. events in an interactive manner. information and resources, with a central focus I Am My Father’s son: A Memoir of Love and Forgiveness on the province’s rich Black history. Harriet tubman: Freedom seeker, Freedom Leader By Dan Hill By Rosemary sadlier Harper Collins Publishers Limited, 2009. In this poignant, moving Dundurn Press Ltd. (A Quest Biography book), 2012. Tubman’s memoir, one of Canada’s most respected singer-songwriters traces his difficult, exploits helped to empower those opposed to slavery and enrage those who often tumultuous relationship with his father. From the time Dan Hill picked up supported it. Her success encouraged enslaved Africans to make the brave break a guitar at age 11, he tried to win the approval of Daniel Hill Sr., a man who for freedom and reinforced the belief held by abolitionists in the potential of black has been called Canada’s father of human rights. But Hill Sr. set impossibly high freedom and independence. Referred to as “General Tubman” due to her standards for himself and his family, especially for his eldest son, leading to contributions to the Underground Railroad and to the Union Army, Tubman’s conflict and alienation even as young Dan achieved international fame. Join the discussion and search for Ontario’s Black numerous rescue missions ending in Canada helped to build the interest in escape and reinforce the position of Canada as the final stop on the journey to freedom. heritage on Facebook.

16 17 Join the discussion and search for Ontario’s Black heritage on Facebook.