♪ I'm a journalist and I'm traveling across my home country, Canada.

On this journey, I'll be experiencing some of Canada's most fascinating destinations.

My next adventure begins in east central Canada in the province of Ontario.

♪ I've come to the province of Ontario.

On my trip I'll be meeting people and going to places that will teach me about the Underground Railroad and the Freedom Seekers who came to Canada and have helped to build a large, vibrant The province of Ontario was the main terminus for the Underground Railroad, and my journey begins in Amherstburg.

The town is nestled on the shores of the Detroit River and Lake Erie and is about a twenty-five-minute drive from the Windsor - Detroit border.

I really wanted to learn about the Underground Railroad and the Freedom Seekers, so I've come to southwestern Ontario to Amherstburg and I'm at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum.

I'm with the curator there, Mary-Katherine Whalen.

Mary-Katherine, tell me first, what is the Underground Railroad?

So, the Underground Railroad wasn't actually a railroad that was underground but is a secretive network of paths and hiding spots that people used to get to freedom in either those free states, the United States, like Michigan or Ohio, or to freedom in Canada.

And who were the Freedom Seekers ?

The Freedom Seekers were those who are escaping enslavement in the United States to freedom, either in the northern United States or in freedom in Canada.

Can you give me a sense of the time era of when the Underground Railroad would have been running?

So the height of the Underground Railroad period happened after slavery was abolished in Canada on August 1st of 1834 to when slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865 but people were coming back and forth across the border before that time period.

And as the curator of the Amherstberg Freedom Museum, can you take me on a journey of the stories and what we will see as we go through the museum?

[Mary-Catherine] When people visit the museum, we take them through our two historic sites.

So you've got the Nazrey African Methodist Episcopal Church, which we're standing in front of right now.

And that church was built in 1848 by formerly enslaved people and people who came into Canada as refugees.

The church was also a terminal station on the Underground Railroad, and people when they were coming across the river could seek out places like this church to find refug here: food, shelter, clothing, whatever that they could offer.

We also bring people on a tour through the Taylor Log Cabin, which is named after George Taylor, who was formerly enslaved in Kentucky, and he actually escaped across the Ohio River, enlisted in the Union Arm and he was honorably discharged, and he did settle in Amherstburg around 1870.

Can you take me on the journey of what it would have been like to be a Freedom Seeker escaping and coming to Canada?

Was it a difficult journey?

The journey was difficult and dangerous and fraught, and there are many obstacles in the way.

Unfortunately, we don't know exactly how many people came up through the Underground Railroad, but researchers estimate between thirty to forty thousand people made this journey into Canada through the Underground Railroad.

But that's not accounting for people who may have lost their lives along the way.

So, it was a very difficult journey for many people, and some people were aided by abolitionists, but not everyone was lucky to do so, and the journey was often made under the cover of darkness at night on foot.

And once they got to Canada and they arrived here were they safe?

No, that's a, that's a popular myth that exists.

Just because slavery was abolished in Canada on August 1st of 1834.

That didn't necessarily mean that people were safe.

There were bounty hunters and slave owners who were trying to come into Canada and reclaim people and kidnap them and bring them across the border, even though it was illegal for them to do so.

So, there are many different hiding spots that it did exist all over Canada.

We don't have a record that we don't know for sure if it happened here in this church, the Nazrey AME Church, but their record of it happening at the Sandwich First Baptist Church in Windsor, where they had actually hid people under the floorboards of their church.

[Brandy] Oh, it's just so frightening.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me and for giving us this opportunity to explore the museum.

Thank you very much, Mary-Katherine.

It was my pleasure.

♪ While I'm in Amherstburg, I really wanted to meet a descendant of the people who came here with the Underground Railroad and I'm with Teajai Travis.

He's an Afro Indigenous artist who lives in the local area, and he is a descendant of people who were enslaved that came to the area with the Underground Railroad.

Tell me first, how did you find out this information?

How did you learn about your ancestry?

Growing up in my family, we we had a book called The Long Road, which was authored by Charlotte Perry, and in that book there were two vintage pictures of my ancestors dating back to the 1800's.

This inspired me later on to work with a genealogist who was able to trace my family back to the 1700's.

We learned that my oldest known ancestor was enslaved upon a plantation in Virginia.

He self-liberated, traveled from Virginia to Pennsylvania.

He was able to purchase a parcel of land, and he started a freedom town, which was known as Liberia at the time.

They, they lived upon that land until they passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

At that point, the majority of the community, they immigrated into Ontario.

And what have you done with that information?

I turned it into a collection of poetry, and right now I'm working on constructing that poetry into a one-person play.

[Brandy] And I know that you play a hand drum.

Can you tell me if there's any connection to that in the stories that you heard about your ancestry?

Yeah.

So, my... my grandmother who's called Louise Travis, she, she had severe Alzheimer's, you know, for the length that I had the opportunity to, to know her.

But what I learned about her is that: one: she's an extraordinary woman.

She give birth to twenty-four children and raised so many others.

But I also learned that she was a very talented musician and, and poet.

So we connected through, through poetry and then later on through, through the music of course.

When I got the opportunity to purchase my first drum, I name that drum after her and I play that drum in celebration of her.

♪ [Brandy] Thank you for sharing your music with me, and I love that you're doing all these creative things with the knowledge you've learned about your ancestors, and I wish you the best of luck with your new creations in the future, and I can't wait to hear about the new art you're going to do.

Oh, thank you so much.

Thank you for meeting me.

Next, I traveled to Windsor.

It's on the South Bank of the Detroit River, directly across from Detroit, Michigan.

One of the things you can do in Windsor, Ontario, is come and visit the Tower of Freedom Monument.

This sculpture tells the story of the formerly enslaved peoples who came to Canada through the Underground Railroad, and I'm with Irene Moore Davis.

She's a historian and an educator.

Tell me what's so important about this monument.

This monument, the Tower of Freedom is one half of the International Underground Railroad memorial.

The other half is in Detroit, Michigan.

They were both dedicated in 2001, and together they tell the story of how important the Detroit River was in the Underground Railroad movement.

And when you are thinking and looking at that river, what are you thinking?

[Irene] I'm thinking it was a one mile wide body of water that was the total difference between slavery and freedom and a whole new life for thousands of people.

And do you feel connected to this monument?

[Irene] I was actually a member of the committee that brought this monument here, but more importantly, I am an Underground Railroad descendant, so this is my story and my family's story.

[Brandy] And when people come to Windsor and they see the monument, what do you want them to think about?

[Irene] I want them to notice that these individuals are feeling just such liberation, such absolute joy when they land here, which is what was described historically as the expression of so many people when they arrived on Canadian soil.

But I also want them to think about the initiative, the courage, the determination it must have taken for people to make those journeys of hundreds or thousands of miles to get here.

And are there stories we haven't heard about the Freedom Seekers?

We often hear about the Freedom Seekers as though they were inanimate objects just being passed from abolitionists to abolitionist.

But they were people of determination, courage, absolute persistence, critical thinking.

They made these incredible journeys to get here and once they arrived; they did great things.

Well, thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me and for your dedication to teaching people about Black history.

I really appreciate you meeting with me today.

Thank you.

From Windsor, I drive to North Buxton, which is around 80 kilometers or 50 miles east.

In order to learn more about the history of the African Canadians who've come to this area here in southwestern Ontario, I've come to the community of Buxton.

It's close to the city of Chatham and I'm at the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum.

I'm with the curator, Shannon Prince.

Shannon, tell me about the museum and what you learn when you come here?

The main purpose of the museum is to collect and preserve present, interpret some of those original artifacts from some of those settlers and the Freedom Seekers that arrived here.

[Brandy] And what is your connection personally to those Freedom Seekers?

[Prince] I'm a sixth generation descendant from the settlement, and I'm very proud and honored to be able to continue their legacy as the curator.

Can you tell me more information about Buxton and just what its connection is to the Underground Railroad?

[Prince] Buxton is one of those stops on the Underground Railroad like so many other places, but this was the largest - 9000 acres and it was also classified as the most successful out of all of those other settlements that were established.

[Brandy] Shannon, when people come to the Buxton National Historic Site and museum, what are they learning about?

What can they see with those displays?

It's a very hands-on experience, so we do talk about the African slave trade, that horrific part of the journey, but we also bring them to the celebrations, the accomplishments of Blacks and other Freedom Seekers when they arrived here.

So, people will be able to pick up original shackles that were worn by someone on one of the slave ships.

The original shackles are very powerful, and they evoke so many emotions.

And when people, especially children, can get into a replica of a slave ship, it really puts everything into context.

And we also have original children's ankle shackles.

Again, so many emotions because people, especially children, don't understand the concept of being owned as property by someone and adult shackles as well.

It's hard to imagine when you're holding these that, that somebody wore this.

It just brings so many emotions to the surface, and it's hard to believe.

It is.

It really is.

And I think that's one of the reasons I really encourage people to pick them up to really get a sense of, wow, you know, that these were actually worn by someone.

So, Brandy, we're sitting on the porch of the 1861 schoolhouse.

There were three schools that were built in the settlement and this one was built right here.

So, education was very, very important because Blacks were denied one in the United States.

Reverend King was teaching what they called a classical education, which included everything plus Greek, Latin and a Christian-based education.

So, when students finish grade eight here they went to Knox and Trinity Colleges in Toronto.

So, the first black Canadian doctor, congressman in Alabama, speaker in the state legislature, Marcus Garvey's secretary, principals of University and High School, Circuit Court, judge riders were educated in Buxton but went back to the United States.

So, in this school, there were grades one to ten that were being taught.

So, you had one hundred students with one teacher that was here at one time.

So, this is where we all went to school.

My husband, my parents and grandparents, we all attended this school.

So Brandy, I'd like to give you a little sample of the education that was being taught here.

So actually, you are writing on 1861 slate, so you are writing on history.

So, this is a spelling book from 1879.

Ok. Are you ready?

[Brandy] Yes.

These men, comma Republicans from civility, comma, who published rhetorical panegyrics on massacres, comma, and who reduced plunder to a system of ethics, comma are as ready to preach slavery as anarchy, period.

So, this is a grade four level in 1879.

I would have failed.

[Prince] All of us would have failed.

(both laughing) It is so fascinating that all those people went to school here and that Buxton has this rich history.

It's wonderful.

[Prince] It is.

It really is.

I'd like to go and see some of your other buildings.

[Prince] Let's go to the log cabin.

[Brandy] Ok!

♪ So Brandy, we're standing on the porch of the oldest home that was built in the settlement.

This home was built in 1852 and these are original 1850 hand-hewn logs.

So, when people came, everybody helped them build their own home, their own church, their own school, et cetera.

But they didn't waste anything in the settlement at all.

So, they made their own fertilizer, their own soap.

They use the lye water to make materials as well, but they had to buy the salt to cure the meat.

But today we're going to make bath salts, and this was a luxury item to them, so this was a big treat.

If they had leftover salt, this was their idea, so we're going to make some today, so take two cups of this coarse salt.

You don't measure very well, do you?

A cup of the, (chuckles) a cup of the sea salt.

That's close enough.

Let's stir it, now you're going to stir it.

...OK. Four tablespoons of baking soda.

And you don't cook much either.

(laughing) You're learning all my secrets!

Ok, there you go.

Now mix that all in.

You got some lumps there goin' on.

[Brandy] And this would be for just who?

This would be for relaxation, for their muscles because remember, they didn't have the power tools that we have today.

So, everything was manual, and they would work hard, you know, like 18 hours a day.

So, this would be to soothe their muscles, their tender bones, that sort of thing.

And this is lavender.

So, some people had different herbs growing in their garden to add another scent.

Ok, so just mix that up.

Like this?

How'm I doing?

You're doing wonderful.

Even though I don't cook very often!

(laughing) We'll give you a cookbook.

(laughter) Ok, so let's try this puppy.

OK. We're gonna put this wonderful potion in here, Put it in the water.. We're gonna put this wonderful potion in here, and this will be for our aching bones, Aching bones, after a hard day's work.

Let's give it another little stir if you don't mind just to... Yeah... Ahhhh... ...like a potion.

MMMM, I love it.

It smells good, too.

And I actually love that the lavender is floating on the top.

It's very pretty.

It is.

It really is.

Ok!

(claps) Go right in?

Put our hands in together?

Oh, it's good.

It does.

You know, it's kinda gritty, but you could also, you could even do facials with it.

Are we gonna do that now?

(laughter) I could use one.

(chuckles) This is our spa day.

Our spa at the cabin!

This is wonderful.

Yeah, I love the spa at the cabin.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me and teaching me about the bath salts and the history of the people that came here and how important education was to them.

So, I just want to thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for coming.

It's been a wonderful morning.

(laughter) Next, I traveled to the city of Chatham to visit the Black Mecca Museum, which is run by the Chatham Kent Black Historical Society.

The exhibits tell the story of Chatham's Black community from the end of the 18th century to the present day.

I also visited the BME Freedom Park, where I met with members of the Chatham Kent Black Historical Society.

Dorothy Wright Wallace and her granddaughter Deirdre McCorkindale.

And did you grow up knowing about the Underground Railroad and the history of this area?

Very little, Very, very little.

In May, we would sing the song of John Brown, and that was the end of my history of, of this area.

And now today, this is your granddaughter, Deirdre.

She's a PhD candidate.

She's doing so well.

Tell me what you're focusing your studies on?

So my focus is on the history of the African experience in North America, but I have actually centered my focus on this little community.

[Brandy] Deirdre, when peopl come here and they see Chatham, what do you want them to be thinking about?

What should they learn when they walk away from this community?

[Deidre] I want them to understand that this community is a reflection of the triumphs and also the tribulations of Black Life in Canada.

There are very high highs and very low lows for Black people in the history of North America, and they're reflected here.

This was an activist community.

They didn't just stop being activists after they ran across the border and they built businesses here.

They were professionals here, a community that people said that could not exist for Black people existed here.

But they also did that with a lot of push-back.

And I think that that's what makes the community amazing.

And that's the thing.

I think I really want people to take away from that.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me, and I feel like meeting both of you gives me a real connection to the community.

And I want to thank you so much.

[Deidre] Thank you.

[Brandy] Thank you.

To get to my final destination, I travel around 28 kilometers or 17 miles north to Dresden.

I've come to the Josiah Henson Museum of African Canadian History, which used to be called Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site.

I've come here to visit the museum and speak with the curator, Steven Cook.

He is also a descendant of underground refugees.

When people come to Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site, what can they see?

What can they learn?

Well, we start with the story of slavery because many visitors don't realize that there was slavery in Canada for over two hundred years, it was practiced here.

So, using the lens of the life of a man named Josiah Henson, we explore what slavery was like here, not only in Ontario, but in the United States as well.

The man we focus on is called Josiah Henson, and he was born into slavery in Charles County, Maryland.

He escaped from Kentucky on the Underground Railroad and eventually settled right here where we're standing today.

He lived in this house and lived out the rest of his life as a free man here on the property where we have our museum.

We're on five acres of museum property.

And it used to be part of what was known as the British-American Institute Land because when Josiah Henson settled here after having been enslaved for 35 years in the United States, he knew the importance of education.

And so, he wanted to start a school to help other refugees that were pouring into Canada, escaping slavery from the United States.

So, a British American Institute School was started, and he was really the promoter for the school.

What is the connection between Josiah Henson and Uncle Tom?

So, yes, Josiah Henson really was known during his time as the real Uncle Tom, and that's because of a book written by a Caucasian woman by the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

She was born in Connecticut.

She wrote the book in 1852 as kind of an outcry against slavery and the laws that had been put in place that allowed slave catchers to capture freedom seekers that had even made it up to the northern free states.

Mrs. Stowe couldn't stand the thought of people being separated from each other because she'd lost a child when she was young, and so she wrote this book in 1852.

And when it came out, people said, “This is such a fantastical story, how can it be true?” And she took offense to that, so she decided to write another book a year later called The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, and it's really where she gathered all of her research together.

And in that second book, she explained that my main character of Tom, the Slave, is based on a real man and his name is Josiah Henson, and he's now living as a free man up in Canada.

And Uncle Tom's Cabin, the book, changed the world in a lot of ways, didn't it?

[Steven] It did.

When President Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he purportedly said, so you're the little woman who started this great war, in reference to the Civil War, because it really pitted the North and the South in the early days of the Civil War against- you shouldn't be holding slaves as property.

And it really raised awareness as to what was happening in the southern states.

Well, thank you for telling me all this information.

I'm so happy to be here and to have the opportunity to see with my own eyes the story that I've read in the book and heard about growing up in Ontario.

Thank you.

Pleasure having you, Brandy.

Here at the Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site, you can go to the Henson Family Cemetery and find the monument dedicate to Josiah Henson or Uncle Tom, and I'm with Dena Doroszenko.

She's a senior archaeologist who works with the Ontario Heritage Trust.

Dena, tell me a little bit about that monument I'm talking about, about Josiah Henson's monument.

Why is it so significant?

[Dena] He made a lot of speeches.

He wrote his own autobiography.

He is the model and basically inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, so he's very well known in certain circles.

His monument is a large monument which has a crown on top, and that signifies the fact that he visited England and met with Queen Victoria when he was out doing the fundraising talks and lectures, and he also was a Mason.

So, you see Masonic symbols on his monument.

He had the largest funeral ever held in Dresden at that time period in 1883, and he was well-loved by the community and well-known for his abolitionist activities.

And as an archaeologist.

what do you find so fascinating about a cemetery like this?

What has been found there?

[Dina] The cemetery is a good-sized cemetery that is primarily just landscaped green lawn with very few grave markers or gravestones, and as a result, the descendants of the family who still use it to inter people have passed away, asked if the Trust if we could help them determine why they were having difficulty finding interment plots, and we did a series of remote sensing using machinery such as ground penetrating radar to try to determine what is, what is the unseen sort of picture under the ground and what we basically found out over several years of different types of techniques being used.

We determined that we have two to three hundred grave shafts in that cemetery, so, very well defined rows and burials.

And of course, the question then becomes, who are these people?

Could they all be descendants of Josiah Henson?

And some of them probably are, but some of them are probably associated with the Dawn Settlement and the British American Institute.

And when people come to sites like this, do you find that they're very interested and actually going to the cemeteries and looking at gravestones and markers and that kind of thing?

[Dena] Well, we find that very often when we have, like, bus tours that are specifically geared towards learning more about Black history in southwestern Ontario.

A lot of people are intereste in the cemeteries because a lot of people that are from various parts of the United States may be aware that they had ancestors who sought freedom and came up into this area in the 1800's.

And as a result, we've had several stories of people who have remarked on the fact that their ancestors are in those cemeteries or their markers are still visible, particularly in the British American Institute Cemetery.

And we do know there are descendants of Josiah Henson in Maryland, as well as Michigan and obviously Ontario, and there are basically avocational groups and historical societies throughout the various communities in southwestern Ontario, which are now seeking and mapping and trying to understand where all the smaller Black cemeteries are located, even family cemeteries, so that they can be preserved for the future.

Thank you so much, Dena, for sharing this information with me and for helping me to understand more about the Henson Family Cemetery.

It is just fascinating.

Thank you so much.

Oh, you're welcome.

My trip to southwestern Ontario has been so eye opening, I've learned a lot about the formerly enslaved people who became freedom seekers through the Underground Railroad here in Canada.

I will hold on to their stories of courage and strength, and it has inspired me to continue to dig deeper and learn more about the history of the places I'm visiting.

♪ ♪