The Underground Railroad in Canada (1/3)

Audio 48:30

By: Céline Develay Mazurelle

"Underground railroad", "underground railroad" ... In the United States, these words fall under the myth, founder almost. But in Europe, very few know him. Even fewer know that Canada was in the 19th century, a terminus of this railroad, a secret abolitionist network of resistance and flight of thousands of fugitive slaves to northern America.

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Land of freedom for these "freedom seekers", who fled the plantations of the South always further to the North, Canada would have welcomed, between 1840 and 1860, nearly 30,000 fugitive slaves from the United States. There, black people were free, entitled to vote and to buy land. They were especially safer, safe from the slave hunters who roamed America. Many of them then settled in Ontario, an English-speaking Canadian province, bordering the United States.

On a trip to Ontario, we find mythical figures of the Underground Railroad, starting with the famous “conductor” Harriet Tubman. She was nicknamed "the Black Moses" for guiding hundreds of slaves to freedom. We also meet the great Josiah Henson, a slave from Kentucky who fled in 1830 with his whole family to Canada and whose story in the South inspired "Uncle Tom's Cabin", the famous abolitionist novel. . And then there are all these singular and moving trajectories of anonymous heroes who, by their very flight, shattered the slave system.

Today, from Dresden to Windsor via Buxton, Chatham or the Niagara region, the descendants of these “freedom seekers” defend the memory of the railway through museums and historic sites. All tell the story of the heroism of their ancestors, the complexity of this network, made up of blacks and white abolitionists who helped fugitives along the way, but also the reality of the black presence in Ontario, and in Canada more broadly. Because, once free in Canada, these black pioneers experienced racism and segregation for decades. The civil rights struggle has also taken place in this part of America!

Nowadays, all these “children of the Underground” carry this heritage at arm's length, plead for more truth and recognition, and in doing so question Canada, a welcoming land.

A radio series in 3 episodes by Céline Develay-Mazurelle and Laure Allary.
Episode 1: The Underground, from myth to reality
Episode 2: Terminus Canada: free but not equal
Episode 3: The Underground, a shared heritage

(Replay of December 1, 2019)

To prepare for your trip on the Underground Railroad route in Ontario:
- The Destination Ontario site lists the places of the Underground in the province.
- The Ontario Heritage Trust looks back on the history of the black presence in the province, from slavery in the 20th century to the Underground Railroad.
- The Chatham Kent region has produced a useful brochure on the various memorials on the railway.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia offers a wealth of resources on the subject. On Black Canadians. And on the Underground Railroad.
- The Virtual Museum of Canada, the largest digital resource for museums in the country, offers a series of documented pages on "Black's journey to freedom in Canada".
- The Ontario Black History Society, chaired by Natasha Henry, focuses on its website recent and historical information on African-Canadian communities in the province.
- Students at Western University have gathered valuable information on the Underground Railroad in Canada.

To discover in Ontario:
- The historic site of Uncle Tom's Cabin takes its name from the famous abolitionist novel. It is an ideal starting point on this circuit. Located in Dresden, this museum provides an overview of the reality and myths surrounding the railway. Above all, it allows us to better understand the figure of Josiah Henson, leader of the black community he helped to found.
- The “John Freeman Walls Historic Site” located not far from Windsor, offers a sensitive and unique experience of the railroad, led by Bryan Walls, descendant of John Freeman who arrived in Canada in the 19th century. The decor is surprising and the encounter strong.
- Lezlie Harper Wells' “Niagara Bound Tours” allows you to discover the tourist region of Niagara, off the beaten track, through its black history and along the Underground Railroad. The inexhaustible Lezlie is also a descendant of fugitive slaves who arrived in Canada in the 19th century.
- At Sainte Catherines, the back base of the famous "conductor" Harriet Tubman, the Salem Chapel offers a moving tribute to Harriet and all those freedom seekers she has guided to freedom. Sadly, a little-known historical place.
- The “Buxton National Historic Site & Museum” is supported by a small, still tight-knit community, which gathers around a museum and a former school. These locations tell of the model black colony of Elgin, founded by a white abolitionist and former slaves from the United States. Do not miss the touching memory carriers Shannon and Bryan Prince on site.
- In Chatham, once a black city in Ontario, go to the Chatham-Kent BlackHistorical Society and Black Mecca Museum. In this small museum, we better understand the life of black communities in the 19th century and the struggles they then led in the 20th century for equality. We meet strong historical figures like Mary-Ann Shad Cary, the first black woman to have founded a newspaper in North America or John Brown, white abolitionist who had fomented the "attack" of Harpers Ferry to put an end to slavery. in the USA. Dorothy Wallace, a little woman over 76, is the powerful voice of this museum like no other.
- On the banks of the Detroit River, in Windsor, just in front of the United States, a Freedom Tower comes to honor the memory of the Underground Railroad and the “freedom seekers” who crossed the river to find freedom.
- In Windsor, you have to go to the unmissable Sandwich First Baptist Church, built by former slaves and terminus of the railway where newcomers found refuge. The historic sites are carried by a small black community, among the oldest in Canada. Ask locally for Lana Talbot.
- Not far from Windsor, the Amherstburg Freedom Museum also recalls the history of the railroad and the fugitives who settled in this city of Canada.

To read:
- “The Underground railroad. Next stop Toronto ” by Afua Cooper and Karolyn Smardz Frost. Natural Heritage Books editions. 2002
The reference book on the Underground Railroad in Canada by two renowned historians. In English.
- “ The Hanging of Angelique ”, by Afua Cooper. Harper Perennia Publishing. 2006.
The historian and poet, specialist in the black question in Canada, looks back on the figure and the story of Angelique, a slave hanged in Montreal in the 18th century. In English.
- “ Underground Railroad ” by Colston Whitehead. Albin Michel editions. 2017.
A multi-award-winning American novel that spins the metaphor of the train to the end. Powerful and unforgettable. Translate in French.
- " The Underground Railroad Records  ", by William Still. Modern Library Editions. Reissued in 2019 with a preface by Ta-Nehesi Coates.
William Still is consecrated father of the railroad. Abolitionist historian and active network activist, this free Black has welcomed many fugitives and published a collection of letters and testimonies which attest to the reality and strength of the network. In English.
- “ A Shadow on the household ” by Bryan Prince. McClelland & Stewart Publishing. 2010.
The incredible story of the Weems family who fled slavery to Canada. A true story unearthed by Canadian historian and storyteller Bryan Prince.

To see:
- The shows of Leslie Mc Curdy, artist-activist and descendant of fugitive slaves. His family is part of a long line of civil rights struggle in Canada. For years, Leslie has played Harriet Tubman in her show “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman” and has toured throughout the region, in Canada and the United States.
- The American series “Underground” released in 2016 in the United States and also broadcast in Canada.
- A Hollywood biopic on Harriet Tubman was released in the United States in November 2019. It is due in France in 2020.

To listen:
- "Swing Low, swing Charriot", "Steal Away" and all the historical gospels who served as coded messages for the fugitives who took the direction of the North.
More info on the American website of the Library of Congress.

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