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The Atlantic slave trade and the ensuing enslavement of millions of people of African descent led to a long history of resistance that resulted in the development of thriving Black communities in Ontario. With abolitionist and Person of National Historic Significance Josiah Henson’s life as a backdrop, we’ve captured inspiring stories that speak to the early African-Canadian experience in Ontario.
Featured video
Beyond the Underground Railroad: Strategies for confronting anti-Black racism
This pre-recorded forum discussion will feature the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History, Buxton National Historic Site and Museum and Chatham-Kent Black Mecca Museum in conversation with Candice Fung (Inclusive Diversity Consultant, Lambton Kent District School Board), Rebecca Haskell-Thomas (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator, Municipality of Chatham-Kent), and Irene Moore Davis (President, Essex County Black Historical Research Society). Atia Johnson, a student at McNaughton Avenue Public School in Chatham, will share her original poem entitled Followers.
Note: Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site changed its name to the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History in July 2022.
Discovering Dawn
Historian Marie Carter and Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History Programs Assistant Jackie Bernard visit landmarks associated with the Underground Railroad and British American Institute in the town of Dresden – once a thriving destination for refugees from slavery.
Emancipation Day 2021
Each August Civic Holiday weekend, the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History celebrates Emancipation Day with various speakers, performers, exhibits and cuisine that reflect the Black cultural experience in Ontario. Explore the 2021 virtual Emancipation Day celebration.
Exhibit snapshots
Curator Steven Cook and Programs Assistant Jackie Bernard introduce you to the gallery spaces and structures on the grounds of the two-hectare (five-acre) Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History property.
Ontario’s Black heritage
Since the first recorded arrival of a Black person in Canada in 1608, people of African descent have made lasting and continuing contributions to the development of Canada and the Canadian identity. We celebrate their roles in the building of this nation.