Video library

Watch highlights from the 2024 Youth Diversity Symposium, a collaboration between the Ontario Heritage Trust, Lambton Kent District School Board and community partners.

Catch the energy of Emancipation Day at the Josiah Henson Museum with this highlight reel! With soulful music, inspiring performances and hands-on fun, the video brings all the excitement and joy of the day to life.

For 10 years, the British American Institute provided education and manual-labour training to Underground Railroad refugees in the Dresden area. Learn more about the role of this school.

Remarkably, the Josiah Henson House has been moved three times since it was built in the mid-19th century. Learn more about why the house is so well travelled!

Between 1948 and 1956, the National Unity Association, under the leadership of Hugh R. Burnett, waged a campaign for racial equality and social justice. Learn more about this social justice organization!

In 2020, we celebrated Canada Day by interviewing author/director Jared Brock. Steven Cook, Site Manager of the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History, speaks with Brock about his book The Road to Dawn and his recent documentary, Josiah.

Episode 1: Thomas Hughes and Christ Church Anglican. 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.

Episode 2: Dresden's Black business district. 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.

Episode 3:The Whipper Cottage (home of William Whipper). 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.

Episode 4:Josiah Henson and the McInnes Family friendship. 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.

This virtual forum features the curators from the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History, Buxton National Historic Site and Museum and the Chatham-Kent Black Mecca Museum in conversation with creators and researchers from across the province.

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.

The Cheltenham Badlands site is one of Ontario’s geological treasures, formed at the base of an ancient sea about 450 million years ago. Today, this site is one of the most recognizable and visited natural heritage landmarks in Southern Ontario.

The Devil’s Monument comprises the Minhinick, LeFeuvre-Chupac and Schneider properties.  The name refers to the presence of a flowerpot that has long been a draw for locals and tourists alike. It is the only complete flowerpot on land along the east side of the Bruce Peninsula.

Great Manitou Island — owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust — is the largest island in the Manitou Islands Provincial Nature Reserve. The reserve was established to ensure the long-term protection of the colonial nesting habitat for great blue heron and osprey.

Scotsdale presents visitors with pastoral countryside. Superb hiking trails run through the farm’s rolling hills and woodlands. Visitors can also enjoy strolling around Scotsdale’s historical farm buildings.

The Gardiner, Grace and Neilson Properties are all located west of Ottawa in the Appleton swamp, just north of the town of Appleton. The Appleton swamp is an extensive riverine swamp and marsh complex associated with the floodplain of the Mississippi River.

This property is part of the Lion’s Head Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest due to its provincially significant geological features. The most significant features on the Westover property are four distinct sea caves created by waves.

These properties are part of the provincially significant Barrow Bay South Life Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, which contains rare species — including hart’s-tongue fern, round-leaved ragwort, eastern wood-pewee and wood thrush.

Take a tour of the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse with Mrs. Henderson, the schoolmarm, as she walks you through the history of the school, the neighbourhood and the state of education in Victorian Toronto.

Learn about the important morning ritual that all students had to follow at the schoolhouse — washing their hands!

Learn about another important part of a schoolhouse — the stove! In the days before central heating, getting a good spot close to the stove was essential.

Enjoy Mrs. Henderson’s elegant handwriting while she explains the tools that students wrote with during a school day.

You might have seen one of these before, but how do they work? Mrs. Henderson explains the rules of working the abacus — the calculator’s ancestor.

It’s not something you’ll learn today, but in the 1850s, Roman numerals were everywhere and all students needed to know how to read and write them.

Explore the history of the Ashbridge family and their estate in Leslieville, Toronto.

Learn about Toronto's rich theatrical history and how the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres fit into the story.

Fly over Scotsdale Farm, a heritage farm along the Bruce Trail, in Halton Hills.

See how we restored the drawing room at Brockville's Fulford Place.

Get a taste of life at the Ashbridge Estate with this butter tart recipe we found in the Ashbridge Estate archives.

Dive into the 1831 The Cook Not Mad; Or Rational Cookery cookbook for this classic apple pie recipe.

Learn how to make delectable raspberry tarts with cream from the 1831 cookbook The Cook Not Mad; Or Rational Cookery.

Make these delicious gingerbread cookies from the 1831 cookbook The Cook Not Mad; Or Rational Cookery.