Celebrate Emancipation Day
VIRTUALLY
Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site
Join the Ontario Heritage Trust
and Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site virtually to celebrate Emancipation Day!
Virtually from Monday, July 27 to Saturday, August
1, 2020
Please follow the link below to access Emancipation Day Celebrations Virtually:
https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/index.php/calendar?e=40967&d=#:~:text=Saturday%2C%20August%201%2C%202020&text=Enjoy%20musical%20performances%2C%20including%20The,law%20on%20August%201%2C%201834.
This year's events include interviews with Natasha Henry (educator, curriculum consultant and President of the Ontario Black History Society), Wanda Thomas
Bernard (Canadian senator, social worker and community activist) and Preston Chase (director of the short film Mr. Emancipation). Enjoy musical performances, including The Heritage Singers Canada and the Grineage Family, as well as a tour of
Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site.
Emancipation Day commemorates the Abolition of Slavery Act, which became law on August 1, 1834. This act freed more than 800,000 people of African descent throughout
the British Empire. Since then, Emancipation Day has been celebrated on or near August 1 each year. It is an important expression of identity for the Black community, and a reminder of the continuing struggle faced by people of African descent towards a more
inclusive, diverse society.
The day is especially popular in places where refugees from American slavery settled – most notably Sandwich (now Windsor), Toronto, Hamilton and Owen Sound. And, of course,
the Dawn Settlement in Dresden celebrates as well. We hope you’ll join us!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site commemorates the life of Josiah Henson, a former slave, who escaped
to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Henson rose to international fame after Harriet Beecher Stowe acknowledged his memoirs as a source for her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Settling in southwestern Ontario, Henson worked to improve life
for the Black community and helped to establish the Dawn Settlement. He would go on to become an internationally recognized abolitionist, preacher and conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Stay tuned to our social media channels for more information!
Follow Emancipation Events at...
Ontario Heritage Trust on FACEBOOK,
also
Twitter and Instagram
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