Not so long ago in North America, people were bought and sold like property, and often treated with less regard. With the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada (now Ontario), the movement of fugitive slaves into Canada began in earnest. When the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, Canada became the only place safe from the torments of slavery.
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Who were some of the early Black settlers who chose to make this area their home, even if for a short time? Those that were here left very little proof of their existence in the way of tangible records or documents. Through census records, town council records, birth, death and marriage certificates we have tried to piece together a fascinating depiction of the lives of individual people.

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Blackface minstrelsy originated in the 1830s in the Northern United States. By applying burnt cork makeup, white actors depicted parodies of enslaved Black people. Obscuring the realities of black life, blackface minstrelsy is centred around stereotypes that equate black identity with laziness, ignorance, childishness and hypersexuality.

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