A historic site southwest of London, Ont., dedicated to preserving a significant part of Canada’s Black history has reopened for the summer 2022 season.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, located in Dresden, explores the life and leadership of Josiah Henson, an abolitionist, preacher and conductor of the Underground Railroad.
“This is a man who was born into slavery in Maryland,” said site manager Steven Cook.
“He was enslaved for 30 years, he’s seen his father’s ear cut off when he was a young boy, his brothers and sisters all sold away from him, he’d been lashed himself and his collar bone (broke)… but he worked tirelessly for 30 years before finally escaping.”
Henson escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad and “started a settlement here in little old Dresden that was one of the very first-ever manual labour schools that was ever started in our country,” Cook said.
In his role as conductor, Henson rescued 118 enslaved people.
Cook says the name Uncle Tom goes back to 1852 when the famous book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was published.
The book, written by a white woman named Harriet Beecher Stowe, told the story of what life was like on a plantation in the southern U.S.
It was a bestseller and sold over a million copies in the first year, but faced controversy.
“People, especially the southern slave owners, said, ‘What does this white woman (know) about slavery? Her book is just a fantastical tale that she’s made up in her mind,'” Cook explained.
Stowe then wrote another book to defend her bestseller.
“She said she was inspired to create those characters like her central character of Uncle Tom by having read the life of Josiah Henson. Right when she put those words down on paper, that’s when Josiah Henson became known as the real Uncle Tom.”
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site also explores the contributions of people of African descent to Canadian culture and society.
Each August Civic Holiday weekend, the site hosts Emancipation Day with speakers, performers, exhibits and cuisine reflecting early Black life in Ontario.
This year is the first time in two years that Emancipation Day will return as a live event.
The site consists of the Josiah Henson Interpretive Centre, with its Underground Railroad Freedom Gallery and North Star Theatre, plus three historical buildings, including the Josiah Henson house, two cemeteries, a sawmill and numerous artifacts.
— With files from 980 CFPL’s Mike Stubbs and Andrew Graham