3 historians share local Black history they believe deserves more recognition

CBC

09-02-2025

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Southwestern Ontario's Black heritage, and the people responsible for documenting and preserving it for future generations, took centre stage this past week at Museum London.
On Wednesday, the museum played host to a panel of six museum curators and historians from across southwestern Ontario, who shared details about the work their organizations do to save artifacts and the lived experiences of the local Black community.
They also touched on the family histories that have been uncovered through their collections and research, efforts to engage young people and new arrivals with Black history, and the challenges around digitizing collections to make them more accessible.
The event was conducted in partnership with the London Black Heritage Council as part of the museum's speakers' series "History Now!"
Among those on hand were Irene Moore Davis of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, Bryan and Shannon Prince of Buxton National Historic Site & Museum, Doug Robbins of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, Zahra McDoom of Museum London, and researcher Heather Rennalls.
After the event, CBC News asked three of the panelists to share a piece of local Black history they feel deserves more attention, or to share something they learned in their research that was noteworthy to them.
Zahra McDoom
Museum London's Zahra McDoom on the city's historic Black newspaper
12 hours ago
Duration 2:52
Zahra McDoom, TD curator of collections at Museum London, says one piece of local Black history she likes to call attention to is the Dawn of Tomorrow, the Black newspaper founded in London in 1923 by James Jenkins, copies of which are housed at the Western Archives.
McDoom, who is TD Curator of Collections at Museum London, spoke about the Dawn of Tomorrow, the Black newspaper founded by James F. Jenkins and published in London beginning in 1923.
"The Dawn of Tomorrow is a rich source for Canadian history, Canadian Black history, and it's written in the voices of the people," McDoom said.
"It isn't some external gaze looking at the Black community and writing about them, but it comes from community voices. It comes from their own experiences."
Copies of the newspaper are available on microfilm at the London Public Library and at Western University.
Irene Moore Davis
Irene Moore Davis on role men of African descent played in Upper Canada Rebellion
12 hours ago
Duration 2:47
Irene Moore Davis, president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society and assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum in Essex County, says one piece of local Black history often overlooked is the role men of African descent played defending Fort Malden in Amherstburg during the 1837-1838 Upper Canada Rebellion.
Davis, president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society and assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, said there are many stories worth telling, but one that stood out for her dates back to the 1837-1838 Upper Canada Rebellion.
"Down in Amherstburg, there was a group of men of African descent from throughout Essex County, but most particularly Amherstburg and Colchester, who formed a Black militia to help defend the fort from the rebels and from their American supporters," she said.
The leader of the militia, she said, was Josiah Henson, who founded the Dawn Settlement near Dresden for Black settlers who had escaped slavery in the United States. The community is now home to The Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History.
Henson later served as the inspiration for the character Uncle Tom in the book Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Heather Rennalls
Heather Rennalls on the relationship between Harriet Tubman and John Brown
12 hours ago
Duration 2:24
Heather Rennalls, an independent researcher and freelance writer based in Oxford County, said she was surprised to learn of the personal connection between Harriet Tubman and John Brown, and that the two were both allies and friends.
Rennalls, an independent researcher and freelance writer based in Oxford County, said her research led her to discover more about the close friendship between abolitionists John Brown and Harriet Tubman.
"John Brown had mentioned in one of his letters, when he was in Ingersoll, that Harriet Tubman was supposed to meet him," she said. Initially skeptical, she says she was surprised to learn the two were both allies and friends.
The two first met in St. Catharines, Ont., in 1858. Tubman helped Brown plan the ill-fated raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory the following year in what is now West Virginia, an event which helped spark the Civil War.