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Time of India
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Photo Exhibit showcases Black freedom-seekers' legacy in Canada
'North Is Freedom,' a powerful photo exhibit at Art Windsor-Essex, highlights the untold stories of Black Americans who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and settled in Canada. Featuring descendants of freedom-seekers, the exhibit preserves Black Canadian history and emphasizes the legacy of resilience, migration, and historical contribution Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A new photo exhibition titled North Is Freedom , currently on display at Art Windsor-Essex until June 8, is shedding light on a seldom-discussed chapter in Canadian history: the lives and legacies of Black Americans who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and settled in exhibition highlights the contributions of Black Canadians who shaped the nation's history and showcases the enduring legacies of those who sought North Is Freedom exhibit documents the experiences of some of the estimated 30,000 Black individuals who fled slavery in the United States between the late 18th century and the end of the Civil War. Their journey continued into Canada after passing through northern U.S. states like Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where slavery had been read: Trump holds Black History Month event as some agencies skip recognition after anti-DEI order The early Black settlers who reached Canada played a significant role in founding communities across Ontario and Nova Scotia, creating abolitionist media outlets, and contributing to Canadian society in various fields. However, their contributions have been historically underrepresented in national narratives. North Is Freedom seeks to correct this oversight by showcasing photographic portraits of their descendants, many of whom are now prominent historians, educators, and community exhibition features 30 captivating images by Slovak-born Canadian photographer Yuri Dojc, whose personal connection to historical struggles for freedom sparked his interest in documenting the lives of freedom-seekers. Dojc, the son of Holocaust survivors, saw parallels between the hardships endured by enslaved Black individuals and the struggles his own family project, which was launched in 2016 with support from TD Bank and the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C., has since toured major cities like Ottawa, Niagara Falls, and Brampton, reflecting the significance of the Underground Railroad network across Canada. Windsor, a key location in the story of Black freedom-seekers , now hosts the exhibit, giving visitors an opportunity to engage with these important read: Trump's US government erases minorities from websites, policies Curator Dorothy Abbott, whose own family settled in Owen Sound, Ontario—the final stop on the Underground Railroad—has long advocated for the preservation and sharing of this important history. Abbott's family history, deeply intertwined with the Underground Railroad, gives her a unique perspective on the importance of keeping these stories and Dojc worked together to expand the exhibit's reach, collaborating to include new individuals and descendants of freedom-seekers in the project. Abbott has also made strides in connecting with various descendants of those who escaped slavery, ensuring that their legacies are honored and preserved for future North Is Freedom exhibit not only showcases the stories of these individuals but also highlights the ongoing work of historians and educators who are dedicated to preserving the contributions of Black Canadians and their ancestors. By telling these stories, Abbott and Dojc hope to encourage greater awareness and recognition of Black Canadian history and inspire pride in the descendants of those who paved the way for freedom.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- The Guardian
The Underground Railroad went all the way to Canada – and a new photo exhibit preserves that legacy
Between the late 18th century and the end of the American civil war, tens of thousands of Black Americans escaped the bondage of slavery by fleeing plantations to go north. The Underground Railroad had stops in states in which slavery was illegal, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. But for an estimated 30,000 people, the journey continued beyond those states into Canada. Early Black American settlers in Canada – people who became Black Canadians before Canada was a country – made an indelible mark on their new home. They created thriving communities across Ontario and Nova Scotia and as far west as the Manitoba border; they founded abolitionist newspapers and paved the way for waves of migration that would follow. But in the years since their arrival, with subsequent waves of migration led by others of African descent, the story of Black Canadians whose ancestors participated in the Underground Railroad has largely been untaught. An exhibit, on view at the Art Windsor-Essex in Windsor, Ontario, until 8 June, seeks to preserve their stories. 'We've been in Canada longer than Canada has been a country, because it was 1867 when Canada became a country,' said curator Dorothy Abbott, whose family settled in Owen Sound, Ontario, the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad, in the early 1850s. 'My grandmother was born there in 1876, and my mother was born there in 1917.' North Is Freedom: Descendants of Freedom-Seekers on the Underground Railroad is a photo essay of 30 images that celebrate and preserve the living legacies of freedom-seekers who escaped slavery. Those legacies are often highlighted in the exhibit through their descendants: Irene Moore Davis, a historian descended from Susan and Charles Christian and George Braxton Dunn who fled Kentucky and Ohio, respectively, before the Underground Railroad led them to Canada; Dr Bryan Walls, whose ancestors John Freeman Walls and Jane King Walls fled North Carolina; and Spencer Alexander, whose ancestors Thomas and Catherin Alexander also fled Kentucky for Canada, all figure prominently in the show. Many of the descendants have taken up the banner themselves, becoming historians working to preserve the lives of their ancestors. Abbott's ancestors originated from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and arrived in Canada five generations ago. A quilt Abbott created that depicts her family is featured in North Is Freedom. She connected with Yuri Dojc, a refugee from Slovakia and the photographer who came up with the idea for the project years ago. Dojc's parents were Holocaust survivors, and he 'understands from a personal perspective the hardships that people coming up on the Underground Railroad would have experienced', Abbott said. 'They're not similar, but [still kind of the same],' Dojc said. 'It's about freedom, about struggle, about cherishing the past – or, at least, remembering the past.' Dojc's interest in the descendants of freedom-seekers came after he'd visited a town in Northern Ontario, and saw a monument to the Underground Railroad. He inquired about the monument, and was put in contact with a woman, 200km (125 miles) from Toronto, who told him about the history. 'I learned that this place was the last stop on the Underground Railroad, so I was asking if I can take pictures, which I did,' he said. 'And then I couldn't stop. I was thinking about [how] there must be more places. I wanted to know more about the story.' He approached the Ontario Black History Society, where Abbott was serving as a board member, to see if they could help connect him with descendants. Unbeknownst to him, Abbott and the administrator at the time were both not only descendants themselves. Throughout 2016, Dojc took photographs of the descendants, and with sponsorship from TD Bank and the Canadian embassy in Washington DC, the first iteration of North Is Freedom opened in September of 2016. Abbott officially joined the team for North Is Freedom shortly thereafter, and helped the exhibit travel to Nova Scotia. The exhibit has since made its way to Ottawa, Brampton, Niagara Falls and St Catharine's – all places, like Windsor, that are significant to Black freedom-seeker Canadian history, even if many Canadians don't realize it. 'It is not something that's taught in school, and we're bringing the descendants to the forefront, all grouped together,' Abbott said. 'Many of the people that are part of the exhibit are also historians working at different museums and galleries or teaching in schools. Being able to tell their stories collectively is – we're living history.' Sign up to The Long Wave Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world after newsletter promotion For descendants, participating has meant an opportunity to share their stories and their families' stories, in some cases, for the first time on such a scale. 'A lot of them are people like me that are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, and we want to be able to tell our stories for our children and grandchildren,' Abbott said. 'But we also want to pay homage to our ancestors who blazed the path before us and suffered hardships and racism to bring us to where we are today.' Working with and meeting the families was a 'discovery', Dojc said. 'It was something which we all knew about, but once you get deeply into it, you just realize what an interesting and important part of history it is,' he said. 'I was amazed by how much the flame of history is in everyone I photographed. Everyone knows deeply their past and they all knew their ancestors – some of the people went six generations down. The closest one was a gentleman in a small farm, and he was only three generations removed from the person who crossed the border.' Abbott and Dojc both hope the exhibit can continue its journey and, ideally, end up in the States again. 'The people that are in this exhibit came from all different parts of the United States,' Abbott said. 'Some of them, their ancestors escaped to come north. Others, like Mary Ann Shadd, were abolitionists and they helped people to escape. There's both sides of the story being told.' She has already connected with other descendants, including some distant relatives, hopes to keep meeting people, and hopes that Dojc continues to document them. 'We want to tell our stories. We want to travel with this exhibit. We want to share it. We want to find more,' she said. 'There's more people. I've got a running list of people that we need to photograph still – I just want to make it as big as possible. It's important for us to be able to instill that sense of pride in our children and grandchildren.'
CBC
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
North is Freedom exhibit now on display at Art Windsor-Essex
A photography essay exhibit at Art Windsor-Essex shows emotional portrait collection of Ontarian families and individuals who have traced their roots back to the freedom seekers of the underground railroad.
CBC
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Descendants of freedom seekers featured in Windsor art exhibit
Dorothy Abbott knew her ancestors escaped slavery to Canada five generations before her. But it was when she started digging into that heritage that she realized just how far her relatives travelled to find their freedom, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., to Owen Sound, Ont. And she knew she wasn't alone. Abbott and her daughter are one of several subjects for a photography project named North Is Freedom: Descendants of Freedom-Seekers on the Underground Railroad, now on display at Art Windsor-Essex in Windsor, Ont. The collection was originally created by Slovakian refugee and Canadian photographer Yuri Dojc and is now curated by Abbott. Travelling to Windsor to speak on the collection for Black History Month, she joined Afternoon Drive to share more of her story with host Matt Allen. Here is some of that conversation. Could you talk about how you went from being a subject in these portraits to helping curate the exhibit? When Yuri Dojc, the photographer, started the exhibit in 2016, he approached the Ontario Black History Society, where I was the volunteer treasurer there at the time. Being a descendant, it was of interest to me and over a period of a couple of years I became more and more involved with it to the point of working directly with him as his producer and now curator at this particular exhibit. How did you end up tracing your own family heritage back to Tennessee? I bill myself as an amateur genealogist, because I am not trained as a historian. But in 2010, I became very involved in chasing down my lineage and another genealogist had pointed out that she had found my great great grandfather on a plantation in Murfreesboro, Tenn. So, my husband and I set out to do a road trip and discover genealogy, music and food all at the same time. It was fascinating. I mean, I already knew a lot of it, but to actually go to the place and talk with archivists, it was very fulfilling. I came back with a lot of information and was inspired to go forward and gather more. That must have been very impactful for you. Very, very impactful. I have created a quilt, actually, that shows six generations of my family in photos. So we're going back into 1850 with these photos and the stories of the people that are in this photo exhibit, they're going back to the early 1800s as well. I mean, we're bringing our history to life and sharing it. And it's an important story. And I understand your family ended up settling in Ontario? My family ended up in Owen Sound, which is recognized as the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad. They worked on the lake boats, they worked on the land. There's a rock at the Sheffield Museum in Thornbury that has their names and many other families' names carved into the rock. It's an important memorial and it traces several generations of my family right up to Owen Sound. How did these families decide where to settle in the communities they were going to live in? I think part of it was driven by necessity to get away from some of the border towns because of the fact that slave catchers were coming across the border, recapturing people, some of them who were already free, and taking them back across the border forcibly. So a lot of people ended up in places like Owen Sound, Collingwood, Barrie, Oro Township —as far away from the border as they could get. I want to ask about the creator of the concept for this exhibit, Yuri Dojc. He's white, he's a Slovakian refugee. What were your conversations like with him and where did he get this idea? He had travelled into the United States and in northern parts of the United States, seen some memorials and came back to Ontario with the idea. He had already created a photo exhibit called Last Folio that was to commemorate people that escaped the Holocaust, and that included his parents. When we met, we connected because my husband's family also escaped the Holocaust and he was born a month after the war ended. And so he and Yuri have bonded over stories. And Yuri and I, I don't know we just connected. I felt extremely comfortable and he was very open and very excited with his idea. And, very earnest. He was trying to tell a story. And he's a good photographer, a great photographer. What are you hoping people will take away from the conversation as well as the exhibit about the journey of your family and others? I would like people to grasp the history. I know it's an old story and people have said many times that they'd like to know more than just the Underground Railroad. However, many of the people that are involved in this exhibit are their historians, their teachers, their researchers, etc. They run museums. I want people to realize that this history is important, it's ongoing, and with what's happening in the United States, we really, really do need to keep these thoughts first in our minds so that things like this do not get repeated.
