Resources and Workshops

The Art of Resistance: Day Trips to Black Heritage Sites

Following in the footsteps of Black settlers, two informational and inspiring day trips to Black heritage sites in Ontario were organized in 2025 by the Rev. Canon Claudette Taylor.

The first was to Priceville and Owen Sound on Owen Sound Emancipation Day, Saturday August 3, and was attended by people from our own parish, other parishes within our deanery, and others from parishes outside of Toronto. Some attendees had no connection to any church. The first stop was at the Old Durham Road Black Pioneer cemetery, close to Priceville in Grey County. In 1851, almost every lot on this road was inhabited by a total of 117 Black people, the northernmost large concentration in Ontario, many of whom had fled slavery. The community diminished over the years due to intermarriage, leaving to find better work, and being dispossessed of their property by white settlers.

In the 1880s, the farmer who owned the landremoved over 90 headstones to plant potatoes. The Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery Committee was formed in1990 and found four headstones in a nearby pile of rocks. In October of that year, Lieutenant-Governor Lincoln Alexander unveileda memorial boulder that honours these courageous people, and the four historic gravestones are now in a covered pavilion designed to evoke memories of cemetery dead houses, roadside chapels, and rural structures such as log cabins and covered buildings. Learn more from this brief talk by  Esi Edugyan. 

The trip continued past Negro Creek Settlement Road, named after a community that was begun in 1842 and survived for several decades, peaking at about 15 families in the 1850s. Three families connected to the original ones still live there. A proposed change to the name of the road to“Moggie Road” after a white settler was strongly resisted by the Black community.

In Owen Sound, the 162nd Emancipation Festival events included music, storytelling, games, and displays, commemorating the British Commonwealth Emancipation Act of August 1, 1831 and celebrating the community’s Black culture. The Festival has been celebrated in Owen Sound since 1862.

The second trip went to the Sheffield Park Black History Museum in Clarksburg and Collingwood on Saturday, September 14, 2025. The museum has over 20 buildings, including homes, businesses, a church, and a schoolhouse that guide visitors through Black history from 18th century Africa to 20th century Ontario. The tour begins exploring Africa: Egypt is the birthplace of civilization and the place where many branches of learning began. We were surprised to learn that the word “Amen” that we say to end a prayer was derived from the Egyptian deity Amen Rah. There were many displays of talented artisans and African artifacts.

Perhaps the most painful area of the museum to visit was the area dedicated to the Slave Trade. The artifacts included heavy chains that were used to shackle the hands and feet of the kidnapped Africans. Responses ranged from curiosity to sadness, horror, and understanding of the inhumanity of the Slave Trade. There was also a feeling of profound pride in the strength and resilience of people who survived hundreds of years of dehumanization and who by various means fought for their dignity and their right to be recognized for their worth as human beings.

We saw artifacts that told the story of the waves of Black people who came to Canada, how they survived, and the challenges they faced.  The Black Loyalists who fought for the British during the American Revolution, were given passage to Canada as a reward for their loyalty. Obtaining land grants for all coming to Canada, whether Freedom Seekers, Refugees, or Black Loyalists, was unnecessarily difficult. To qualify, five to six acres of the property had to be cleared within a given timeline, a home had to be built according to a prescribed size, and the public road adjacent to the property had to be maintained.  Some of the land was also unproductive.

The Underground Railroad quilts showed how, in spite of enslavement, people used their creativity and skills to include in their quilting possible escape routes to freedom. We saw a list of Black inventors whose creativity, resilience, and brilliance invented farming equipment and tools for everyday use. Another area was devoted to the Great Lakes and the Military. The names of Black men and women who sailed the Great Lakes in any capacity are immortalized on a large stone tablet.

Collingwood Harbour and three railroad lines which ran through Collingwood connected with the town with other towns and cities and provided employment opportunities for the Black Community and a way to connect with other communities. As a result of this, Collingwood and Owen Sound are a tight community with deep family connections.

As we saw throughout our tour of the museum, the early Black Settlers were resilient, resourceful, and turned challenges to opportunities. They could not shop in White establishments so they built their own. There were ladies’ dress shops, hat shops, barber shops, hair salons, shoeshine establishments, shops that sold dolls, and restaurants, to name a few. These Black-owned establishments were also meeting places for the community.

The final exhibit titled Black memorabilia shows the many ways that Black people have been dehumanized. The positioning of this exhibit I think is meant for reflection. We have seen how enslaved people have maintained their dignity, have shown grace and resilience in the face of daunting challenges, and used their creativity, intelligence and skills to invent important tools to contribute for the benefit of society at that time. How then, can we believe that they are not human? How can we change our perspective after all that we saw?

In the words of a visitor, the curators and owners Carolyn and Sylvia Wilson have created “a cultural gem and provided an educational experience beginning with Africa, and spanning the Slave Trade, the flight to freedom and their dignity and grace displayed.” The exhibits celebrate goodness in the face of hardship and a determination to succeed and contribute to their country.

We would have liked to stay longer at the museum but we had to have our lunch and we still had two other places to visit. The food was laid out on a table on the patio outdoors and everyone helped themselves to the food. What a spread! We were able to make new friends, reconnect with others who we had not seen for a long time, and “catch up” with old friends. It was an enjoyable community event and the weather was fantastic.

The second stop was in Collingwood to visit the Heritage Community Church, established in 1870 by Freedom Seekers and which continues to have a Black history display in towns and cities. The Church in the Black community has always been a place of belonging providing them with comfort, safety, education and acceptance. This Heritage Community Church which was designated as a heritage site of historical and cultural significance on August 20, 2023, continues to offer this comfort. It describes itself as “a place of acceptance, security, and identity for peoples of all cultures and diversity” and it is. We were greeted by peoples of all cultures and diversity who offered hospitality. We felt truly at home and that was not only because of the beverages (hot and cold) and the baked goods. We bade goodbye to them reluctantly and hope to return another time. Carolynn and Sylvia Wilson are also very much involved in this church as was their forebears.

Our final stop–The Candy Factory–is the home of all kinds of delicious fudges, chocolates, candies and other treats including ice cream cones.  On our arrival, we were directed to plates containing samples of treats. We all tried to exercise self-control. It was extremely difficult to do, especially when you spied the purchases of your fellow travellers! They were shopping for “gifts.” This is a great tourist attraction and a place to indulge your sweet tooth.