Emancipation Celebration Picnic
When: Sunday, August 3, 2008
Time: 1-4pm
Where: George’s Square
Free! Bring a picnic and your lawn chair.
Guest Speaker: Karolyn Smardz Frost, author of I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad
Winner of the 2007 Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction
Karolyn Smardz Frost is an archaeologist and historian based in Toronto, with an acclaimed thirty-year career in multicultural program development and anti-ractist education. We are honoured to have her as our inaugural guest speaker for the re-launch of this old Oakville tradition.
A bit of history…
Because of its busy harbour, Oakville was an important stop on the “Underground Railroad”. Many fugitive slaves arrived in Canada in the holds of ships piloted by sympathetic captains, such as Captain Robert Wilson. For many years following the American Civil War, African Americans would gather in George’s Square to celebrate Emancipation Day. Those who had been helped by “Captain Robert” would visit him at his nearby residence, “Mariners Home”, which still stands today.
To learn more about this fascinating chapter of Oakville’s history, come visit our new permanent exhibition, “The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Freedom”.
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