![delegates gathered on steps of Windsor’s First Baptist Church](http://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/business/sites/uwindsor.ca.dailynews/files/styles/full/public/900_missionarybaptistassociation_.jpg?itok=-Nd0btuM)
In the first half of the 20th century, Windsor was home to a dynamic Black community located in the metropolitan core. Situated east of the downtown commercial district, the McDougall Street Corridor was a mostly self-sufficient African Canadian community bounded loosely by Riverside Drive, Goyeau Street, Giles Street, and Howard Avenue.
This historic neighbourhood emerged during the mid-19th century as African American freedom seekers and free people of colour crossed the Detroit River in search of refuge from enslavement and oppression.