Willow Key

students standing below mural of historical Black figuresTeacher candidates in the Windsor Underground Railroad Initiative course viewed murals of Black history during a field trip to the McDougall Street Corridor in downtown Windsor, with a tour led by history student Willow Key.

Workshop to explore teaching Grade 4 to 12 students about local Black community

In a one-hour drop-in event put on Thursday by the Windsor Underground Railroad Initiative, teacher candidates will share what they have learned.
delegates gathered on steps of Windsor’s First Baptist ChurchDelegates to the Amherstburg Regular Missionary Baptist Association at Windsor’s First Baptist Church. Photo by Alvin McCurdy, courtesy of the Archives of Ontario.

Walking tour to highlight history of local Black community

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.