Turning the page on Uncle Tom’s Cabin in Dresden, Ontario. On Saturday, the Ontario Heritage Trust announced a new name for the historic site at a special ceremony on Emancipation Day.
The site will now be known as the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History, named for its founder and already a key figure in many of the centre’s existing teachings and museum exhibits.
“We strive to ensure that the heritage we represent on behalf of the province and on behalf of the people of Ontario is authentic, honest and true,” says Beth Hanna, CEO of the Ontario Heritage Trust. “This is part of a larger discussion about how we tell the stories of Ontario’s past and whose heritage we portray.
“Whose stories are we telling, whose legacy are we actually protecting? And what’s missing from that dialogue?” Hannah adds.
Henson founded the Dawn Settlement in 1841 about a decade after escaping slavery in Kentucky by fleeing to Canada via the Underground Railroad.
His journey served as the inspiration for the main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
“The man who became known as Uncle Tom, the real man, Josiah Henson, was born in Maryland. He really ran away from Kentucky and was living here in Josiah Henson’s roommate,” says site manager Stephen Cook.
Henson created 300 acres of land and personally traveled back and forth via the Underground Railroad to free more than 100 others.
At its peak, the Dawn settlement is said to have been home to 500 black settlers.
“He created a safe haven for them here in Dresden, a school and a community that helped them improve, get an education, because he knew that education was really the key to their success,” Cook says.
Henson died and was buried on this land in 1883, but various landowners have maintained the Henson legacy to this day.
Five generations of Henson’s family attended Saturday’s renaming ceremony and Emancipation Day celebration.
“Their continued presence in the work we do is extremely important to us,” Hanna said. “And that validates and supports and encourages us in the work that we’re trying to do.”
According to Cook, the future is bright for the newly named museum, not only to keep the focus on the Methodist preacher, but also the central role he played in shaping African-Canadian history in Canada.
“The actual story of the 1800s and the life that Josiah Henson led is what we’re focusing on,” Cook says. “We are not changing history. We just tell it and keep it in context.”
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