DSU Students Visit Underground Railroad in Canada

Recently a group of DSU students traveled to Canada to study the final destinations of the historic Underground Railroad and learn about the former American slaves who found freedom and new lives in that country.

The “Black Canada Study Abroad Summer 2015” – organized and led by Dr. Kami Fletcher, assistant professor in the DSU Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy – took place from July 30 thru Aug. 5 in and around Toronto, Ontario

For images from the trip, click on the below link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48216028@N03/sets/72157656555105659/show

“What was the other part of the story after Harriet Tubman got the ex-slaves to Canada?” Dr. Fletcher said. “We were actually able to go to these places where black people established communities.”

The group – which included 11 undergraduates and one doctoral students, two faculty members, one staff member, one alumna and six other guest travelers – visited the Sheffield Park Black History & Cultural Museum, the North Buxton Raleigh Township Centennial Museum, Negro Creek Road, St. Catherine’s Museum, Niagara on the Lake, the North American Black Historical Museum, the Caribana Festival as well as several Underground Railroad sites in that area of Canada.

Brandon Benson, a senior history major, said the trip was a great way to learn about the Underground Railroad arrivals to Canada.

“In the classroom room we hear about black history, we read it and write about it,” he said. “But being there and having more hands on time with this Underground Railroad history was a great experience.”