Historic Banwell Road Black Cemetery recognized by the province
'Positive proof that we as a people are respected,' African-Canadian heritage consultant says
The people behind the effort to recognize the Historic Banwell Road Black Cemetery hope the other black cemeteries in the area will receive the same designation from the provincial government.
Only two out of the seven municipally-recognized historic black cemeteries in Windsor and Essex County have the signature blue-and-gold plaque from the Ontario Heritage Trust designation.
The designation is given out to historically important sites in Ontario, the only other local black cemetery to receive the designation is the Puce River Black Community Cemetery in Lakeshore.
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Elise Harding-Davis, an African-Canadian heritage consultant, said she hopes Friday's ceremony honouring the Banwell Road site will spur further action.
"It's a positive proof that we as a people are respected," Harding-Davis said. "It gives us currency to move on to the next one, and believe me, there are several 'nexts' that will be happening."
"We have a whole list," she said.
Historically significant
The cemetery contains the graves of early black settlers to Essex County and date back more than 100 years. Some of the people buried there were escaped slaves who came to Canada via the Underground Railroad.
"We were a great presence in southwestern Ontario particularly, everyone wants to give the black history to Nova Scotia, but we were here. We made Canada what it is today," Harding-Davis said.
"And we're still here. We own farms, we are prosperous business people and are everyday folks like people in the rest of Canada."
Without a proper historical designation, there is a danger of black history being lost, said Glen Cook, who led the initiative and has ancestors buried at the cemetery.
"People would be asking questions and no answers would be available," Cook said. "Since we've had the site designated, people have come in with stories and it helped fit the puzzle together, helped us reach back in history."