New walking tour highlights McDougall Street's rich Black history

A new walking tour will help tell the story of the McDougall Street Corridor, a neighbourhood in Windsor that was once home to many Black families and business owners.

The McDougall Street Corridor Walking Tour will include digital archives and storytelling about the district's history to the present. The launch took place Thursday at a park named after Alton C. Parker, the first Black Windsor police officer.

The project has been spearheaded by UWindsor history graduate student Willow Key, whose research has focused on the Black history of McDougall Street.

"A lot of the history that's held within this community is held within memories and stories," Key told CBC News at the project's launch. "The younger generation of McDougall Street Corridor Walking residents deserve to have the opportunity to learn more about their families." 

For many, Windsor served as a gateway for those escaping from enslavement in the United States. Key's own ancestors were part of the Underground Railroad network. 

Key is the lead researcher and says that the tour aims to enlighten Windsorites about their city's history in an engaging and accessible way. 

In 2021, Key told CBC News that a redevelopment plan launched by the City of Windsor in the 1950s led to the breakdown of the community, pushing out Black homeowners and businesses.

Anneke Smit, director at the Centre for Cities at Windsor Law, one of the partners in the project, said that the walking tour is an experience meant to bring home the realities of this rich history and show just how much has changed in a short period of time. 

National Defence Minister Anita Anand was at Alton Parker Park, and she reflected on what initiatives like these show about Windsor more broadly. 

"What it speaks to is an incredible sense of community, and bond, and love and respect," Anand said. "That's exactly what today represents: The strength of this community to carry forward the principals that are being represented today— here on McDougall Street." 

An immersive experience

The McDougall Street Corridor includes the region from Goyeau Street to Highland Avenue in between Pitt Street East and Giles Boulevard East.

The walking tour offers a collection of videos, images, maps and documentation about the historically Black community of the street.

Windsor-based software consultancy Parallel 42 Systems built the software that powers the experience. The software is being released under an open-source license. The tour makes use of a large digital archive of materials related to McDougall Street. 

Irek Kusmierczyk, MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, addressed gatherers at Alton Parker Park. He said that the project is a great contribution to Windsor and the national story more broadly

"We have a powerful story to tell Canadians," he said. "It's the story of our local Black history that we ourselves are beginning to fully discover and to fully share." 

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.