Karolyn Smardz-Frost, "Slavery, Antislavery and Resistance in 19th century Toronto", TUBMAN SEMINAR SERIES

Photo Credit: Timothy Hudson

Most Canadians are entirely unaware that slaves worked the fields of Toronto’s elite in the early colonial period of the city’s history, nor that it was an important terminus of the fabled Underground Railroad. Yet by 1861, Toronto was home to more than 1500 people of African descent. This seminar introduces the rich and varied 19th century heritage of peoples of the African diaspora in Canada’s largest city. It explores the experiences of the enslaved in the early Town of York, as Toronto was called until 1834, and describes the resistance mounted by African Canadians against both slavery and racial oppression up to the time of the Civil War.

The Tubman Seminar Series invites interested students and scholars to attend a seminar by Dr. Karolyn Smardz-Frost of York University concerning ideas of slavery and of national narratives as they intersect with the Canadian experience.

Dr. Smardz-Frost spoke at 305 York Lanes on Tuesday, March 22nd between 12:00 noon and 1:30pm. We welcome participants to come and learn more about how Canada’s history has been framed, and how enslaved Africans resisted and shaped our nation.

To see our full programme of speakers, check the Tubman Seminar Series page.