Ontario's African-Canadian Heritage is composed of the collected works of Professor Fred Landon, who for more than 60 years wrote about African-Canadian history. The selected articles have, for the most part, never been surpassed by more recent research and offer a wealth of data on slavery, abolition, the Underground Railroad, and more, providing unique insights into the abundance of African-Canadian heritage in Ontario. Though much of Landon's research was published in the Ontario Historical Society's journal, Ontario History, some of the articles reproduced here appeared in such prestigious U.S. publications as the Journal of Negro History.
This volume, illustrated and extensively annotated, includes research by the editors into the life of Fred Landon. It is the Legacy Project for the Bicentennial of the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade, an initiative of the OHS, funded by a "Roots of Freedom" grant received from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
About the Author: Frederick H. Armstrong, a Toronto native, attended the University of Toronto, obtaining his M.A. in 1949. In 1960, after some years in business, he returned to take his Ph.D. Following a brief stint of teaching in Toronto, he joined the History Department at the University of Western Ontario. His specializations, both in writing and teaching, were pre-Confederation Ontario and urban history. He has written histories of Toronto and London, Ontario, and many Ontario History articles. Active in the preservation movement, he has been the chair of London's heritage committee, and also president of both the Champlain Society and The Ontario Historical Society.
Hilary Bates Neary has been a librarian trustee, as well as a researcher, editor, and writer of Ontario history. In the 1970s, she contributed to Ontario History's "Book Notes," and edited, along with Robert Sherman, the Index to the Publications of the Ontario Historical Society, 1899-1972. More recently, she co-edited with Michael Baker both London Street Names (2003), 100 Fascinating Londoners (2005) for James Lorimer & Company. She is the chair of the Historic Sites Committee of the London Public Library Board.
Karolyn Smardz Frost is an archaeologist, educator, and author with a doctoate in the History of Race and Slavery. A former executive director of The Ontario Historical Society and vice-chair of Toront's Historical Board, karolyn teaches community history and primary research techniques at York University's Atkinson College. She is internationally recognized for her work in multiculturalism and anti-racism education using public history and public archaeology. Karolyn's volume I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad, was awarded the Governor General's Award for Non-fiction in 2007, the first book detailing the proud heritage of Canada's people of African descent to be so honoured.
Bryan Walls, C.M., O.Ont., a dental surgeon, historian, and author, was born on a farm near Puce, Ontario, just outside of Windsor. His ancestors date back to a time before the end of enslavement. Raised with a belief in education as an avenue for freedom and achievement, Bryan has received the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry Honouree of Distinction Alumni Award of Merit, 2005; Order of Canada (C.M.) 2003; Chancellor's Award, Iona College, University of Windsor 2002; and the Order of Canada (O.Ont.) 1994, among other honours. Bryan is a committee member of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Recruiting Unit; board member of the National Alliance of Faith and Justice out of Washington D.C.; deacon of the historic First Baptist Church, Puce, Ontario; and a past president of the Ontario Historical Society, founded in 1888.
