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Local museums: “Curiosity is at the heart of equity.”

(September 23, 2020) Continuing our focus on local museums and historic sites, this week we are spotlighting the John Freeman Walls Historic Site Historic Site and Underground Railroad Museum, located in Lakeshore (formerly Puce) Ontario. Consisting of several buildings and displays, the museum commemorates the life and work of John Freeman Walls and his wife Jane King Walls, who, after escaping American slavery themselves, settled in Puce and turned their home into a terminal on the Underground Railroad, where they assisted many other refugees achieve their freedom. This history is well known by those who have lived in the area for years. However, for visitors, local museums and historic sites ground history in time and place.

This gives white settlers in particular the chance to observe and compare the parallel track of their own ancestors to that of the Walls’ and the fugitive slaves. Rather than wondering ‘what would I have done?’, becoming curious about the history of our own families lets us situate ourselves in the history of social justice, determining our point of origin, and opening up choices for our own future trajectory.

“Curiosity is at the heart of equity,” says Nneka Allen, whose ancestors include John Freeman Walls and his wife Jane King Walls, who are featured at this historic site.

Feature Photo

A wagon with a false bottom, in which refugees could conceal themselves. Thinking of families and strangers holding one another, filled with fear and anticipation, huddled in this dark, rattling compartment, brings a physical reality to visitors’ experience of the site. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls.) 

The John Freeman Walls Historic Site log cabin, built in 1846. John Walls and his wife Jane lived and brought up their nine children here, and it is a focal point of the museum. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls)

Freedom Bell, on display. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls)

Historic plaque commemorating the site. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls) 

The Peace Chapel entrance. Built in honour of Rosa Parks, who made annual visits to the chapel, it hosts a cross built of bricks from the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls)

The shared grave of John and Jane Walls, located in the Walls family cemetery. About 40 others - family, friends, and fugitive slaves- are buried here alongside them. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls)

John Walls and Jane King Walls. Even after his arrival in Canada, John Walls never allowed anyone to take his photograph, in case it was seen by slave-catchers and used to recapture him. The likeness was made by the Detroit-Windsor Police composite artist, based on a description by Aunt Stella and Frank Walls. (Photo courtesy of the John Freeman Walls Historic Site and Underground Railroad Museum)

Published in 1980, this novel by Dr. Bryan Walls tells the story of John and Jane Walls’s sojourn to the area, and their subsequent work with the Underground Railroad. In recognition of this contribution to Black History, Dr. Walls received the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls)

A young girl sitting atop a wagon at the museum. (Photo courtesy of Anna Walls).

Related

Amherstburg Freedom Museum: Commemorating the Underground Railroad in Canada, September 16, 2020