Hamilton Chapter - The Third Voice: Examining The Archaeology of the Underground Railroad in Southern Ontario

Speaker: Aaron Clemens

Topic: The Third Voice: Examining The Archaeology of the Underground Railroad in  Southern Ontario

In the first half of the 19th century, Ontario saw an influx of up to 40,000 Black fugitive slave refugees, yet this large population of freedom seekers are almost entirely non-existent in the archaeological record. This presentation examines the few Underground Railroad sites that have been identified in Southern Ontario, identifies overall themes and patterns that they might present, and draw upon case studies of Underground Railroad sites in the United States. With this data we can then turn to a broader approach in the study of African American archaeology in order to understand what kind of impact they may have had on the archaeological record. This research is then applied to an archaeological site excavated in 2012 on the Puce River, where Underground Railroad activity likely occurred.