The Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario’s spring meeting will feature a presentation on “Roots & Routes: Anabaptist/Black Interaction in 19th-century Canada.”
Dr. Timothy Epp, Associate Professor of Sociology at Redeemer University College, in Ancaster, will make a presentation on the day’s theme at the New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship (7827 Wellington Road 45 in Glen Allan) at 10:30am on June 15.
Glen Allan is located near the southern edge of the early 19th century “Queen’s Bush.”
Following a lunch at the church, Epp will lead a tour that will include a historical marker, several black cemeteries, farms owned by Mennonites originally owned by blacks, and the site of an early black church near Yatton.
Epp has spoken and written widely on this topic, including at the 2012 Underground Railroad Music Festival in Drayton, the Wellington County Historical Society and the Black Canadian Studies Association Conference.
Diana Braithwaite, a descendant of James and Eliza Little, early Queen’s Bush settlers who interacted with Mennonites, will also make a few comments. Braithwaite is a southern Ontario blues singer and the founder of the Underground Railroad Music Festival.
The historical society’s annual business meeting will be held at 10am, prior to the historical presentations.
Registration information
Information on registration for the day (lecture, lunch and tour $20, lecture and lunch $10, lecture, lunch and tour for students $10) can be obtained from the society: mail: MHSO, c/o Conrad Grebel University College, 140 Westmount Rd. North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 5Y9; email: mhso@uwaterloo.ca or phone Sam Steiner, MHSO secretary – 519-884-1040 to receive an email poster and registration form for the event.
