Leddy Library’s archivist, Sarah Glassford, will join the Amherstburg Freedom Museum’s Black History series of online public talks to discuss elements of Black history and heritage on Thursday, May 11.

Dr. Glassford will share some of the interesting Black history documents, images, ephemera, and books available in the Leddy Library’s Archives & Special Collections.

“The centrepiece of our Black history holdings is the E. Andrea Moore archival collection, which documents Black community life in Windsor during the late-19th and 20th centuries,” said Glassford.

She also plans to highlight items from the library’s rare book collection relating to slavery and emancipation, including memoirs of freedom seekers who came to Canada via the Underground Railroad and abolitionists who worked to end slavery in the United States, as well as some small archival collections that shed light on local race relations in the mid-20th century.

“It will be an ‘illustrated talk’ — sort of a show-and-tell presentation in which I show some of the original materials in the collections as well as describing their interesting features,” Glassford said. “Seeing the original documents, images, posters, books, and programs with your own eyes, even if it’s through Zoom, really brings the past to life.”

Glassford looks forward to the opportunity to support a fellow heritage institution in the region, and to introduce the museum’s audience to the Black history items the Leddy Library holds in its archival collections.

“It’s also entirely possible that some of the people in the audience could be descendants of the people represented in these collections,” added Glassford. “As an archivist it is always meaningful when I can help connect community members with evidence of their own ancestors’ activities and experiences.”

The free event is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, May 11, and will take place online. Click here to join via MS Teams.

For more information, visit the Amherstburg Freedom Museum’s website.