The Windsor-Detroit region has an extensive and rich history of cross-border connection, including as a key gateway in the Underground Railroad.
A pair of events next week highlight the longstanding international ties across the Detroit River and the role this region played in helping formerly enslaved people escape to freedom.
On Wednesday, Dec. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m., the Leddy Library and Fulbright Canada will jointly host Homage to the Underground Railroad, an evening of poetry, song and historical reflection, taking place in the Leddy Library Collaboratory.
The event will feature Fulbright Visiting Scholar Vida Cross, alongside local historians Lana Talbot and Irene Moore-Davis and supports Windsor’s nomination of the Detroit River as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.
To reserve a spot at the event, email universitylibrarian@uwindsor.ca.
The following evening, Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m., the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) will host a public talk at the GLIER building with Walkerville Publishing’s Chris Edwards and Elaine Weeks.
Edwards and Weeks will discuss their new book A River Runs Between Us, which covers the Detroit River region and the shared history of Windsor and Detroit.
Co-sponsored by GLIER alongside Essex Region Conservation Authority, Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, RCE Detroit-River, Detroit River Project, Citizens Environmental Alliance and Friends of Ojibway Prairie, Thursday’s event is now available for free registrations via Eventbrite.
Connect with your library