Exhibit Tells Story of Journey to Freedom

An exhibit that tells the stories of successive migrations to Canada by enslaved African Americans, will open at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic today, June 8.

On the Road North: Black Canada and the Journey to Freedom contains narratives of groundbreaking laws, acts of personal heroism, and years of steady and determined work. According to the Virtual Museum of Canada these are just some of the stirring tales of the idealism, courage and leadership of Black Canadians in the 18th century.

The exhibit will also include a special freedom quilt created by the North Preston Senior Citizens' Club. The quilt commemorates their ancestors who came by boat from slavery to Canada. They survived by the grace of God and it is because they came here that their descendants live in this land today.

The museum, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the North Preston Senior Citizens' Club, will host an opening event today, June 8, at 7:30 p.m., which will include a speech by Irvine Carvery, school board chair and president of the Africville Genealogy Society, and a drumming performance by Dr. Henry Bishop.

The opening of the exhibit will mark the beginning of this summer's celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery, Black Freedom 175.

To view the exhibit online visit http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/blackhistory/index.html .

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is located at 1675 Lower Water St. in Halifax.