Freedom Cast in Stone
The stone cairn immortalizes the plight of runaway slaves on their trek to Owen Sound, the most northern point on the Underground Railroad.
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A shared history is one of the threads that defines a community and bonds its citizens together. In the Owen Sound area, citizens are particularly proud of their history. Close to 200 years ago, the town was the northernmost terminus on the Underground Railroad that brought escaped slaves from the United States to freedom in Canada.
With help from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, residents have joined together to officially recognize the town’s black history, commemorating its past in a unique and artistic way. Led by city councillor Peter Lemon and artist Bonita Johnson de Matteis, a direct descendant of one of the slaves who escaped, they have built a symbolic and representational monument. The stone cairn has become the focal point for scenic Harrison Park on the Sydenham River.
“When I was asked for ideas for the cairn, I knew I would be coming up with something that would reflect my early influences of what I understood to be important to my family’s history of survival and sustainability,” says Johnson de Matteis.
The cairn is designed as a ‘cornerstone’ that reflects homestead and church strengths. Each element has been thoughtfully chosen to represent the history of the Underground Railroad.
“The floor of the cairn is a quilt pattern,” says Lemon. “A local artisan made stone reproductions of nine symbols that escaping slaves used to navigate their way north.”
That was because slaves were forbidden to learn to read, so the runaways were instructed to watch for certain symbols, often sewn in a quilt hanging outside a house on the path of the Underground Railroad. “The flying geese showed them the route they would be taking and a star was the North Star, their navigation point at night,” Lemon says. “A wheel told them they would be travelling by cart; the drunkard’s-path pattern alerted them to forks in the road and bends in the trail.”
The stones in the actual walls of the cairn are significant, as well. Many had actually been quarried by former slaves in the early days of Owen Sound and were reclaimed from a building in the area. Another was taken from the first black church in Montgomery, Alabama. Others were contributed by some of the free states like New York and Michigan. The cornerstone – perhaps the piece that arouses the most interest – came directly from Africa.
“The shape of the cairn itself represents home, church and community,” continues Lemon. “The windows look north to see the North Star and east to keep sight of the river the runaways followed.” The actual windows themselves were shaped from the frames of the first black church in Owen Sound. |