estboro Academy student Benjamin chose to do his project for the school's Heritage Fair on the underground railroad that snuck slaves from the United States into Canada, where they could live as free people. "I felt strongly (about) how unfair it was to treat someone badly just because they (were) a different colour," the grade four student said during the March 27 event. Many of his fellow classmates also did presentations on the underground railroad.
Benjamin described how slaves escaped from the United States to Canada, relying on a secret network of people who used many routes made up of a series of hiding places that came to be known as the underground railroad. The railroad was most active between 1840 and 1860, and is believed to have enabled 30,000 slaves to escape to freedom in Canada.
Simon did a comprehensive presentation on the underground railroad that included a copy of a notice printed in U.S. papers of rewards for helping to catch escaped slaves. He was fascinated by the story of the escape of Henry Boxbrown, whose journey to Canada included a long ride in a freight train in a container with three holes that enabled him to breathe. Simon also told the story of Alexander Ross, a Canadian who would pretend to be a bird watcher, during his expeditions to the U.S. to help slaves to plan their escape.
Elish highlighted the role of Harriet Tubman, who after escaping from slavery, went back to the United States 19 times to help 300 other slaves escape to Canada. Slave owners offered a reward of $40,000 for help in catching Tubman, which at that time was a very huge amount of money. Elish said Tubman kept risking her life to rescue others because "once she became free, she liked freedom so much."
Katherine did an elegant presentation on the underground railroad that showed a map of escape routes, and pictures of safe houses that were used by the slaves on their way to Canada.
A detailed map showing more than 100 routes that were used by escaping slaves was presented by Campbell. He emphasized that on their way to Canada, slaves passed through states in the United States that were "free" in the sense that they did not allow slavery, but they would still permit slave owners to catch escaping slaves. This meant, that slaves could heave a sigh of relief only when they set foot on Canadian soil.
Among the spectators at the Heritage Fair was Mark Slater, who said the students' presentations "reflected an incredible amount of hard work and great imagination." He said the "world would be a better place if everybody believed as conscientiously in freedom from discrimination on the basis of race and religion as these children do."
Many other subjects were explored at the Heritage Fair, including the lives of late Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and late Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, as well as the battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.
Some of the projects displayed at Westboro Academy's Heritage Fair will be entered in the regional Heritage Fair to be held at the historic Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa on May 8, 2003. Fourteen schools from the Ottawa region will participate in this event.
The Heritage Fair project is an initiative of the Historica Foundation, which is supported by community groups, Catholic and private schools, and the City of Ottawa's Office of Cultural Affairs. The Aberdeen Pavilion event is one of many regional fairs held across the country in celebration of Canada's history and culture. The best projects in the various regional fairs proceed to the National Heritage Fair, slated from July 8 to 15 in Sudbury, Ontario.