‘The spirit is still here’ as emancipation celebrated in Windsor 183 years later – Windsor Star

The Amherstburg Freedom Museum hosted an Emancipation Celebration at the Caboto Club, Aug. 4, 2017. The annual event recognizes the abolition of slavery in Canada in 1834. Here, Joanne Fuller checks out artwork featured in a silent auction. Dan Janisse / Windsor Star

The Greatest Freedom Show on Earth was held Friday night in Windsor as attendees clad in red and white celebrated and remembered the 183rd anniversary of emancipation in Britain and its colonies.

Honouring the abolition of slavery on Aug. 1, 1834, the local celebration of slaverys end in Canada was held at the Caboto Club.

I think if you forget your past, you no longer become a people, said David Van Dyke, vice-president of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum. Each time that this is celebrated, you go back and remember the people that came before you and the sacrifices that theyve made in order to allow you to live the life that you live today.

The Slavery Abolition Act which received royal assent in 1833 came into force in a year later, ending slavery in England and the British Empire, including Canada, the West Indies and South Africa.

Museum president Monty Logan said celebrating emancipation is one of the things that makes Canada great.

Canada got on the forefront of supporting freedom and enabling freedom for a lot of people to make Canada their home, to make a better life for themselves, he said.

Logan said that during emancipation celebrations, the entire community comes together to recognize the sacrifices of its ancestors, not only the people who were enslaved, but also the supporters that actually helped those people who were enslaved to seek freedom.

To those outside Canadas borders, emancipation held deep significance in Southwestern Ontario. After word spread that Canada was free, many people crossed the border from America on the underground railroad.

Amherstburg was one of the first communities to host annual Emancipation Day celebrations. Celebrations in Windsor began in the 1830s, known as the Greatest Freedom Show on Earth.

Emancipation used to be a big thing in Windsor, a big thing, said Barbara Porter, a museum director. I was lucky enough to be around when the big parade and the carnivals and the barbecues were going on.

She said celebrations of past years included a parade down Ouellette Avenue, a carnival at Jackson Park, beauty contests, Motown singers and speakers, including American Baptist minister and civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr.

Justus Elliott was in attendance as a winner of the Mac Simpson Award. The award, provided by the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, is given out annually to a graduating high school student in honour of museum founderMelvin Mac Simpson.

In her winning essay, Elliott talked about her volunteer work and her family heritage.

I talked about how my family was part of the Underground Railroad and how its basically changed me as a person today, Elliott said.

Justuss father, Windsors Ward 2 Coun. John Elliott, said he remembers going to emancipation celebrations at Jackson Park as a kid.

They had the big parades, all the folks from the U.S. would come over and be part of the celebration; a week-and-a-half, two-week celebration, Elliott said. It was magnificent. You might call it one of the greatest shows on earth.

He said todays celebrations are a continuation of the past.

The spirit is still here.

Tharris@postmedia.com

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'The spirit is still here' as emancipation celebrated in Windsor 183 years later - Windsor Star