New walking tour highlights McDougall Street's rich Black history - Action News
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Windsor

New walking tour highlights McDougall Street's rich Black history

The McDougall Street Corridor Walking Tour was launched today at Alton Parker Park. It is a collaboration between the Centre for Cities at Windsor Law and project partners.

The tour touches on the impacts of city planning on a historic neighbourhood

A woman wearing sunglasses with a statue of a police officer in the background.
The walking tour project has been spearheaded by UWindsor history graduate student Willow Key, whose research has focused on the Black history of McDougall Street. (Mike Evans/CBC)

A new walking tour will help tell the story of the McDougallStreet Corridor, aneighbourhood in Windsor that was once home to many Black families and business owners.

The McDougall Street Corridor Walking Tour will include digital archives and storytelling about the district's history to the present. The launch took placeThursday at a park named after Alton C. Parker, the first Black Windsor police officer.

The project has been spearheaded by UWindsorhistorygraduate student Willow Key, whose research has focused on the Black history ofMcDougall Street.

"A lot of the history that's held within this community is held within memories and stories," Key told CBC News at the project's launch. "The younger generation ofMcDougall Street Corridor Walking residents deserve to have the opportunity to learn more about their families."

For many, Windsor served as a gateway for those escaping from enslavement in the United States. Key's own ancestors were part of the Underground Railroad network.

Key is the lead researcher and says that the tour aims to enlighten Windsorites about their city's history in an engaging and accessible way.

A black and white photo of an empty street.
The McDougall Corridor Walking Tour offers a collection of videos, images, maps, and documentation that depict this community. It begins April 13, 2023. (Supplied by the McDougall Corridor Walking Tour)

In 2021, Key told CBC News that a redevelopment plan launched by the City of Windsor in the 1950s led to the breakdown of the community, pushing out Black homeowners and businesses.

Anneke Smit, director at the Centre for Cities at Windsor Law, one of the partners in the project, said that the walking touris anexperience meant to bring home the realities of this rich history and show just how much has changed in a short period of time.

National Defence Minister Anita Anand was at Alton Parker Park, and she reflected on what initiatives like these show about Windsor more broadly.

National Defence Minister addresses a crowd. A woman is behind her to her right.
Minister of National Defence Anita Anand attended the launch of the McDougall Street Corridor Walking Tour. (Mike Evans/CBC)

"What it speaks to is an incredible sense of community, and bond, and love and respect," Anand said. "That's exactly what today represents: The strength of this community to carry forward the principals that are being represented todayhere on McDougall Street."

An immersive experience

The McDougall Street Corridor includes the region from Goyeau Street to Highland Avenue in between Pitt Street East and Giles Boulevard East.

The walking touroffers a collection of videos, images, maps and documentation aboutthe historically Black community of the street.

A map that shows redevelopment plans.
An image from "Fifteen Year Programme for the Urban Renewal of the City of Windsor and its Metropolitan Area." (Supplied by the McDougall Corridor Walking Tour)

Windsor-based software consultancy Parallel 42 Systems built the software that powers theexperience. Thesoftware is being released under an open-source license. The tour makes use of a large digital archive of materials related to McDougall Street.

Irek Kusmierczyk, MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, addressed gatherers at Alton Parker Park. He said that the project is a great contribution to Windsor and the national story more broadly

"We have a powerful story to tell Canadians," he said. "It's the story of our local Black history that we ourselves are beginning to fully discover and to fully share."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

A banner of upturned fists, with the words 'Being Black in Canada'.
(CBC)

With files from Mike Evans and CBC News