A modern-day retracing of the Underground Railroad is making stops across Ontario before wrapping up in Windsor-Essex this week.
The Freedom Walk 2026 tour honours freedom seekers and abolitionists who helped enslaved people escape to Canada.
Local stops include the John Freeman Walls Historic Site in Lakeshore and Sandwich First Baptist Church in Windsor on July 10, followed by the Amherstburg Freedom Museum on July 11.
Irene Moore Davis, assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum and president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, says the tour is being led by historian Anthony Cohen.
“Thirty years ago, Anthony Cohen made a 750 mile journey from Maryland to southwestern Ontario to replicate Underground Railroad journeys, and he’s doing it again this summer,” Moore Davis said.
“He’s been walking from Maryland to the Niagara Falls border and has now crossed into Ontario.”
The tour includes a nine-foot bronze Harriet Tubman sculpture called Journey to Freedom.
The statue is travelling to communities with ties to Underground Railroad history and will be featured at public events.
She says the display offers a hands-on way to connect with the past.
“Cohen and a small team of Underground Railroad scholars and researchers are bringing this massive Harriet Tubman sculpture to our area so that people of all ages can gather around it, take photos, be inspired, and learn more about the woman and about the whole history of the Underground Railroad,” Moore Davis said.
She adds the events will highlight local Black history.
“People can just come, they don’t have to sign up,” she said.
“We hope that we will see lots of local residents making use of this opportunity to enjoy this sculpture and learn a little bit more about our history.”
All three Windsor-Essex events are free and open to the public.
The Amherstburg stop on July 11 marks the final Ontario event before the tour returns to the U.S.