Black Heritage Network Meeting
May 1, 2000
Participants’ Output
Meeting Participants: Jim Hill, Beth Dennahower, Yvonne Hopkins, Robin Parisi, Gary Hardy, Rochelle Bush, June Harper, Harry Harper, Margot Leslie, Ada Summers, Palmier Stevenson-Young, Peter Meyler, Wilma Morrison, Lyn Roberts
Resource People: Paul Samson (facilitator), Karen Daniels, Lorraine Hogan, Arlene White, Eva Salter (chair)
Immediate Project Challenges:
- Co-ordination of event dates: events conflict (e.g. slave crossing from Buffalo to Fort Erie)
- August 12, 2000 slave crossing event in Fort Erie
- Need for organizational assistance
- Challenge: How to involve folks in Fort Erie
Strategic Analysis of the African-Canadian (Niagara’s Freedom Trail) Heritage Tour:
History of Tour:
- Began with community wanting to tell its story and generate revenue through We tourism opportunities
- NET Corp approached by Ministry of Tourism to facilitate development of network in Niagara and develop a product
- Sites operated on own – need to link them
- Received money for publication of brochure
- Ontario Heritage Council – approached Niagara tour with money to write and produce a book – by Owen Thomas – History of Niagara (now on 3rd printing
books sold at cost to sites to sell for profit)
- Attempts to bring sites together but were unsuccessful – main stakeholders were involved but others were not, limited resources
- Who needed to be involved?
- Wanted to focus on Freedom Trail – journey didn’t end at river
- While stakeholders have not met for several years, NET Corp still active in marketing
- Black history – mandate of NET Corp to promote regional tourism. People know Niagara Falls but not the other things Niagara has to offer
- Suggestion re: need for an « Ontario » brochure that markets all sites in Ontario and tells the whole story
- ? Including grave sites in region in the product
- 5 tour operators include black heritage
Intent of tour:
- Generate revenue
- Promote and preserve history (education St. Catharines museum has a teacher kit, Doll house – use the book, visits to schools, part of curriculum
- Family history / reunion aspect of tour
- Preserve history and sites (buildings, artifacts) « heritage preservation”
- Preserving integrity of story
Strengths of tour:
- Multiple sites that could be packaged together
- Is a « connectivity » among sites
- Book on Niagara story and brochure – recognized producT
- Willingness to share information and get message out
- Relationship among sites
- A lot of tours, but also a lot of stop-ins
- Currently it is a self-guided tour but opportunity to put together a guided tour
- Dedication of volunteers but it is also a weakness (need for more)
- Opportunities for packaging
- Variety of sites and events – creates opportunities
Weaknesses:
- Lack of co-ordination among events in region. For example on February 1st there were 3 black heritage events on the same night. Festivals and Events Niagara regional committee may be able to assist with this – improved scheduling and someone from Network should sit on this committee
- Bus tours who stop to look at site from bus or only give participants 5 minutes to tour site (no remuneration given to sites)
- Bus tour operators – poor relationship with sites
- Bus tour operators – may not be accurately interpreting history – risk of misrepresenting the sites
- Not as many tangible sites as in Windsor
- Niagara is the story
- Need for operators to experience the trail and be « trained » on the story
- Opportunity to do a FAM tour on Black history in Niagara
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