Celebrating African American History!
CONFERENCE CENTRE OPENING
Join us on November 10th, 2016 to celebrate the lives of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn with the opening of the new
Lucie and Thornton Blackburn Conference Centre!
George Brown College has dedicated its new Conference Centre, located at The George Residence, to the Blackburns,
African-American pioneers and founding citizens of Toronto.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
November 10, 2016 @ 12pm-8pm
The George Residence
80 Cooperage St., Toronto, ON M5A 0J3
FEATURING:
- the “Leap of Faith” mural by our very own School of Design team!
- an expert panel discussion
- theatrical performance
- art work by Charmaine Lurch
- artifact exhibit
Visit blackhistorysociety.ca for the full program!
ABOUT THE PROJECT
A team of students and staff from the Institute without Boundaries and the School of Design has been working
several months on a mural about Lucie and Thornton Blackburn.
The Blackburns were freedom-seekers and fugitives of slavery, people who took immeasurable risks to gain their liberty,
staging an elaborate escape from Kentucky, and journeying north to Detroit, and eventually to Canada. Settling in Toronto,
they became successful entrepreneurs and are credited with starting the city’s first taxi company, called the City Cab.
Little was known about their story until an archaeological dig on the grounds of the Sackville School (today Inglenook
Community School) in 1985 unearthed the remains of the Blackburns’ home. The dig led site director Karolyn Smardz Frost
to spend more than two decades researching the lives of the Blackburns in slavery and freedom.
“Leap of Faith” traces the journey, struggles and achievements of the Blackburns and emphasizes the need to recover
and piece together the histories of Canadian African American pioneers.
Find out more about the Blackburns’ story in Karoyln Smardz Frost book:
I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad.
ARTWORK BY our very own
GBC School of Design team
ARTISTS
Jamie (Jung Yoon) Choi
Justin Heymans
Adriel McPherson
Huda Tariq
MURAL ORGANIZATION & ART DIRECTION
Jo Enaje
Graeme Kondruss
Magdalena Sabat
PRESENTED BY
George Brown College
Ontario Black History Society
Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell
Community advocates for the commemoration of Lucie & Thornton Blackburn
SPONSORS
City of Toronto
Government of Canada
George Brown College
Urban Capital
Denham Jolly
Allan Slaight
The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation
Ontario Black History Society
Campus Living Centre
