The Black Past in Guelph is a university-community research collaboration between Dr. Jade Ferguson and the Guelph Black Heritage Society. Since 2018, this community engaged partnership has been facilitated by Dr. Melissa Tanti (CEL Coordinator, Community Engaged Scholarship Institute) and generously funded by the School of English & Theatre Studies and the College of Arts at the University of Guelph. Between 2018 and 2020, 83 undergraduate and graduate students have contributed research and writing, art and film, to this website.
Jade Ferguson is an Associate Professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. She researches and teaches in the areas of nineteenth- and early-twentieth century Canadian and American literature. She is working on a monograph, Jim Crow Canada: Segregation and Civil Rights in Canadian Literature and Art, that examines cultural representations of segregation and civil rights activism in Canadian literature, photography, television, and film.
Formed in 2011, the Guelph Black Heritage Society preserve the historical significance of the BME Church that has stood at 83 Essex Street since 1880 by creating a cultural, historical, and social centre within Guelph. GBHS raises awareness in Guelph of both local (Guelph and Wellington County) and national Black heritage as well as addressing social issues of importance to Black Canadian communities
This noncommercial site has been established in order to provide information and resources of interest to students, historians, and the general public.