St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall was an important venue for many African Canadian activities in support of abolition and the welfare of refugee slaves in Toronto. It provided an important platform for major abolitionist speakers including Frederick Douglass, Samuel Ringgold Ward and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
One of the first events in the newly-renovated St. Lawrence Hall was the 1851 "North American Convention of Colored Freemen". Anti-slavery feelings ran high in Toronto after the United States government passed the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. Now escaped slaves and even free African Americans could be arrested without warrant or trial anywhere in the United States. Black abolitionist leaders Henry Bibb of Canada West and Theodore Holly of Vermont organized organized the convention to discuss issues of slavery and Black emigration from the United States. Fifty-three delegates from across Canada and the Unites States, plus one from the Caribbean, attended the three-day convention.
Prominent abolitionist leaders including Dr. Martin Delany, Thomas Smallwood and John Cary debated issues of importance to the North American Black community. Topics included discussion of how to advance the fight against slavery and the effects of the Fugitive Slave Law, the fight against segregated schooling for Black children and the difficult question of whether or not to encourage Blacks to emigrate from the United States and build new lives in Canada, the Caribbean, or Africa. The convention's final resolution confirmed Canada as the best destination for refugee American slaves.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.