Black history talk at Old Fort Erie tackles plaques, pride and place

Niagara Parks will host a Black History Month talk by historian Lezlie Harper on Saturday, February 21, from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Old Fort Erie visitor centre theatre. The session titled ‘A History to Be Proud Of’ focuses on Black Loyalists, the Niagara Movement and Fort Erie’s role in early civil rights history.

Harper owns Niagara Bound Tours and has worked locally for more than 22 years. She plans to address how Black history is presented in public spaces and what residents should know about sites along the Niagara River and in Fort Erie.

“It’s not about me. I’m just a grain of sand. I’m going to die one of these days and who cares? But it’s the history that’s important,” Harper told Fort Erie Radio.

Her talk will examine how Black history in Fort Erie and across Niagara often centres on violence and suffering while overlooking achievement leadership and strategy.

She detailed how narratives frequently stop at enslavement or persecution and fail to name local figures who built institutions, crossed borders, organized politically and shaped early civil rights efforts along the Niagara River.

“People get too far into the ugly side and forget the pride of it and the incredible people we have. We have phenomenal history with phenomenal people, and that’s what I want people to walk away with,” said Harper.

She argues Fort Erie has approved plaques and research at sites tied to Black history without consulting descendants and family historians who carry first-hand knowledge of those places, including cases where people connected to the history had to request permission to speak at the very sites meant to acknowledge their ancestors.

On the Niagara Movement plaque in Fort Erie, she pointed to a specific error about the group’s name. The plaque claims the movement was simply named after Niagara Falls, but Harper argued the reference was to the Niagara River and the fast “movement” of its current.

In her view, the founders chose that image because they wanted the fight against lynching and segregation to move as quickly as the river.

For Black History Month, Harper is running a booking contest that puts $200 toward an in-person Niagara Bound Tours experience or $100 toward a classroom or group presentation.

She framed the contest as a practical response to rising costs after years of promoting Black history on her own while tourism agencies and provincial decision-makers benefit from the stories she researches and presents.

Harper told Fort Erie Radio she recently spoke with Ontario ministers about tourism and heritage while still covering marketing travel, and preparation costs herself, and said the contest is one way to keep the work going without charging full rates to schools, community groups or families who want access to accurate local history.

The audience on February 21 should focus on learning and accuracy rather than guilt, she added.

“Don’t come in and apologize. This isn’t your fault. Be inspired by the people who rose above their circumstances, ask questions, and make sure the information you share with children is accurate,” she said.

Tickets for the Old Fort Erie talk are available online at niagaraparks.com.

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