Tower of Freedom (Windsor, Ontario)

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Dublin Core

Title

Tower of Freedom (Windsor, Ontario)

Subject

Subject (Topic)
Underground Railroad
Slavery-- Abolition
Slavery-- Emancipation
Resistance
Public art
Public sculpture,
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

Description

The Canadian counter-part to Ed Dwight's Gateway to Freedom, Tower of Freedom consists of a twenty-two-foot high granite tower, adorned with a bronze flame symbolizing the “Eternal Flame of Freedom.” Life-size bronze figures stand on opposite sides of the tower’s base. The cluster of four bronze figures facing the river include an African American woman holding an infant and a white woman, often identified as a Quaker “operative.” Behind the women, a man stands with his arms raised in a gesture of praise. On the opposite side of the tower, a singular figure of a woman looks back towards the river and the United States. Despite her age, she clutches a rag doll.

Creator

Dwight, Ed, 1933-

Source

Jim Shreve, Flickr; The City of Winsor

Date

Dedicated: October 20, 2001

Contributor

Detroit 300; The Underground Railroad Monument Committee of Windsor

Format

JPEG

Language

English

Type

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Coverage

Civic Esplanade, 200 Pitt St. E., Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Has Part

Bronze Plaque:

"THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN CANDA
LE CHEMIN DE FER CLANDESTIN AU CANDA

From the early 19th century until the American Civil War, settlements along the Detroit and Niagara rivers were important terminals for the Underground Railroad. White and black abolitionists formed a heroic network dedicated to helping free and enslaved African Americans find freedom from oppression. By 1861, some 30,000 freedom-seekers resided in what is now Ontario, after secretly traveling north from slave states like Kentucky and Virginia. Some returned south after the outbreak of the Civil War, but many remained helping to forge the modern Canadian identity.

Du début du XIXe siècle à la guerre de Sécession, des villages le long des rivières Detroit et Niagara servirent de terminus au chemin de fer clandestin. Ce réseau d’ abolitionnistes blancs et noirs aida les Afro-Américains à fuir l’oppression pour atteindre la liberté. Ainsi, en 1861, près de 30 000 réfugies d’ascendance africaine, venant d'États esclavagistes comme le Kentucky et la Virginie, vivaient dans ce qui est aujourd’hui l’Ontario. Des Certains la guerre de Sécession certains repartirent vers le sub, mais beaucoup s’installèrent ici en permanence et contribuèrent à forger l'identité du Canada moderne// Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada"
Inscription on the river-facing side of the monument:

“Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive”

Inscription on the reserve of the monument:

“International Underground Railroad Memorial”
Inscription on base:

“UNDERGROUND RAILRAOD AREAS OF SETTLEMENT AMERSTBURG
DRESEDEN
BUXTON
CHATHAM
COLCHESTER
LITTLE RIVER
NEW CANAAN
PUCE
SANDWICH
WINDSOR"
The second Bronze plaque just in front of the memorial:

"Tower of Freedom By Ed Dwight Dedicated October 20, 2001, With companion work Gateway to Freedom In Hart Plaza, Detroit. A project of Detroit 300 and the Underground Railroad Monument Committee of Windsor."

Extent

264''

Medium

Bronze; Granite

Bibliographic Citation

Nora Faires. "Across the Border to Freedom: The International Underground Railroad Memorial and the Meanings of Migration." Journal of American Ethnic History 32, no. 2 (2013): 38-67. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.2.0038.

Rights Holder

Renée Ater

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Sculpture

Physical Dimensions

264''

Citation

Dwight, Ed, 1933-, “Tower of Freedom (Windsor, Ontario),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1160.

Geolocation