It’s fitting that Parks Canada chose Navy Hall as the location to unveil a new national historic plaque in honour of enslaved woman Chloe Cooley.
As St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle explained, it was at that same Navy Hall in 1793 that Black Loyalist Peter Martin and William Grisley reported to the Executive Council of the Parliament of Upper Canada of the horrors of Cooley’s sale to an enslaver in New York state.
Bittle joined Parks Canada vice president Jewel Cunningham, Dr. Richard Alway, chair of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, consultant and author Rosemary Sadlier and Rochelle Bush, historian and trustee at the Salem Chapel British Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Catharines, in an event Saturday hosted by Parks Canada to appropriately mark the start of February, Black History Month. It was also the first event in a series of Parks Canada presentations this month called Fireside Fridays.
It was Cooley’s screaming that got the attention of Martin and Grisley in March, 1993. Her enslaver, Adam Vrooman of Queenston, had made a deal to sell Cooley to an American across the Niagara River. With the help of at least two others, they bound her and placed her in a boat for the trek.
Alarmed by her loud protestations, Martin and Grisley brought their concerns to Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. Despite some pushback, Simcoe was able to convince the Executive Council to pass the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, the first major piece of legislation that eventually led to the abolition of slavery in Canada.
Alway began Saturday’s presentation by explaining the work of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board over more than a century. During that time, he said, approximately 2,000 burgundy and gold bronze plaques have been installed across the country to recognize individuals and events that have national importance.
“This morning, we add to that number by recognizing Chloe Cooley,” Alway told the gathering of about 60 in the historic building. “Her remarkable story is an example of courage and resilience that still resonates after more than two centuries. This morning we seek to bring her and her story to the attention of all Canadians.”
Bush, herself a descendant of freedom seekers, began her remarks by explaining more of the Chloe Cooley story and its repercussions.
“Setting the stage for the great North American freedom movement known as the Underground Railroad,” said Bush, “the Act to Limit Slavery would change the course of enslavement in Canada and around the world.”
Bush explained that before learning of Cooley’s story through reading Daniel G. Hill’s 1981 book The Freedom Seekers, she had no idea that enslavement had even existed in the Niagara region.
“I knew slavery existed in Canada,” said Bush, visibly thrilled with the chance to speak at the event, “but it never dawned on me that people of African descent had been enslaved in Niagara. I give thanks to Chloe Cooley because her unfortunate circumstances made it possible for tens of thousands of enslaved African Americans to seek refuge in Canada, my family included.”
Bush expressed pride in Cooley’s federal designation, especially, she explained, in light of prominent citizens in other countries around the world recently denying the existence of slavery and racism and rewriting the narrative.
“Chloe Cooley’s narrative will serve as a reminder of Canada’s painful past,” said Bush. “Her federal designation, however, signals the importance of narrative inclusion, greater awareness of our diversity, and equity of all.”
Bush was followed by Sadlier, a specialist in diversity, equity and inclusion, Black history and social justice, and president of the Ontario Black History Society for 22 years.
It was Sadlier who nominated Cooley to the Monuments Board. Sadlier also sat on the Canada Post Advisory Committee that was responsible for issuing the Chloe Cooley stamp just last February.
“This is critical in terms of telling the story of Canada, and in terms of defining how and what freedom in Canada truly looked like and meant,” Sadlier told The Local.
In her speech, Sadlier, like Bush a descendant of freedom seekers who came to Canada via the Underground Railroad, reflected on what her family members would have experienced back then when slavery was still a reality for many in the country that would become Canada.
In recounting the importance of Chloe Cooley’s experience, she posited that if her screams had not been heard by Martin, it most likely would have taken much longer for Simcoe’s legislation to come to pass.
Simcoe was pressed into tabling the act by Martin, she offered.
“If Martin had not been a former Black Loyalist,” opined Sadlier, “had not been a former defender of the Crown, then perhaps Simcoe would have dismissed his comments.”
Change, said Sadlier, is brought about by people such as Cooley, Martin and Grisley simply responding to their reality.
“It is not always brought about because somebody who is rich and powerful finally moves on making things better,” she added. “There needs to be a push, a touching of the consciousness. That is ultimately what Chloe Cooley was able to do.”
There were smiles all around as the speakers gathered beside the plaque. To a countdown from three, Bush and Sadlier lifted the burgundy velvet drape off of the new national historical monument to loud applause from the audience.
The plaque will soon be erected at the lookout located at Queenston Heights Park, offering visitors a chance to reflect on Cooley’s struggle as they gaze directly over the section of the Niagara River where Vrooman and his helpers forcibly rowed the enslaved woman across to New York state.
“Putting this plaque for Chloe at Queenston Heights,” Sadlier told The Local, “with the likes of General Brock as well as a previous plaque I was able to work on for the Coloured Corps, adds a very important element. It more fully defines the beginning of freedom in this country.”
