New walking tour puts spotlight on local Black history

A new walking tour launches Friday and it puts a spotlight on local Black history by taking guests through significant places. 

It's called Black Presence in Berlin—the former name of Kitchener around the time the first Black settler arrived to the region in 1806.

“His name was Isaac Jones, and he came with Abraham Erb, who was one of the first Mennonites that lived in this area,” said Peggy Plet, tour leader for Black Presence in Berlin and a Black history researcher for over 25 years.

Plet said Jones came as a labourer, and later owned land but not much is known about him. 

There are also other stories of early Black residents, like Black teachers in the region's first schools.

“There are different spots on King Street actually, where there were businesses owned by a Black man. A Black lawyer had his office on King Street,” she said.

The tour will take guests to locations that used to be places like schools and businesses, and connect individuals to larger historical events. 

It's telling these stories that Plet hopes will help guests relearn Kitchener's past. 

“With the demolishing of the actual buildings, the stories were also lost. It doesn't have to be like that. If you have things, for example, like this walking tour, or if you would start teaching it in schools, then these stories they just stay alive,” she said. 

Plet said the tour is an invitation to everyone to relearn Kitchener's history because the stories should be included as part of local history.

“I've been doing a lot of thinking with all that's been going on over the past two years—about statues and naming of certain buildings, and people, so I was wondering why there aren't anymore streets, for example named after the first Black settlers,” she said. 

Plet added it would also be interesting to hear from local politicians or the school board on renaming schools after Black teachers.

“Hopefully, people will think more about how come these stories were lost, what can we take away from these experiences, how can these experiences prevent us from making the same mistakes. Also, that it will encourage people because people were successful but they also had a lot of setbacks,” she said. 

There are four tour dates available during Black History Month.

• Friday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.

Bookings are available here.

There is a limit of 15 people to each tour due to provincial COVID-19 regulations.

Plet said tours will be ongoing into the summer and fall, and her research is evolving, so more information and stops may be added.