Act now and seize your chance to own one of our highly sought-after Emancipation Day STC t-shirts! Don’t wait, they sold out fast last year, and we don’t want you to miss out. Secure yours today by preordering through the link below, and don’t forget to swing by Lakeside Park this Sunday to pick up your exclusive tee!
We believe in creating a world where all people have equal access to opportunities and resources, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
We strive for excellence in all areas of our work, and believe in setting high standards for ourselves and our partners.
We believe in giving people the tools and resources they need to succeed, and in amplifying their voices and stories to create positive change.
In 1924 the Toronto branch of the international United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) rented Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie, booked passage on the steamships that frequently crossed Lake Ontario from Toronto to St. Catharines, and brought thousands of Black Torontonians over to Port Dalhousie for what came to be called “The Big Picnic.”
The first such gathering was held in Lakeside Park in August 1924. It apparently was so inconsequential in that year that it received no coverage in either the Toronto or the St. Catharines newspapers. But the institution grew steadily with each passing year.
Historically, the annual Emancipation Day Picnic was said to have rivalled only Christmas as the high point in the lives of Black Canadians living in Niagara. And from 1924 until the early 1970s, as many as 8,000 people could be expected to converge at Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie to attend the “Big Picnic” each year. People came from Toronto to Owen Sound and throughout the Great Lakes region, with some even travelling from Virginia and Tennessee in the U.S. to attend.
The annual Emancipation celebrations remained popular for some time. However, visitors from Toronto declined suddenly after the daily cross-lake steamer service ended in 1950. Further decline came when the event’s longtime organizer, lawyer B. J. Spencer Pitt of UNIA, retired in 1954, and when Lakeside Park’s amusement rides and games closed down.
Black residents of St. Catharines have by no means forgotten the Emancipation holiday, but in recent decades it has usually been celebrated on a more modest scale than in the ’30s and ’40s. Matter of Black acknowledges and praises the many individuals who were dedicated to carrying on the tradition of the Big Picnic over the years.
Since 2020, Matter of Black has proudly presented #EmancipationDaySTC, a celebration to reawaken old traditions and foster greater solidarity and pride among members of the Black Canadian community in memory of its remarkable achievements and in face of persistent racism.
– Partial credit to Dennis Gannon