Josiah Henson

Born in Maryland in 1789, Josiah Henson endured slavery from childhood before escaping with his family to Upper Canada in 1830. There he built a new life as a preacher, community leader, and outspoken opponent of slavery.

Henson helped found a settlement and labor school near Dawn, in what is now Ontario, to support other formerly enslaved people seeking safety and independence. He also wrote and published his life story, giving readers a firsthand account of slavery and freedom.

He died in 1883, but his legacy has lasted well beyond his lifetime. Remembered for both his activism and his writing, Henson remains an important figure in the history of abolition and in the story behind how slavery was understood by many 19th-century readers.