Russell and District Historical Society

08/19/2026

08/18/2026

08/17/2026

Thank you to everyone who came by the Antique Display of kids toys from the past and voted for the most interesting artefact!

There were 37 entries and 677 ballots were cast.
The winners are:
!st Luke Staal Pedal Airplane
2nd Henry Staal Bobsled
3rd Luke Staal Tricycle
4th Henry Staal Christmas Sleigh
5th Marnie Roy Doll and Carriage
6th tie George James Dominion truck
6th tie Henry Staal Wagon
8th Ryan Staal Daisy BB gun
9th Judy James Flower girl dress and basket
10th Wayne Roy Soccer game

08/15/2026

Dunyei Hammoe met Fair goers at the Russell Historical Society Antique Display today! Lots of interest in the antique toys from Russell’s past.

08/06/2026

✊🏾 August 1 is Emancipation Day in Canada.

Today, we recognize the history and legacy of slavery in Canada and across the British Empire, while reflecting on its lasting impacts.

August 1, 1834, marked the coming into effect of the Slavery Abolition Act across the British Empire. In 2021, August 1 was officially designated as Emancipation Day in Canada.

🤎 Today, we honour the strength and perseverance of Black communities and recognize the contributions of those who fought against enslavement and helped shape the diverse society we have today.

Let’s use this day to learn, reflect and continue building a more inclusive future—one free from anti-Black racism and discrimination.

📖 Learn more about Emancipation Day and the history and legacy of slavery in Canada: https://loom.ly/Yi3yMpk

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✊🏾 Le 1er août est le Jour de l’émancipation au Canada.

Aujourd’hui, nous reconnaissons l’histoire et l’héritage de l’esclavage au Canada et dans l’ensemble de l’Empire britannique, tout en réfléchissant à ses répercussions qui se font encore sentir aujourd’hui.

Le 1er août 1834 a marqué l’entrée en vigueur de la Loi sur l’abolition de l’esclavage dans l’ensemble de l’Empire britannique. En 2021, le 1er août a été officiellement désigné comme le Jour de l’émancipation au Canada.

🤎 Aujourd’hui, nous rendons hommage à la force et à la persévérance des communautés noires et reconnaissons les contributions de celles et ceux qui ont lutté contre l’esclavage et contribué à façonner la société diversifiée que nous connaissons aujourd’hui.

Profitons de cette journée pour apprendre, réfléchir et poursuivre nos efforts afin de bâtir un avenir plus inclusif, libre de racisme et de discrimination envers les personnes noires.

📖 Pour en savoir plus sur le Jour de l’émancipation ainsi que sur l’histoire et l’héritage de l’esclavage au Canada : https://loom.ly/-CAzg7A

08/03/2026

The story of Canada as the destination of the Underground Railroad is a story about what legal protection meant to people for whom no other protection existed, and about the communities they built when they arrived. Slavery existed in Upper Canada, the British colonial territory that became Ontario, in the early years after the province's founding, but it was a limited institution and faced significant legal and political opposition. The Act Against Slavery passed by Upper Canada's legislature in 1793 under Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe did not immediately free enslaved people in the province but prohibited the importation of new enslaved people and established that children born to enslaved mothers would be freed at age 25. It was the first legislation in any British territory to limit slavery. The Slavery Abolition Act passed by the British Parliament in 1833 abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, including all British North American territories, taking full effect in 1834. This meant that Canada was a free territory before the United States abolished slavery, and that people who had escaped enslavement in the American South and reached Canadian soil were free under Canadian law and beyond the reach of American legal mechanisms for recovering them. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 had created mechanisms for recovering escaped people across state lines within the United States, and the far more aggressive Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required citizens of free northern states to actively assist slave catchers and severely penalized anyone who helped an escaped person evade capture. The 1850 act made the free states genuinely dangerous for escaped people and greatly increased the urgency of reaching Canada.

07/25/2026

Laura Secord's walk on June 22, 1813 is one of the best-known stories of the War of 1812, and it is worth telling carefully because the real story is even more impressive than the legend. Secord was born Laura Ingersoll in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1775, the daughter of a Loyalist family that moved to Upper Canada after the American Revolution. She married James Secord in 1797, and the couple settled in Queenston, a small town at the base of the Niagara Escarpment on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. The War of 1812 came to the Niagara frontier with particular violence. The Battle of Queenston Heights in October 1812, fought on the escarpment above the Secord home, was a British and Canadian victory but at considerable cost, including the death of General Isaac Brock. James Secord was wounded in the battle and was still recovering in June 1813 when American forces captured Fort George at the northern end of the Niagara River and occupied much of the Canadian side of the Niagara frontier, including Queenston. With American officers billeted in her home, Laura Secord was in a position to hear conversations. Her account, written in 1820 and again in more detail in 1853, says that she overheard American officers discussing a planned surprise attack on the British post at Beaver Dams, held by Lieutenant James FitzGibbon with a relatively small force and backed by Haudenosaunee warriors from the Grand River territory. Secord decided to carry the warning herself. She could not send James, still not fully recovered from his wound, without attracting attention. On the morning of June 22, 1813, she left Queenston, telling the American sentries she was visiting a sick relative.

07/18/2026

Our Donors help preserve Embrun’s heritage for future generations through generosity, dedication, and community support.

07/15/2026