Josiah Henson documentary to air Sunday

Henson, a former slave who escaped to Canada, was the inspiration behind “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

A documentary made by longtime Hamilton resident Jared Brock about the life of Josiah Henson — author, abolitionist, former slave — will be aired on TVO Sunday, Feb. 17, at 10 p.m.

Narrated by American actor Danny Glover, “Josiah” tells the story of Henson, who escaped to Canada in 1830 after 42 years of enslavement in Maryland and Kentucky.

Henson eventually settled in Dawn Township, near Dresden in what is now southwestern Ontario, establishing a community of former slaves.

In 1849, Henson published a book entitled “The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe acknowledged that Henson’s memoir was the inspiration for her landmark “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which became the bestselling novel of the 19th century and helped spark the abolitionist fervour that ultimately led to the American Civil War.

Brock, coproducer and director of “Josiah” as well as author of the Henson biography, “The Road to Dawn,” lived in Hamilton during the making of the documentary but returned to his native Guelph last year.

Brock, who attended Westmount and St. Jean de Brebeuf high schools, said Henson was a familiar face in Hamilton during the last half of the 19th century, as a Methodist preacher, orator and fundraiser for the Dawn settlement.

“He was supported by Sir Allan MacNab (of Dundurn Castle fame), and his final speech was delivered at age 92, at Park Street Baptist Church in Hamilton on Thursday, Jan. 12, 1882,” Brock said in an email.

Brock’s film is also getting extensive screenings during February — Black History Month — on PBS stations across the United States where it is titled “Redeeming Uncle Tom: The Josiah Henson Story.”

Henson’s cabin in Dresden is now a national historic site, with an interpretive centre about the Dawn settlement and an exhibit gallery about the Underground Railroad.

In 1983, Henson’s legacy was commemorated by Canada Post on a stamp.

SPECTATOR FILE PHOTO Josiah Henson (1789-1883) was depicted on this stamp, issued by Canada Post in 1983, to commemorate his life as a community leader and “conductor” on the “Underground Railroad.”

Josiah Henson was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”