"Walking Artist" takes journey along Underground Railroad route

Ken Johnston points to one of the Underground Railroad routes he walked on. Johnston walked another route in late December/early January with a stop being the Amherstburg Freedom Museum.

A Philadelphia-based man headed out over the holiday season on another “Walk to Freedom” and made Amherstburg one of his stops.

Ken Johnston’s latest walk, which retraces steps on the Underground Railroad, included a stop at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum Dec. 28. Johnston, described as a “walking artist,” was the subject of a meet-and-greet where he discussed his latest journey, previous walks he has done and what his plans are going forward.

Johnston has had “Walk to Freedom” journeys in the eastern and southern United States including replicating walks taken by Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His most recent walk was 120 kilometers, starting in Detroit where he co-facilitated an Underground Railroad walking tour there with The Detroit River Project’s Kimberly Simmons Dec. 26.

The walk actually started the next day in Windsor, where he visited the Tower of Freedom monument. After that, he visited Sandwich First Baptist Church and stopped over in LaSalle. Then, he came to Amherstburg and to the museum, before heading to Central Grove AME Church in Harrow. 

Following that, Johnston visited Chatham, and Dresden where he ended his walking journey at the Josiah Henson Museum of African Canadian History Jan. 3.

Johnston said he was trying to tell the story of Freedom Seekers and their journeys not only in getting to Canada but after they got there. He said he had a “wonderful welcome” after arriving for his latest Canadian walk, though the weather caused delays or alterations in some legs of the walk.

“I’ve done this many times,” he said, adding it was his second winter walk.

Working with local historical societies help him map the routes he wishes to go. The Essex County Black Historical Research Society assisted as well, along with Underground Railroad descendants. 

“There’s a bit of research you do leading up to it,” he said.

Recalling a walk where he crossed into Canada at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Johnston got emotional as he looked back and saw where people escaping slavery had been decades before.

Freedom Seekers would take multiple modes of transportation to get to Canada, he said, but said they built lives for themselves after they got here. He wanted to explore not only Underground Railroad routes, but lives of people who lived in Canada.

“I enjoy getting out, walking and meeting new people,” he said.

Prior to the Windsor to Dresden walk, Johnston most previous walk was one from the Niagara Region to Owen Sound. He attended an Emancipation Festival in Owen Sound, which honored freedom seeking ancestors to one of the northernmost terminal points in the Underground Railroad system.

“The goal of the walk is to recall the hardships of slavery and the victory of freedom,” he said. “One of those hardships was escaping during the winter. By tracing the footsteps of the ancestors, through my public presentation of walking, I hope to evoke the power of memory to honor the resilient spirit of those who sought freedom during the dark winter months.”

Johnston added: “A lot of my stories are on the backs of historians who have done this work.”

Irene Moore Davis, assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, said in a statement that numerous Underground Railroad travelers, alone or in groups, escaped to the Windsor-Essex County region during the cold weather months. 

“Samuel Gabriel Clingman escaped from his Greenup, Kentucky enslaver in March 1820, ultimately making Colchester his new home. After being rescued by John Brown, Samuel and Jane Harper escaped through multiple states on foot, in covered wagons, and finally by train from Chicago to Detroit during the winter of 1858-1859, crossing the river to Windsor where they spent the rest of their lives in freedom. Charles and Susan Christian along with their children made their way from Mason County, Kentucky to Amherstburg in the winter, their sense of urgency arising from news that their son Henry was about to be sold,” said Moore Davis. “Winter posed special challenges due to the harsh conditions, risk of exposure, and greater difficulty foraging for food but there were advantages, too. Cold, dry air made stars appear more clearly to aid navigation. Longer hours of darkness could provide more cover for those escaping. Frozen bodies of water, while treacherous, could potentially be crossed on foot. And more relaxed work routines along with holiday festivities could give freedom seekers a head start before their absence was noticed by enslavers.”

"Walking Artist" takes journey along Underground Railroad route

By Ron Giofu