Join author George Emery at the Oxford County Library Ingersoll branch for a local history book launch of “Blacks in a White Place: Ingersoll Canada West and Ontario, 1850-1921”

Oxford County Library (OCL) welcomes historian and local author George Emery to launch his latest book, Blacks in a White Place: Ingersoll Canada West and Ontario, 1850-1921, on Saturday, July 27, 2024.  

Oxford County Library - Ingersoll branch  
Book launch and local history author visit with George Emery 
Saturday, July 27, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 

Join University of Western Ontario Professor Emeritus George Emery, as he discusses the lives of Ingersoll’s black citizens from 1850 to 1921 and explains why the population eventually declined. Discover new research on why Blacks settled in the Town of Ingersoll and surrounding area after fleeing enslavement in the United States of America.

The number of Blacks peaked in the heart of southwestern Ontario on the eve of the American Civil War, making up about 3 percent of the Ingersoll-area population. Historian George Emery’s book helps to debunk popular myths and folklore and provides a clear and accurate accounting of the lives of Blacks in Ingersoll during this time.