As the steward of more than 150 years of detailed family history, Dalyce Newby takes great comfort knowing the stories of her ancestors have found a new home where they will be safeguarded and shared with future generations.

Newby recently donated the Adams, Butler and Hill Family Fonds to Brock University’s Archives and Special Collections. The records are shedding light on the early Black community in the Oakville and Bronte areas.

Included in the collection are detailed ledgers dating back to 1840s, land deeds, photographs, newspaper clippings, family Bibles holding tucked-away notes and pressed flowers, and other materials, all painting a vivid picture of life at the time.

“Many of these documents have become fragile and it was important to find a place that is interested sharing these records with the ability to maintain them. Our history is one to be shared — a part of Canadian history,” Newby said.

Dalyce Newby, the steward of more than 150 years of detailed family history, recently donated the Adams, Butler and Hill Family Fonds to Brock’s Archives and Special Collections. The records are shedding light on the early Black community in the Oakville and Bronte areas.

Edie Williams, Archives Processing Specialist with Archives and Special Collections, has been working closely with the fonds since they arrived at Brock last fall and has curated a new digital exhibition highlighting the collection.

Williams said that while there is documentation of early Black communities in places such as St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Chatham and Collingwood, knowledge of the community in Bronte Village is only emerging now.

“The collection tells the story of a family who came to Canada and prospered. It’s clear the Adams, Butler and Hill families were well respected and not only integrated in community, but also contributed a great deal to life in the area,” Williams said.

The collection centres on Samuel Adams, Newby’s great-great-grandfather, a free Black man who came to Bronte Village from the U.S. in the mid-1850s with his wife, Martha Ellen Hill, and their children. Adams established a successful life in Canada and made significant contributions to economic and social development in the area.

Adams’ professional work as a blacksmith supported local industries including farming, construction and fishing. He was also involved in the development of innovative “stone hooking” equipment that was used to retrieve stones for building from Lake Ontario.

“Adams set up a new network of Black families that was significant. Through marriage into the Butler family, the families played a major role in building the Black community, including the establishment of the Turner African Methodist Episcopalian church, a cornerstone in the community,” she said.

The growing Adams and Butler family continued to have great impact, becoming significant land holders and producers of fruits and vegetables.

“Samuel Adams came to Canada and made a life for himself and his family. We are so fortunate at Brock to be trusted with these historical artifacts documenting their significant contribution to the development of the area,” Williams said.

A physical exhibit of the collection curated by Williams is now on show in the Brock University Library display case in Thistle corridor at Brock’s main campus.

For Talia Jermyn, an Applied Health Sciences master’s student specializing in community health, discovering the Black history resources available in Archives and Special Collections has been particularly meaningful.

Jermyn first accessed Archives and Special Collections through her research into the St. Catharines Orioles, an all-Black hockey team in the 1930s. With support from Williams, she found original records of the team.

“It was incredible to learn about the rich Black history we have here in St. Catharines, and that history is accessible to everyone through Archives and Special Collections,” Jermyn said.

Inspired by her research, Jermyn is now part of a Black History Month/African Heritage Month exhibition — Black Histories, Black Futures — currently on show at St. Catharines City Hall showcasing a stained-glass mixed media piece.

Jermyn is excited to dive into the new Adams, Butler and Hill Family Fonds.

“Learning about Black history at Brock has deepened my work and creative projects, and I am eager to learn about the influential lives of these families,” Jermyn said.

For Newby, knowing students now have access to the history gives her hope for the future.

“We know that history can be erased, but now people can go to Brock and access this information and recognize there is collective history, contributions not just to Ontario, but to Canada,” she says. “Now the history is safe and can flourish.”