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Niagara Falls
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Exploring Photos with the NOTL Museum: Winnifred Wesley

A Niagara Public School Class photo from around the turn of the 20th century shows Winnifred Wesley, who was a descendent of an escaped slave. Winnifred and the other women in her family worked from a young age as servants, nurses or laundresses for local white families. Many local Black women during this era not only maintained the home and worked on the family farms, but they also had to find employment to help alleviate the economic hardships their families faced. Over time, the Wesley women acquired several properties in Niagara-on-the-Lake and were able to sell them when needed to ease their economic stress. From servants to landowners, these women help to better understand the lives of Black women around the turn of that century and how their hard work affected generations after them.

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