DETROIT RIVER PROJECT
PROJECTS
CAMP FREEDOM AT MIDNIGHT
Our region has a story to tell and the children of “Camp Freedom at Midnight” will receive an experience of a lifetime, learning the history of the Native peoples who still call this region home; the French, British and finally the American stories of freedom and heritage
“Camp Freedom at Midnight” in Milliken State Park will offer our youth 4 fun filled and dynamic weeks to learn some of the fascinating history that is our international region using a themed and historically centered, activity based, and art focused educational curriculum to run daily Monday thru Friday, starting July 8 through August 2, 2013 from 9am until 4:30pm.
DETROIT RIVER INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE SITE DESIGNATION
THE DETROIT RIVER SHALL BE DESIGNATED COOPERATIVELY WITH THE COUNTRY OF CANADA AS AN INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE SITE WITH FURTHER JOINT NOMINATION BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND PARKS CANADA FOR INCLUSION ON THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE LIST.
The thirty two miles of the international waterway and border known as the Detroit River will be thus designated due to its significant role and the role of the surrounding peoples bridging the two countries of the United States and Canada in the understanding of the historic context and the significant national/international nature of one of the world’s most dramatic social, civil and humanitarian protest movements known as the Underground Railroad.
Slavery was abolished in the U.S. through the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment; however in the years leading up to those events and for some time after many people of African descent sought the freedom that life in Canada provided. The historic Detroit River shall be nominated in recognition of its centrality as the passage to freedom for tens of thousands of refugees known as “passengers” on the Underground Railroad.
MURAL ARTS CORRIDOR
THE INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE MURAL PROJECT , “TO THE RIVER AT MIDNIGHT” SHALL BE CREATED TO EDUCATE USING MURAL ART THROUGH THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY, THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY AND INTO SOUTH WESTERN ONTARIO BY USING A LEGACY “ROUTE” KNOWN AS THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM CORRIDOR USING INTERNATIONAL STORIES AND HISTORY LEADING TO THE HISTORIC DETROIT RIVER.
The mural project will partner with other collaborators and partner organizations to serve to educate on the historic significance of the resistance movements known as the Underground Railroad (UGGR) through The Great Migration to the Civil Rights Movement by way of artist murals similar in presentation and scope as the Philadelphia Mural Arts program created in 1985 and now showcases the City of Philadelphia by way of nearly 3000 locally directed murals depicting the historic significance of place.