Narrator: I'm standing in front of a small building with a big history. This is Salem Chapel in St. Catharines, Ontario. Many people believe this church is the oldest black church in Ontario. It was built in 1855, but its congregation dates back to 1814. His most famous member, Harriet Tubman, who lived in the area in the mid 19th century. From here, the Underground Railroad conductor organised rescue missions and many of those she rescued ended up settling here, becoming church members. So let's find out more about this place of worship and activism.

Rochelle Bush: My name is Rochelle Bush. I'm the trustee as well as resident historian of the Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Site. I'm also the owner and operator of Tubman Tours, Canada. Welcome to the Salem Chapel.

Interviewer: Rochelle, thank you so much for having us here at the Salem Chapel. We are sitting in a place that has a lot of history. Can you tell me why this place is so special to this area?

Rochelle Bush: Well, the Salem Chapel was built by African American freedom seekers in 1855. So it's a part of the British Methodist Episcopal Churches of Canada. And actually, it's the third site in the city of St. Catharines. The first one was constructed in Queenston Street area. We know it as Richard Pierpoint Park area, and he was the first black person to settle in St. Catherine's. So the first one was constructed around 1820. We were relocated over to this neighborhood 1835. We built the second church, and then 1855 we built this third church.

Interviewer: So in terms of this place right now, it's quiet. It is very calm as we were sitting in silence here. But this is a very active church. There is still worship that happens here, correct?

Rochelle Bush: Yes. So we still continue as a religious institution first and foremost. So we meet every Sunday for worship service. It is an active church, but we have less than a dozen members.

Interviewer: And as everyone welcome here.

Rochelle Bush: Oh, the church today is very diverse. So not all members are freedom seeker descendants like myself. And we do have white members as well.

Interviewer: I want to now talk about the congregation of the past. It's most famous parishioner. Who was it?

Rochelle Bush: Harriet Tubman.

Interviewer: Tell me about it.

Rochelle Bush: So Harriet Tubman is our most famous member. So Tubman was a freedom fighter in the 19th century. She helped liberate enslaved African Americans. And she guided them here to St. Catharines. Today, she is regarded as the iconic figure of the Underground Railroad. And what's most important about Harriet Tubman is she's the first person African American to be designated a person of national importance in two countries in Canada, as well as the United States.

Interviewer: Her journey from the south up here sometimes is in question as to where she ended up. Can you walk me through that journey? How did she get to St. Catharines and why St. Catharines?

Rochelle Bush: So Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, and she escaped from enslavement in 1849 and made her way to Philadelphia. After the U.S. government passed the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, she had to extend her Underground Railroad route to British soil. So this was a British colony at the time, of course. And this is where African Americans would be granted or guaranteed their safety and freedom, because the North, after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law passed, that was turned into a haven for slave catchers. So the network of people that she was connected with in Philadelphia, they were already connected with abolitionists here in St. Catharines. So she came out of the eastern shore along the eastern line and ended here because St. Catharines, according to Frederick Douglass, in 1881, this was the last stop for the Underground Railroad from the eastern line.

Interviewer: Well, I want to talk about Frederick Douglass. He worshipped here as well. This was a place where there were meetings that were happening. Tell me about his significance and his history here in this building.

Rochelle Bush: So we have Frederick Douglass on record coming through St. Catharines nine times. And as a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. So let's be real. In the 19th century, religion was your currency. So you attended service. So this was a safe space for African Americans. And if he was in St. Catharines, then he would have worshipped here because he was already Methodist. But that would not have negated the fact that he may have went down to Zion Baptist Church, which was a Baptist church as well.

Interviewer: You actually have a very special connection, a family connection to this chapel. Tell me about that.

Rochelle Bush: Yes. So my connection to the Salem Chapel is my two times great grandfather on my maternal side. So my mother's side was the minister in charge here for a period of time when Harriet Tubman was here. So he was an African Methodist Episcopal minister, free, born in Columbia, South Carolina. And then he made his way here to Canada, settled in St. Catharines, and became a member and minister of this church.

Interviewer: So great great, great, two great two greats. Oh, wow. In terms of that knowledge and knowing that family connection, how was that told to you? How did you know? Was that something that you went on a personal journey or was that.

Rochelle Bush: That's a great question. And yes, I did go on a personal journey. We were always told that he was part of the Underground Railroad. 2005. It just didn't make sense to me as to why he could be travelling all over the place. So in Ontario as well as Michigan, Kentucky, New York City, because they were stump preachers at the time, missionaries as well. Turns out he was a free black man, so that's how he was able to do it. He wasn't part of the Underground Railroad.

Interviewer: Very interesting. Tubman tours Canada. Yes, adding Canada at the end. Was that a deliberate move?

Rochelle Bush: Yes, it was a deliberate move. So I added Canada at the end of the tour company name so that people would be aware of the fact that she did have a connection to Canada. Most people have no idea. So I was going to say Tubman Tours Ontario. But then I thought, you know what, let's broaden it out, make it Canada. But then after that, I had people asking, where did she go in Canada? And I just ignored it.

Interviewer: Fair enough. Where do people think that she went?

Rochelle Bush: Most don't know. And those who do assume that she came to Canada, they think Nova Scotia. Why? Because that's where history records that the majority of African Americans went during the American Revolution. So everybody knows about African Americans going to Nova Scotia. The book was most famous for that, The Book of Negroes, written by Lawrence Hill.

Interviewer: I want to understand the people who come through this building. Are they mostly Canadian or are they American?

Rochelle Bush: So the majority of people that come and take the tour here at Salem Chapel are Americans. But we've seen a decline for that this past summer only because of what's taking place in the United States. With the tariffs, people losing their employment positions. So there has been a decline.

Interviewer: Does that scare you in terms of keeping some a place like this with historical significance open?

Rochelle Bush: Yes, it does scare me only because we rely on American tourism dollars as a lot of these sites do. So if it's a heritage site or a cultural site, you want U.S. tourism dollars because they're going to visit maybe once every five years, but they're going to visit in large numbers. And when I say large numbers, I mean maybe ten groups from Missouri, maybe ten from South Carolina, whereas if it's Canadian, we may get a motorcoach group coming from Toronto once every five years. So for Canadians, those coming from, say, the Owen Sound area, it's a one tank trip for them. A lot will come here, but then they're on their way to Niagara Falls as well.

Interviewer: With that being said, you are starting to see an influx of Canadians, particularly high school students. I want to know when students leave this place.

Rochelle Bush: So Harriet Tubman, she's.

Interviewer: The most of Salem Chapel. What's one thing you want them to take with.

Rochelle Bush: Them when the students leave Salem Chapel? I want them to understand that black Canadians so early, black Canadians beginning from our arrival and in this area we're looking at 1780, helped contribute to the construction or the development of Canada of this great nation. And we all know it were written out of the history books. So a lot of people don't even know about our existence. And not just black Canadians, other ethnic groups as well. But that's what we want to take away, to be how important we are to this country and our value. Of course.

Interviewer: Rochelle is very clear that you're very passionate about this, even just talking about your family connection tears in your eyes a little bit. Why do you do what you do?

Rochelle Bush: I do what I do to keep the history alive, because if there's nobody here to do it and I'm not going to lie, okay, I'm going to put it right out on the table if I'm not here to do it, or no other black folks are here to do it that know and understand our history from an old guard way than who's telling our story. It becomes a white narrative, or it becomes someone else's narrative. So that's the sad part.

Interviewer: Rochelle, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.

Rochelle Bush: Thank you. Thank you for considering us.