National Network for Equitable Library Service

It’s the 1830s. Two travelling minstrels are passing north from London, Ontario, with their song and dance show on the local circuit. Having fallen afoul of the law and desperate for a night’s lodging, they stumble into the Wilberforce hotel, owned and operated by Austin Steward, the president of this stalwart black settlement. Through turns highly comic, and deeply moving, the two musicians who have spent their showbiz careers painting their faces come to learn something life-changing about the actual black experience of early settlers in Middlesex Country at a time of exodus vs. jubilee. Based on the autobiography of Austin Steward; The Wilberforce Hotel is the story of a brave man’s dreams , his love of family, and a threatened community’s perseverance.