AR Freedom Stories

Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples and the Augmented Reality Lab York University, Toronto, have collaborated to bring you Augmented Reality Freedom Stories. Install the app on your iPhone or iPad, download the flash cards for free at: http://futurestories.ca/tubman/

Print the flash cards. Launch the app, point the camera at the image on each of the cards, and see the intricate augmented reality stories spring to life.

Augmented Reality Freedom Stories highlights seldom told African Canadian histories from the era of the Canada/US Underground Railroad including Harriet Tubman's efforts to bring American slaves to freedom in Canada. Primary and secondary documents have been hand-crafted in consultation with community partners into a unique experience that has been approved for use as part of an Ontario primary school curriculum as part of the Breaking the Chains history project.

This experience works best on iPhone 4s or later. Images may appear slowly on iPhone 4.

Credits
Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, York University, Toronto, Canada.

Founding Director, Paul E. Lovejoy, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor and Canada Research Chair in Africa History; Principle investigator, Breaking the Chains.
Acting Director, Michele Johnson, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate and Project Manager, Karolyn Smardz Frost, Ph.D.
Research Collaborators:, Mark Affum, Rosa Berdejo-Williams, Diana Braithwaite, Hilary Dawson, Nikola Dimitrijevic, Kendra Ferris, Clinton J. Green, Natasha Henry, Amrita Kaldher, Alanna McKnight, Adrienne Shadd, Christopher Stuart Taylor, David Vavala, Alykhan Visram.
With Support From: Carlos Algondana, Shiemara Hogarth, Asif Mohammed, Rafael Slobodian, Ugochi Umeugo.

The Augmented Reality Lab, York University, Toronto, Canada.
Director, Caitlin Fisher, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture
Project Manager and Lead Developer, Andrew Roth
Design Team: Laura Portia Zeno, Tristan Prescott

Made possible with funding by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canada Research Chair (CRC) Program.

Community Partners: Essex County Black Historical Research Society; North American Black Historical Museum, Amherstburg; Windsor Public Library; NorthStar Community Centre at Windsor, Ontario; the Michigan Underground Railroad Network to Freedom; Detroit River International Historic Site Initiative; Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel and the Norval Johnson Library at Niagara Falls; Central Ontario Network for Black History; St. Catharines Museum; Salem Chapel, St. Catharines; Sandwich Baptist Church; Wellington County Historical Society; Black Pioneers of Wellington County; Buxton Museum and National Historic Site.

For Sharing Documents and Photographs: Archives of Ontario; City of Toronto Archives; Library and Archives Canada; Marsh Historical Collection, Amherstburg; Diana Braithwaite and Family; Michael Mings, Murphy and Griffith Families, Shrewsbury; Carlos and Wendy Fergueson; Ross and Georgina Thompson; Wilma Morrison; Donna Ford; Lawrence Hall; Karolyn Smardz Frost.

Special thanks to: Eva Salter, Regional Advisor, Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport; Naomi Norquay, Faculty of Education, York University; Archives of Ontario, City of Toronto Archives, Marsh Historical Collection; Future Cinema Lab at York University; to everyone who helped make this project possible... Including you!