The Oakville Historical Society is pleased to announce the speaker for our first “Speaker Night” of 2026, local historian, Ms. Jane Mulkewich, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at
7:30 pm in the Coach House (right next door to the Oakville Historical Society).
Jane is a seventh-generation descendant of some of the first white settlers in Ontario, and her own family genealogy research combined with her anti-racism work
has led to her research on indigenous history and racialized people in Ontario. A graduate of McMaster University, she has held some high-profile roles doing
anti-racism work with the Hamilton Police Service and with McMaster University, and went to law school at the University of Western Ontario when she was in her
40s. Currently Jane is Legal Director (with a team of five lawyers) of a large union representing 75,000 essential workers across Ontario in a wide range of sectors.
Jane lives in Dundas, and has two adult sons.
The story of Sophia Pooley may well be the only existing first-person narrative of someone who lived in slavery in Canada. She was interviewed by Benjamin
Drew, and her story was published in a collection of his interviews in 1856 when she was over 90 years old. She was born in New York state where her master (or
owner) was Joseph Harris (according to Jane Mulkewich’s research). Later, she was brought to Canada as a young girl by Joseph Brant, a Mohawk Chief, whom
she lived with for almost 30 years, and later she was sold to Samuel Hatt, before getting her freedom. Other prominent settlers including early settlers of Oakville
make a guest appearance in Sophia’s story.