The British-American Institute was a school started in 1842 by Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery in Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Ontario, Canada in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, near Dresden in Kent County...

 near Dresden

Dresden, Ontario

Dresden is a community in southwestern Ontario, Canada, part of the municipality of Chatham-Kent. Dresden is best known as the home of Josiah Henson, the former U.S. slave whose life story was the inspiration for the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin...

, Western District

Western District, Upper Canada

Western District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and partitioned in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. Known as Hesse District until 1792, it was abolished in 1849...

, Canada West, Province of Canada

Province of Canada

The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...

, as part of the Dawn Settlement, a community of fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada. The institute was a school for all ages designed to provide a general education and teacher training. It was taken over by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1849. The school closed down in 1868. The site of the school is encompassed today by the Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Located near Dresden, Ontario, Canada, Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is an open air museum and African American history centre that includes the home of Josiah Henson, a former slave, author, abolitionist, and minister, who was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's title character in her...

.