Stratford Perth Museum launches Black History project with Aunt Harriet screening

Michelle Robbins, HAUI, ahdri zhina madeila, Jade Ferguson and Garvia Bailey had an engaging panel discussion following the Aunt Harriet screening part of the Black History project launch at the Stratford Perth Museum.

After Aunt Harriet’s first run at the Stratford Perth Museum, the audience applauded and were eager to share their positive feedback and questions about the film installation.

The Stratford Perth Museum launched its Black History project on site with a screening of the short film Aunt Harriet on Oct. 11. Aunt Harriet, directed by award-winning filmmaker HAUI and starring adhri zhina mandiela (azm), will be continuously running at the museum as an installation until January 2026.

The film honours Aunt Harriet Miller, a singer from Wellington County who spent her final years at Guelph’s St. Joesph’s Hospital up until her passing in 1932 after she lost her memory and family. Miller, played by zhina mandiela, is sitting in her rocking chair and smoking a pipe as she reflects on her life.

Aunt Harriet was filmed on the Stratford Perth Museum’s trails and is based on materials from the Guelph Museum archives and St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph archives. In addition to the Stratford Perth Museum, the Guelph Black Heritage Society and Jade Ferguson and Deidre McCorkindale collaborated on the film.

HAUI made the film to reframe Miller’s story, as it had been the subject of misinformation and racial stereotypes and is pleased with general manager Kelly McIntosh and curator Megan Patterson’s allyship. HAUI is proud to be part of the Black History project, still processing the reception to his film installation during the interview with the Times.

"It's really beautiful,” HAUI said. “I feel like Kelly and Megan really understand allyship and listening and I think that’s partly what this moment needs is those that deeply listen. It's a really difficult skill to have and I think they do it so beautifully.”

The Black History project is a multi-year initiative by the Stratford Perth Museum. Garvia Bailey, co-founder of Media Girlfriends and multi-media journalist known for her work with CBC and Jazz FM, returned to Stratford, her hometown, to curate an exhibit featuring photographs and audio documentaries about Black families in the region and their histories of the past, present and future.

"As we know, history just doesn't live in the past. It is part of our present. it is part of our future so collecting stories, talking to people about their own experiences and then also telling the stories of the building of Stratford through the lens some of those Black folks that were there in the 1800s and the 1830s,” she said. “There's some remarkable stories that I think Stratford and Perth County will be not only surprised by but would be proud to tell and to share and to keep and to be able to have a part of who we are." 

Bailey also hosted a panel discussion on Aunt Harriet after the first screening, featuring HAUI, zhina mandiela, Ferguson and Buxton National Historic Site and Museum curator Michelle Robbins. The discussion between the panelists and the engaged audience included challenging stereotypes and misinformation while researching history, including archived material.

"It was really heartening to see how open everyone was to the conversation. It was a great crowd. It was so mixed with people from all over different regions, ethnicities, ages, all of that so that confirms to me that we're on the right path,” Bailey said.

Anyone looking to contribute can send an email to yourstory@stratfordperthmuseum.ca.