British-American Institute

The British-American Institute of Science and Industry was a school started in 1842 by Josiah Henson near Dresden, Western District, Canada West, Province of Canada, 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. For a short period it was a manual labor school. 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.