page_title: Laura Secord
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Laura Secord / Legacy
context_page_description: Laura Secord was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked 20 miles out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada. Though Laura Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the Laura Secord Chocolates company, named after her on the centennial of her walk.
  Laura Secord's father, Thomas Ingersoll, lived in Massachusetts and fought on the side of the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. In 1795 he moved his family to the Niagara region of Upper Canada after he had applied for and received a land grant. Shortly after, Laura married Loyalist James Secord, who was later seriously wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights early in the War of 1812. While he was still recovering in 1813, the Americans invaded the Niagara Peninsula, including Queenston. During the occupation, Secord acquired information about a planned American attack, and stole away on the morning of 22 June to inform Lieutenant James FitzGibbon in the territory still controlled by the British.
context_section_description: According to legend, "it took her approximately 17 hours to travel the distance to warn James FitzGibbon of the impending American attack".
  She has often been depicted as "a lone figure bravely travelling through approximately 30 km of wilderness from her home at Queenston to a British military detachment camped in DeCew House in what is today Thorold, Ontario."
  Historian Cecilia Morgan argues that the Secord story became famous in the 1880s when upper-class women sought to strengthen the emotional ties between Canadian women and the British Empire.  She writes that they needed a female heroine to validate their claims for women's suffrage.  The first product of their campaign was Sarah Anne Curzon's verse drama Laura Secord: The Heroine of 1812 in 1887.  The play was a catalyst for "a deluge of articles and entries on Secord that filled Canadian histories and school textbooks at the turn of the 20th century".  Although critics gave the play negative reviews, it was the first full work devoted to Secord's story and popularized her image.
  Secord has been compared to French-Canadian heroine Madeleine de Verchères and to American Revolution hero Paul Revere.  Her story has been retold and commemorated by generations of biographers, playwrights, poets, novelists and journalists.
  After discovering a newspaper clipping of the events, early feminist Emma Currie began a lifelong interest in Secord's life.  She tracked down information from Laura's relatives as far away as Great Barrington, and published a biographical account in 1900 called The Story of Laura Secord. She later successfully petitioned to have a Secord memorial erected in Queenston Heights.  The cut stone granite monument stands 7 feet (210 cm) and was dedicated in 1901. In 1905, Secord's portrait was hung in Parliament.  Playwright Merrill Denison wrote a radio play of her story in 1931 which mixed serious history with parody.
  On the centennial of Secord's walk in 1913, and to capitalize on Canadian patriotic feelings, Frank O'Connor founded Laura Secord Chocolates.  The chain's first location opened on Yonge and Elm streets in Toronto.  The chocolates were packaged in black boxes adorned with a cameo of Secord.  By the 1970s, the company had become the largest candy retailer in Canada.  Among most Canadians, the name Laura Secord is more strongly associated with the chocolate company than with the historical figure.
  During the War of 1812, the Secords' Queenston homestead was fired upon and looted.  It was restored in the late 20th century and given to the Niagara Parks Commission in 1971. It is now operated as a museum and gift shop at Partition and Queen streets in Queenston. The "Laura Secord Legacy Trail" covers the 32 kilometer route of the journey she undertook from her homestead in Queenston to DeCew House in Thorold where she delivered her message to Lt. Fitzgibbon on 22 June 1813. 
  Thomas Ingersoll's old home on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Laura Secord's birthplace, was used as the town's Free Library from 1896 until 1913. The Mason Library replaced it and was built on the site.  The Great Barrington Historic District Commission made 18 October 1997 Laura Secord Day, and dedicated a plaque in her honour at the site of the Mason Library.
  Laura Secord is the namesake of a number of schools, including Laura Secord Public School (also known as Laura Secord Memorial School, 1914–2010) in Queenston, École Laura Secord School in Winnipeg, Manitoba (built 1912), Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario and Laura Secord Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Beaver Dams Battlefield Park has a plaque dedicated to Secord.  In 1992, Canada Post issued a Laura Secord commemorative stamp.  In 2003, the Minister of Canadian Heritage declared Secord a "Person of National Historical Significance", and in 2006 Secord's was one of fourteen statues dedicated at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa.  To commemorate the 200th anniversary of her walk, Secord's image adorned a circulation quarter issued by the Royal Canadian Mint and 
caption: Laura Secord Monument in Queenston Heights 43°09′37″N 79°03′04″W﻿ / ﻿43.160352°N 79.051103°W﻿ / 43.160352; -79.051103
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