“Sam McLaughlin’s name continues to loom large over the city of Oshawa. But the stories of working people offer alternate versions of history. Spaces in the city ought to be made for commemorating and remembering these stories,” historian Christine McLaughlin (no relation to Sam) recently argued during her talk at a local library in Toronto. [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Toronto Public Library’
The Political Uses of Public Space: A Podcast of Craig Heron’s Talk on Labour Day Parades
Over the past few weeks, cities across Canada have evicted Occupy protesters from camping overnight in public parks. Opinion remains divided over the tactics of the amorphous movement. One lawyer recently defended the group by arguing in court that the occupation of Toronto’s St. James Park was a “physical manifestation of the exercise of … [...]
New Podcast: Richard Harris on the Making of a Toronto Suburb
Historical Geographer Richard Harris recently presented a talk entitled “The Making of Dufferin-St. Clair: 1900-1929” at a local library located in this Toronto neighbourhood. Following his talk, a room full of community members shared their personal memories of the area’s social and physical development. Harris’s talk comes from research for his book, Unplanned Suburbs: Toronto’s [...]
History Matters Fall 2011 Lecture Series, Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library is pleased to announce the 2011 History Matters series. This year these lectures focus on two themes—labour and environmental history in the Toronto area and beyond. Part of TPL’s Thought Exchange programming, these lively talks will give the public an opportunity to connect with working historians and discover some of the many [...]
From Andrew Carnegie to Margaret Atwood: Toronto’s “Unelected” Champions of Public Libraries.
Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, brother of city mayor Rob Ford, recently ignited public controversy over potential cuts to the city’s public library services when he claimed not to know much about author Margaret Atwood, who had spoken out against possible cuts to services and closures of library branches. Councillor Ford’s insistence that Atwood “get [...]
Strengthening Community through Digitized Local History
The Black Creek Living History project is a great example of how community history can be told over the internet.
Third History Matters series lecture uncovers Toronto’s subway past
Jay Young, a PhD student in history and ActiveHistory.ca steering committee member, recently gave a talk called “A Public Technology: Building Toronto’s Yonge Street Subway”. The lecture is part of the Toronto Public Library’s History Matters series. The lecture discussed various episodes surrounding the building of Toronto’s original Yonge Street subway line during the late [...]
Stuart Henderson talks hip Yorkville history at inaugural History Matters series
Historian, journalist, and musician Stuart Henderson recently presented an engaging talk at the inaugural History Matters lecture series, sponsored by the Toronto Public Library. In front of a standing-room audience, Henderson’s ”Making the Scene in 1960s Yorkville” discussed the fascinating dynamics of a hip community of beatniks, hippies, and greasers that made up one of Canada’s most infamous counter-cultural [...]
Active History Announcements: Sept 5 – 11
The following upcoming events may be of interest to our readers.
History Matters: A lecture series connecting Toronto historians with the city and its people
by Lisa Rumiel On Tuesday, September 14th the Toronto Public Library (TPL) will kick off its 6 part History Matters lecture series. As you might have guessed from the title, the idea for the series was inspired by what’s been going on over the past couple years with the folks at Active History – both [...]
