The North Toronto Historical Society has guest speakers every month. Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month at Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Blvd., 2nd Floor.
FREE ADMISSION. EVERYONE WELCOME. PROGRAMS ARE COSPONSORED BY NORTHERN DISTRICT LIBRARY AND THE NORTH TORONTO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
MEETINGS BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. (REFRESHMENTS FROM 7:10 P.M.).
Please click here for details as dates and events may change.
** Fall Walking Tour – Sunday, October 6 2:00-3:45 p.m. Location TBA.
Please click here to check the North Toronto Historical Society website for details and updates.
North Toronto Historical Society Monthly Meetings
September to November 2019
September 25, 2019 / Toronto Re-born
Toronto is going through a remarkable growth spurt and becoming more and more diverse. Ken Greenberg, urban designer, writer, and former Director of Urban Design and Architecture for the City of Toronto, will describe the emerging contours of a new Toronto. Focusing on the period from 1970 to the present, Greenberg looks at how the work and decisions of the citizens, NGOs, businesses, and governments have combined to refashion Toronto. Individually and collectively, their actions – renovating buildings and neighbourhoods, building startling new structures and urban spaces, revitalizing old cultural institutions and creating new ones, sponsoring new festivals and events – have transformed the old postwar city, changing it into and exciting modern one. He will draw on his two books Walking Home (2011) and Toronto Reborn (2019).
October 30, 2019 / Toronto’s Watery History
Ed Freeman, retired geologist and NTHS member, will provide an illustrated talk on how water has formed the site of Toronto and created the landforms of the city. In addition, he will explain where our water comes from, how it is distributed and where it goes after it is used.
November 27, 2019 / North Toronto in Pictures…45 Years Later
This illustrated talk, presented by Barbara Myrvold, Local History Senior Services Specialist for the Toronto Public Library, will focus on images of North Toronto on the Toronto Public Library’s Digital Archive. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the publication North Toronto in Pictures, 1889-1912 which was based on an exhibit at Locke Library. The Digital Archive now provides access to a wealth of material on North Toronto through the Toronto Public Library website.
__________Past Talks___________________________
North Toronto Historical Society Monthly Meetings / January to May 2019
January 30, 2019 – Memories of the Womens College Hospital School of Nursing
Womens College Hospital (WCH) archivist, Heather Gardiner, will introduce the history of nursing education in Canada through the story of the Womens College Hospital School of Nursing, a hospital-based nursing program that operated out of WCH from 1915-1975. Featuring content developed as part of an online exhibit through the Virtual Museum of Canada, the presentation will feature historical photographs, memorabilia and artifacts from the extensive nursing collection in the WCH archives.
February 27, 2019 – Black Settlements, African Canadian Communities
In this program to commemorate Black History Month, Channon Oyeniran of the Ontario Black History Society will give an illustrated talk on the movement and settlement of diverse Black populations to and within Canada in the twentieth century. Emphasis will be given to Toronto and the surrounding area. The presentation will also look at the establishment of various institutions (schools, churches etc.) that were part of the Black Canadian community’s survival.
March 27, 2019 – Houses of Worship: Building the City of Churches
Toronto was known for many years as the City of Churches. The steeples were the City’s tallest structures until the twentieth century and many of the churches became landmarks. Through this talk, architectural historian Marta O’Brien will share images of worship spaces past and present.
April 24, 2019 – Photography and Immigration: The Italian-Canadian Experience in Toronto
The Toronto area is home to one of the largest Italian communities in the world. In this illustrated lecture, Vincenzo Pietropaolo will focus on the role of photography in recording the city’s Italian immigrant history with archival photographs from the 1900s through post-World War II. He will also include images from own extensive documentation of the Italian immigrant experience with works from two of his books Not Paved With Gold (2006) and Ritual (2016).
May 29, 2019 – Spadina House and Gustav Hahn
An illustrated talk on the history of Spadina House built in 1866 by James Austin. The decorative work of muralist and designer Gustav Hahn will be highlighted. Presented by James A.S. Thompson, an Austin family descendant. In 2000 James Thompson published a revised edition of Spadina: A Story of Old Toronto, written by his late father Austin Seton Thompson.
FREE ADMISSION. EVERYONE WELCOME. PROGRAMS ARE COSPONSORED BY NORTHERN DISTRICT LIBRARY AND THE NORTH TORONTO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
MEETINGS BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. (REFRESHMENTS FROM 7:10 P.M.) AND ARE HELD ON THE LAST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH IN THE SECOND FLOOR MEETING ROOM AT NORTHERN DISTRICT LIBRARY, 40 ORCHARD VIEW BLVD.
For more details and to see the meeting schedule, please click here.
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Past Talks from 2018:
September 26 -Exploring the Arts and Crafts Movement, October 31 – Focus on North Toronto, November 28 – Dear Sadie: Love, Lives and Remembrance from Ontario’s First World War, February 28, 2018 – York County Archaeology and the Underground Railway, March 28, 2018 – Marjorie Pickthall (1883-1922) Canada’s Darling Poet, April 25, 2018 – King Street West: Full Circle, May 30, 2018 – The Ontario Historical Society: Looking Back at 130 Years of Toronto History
Past Talks from 2017:
According to the North Toronto Historical Society’s website, the November 29th, 2017 meeting will feature: ” Newsgirls: Gutsy Pioneers in Pre-Feminist Times. Donna Jean Mackinnon, a former reporter for the Toronto Star, will speak about her new book, Newsgirls: Gutsy Pioneers in Canada’s Newsrooms, an account of 10 ground-breaking girl reporters who carved out their careers in pre-feminist times.”