North Toronto Historical Society Monthly Meetings
January to May 2009

ROSEDALE: MANSIONS AND MORE

Architectural historian Marta O’Brien returns to share new photographs of Rosedale.  Well-known and lesser-known houses in a variety of architectural styles illustrate why Rosedale comprises two Heritage Conservation Districts.


SLAVERY IN THE TOWN OF YORK
(Black History Month Programme) .

Several of early Upper Canada’s families owned slaves, and advertisements like “For Sale, a Negro Wench” appeared in the newspapers.  From information found in original documents, historian Hilary J. Dawson will introduce Henry Prince, Peggy and other people of colour who were regarded as property by such influential figures as William Jarvis and Peter Russell.

UNBUILT TORONTO: A HISTORY OF THE CITY THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

In this illustrated lecture, drawn from his book of the same name, Mark Osbaldeston  explores the city’s never-realized planning, transit and architectural schemes.  Where would city council debate today if Viljo Revell hadn’t won the 1958 competition to design the new city hall?  Why was a parcel of land known for two decades as the “Mystery Block”?  And what’s the story behind the Queen Street ghost station?   (Copies of the book will be available for purchase.)

TORONTO'S FOREIGN QUARTER: The Jews and Other Immigrants of St. John's Ward After 1900

Bill Gladstone presents an illustrated lecture on the old downtown neighbourhood once known as “the Ward” -  a receiving ground for tens of thousands of Jewish, Italian and other recent arrivals, so densely populated it was once known as the city’s “foreign quarter”.  Bill Gladstone, who grew up in north Toronto, is an author, journalist and genealogist whose most recent book is One Hundred Years in Canada: the Rubinoff-Naftolin Family Tree.

TORONTO'S VISUAL LEGACY:  Official City Photography from 1856 to the Present

Staff of the City of Toronto Archives will present an overview of Toronto’s history and development through the legacy of official city photographs.  Copies of the book  “Toronto’s Visual Legacy”, which was published this year to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the city’s incorporation, will be available for purchase.



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 IN THE SECOND FLOOR MEETING ROOM AT NORTHERN DISTRICT LIBRARY, 40 ORCHARD VIEW BLVD.