Events
From our great Speaker's Nights featuring experts on local and national history to specialty event programming, our goal is to entertain and educate. Here is a sample of some of the events being held in the coming months. Come join us!
NOTE: OUR SPEAKER's NIGHT SERIES IS AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT FOR MEMBERS OF THE ETOBICOKE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
NOTE: OUR SPEAKER's NIGHT SERIES IS AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT FOR MEMBERS OF THE ETOBICOKE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Hybrid Speaker's Nights at Montgomery's Inn
Our Speaker's Nights returned to meeting in-person in the Community Room at Montgomery's Inn in February 2023. All meetings are now presented as hybrid meetings - the Speaker is present in-person at the Inn while simultaneously being broadcast live over Zoom webinar. So you can choose to either attend in-person at the Inn or stay home and join virtually online.
All EHS members will receive an email before each event with information for the option to attend online. To become a member and receive an invite, please CLICK HERE.
Our Speaker's Nights returned to meeting in-person in the Community Room at Montgomery's Inn in February 2023. All meetings are now presented as hybrid meetings - the Speaker is present in-person at the Inn while simultaneously being broadcast live over Zoom webinar. So you can choose to either attend in-person at the Inn or stay home and join virtually online.
All EHS members will receive an email before each event with information for the option to attend online. To become a member and receive an invite, please CLICK HERE.
Thursday, March 21, 2024 - Speaker's Night: The Life and Times of Alfred M. Lafferty
In 1869 Alfred M. Lafferty, M.A., Richmond Hill, was a witness to the marriage of William Denis Lafferty, a black farmer who lived in Etobicoke. Who was the man with the same surname and a university degree? Hilary J. Dawson’s research uncovered the story of the Lafferty family, and the successes, challenges, and tragedies they faced. The Lafferty parents arrived from the United States in the 1830s as freedom-seekers and their two older sons later farmed in Etobicoke. The youngest son, Alfred, won prizes for excellence at both Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto. Alfred M. Lafferty would be the first black High School Principal in the province. Later, he became the first Canadian-born black lawyer in Ontario.
Hilary Dawson is a professional genealogist, historical researcher and educator who has worked in museums in the UK and Canada, including the home of abolitionist William Wilberforce in Hull, UK. She has spent over thirty years uncovering Toronto area history through the stories of the people who lived there. She is particularly drawn to the stories of African Canadians and shares her passion for black history through presentations and articles. Hilary's research into nineteenth-century Etobicoke Township uncovered a previously unknown Black presence, and in 2002 the Etobicoke Historical Society honoured her with the Jean Hibbert Award for her contribution to Etobicoke’s history. Hilary is currently working on a biography about Alfred Lafferty.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)
In 1869 Alfred M. Lafferty, M.A., Richmond Hill, was a witness to the marriage of William Denis Lafferty, a black farmer who lived in Etobicoke. Who was the man with the same surname and a university degree? Hilary J. Dawson’s research uncovered the story of the Lafferty family, and the successes, challenges, and tragedies they faced. The Lafferty parents arrived from the United States in the 1830s as freedom-seekers and their two older sons later farmed in Etobicoke. The youngest son, Alfred, won prizes for excellence at both Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto. Alfred M. Lafferty would be the first black High School Principal in the province. Later, he became the first Canadian-born black lawyer in Ontario.
Hilary Dawson is a professional genealogist, historical researcher and educator who has worked in museums in the UK and Canada, including the home of abolitionist William Wilberforce in Hull, UK. She has spent over thirty years uncovering Toronto area history through the stories of the people who lived there. She is particularly drawn to the stories of African Canadians and shares her passion for black history through presentations and articles. Hilary's research into nineteenth-century Etobicoke Township uncovered a previously unknown Black presence, and in 2002 the Etobicoke Historical Society honoured her with the Jean Hibbert Award for her contribution to Etobicoke’s history. Hilary is currently working on a biography about Alfred Lafferty.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)
Thursday, April 18 , 2024 - Speaker's Night: A Slice of Toronto History - How Etobicoke Helped Popularize Pizza 1950-1990
Pizza is far more than its constituent parts of dough, sauce, and cheese; it is used by Alexander Hughes as a lens to explore the history of immigration, business, labour, urbanization, gender, culture, economics, consumption, and food in Toronto. The commodification of pizza, the development of pizza industries, and the culture of consumption in Canada paralleled currents of postwar life in Toronto. How did culture, ethnicity, immigration, and urban economies shape the commodification of pizza, an ethnic food once confined to the food ways of Italian immigrants? And what role did Etobicoke play in shaping the commodification of pizza?
Alexander Hughes is a life-long resident of Etobicoke, and a Historian of Canada and the United States, interested in food, business and cultural histories. He has a PhD in History from York University. His academic projects have ranged from fast food franchising, to Disneyland, to American religious cults. He works as a researcher and foresight practitioner.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)
Pizza is far more than its constituent parts of dough, sauce, and cheese; it is used by Alexander Hughes as a lens to explore the history of immigration, business, labour, urbanization, gender, culture, economics, consumption, and food in Toronto. The commodification of pizza, the development of pizza industries, and the culture of consumption in Canada paralleled currents of postwar life in Toronto. How did culture, ethnicity, immigration, and urban economies shape the commodification of pizza, an ethnic food once confined to the food ways of Italian immigrants? And what role did Etobicoke play in shaping the commodification of pizza?
Alexander Hughes is a life-long resident of Etobicoke, and a Historian of Canada and the United States, interested in food, business and cultural histories. He has a PhD in History from York University. His academic projects have ranged from fast food franchising, to Disneyland, to American religious cults. He works as a researcher and foresight practitioner.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)
Thursday, May 16, 2024 - Speaker's Night: The Beaches - New Findings About an Old Neighbourhood
The Beaches (not the Beach) is one of the city’s best-known neighbourhoods, and its history has been recounted in several excellent local publications. But over the course of researching and writing his new book on the history of the neighbourhood, Richard White found plenty of history – both facts and interpretations – that had not yet been told. Richard will highlight some of the key findings in his book.
Richard White (PhD 1995, University of Toronto) was a longstanding, now retired, part-time lecturer in history at the UT, initially Canadian history at UT Mississauga and, latterly, the history of urban planning at UT Scarborough. His first academic specialty was the history of civil engineering, but a few years as the inaugural Research Director of the Toronto-based Neptis Foundation led him into the history of urban planning, a field in which he remains active. His book Planning Toronto: The Planners, the Plans, Their Legacies, 1940-80 (UBC Press, 2016) was named best local or regional history in Ontario by the Ontario Historical Society in 2017. A long-time resident of the Beaches neighbourhood, he began researching its history several years ago and recently completed The Beaches: Creation of a Toronto Neighbourhood (UT Press, forthcoming).
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)
The Beaches (not the Beach) is one of the city’s best-known neighbourhoods, and its history has been recounted in several excellent local publications. But over the course of researching and writing his new book on the history of the neighbourhood, Richard White found plenty of history – both facts and interpretations – that had not yet been told. Richard will highlight some of the key findings in his book.
Richard White (PhD 1995, University of Toronto) was a longstanding, now retired, part-time lecturer in history at the UT, initially Canadian history at UT Mississauga and, latterly, the history of urban planning at UT Scarborough. His first academic specialty was the history of civil engineering, but a few years as the inaugural Research Director of the Toronto-based Neptis Foundation led him into the history of urban planning, a field in which he remains active. His book Planning Toronto: The Planners, the Plans, Their Legacies, 1940-80 (UBC Press, 2016) was named best local or regional history in Ontario by the Ontario Historical Society in 2017. A long-time resident of the Beaches neighbourhood, he began researching its history several years ago and recently completed The Beaches: Creation of a Toronto Neighbourhood (UT Press, forthcoming).
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Start Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onwards)