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 AND AS SUCH, THERE IS LIMITED SEATING. 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 AND AS SUCH, THERE IS LIMITED SEATING. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A MEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Thursday, September 19, 2019 - Annual General Meeting & Speaker's Night: Accidents, Illnesses, and Sirens - The History of Toronto's Ambulance Services.
Bruce Newton wanted to preserve the history of Toronto’s ambulance services. The retired paramedic compiled years of personal research resulting in the publishing of his first book in August 2017: Accidents, Illness and Sirens: The History of Toronto's Ambulance Services. Bruce will tell the story of the different ambulance services that have operated in Toronto since 1832, when the first organized form of ambulance transportation (known as the carter) was established during the deadly cholera outbreak. Over the next more than a century ambulance service continued to be provided by many different independent operators throughout the City. It wasn’t until 1975 that the private, provincial and municipal ambulances services in Toronto were amalgamated.
Bruce Newton is a 45-year Veteran of Toronto's Ambulance Service after having retired in 2017. He grew up in Etobicoke and, in 1972, enrolled in Humber College’s emergency and casualty attendant program (the first pilot community college program for paramedics in Ontario). A year later, he was hired as an ambulance driver attendant by the Metropolitan Toronto Department of Emergency Services and advanced to the position of Paramedic Superintendent before his retirement.
NOTE: The EHS Annual General Meeting will occur before the Speaker's presentation.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Bruce Newton wanted to preserve the history of Toronto’s ambulance services. The retired paramedic compiled years of personal research resulting in the publishing of his first book in August 2017: Accidents, Illness and Sirens: The History of Toronto's Ambulance Services. Bruce will tell the story of the different ambulance services that have operated in Toronto since 1832, when the first organized form of ambulance transportation (known as the carter) was established during the deadly cholera outbreak. Over the next more than a century ambulance service continued to be provided by many different independent operators throughout the City. It wasn’t until 1975 that the private, provincial and municipal ambulances services in Toronto were amalgamated.
Bruce Newton is a 45-year Veteran of Toronto's Ambulance Service after having retired in 2017. He grew up in Etobicoke and, in 1972, enrolled in Humber College’s emergency and casualty attendant program (the first pilot community college program for paramedics in Ontario). A year later, he was hired as an ambulance driver attendant by the Metropolitan Toronto Department of Emergency Services and advanced to the position of Paramedic Superintendent before his retirement.
NOTE: The EHS Annual General Meeting will occur before the Speaker's presentation.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Saturday, October 5, 2019 - History Live 2019: The J.S. Woodsworth Story
Learn about the history of the Applewood-Shaver Homestead in Etobicoke through the story of its most famous resident, J. S. Woodsworth. Travel through time in this 1-hour immersive theatre experience as we trace Woodsworth's entry into politics and eventual founding of the CCF (today, NDP) inside the rooms of his childhood home.
Each performance is roughly 1 hour; please join us for refreshments after the play
History Live 2019 is a fundraiser in support of the Etobicoke Historical Society.
Location: Applewood - The Shaver House, 450 The West Mall, Etobicoke, ON M9C 1E9
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2019
Times: Performances at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm
Cost: $20
Tickets Available Below...
Learn about the history of the Applewood-Shaver Homestead in Etobicoke through the story of its most famous resident, J. S. Woodsworth. Travel through time in this 1-hour immersive theatre experience as we trace Woodsworth's entry into politics and eventual founding of the CCF (today, NDP) inside the rooms of his childhood home.
Each performance is roughly 1 hour; please join us for refreshments after the play
History Live 2019 is a fundraiser in support of the Etobicoke Historical Society.
Location: Applewood - The Shaver House, 450 The West Mall, Etobicoke, ON M9C 1E9
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2019
Times: Performances at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm
Cost: $20
Tickets Available Below...
Thursday, October 17, 2019 - Speaker's Night: Hurricane Hazel and its Legacy.
2019 marks the 65th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel, the most deadly natural disaster in recorded history to hit southern Ontario. An entire neighbourhood in the Humber River valley was washed away and the storm left in its wake many deaths and displaced people.
Richard Jordan is an EHS Board Member, having previously served as a Director from 1980 to 1996, including a two-year term as President. He also served two terms as a citizen member of the Etobicoke Historical Board in the 1980s.
Richard grew up in North York and studied Geography and Environmental Studies at York University before relocating to Etobicoke. Now retired from the City of Mississauga, where he was a Geographic Information Systems Specialist, Richard contributed a local heritage column in the Toronto Star from 1984 to 1991 as well as feature articles in a number of genealogy and history magazines.
Richard’s family genealogy book, Beyond the Great Pine Ridge, was published in 2004 and he is now working on a book about Irish Protestants in Canada. He has recently produced a mini-documentary about a true incident from his family’s past entitled Murder in the Family Tree. Richard is well known for his speaking engagements with historical societies and seniors groups.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
2019 marks the 65th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel, the most deadly natural disaster in recorded history to hit southern Ontario. An entire neighbourhood in the Humber River valley was washed away and the storm left in its wake many deaths and displaced people.
Richard Jordan is an EHS Board Member, having previously served as a Director from 1980 to 1996, including a two-year term as President. He also served two terms as a citizen member of the Etobicoke Historical Board in the 1980s.
Richard grew up in North York and studied Geography and Environmental Studies at York University before relocating to Etobicoke. Now retired from the City of Mississauga, where he was a Geographic Information Systems Specialist, Richard contributed a local heritage column in the Toronto Star from 1984 to 1991 as well as feature articles in a number of genealogy and history magazines.
Richard’s family genealogy book, Beyond the Great Pine Ridge, was published in 2004 and he is now working on a book about Irish Protestants in Canada. He has recently produced a mini-documentary about a true incident from his family’s past entitled Murder in the Family Tree. Richard is well known for his speaking engagements with historical societies and seniors groups.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Thursday, November 21, 2019 - Speaker's Night: Canada's World Wonders.
Take a journey with Ron Brown across Canada to visit our world-renowned natural and historic landmarks. You'll visit our country’s natural parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Indigenous cultural sites including the locations of ancient inuksuit. You'll travel through the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel, cruise the Trans-Canada Highway, explore the Grosse Îsle and Pier 21 immigration memorials, tour the graves of the failed Franklin Expedition, and visit the Vimy Ridge War Memorial, all with Ron Brown’s engaging historical commentary.
Ron Brown is a geographer and heritage writer. He has authored more than twenty books, including Rails Over the Mountains and The Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore. A past chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, he also conducts tours along Ontario’s back roads. Ron has been a frequent EHS Speaker having given many memorable and enjoyable presentations over the years.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Take a journey with Ron Brown across Canada to visit our world-renowned natural and historic landmarks. You'll visit our country’s natural parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Indigenous cultural sites including the locations of ancient inuksuit. You'll travel through the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel, cruise the Trans-Canada Highway, explore the Grosse Îsle and Pier 21 immigration memorials, tour the graves of the failed Franklin Expedition, and visit the Vimy Ridge War Memorial, all with Ron Brown’s engaging historical commentary.
Ron Brown is a geographer and heritage writer. He has authored more than twenty books, including Rails Over the Mountains and The Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore. A past chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, he also conducts tours along Ontario’s back roads. Ron has been a frequent EHS Speaker having given many memorable and enjoyable presentations over the years.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Thursday, February 20, 2020 - Speaker's Night: Black Settlements and African Canadian Communities.
In parts of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and British Columbia, Black and other communities can trace their ancestry to the pre-confederation settlement of people of African descent on Canadian soil. Channon Oyeniran will give an illustrated talk about the various Black settlements and communities that were founded across Canada with emphasis 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.
Channon Oyeniran is an Honours graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Caribbean Studies from the University of Toronto, a Master’s Degree in Slavery Studies from the University of Hull in the UK and a Certificate in Adult Education from George Brown College. Channon is the co-founder of Oyeniran Education Support (OyES), an educational organization created by herself and her husband. Apart from participating in conferences and workshops relating to the Black experience and history in Canada, Channon is currently the first Vice-President for the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS), where she helps the organization preserve, celebrate and spread the rich Black History of Ontario and Canada.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
In parts of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and British Columbia, Black and other communities can trace their ancestry to the pre-confederation settlement of people of African descent on Canadian soil. Channon Oyeniran will give an illustrated talk about the various Black settlements and communities that were founded across Canada with emphasis 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.
Channon Oyeniran is an Honours graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Caribbean Studies from the University of Toronto, a Master’s Degree in Slavery Studies from the University of Hull in the UK and a Certificate in Adult Education from George Brown College. Channon is the co-founder of Oyeniran Education Support (OyES), an educational organization created by herself and her husband. Apart from participating in conferences and workshops relating to the Black experience and history in Canada, Channon is currently the first Vice-President for the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS), where she helps the organization preserve, celebrate and spread the rich Black History of Ontario and Canada.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Thursday, March 19, 2020 - Speaker's Night: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Canada.
In 1918 women gained the right to vote in Canada. This great achievement was the result of the determination, will and sacrifice of many strong women who advocated and fought for equal rights. Maggie Newell will the tell the story of many of the key women who originated the suffrage movement in Canada and how their contributions lead to 1918 federal act to extend the right to vote to all Canadian women.
Maggie Newell has been a historical interpreter with Toronto Museums for more than 30 years at Montgomery's Inn, Gibson House and most recently the Zion Schoolhouse in North York. She curated a presentation at Gibson House in 2018, “The Fairer Vote”, celebrating the 100th anniversary of women voting in federal elections in Canada. Maggie has served as secretary and board member of the Culinary Historians of Ontario (now Canada) as well as a past president of the Costume Society of Ontario. Her hobbies include traditional textile handcrafts – from cross stitch to needle felting to basket weaving.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
In 1918 women gained the right to vote in Canada. This great achievement was the result of the determination, will and sacrifice of many strong women who advocated and fought for equal rights. Maggie Newell will the tell the story of many of the key women who originated the suffrage movement in Canada and how their contributions lead to 1918 federal act to extend the right to vote to all Canadian women.
Maggie Newell has been a historical interpreter with Toronto Museums for more than 30 years at Montgomery's Inn, Gibson House and most recently the Zion Schoolhouse in North York. She curated a presentation at Gibson House in 2018, “The Fairer Vote”, celebrating the 100th anniversary of women voting in federal elections in Canada. Maggie has served as secretary and board member of the Culinary Historians of Ontario (now Canada) as well as a past president of the Costume Society of Ontario. Her hobbies include traditional textile handcrafts – from cross stitch to needle felting to basket weaving.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Thursday, April 16, 2020 - Speaker's Night: Between Raid & Rebellion: The Irish in Buffalo and Toronto, 1867-1916.
William Jenkins compares the lives and allegiances of Irish immigrants and their descendants in one American and one Canadian city between the era of the Fenian raids and the 1916 Easter Rising. Highlighting the significance of immigrants from Ulster to Toronto and from Munster to Buffalo, he distinguishes what it meant to be Irish in a loyal dominion within Britain's empire and in a republic whose self-confidence knew no bounds. With the question of Irish home rule animating debates throughout the period, Toronto's unionist sympathizers presented a marked contrast to Buffalo's nationalist agitators.
William Jenkins is an Associate Professor of Historical Geography at York University. He completed his PhD in Historical Geography at the University of Toronto in 2001 after obtaining an MA from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1995. William specializes in the study of Irish migration to Canada and the U.S. from 1815 to 1914 and has written several books and many articles on the topic. His current book, Between Raid and Rebellion: the Irish in Buffalo and Toronto 1867-1916, has won awards from the Ontario Historical Society, Canadian Historical Association, the American Conference for Irish Studies and The Geographical Society of Ireland.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
William Jenkins compares the lives and allegiances of Irish immigrants and their descendants in one American and one Canadian city between the era of the Fenian raids and the 1916 Easter Rising. Highlighting the significance of immigrants from Ulster to Toronto and from Munster to Buffalo, he distinguishes what it meant to be Irish in a loyal dominion within Britain's empire and in a republic whose self-confidence knew no bounds. With the question of Irish home rule animating debates throughout the period, Toronto's unionist sympathizers presented a marked contrast to Buffalo's nationalist agitators.
William Jenkins is an Associate Professor of Historical Geography at York University. He completed his PhD in Historical Geography at the University of Toronto in 2001 after obtaining an MA from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1995. William specializes in the study of Irish migration to Canada and the U.S. from 1815 to 1914 and has written several books and many articles on the topic. His current book, Between Raid and Rebellion: the Irish in Buffalo and Toronto 1867-1916, has won awards from the Ontario Historical Society, Canadian Historical Association, the American Conference for Irish Studies and The Geographical Society of Ireland.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
Thursday, May 21, 2020 - Speaker's Night: "The Ward"
From the 1870s to the 1950s, waves of immigrants to Toronto – Irish, Jewish, Chinese and Italian, among others – landed in ‘The Ward’ in the centre of downtown. Deemed a slum, the area was crammed with derelict housing and ‘ethnic’ businesses; it was razed in the 1950s to make way for a grand civic plaza and modern city hall. John Lorinc will use archival photos and contributions from a wide variety of voices to tell the story of this complex neighbourhood and the lessons it offers about immigration and poverty in big cities.
John Lorinc is a Senior Editor at Spacing Magazine and an award-winning journalist who has contributed to Toronto Life, MacLean’s, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Saturday Night, Report on Business, and Quill & Quire, among other publications. As the non-fiction editor for Toronto’s Coach House Books, he has contributed to many books including The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood and The Ward Uncovered. John also specializes in leading walking tours of The Ward and other Toronto historic areas, some of which have been included in the annual Jane’s Walks.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)
From the 1870s to the 1950s, waves of immigrants to Toronto – Irish, Jewish, Chinese and Italian, among others – landed in ‘The Ward’ in the centre of downtown. Deemed a slum, the area was crammed with derelict housing and ‘ethnic’ businesses; it was razed in the 1950s to make way for a grand civic plaza and modern city hall. John Lorinc will use archival photos and contributions from a wide variety of voices to tell the story of this complex neighbourhood and the lessons it offers about immigration and poverty in big cities.
John Lorinc is a Senior Editor at Spacing Magazine and an award-winning journalist who has contributed to Toronto Life, MacLean’s, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Saturday Night, Report on Business, and Quill & Quire, among other publications. As the non-fiction editor for Toronto’s Coach House Books, he has contributed to many books including The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood and The Ward Uncovered. John also specializes in leading walking tours of The Ward and other Toronto historic areas, some of which have been included in the annual Jane’s Walks.
Location: Montgomery's Inn, 4709 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, ON M9A 1A8
Time: 7:30pm (Refreshments served from 7pm onward)