The story of the growth and destruction of Toronto's first 'priority neighbourhood.'
From the 1840s until the Second World War, waves of newcomers who migrated to Toronto – Irish, Jewish, Italian, African American and Chinese, among others – landed in 'The Ward.' Crammed with rundown housing and immigrant-owned businesses, this area, bordered by College and Queen, University and Yonge streets, was home to bootleggers, Chinese bachelors, workers from the nearby Eaton's garment factories and hard-working peddlers. But the City considered it a slum, and bulldozed the area in the late 1950s to make way for a new civic square.
The Ward finally tells the diverse stories of this extraordinary and resilient neighbourhood through archival photos and contributions from a wide array of voices, including historians, politicians, architects, story-tellers, journalists and descendants of Ward residents. Their perspectives on playgrounds, tuberculosis, sex workers, newsies and even bathing bring The Ward to life and, in the process, raise important questions about how contemporary cities handle immigration, poverty and the geography of difference.
‘The Ward shines a light on one of Toronto's most historically significant and most forgotten neighbourhoods. Instead of a straight history, the book's editors opted to present the Ward through multiple short essays, each with its own unique point of view. The result is a fascinating and varied look at an area that once concurrently defined the city and acted as its biggest shame. As a result of the Ward's eventual razing, there are few artifacts left to teach newer generations about this important part of Toronto's history. This book helps correct that.’
– 2016 Toronto Book Awards Jury Citation
'[The Ward] should be of interest to Canadians anywhere, reminding us that we all came from some place else.'
– Michael Enright, CBC Sunday Edition
Contents & Contributors
Introduction – John Lorinc
Searching for the Old Ward – Shawn Micallef
No Place Like Home – Howard Akler
Beforethe Ward: Macauleytown – Stephen A. Otto
My Grandmother the Bootlegger – Howard Moscoe
Against All Odds: The Chinese Laundry – Arlene Chan
VJ Day – Arlene Chan
Merle Foster's Studio: 'A Spot Of Enchantment' – Terry Murray
Missionary Work: The Fight for Jewish Souls – Ellen Scheinberg
King of the Ward – Myer Siemiatycki
Where the Rich Went for Vice – Michael Redhill
A Fresh Start: Black Toronto in the 19th Century – Karolyn Smardz Frost
Policing the Lord’s Day – Mariana Valverde
'The Maniac Chinaman' – Edward Keenan
Elsie's Story – Patte Roseban
Lawren Harris's Ward Period – Jim Burant
'Fool's Paradise': Hastings' Anti-Slum Crusade – John Lorinc
Strange Brew: The Underground Economy of Blind Pigs – Ellen Scheinberg
The Consulate, the Padroni and the Labourers – Andrea Addario
Excerpt: The Italians in Toronto – Emily P. Weaver
Arthur Goss: Documenting Hardship– Stephen Bulger
Fresh Air: The Fight Against TB – Cathy Crowe
The Stone Yard – Gaetan Heroux
William James: Toronto's First Photojournalist – Vincenzo Pietropaolo
The Avenue Not Taken – Michael McClelland
Timothy Eaton’s Stern Fortifications – Michael Valpy
Settling In: Central Neighbourhood House – Ratna Omidvar & Ranjit Bhaskar
Toronto’s Girl with the Curls – Ellen Scheinberg
Chinese Caf̩s: Survival and Danger РEllen Scheinberg & Paul Yee
Defiance and Divisions: The Great Eaton's Strike – Ruth A. Frager
Elizabeth Street: What the City Directories Reveal – Denise Balkissoon
Growing Up on Walton Street – Cynthia MacDougall
Revitalizing George Street: The Ward's Lessons – Alina Chatterjee & Derek Ballantyne
Taking Care of Business in the Ward &ndash Ellen Scheinberg
'A Magnificent Dome': The Great University Avenue Synagogue – Jack Lipinsky
Reading the Ward: The Inevitability of Loss – Kim Storey & James Brown
Toronto’s First Little Italy – John Lorinc
The Elizabeth Street Playground, Revisited – Bruce Kidd
Divided Loyalties – Sandra Shaul
Crowded by Any Measure – John Lorinc
A Peddler and His Cart: TheWard’s Rag Trade – Deena Nathanson
Toronto's Original Tenement: Wineberg Apartments – Richard Dennis
Excerpt: Tom Thomson's Diary – Tom Thomson
An Untimely Death – Brian Banks
Paper Pushers – Ellen ScheinbergÂ
The BMR's Wake-Up Call – Laurie Monsebraaten
Excerpt: Report of the Medical Health Officer … – Charles J. Hastings
Dr. Clarke's Clinic – Thelma Wheatley
Slum-Free: The Suburban Ideal – Richard Harris
The Glionna Clan and Toronto's First Little Italy – John E. Zucchi
'The Hipp' – Michael Posner
Before Yorkville– John Lorinc
Sex Work and the Ward’s Bachelor Society – Elise Chenier
Public Baths: Schvitzing on Centre Avenue – Ellen Scheinberg
The Health Advocates: McKeown on Hastings – John Lorinc
Remembering Toronto's First Chinatown – Kristyn Wong-Tam
Tabula Rasa – Mark Kingwell
Unrealized Renewal – J. David Hulchanski
A Short History of the 'Civic Square' Expropriation – John Lorinc
Storytelling is Part of the Story – Tatum Taylor
How We Think About What (Little) Survives – Patrick Cummins
Institutional Memory – Scott James & Victor Russell
Alternative Histories – MichaelMcClelland