Riverdale Historical Society—since 1999

  Degrassi High The hit TV series origin story and evolution Presented by Linda Schuyler Co-creator and Executive Producer of over 500 episodes 7:00pm, Tuesday, May 28th In person: Ralph Thornton Ctr, 3rd floor, 765 Queen St. E. By Zoom:  Click Here Linda Schuyler, co-creator and executive producer of the Degrassi TV franchise, will share the story of the creation and evolution of the hit TV series. Even though  Degrassi’s  roots are firmly planted in Toronto’s Eastend, it became a phenomena that has travelled around the world in a large part due to the socially relevant storylines and realistic portrayals of the joys and tribulations of teen life. Part of the talk will focus on the specific places in The Riverdale area that were fundamental for the growth and evolution of the series. About the speake r:  Linda Schuyler, C.M., O.Ont., has been an independent producer and entrepreneur for over forty years.  Dedicated to the art of storytelling, Lin...

  We Are All  Treaty   People : Indigenous Histories of Tkaronto/Toronto Presented by Susan Roy 7:00pm, Tuesday, April 30th In  person : Ralph Thornton Ctr, 3rd floor, 765 Queen St. E. By Zoom:  Click Here                                                                       Norval Morriseau; "Tree of Life"; 2021 What are our responsibilities as non-Indigenous Torontonians to learn about the Indigenous histories of the places we live and the  treaties  that have been negotiated in relation to these territories?  In the Mohawk language,  Skahne Tewatewayenstha  means "we study, we are students, we learn as one".  This presentation offers an introduction to the histories of Riverdale, Tkaronto/ Toronto, and the wider region, paying attention t...

  OBITUARY Sister Gwen Smith, CSJ 9 MARCH, 1930 – 23 MARCH, 2024 Sister Gwen Smith The RHS has lost a very special member, and we celebrate her wonderful, long life! Sister Gwen Smith, CSJ (formerly Sister James Francis) died peacefully at the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence, 2 O’Connor Drive, Toronto, Ontario on March 23, 2024 in the 72 year of her religious life. She is predeceased by her parents, James Henry and Rita (née O’Halloran) Smith. She will be sadly missed by her cousins, friends, colleagues and by her Sisters in Community. Born and raised in the east end of Toronto, Sister Gwen was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph both at elementary and high school. She was a high school graduate and former teacher of St. Joseph’s College School in Toronto. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto in 1951 and following first profession, Sister Gwen began a high school teaching career that continued for the next 24 years. Her work with young people included active in...

    Yonge Street's INCREDIBLE Music and Pop Culture History Presented by Mark Vendramini Tuesday, March 26th, 7: 00pm   In person: Ralph Thornton Ctr, 3rd floor, 765 Queen St. E. By Zoom:  Click Here Did you know...  That Gordon Lightfoot once sang for $25 a night at a Yonge Street dinner theatre?  That a chance meeting in Toronto helped determine the direction of The Beatles' greatest album? That the most decisive event in Rock N Roll history occurred at Yonge and Dundas? (In what is now a drugstore.) Yonge Street's connection to music, theatre and pop culture is literally second to none. It's been described as a musical/theatre mecca equal to, or even better than, Times Square or Hollywood Blvd.  From Jazz and Motown to Hip Hop, Rock N Roll and Metal to Alternative. This 40-minute talk will show you a side of "The Strip" you never knew existed.  If you are a music fan, a local history buff or if you just like hearin...

  LOCATING THE IRISH AND IRISHNESS IN THE 'BELFAST' OF THIS GREAT DOMINION  - TORONTO, 1841-1926 Irish Emigrants  wait with their few belongings to board ship for North America. Millions were forced to leave by famine. Locating the Irish and Irishness in the "Belfast of this Great Dominion" - Toronto, 1841-1926 Presented by Dr. William Jenkins, Professor, York University.  Note new location and time!  - 7:00pm, Tues. February 20th - Ralph Thornton Centre,   3rd floor, 765 Queen St. E.   Over a relatively short period of time, between the mid-1800’s and 1915, Toronto experienced an unprecedented wave of Irish migration which changed the city forever.  In this talk, Dr. Jenkins examines the experience of Irish immigrants coming to Toronto, their mixed welcome, and how they maintained their culture in the new world while helping to remake the city. And how major events back home, such as the Great Potato Famine, the Irish Revolution, and subsequent t...

Come out and support your Riverdale Historic Society for its second in-person event since COVID.  Note location, for Nov. only:  St. Matthew’s Clubhouse,  450 Broadview Ave,  Toronto.  6:30pm, Tues. Nov. 28th  Polar bears at Riverdale Zoo Daniel Lamb's professional career started on the floor of his father's factory, Lamb's Glue and Stove Blacking Manufactory, located near the east end of Amelia Street, looking over the Don River.  Established in 1849, Lamb's Manufactory gained a reputation as one of the heaviest polluters in Toronto.   Our story will focus on how Daniel Lamb redeemed his family's unsavoury reputation.  Lamb became active in municipal politics, and worked to improve our city.  But he's best known for establishing Riverdale Zoo, Toronto's first zoo, known today as Riverdale Farm. Riverdale Park 1912 Our speaker, R ichard Fiennes-Clinton has been active in Toronto's historical community for about 35 years.  He h...

The Toronto Circus Riot:  A True Tale  of Sex, Violence, Corruption,  &  Clowns!  Come out and support your Riverdale Historic Society for its first in-person event since COVID.  Note new location, for October only: Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St. E., 3rd Floor, 6:30pm, Oct. 24th                Photo: Toronto in the 1850s, with edge of the Fair Green bottom-centre  Adam Bunch will take us on a journey to Toronto in 1855 when the strangest riot in Toronto history broke out, sparked by a brawl at a King Street brothel.  When some rowdy clowns picked a fight with a battle-hardened crew of firefighters, they would quickly learn they’d made a terrible mistake. The circus performers found themselves facing off against Toronto’s powerful Orange Order in a bloody clash that revealed the fault lines that once violently divided our city. Adam Bunch is an award-winning storyteller who brings the history of...

  THE RHS IS GOING LIVE!  PLEASE COME TO OUR MEETINGS AND  ENJOY THE REALITY OF ACTUAL PEOPLE AROUND YOU. MASKS JUST FINE.     OUR FIRST EVENT IS A WALKING TOUR OF QUEEN STREET EAST WITH RON FLETCHER AS OUR GUIDE.  WE MEET AT THE SOUTH ENTRANCE TO BRUCE MACKEY PARK JUST NORTH OF QUEEN STREET AT DEGRASSI STREET SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30 AT 2 PM AND TOUR UNTIL 3:30 WHEN WE VISIT A CAFE - AND STAY THERE. _______________________________ OUR NEXT EVENT WILL BE TUESDAY OCTOBER 24. USUALLY WE MEET ON THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH BUT HALLOWEEN 2023 BEAT US TO THE DRAW. WE WILL MEET AT THE RALPH THORNTON CENTRE, MULTIPURPOSE ROOM, ON THE THIRD FLOOR, WHERE ADAM BUNCH WILL PRESENT:   The Toronto Circus Riot: A True Tale of Sex, Violence, Corruption and Clowns. An 1855 Brawl turned Riot.

THE RIVERDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S FIRST EVENT OF 2023-2024 WILL BE A WALKING TOUR OF QUEEN STREET EAST ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH, FROM 2 PM TO 3:30 AFTER WHICH WE WILL COLLAPSE INTO A GREAT CAFE TO  REVIVE OURSELVES AND TO CHAT! OUR TOUR GUIDE WILL BE RON FLETCHER, RHS CO-FOUNDER AND  FIRST PRESIDENT, AND AUTHOR OF   OVER THE DON. We will meet in Bruce Mackey Park, near DeGrassi and Queen Street East, near the south entrance to the park.  

PANDEMIC POEMS: FIRST WAVE  Olive Senior: These poems were written between May and September - the Covid-19 summer of 2020.  Each poem is a riff on a word or phrase trending at the period.   I am interested in memorializing the historic moment we are living through, with capturing the zeitgeist, literally 'the spirit of the time'.   S FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING What if you wanted to keep me at arm's length anyway? D for Domestic Violence As if the sickness outside  has entered here: the fear, the choking, the gasping for breath.  But no, that one is silent and invisible, named, with an exit strategy. For this one the 'shadow pandemic' there is only the uncertainty, the battering, the shivering, the fear, the choking, the gasping,  for breath. And this blocked exit. A FOR ADJUSTMENT Refugees do it every day Slip into the unknown alone, maybe, withstand what we will never know heading for the Promised Land. And we who live in the Promised Land now h...