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People and organizations

Donovan, Daniel

  • VIAF ID: http://viaf.org/viaf/72998724
  • Person
  • 1937-

Father Daniel Donovan is a Canadian theologian, priest, and contemporary art collector. Born in Toronto in 1937, Father Donovan completed his undergraduate degree at St. Michael’s College and later studied theology at Université Laval in Quebec City from 1958 to 1962. As a continuation of his graduate studies, he spent four years in Europe where he acquired a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (SSL) from the Biblical Institute in Rome, and a doctorate degree from the University of Münster in Germany.

Father Donovan returned to Canada in 1967. In 1971, he began teaching in the Faculty of Theology at St. Michael’s College. Although retired in 2002, he continues to teach part-time in the university’s Christianity and Culture program. In addition to his academic service, Father Donovan has also conducted morning mass at St. Basil’s Catholic Parish and assisted as a homilist at Toronto’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish for over 20 years.

Father Donovan is notably known for the creation of the Donovan Art Collection, a selection of contemporary art that is installed across the St. Michael’s College campus.

Baines, Andrew D.

  • Person
  • 1934-2024

Dr. Andrew DeWitt Baines (17 July 1934 – 27 February 2024) ) was a white Professor Emeritus of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Toronto and former Principal of New College, Vice-Dean of Education at the Faculty of Medicine, and Biochemist-in-Chief at The Toronto Hospital (now part of the University Health Network). Academically, he is best known for his nephrology research and for developing the Stowe-Gullen Stream of the Vic One Program at Victoria College. Dr. Baines was also involved in the development of health-related educational programs and culturally relevant services for Indigenous students at the University of Toronto.

Education
Raised in Toronto, Dr. Baines attended high school at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. In 1953, he enrolled in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine’s pre-medicine program. While in medical school, he was rugby player and team captain for the Varsity Blues. Dr. Baines received his M.D. in 1959, where he was awarded the Cody Silver Medal for achieving the second highest cumulative average grade in his graduating class. In 1960, Dr. Baines returned to U of T as doctoral student under the supervision of Dr. T. F. Nicholson and Dr. James A. Dauphinee. He achieved a Ph.D. (1965) in Pathological Chemistry and a Starr Medal for his research on the relationship between the structure and function of the kidney. Afterwards, he completed postgraduate fellowships at the University of North Carolina Department of Medicine (1965 – 1967) and the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre Department of Physiology in Paris, France (1967 – 1968).

University of Toronto Appointments
Upon completing his postgraduate research, Dr. Baines returned to the University of Toronto as an Associate Professor at the Department of Pathological Chemistry in July 1968. He was later appointed as Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology between 1973 – 2005. Afterwards, Dr. Baines developed the Augusta Stowe-Gullen Stream of the Vic One Program at Victoria College which he coordinated and co-taught from 2005 to 2018. In 2013, he was appointed the first James and Anne Nethercott Professor at Victoria College.

Dr. Baines also held several additional administrative appointments, including: Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduate Affairs, Faculty of Medicine (1973 – 1974); Principal of New College (1974 – 1979); Chairman of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry (1988 – 1994); Vice-Dean of Education, Faculty of Medicine (1994 – 1999); and Acting Program Director of the University of Toronto Sioux Lookout Program (1997 – 1998).

Likewise, he chaired numerous committees at the University of Toronto, including the Undergraduate Education Committee for the Department of Clinical Biochemistry (1968 – 1972) and the Faculty of Medicine (1972 – 1974); Advisory Committee on the Hannah Chair for the History of Medicine (1982 – 1984); Presidential Committee on Professional Faculty Education for Native Students (1983 – 1986); Advisory Committee (1986 – 1991) and Management Committee (1991 – 1993) for the Aboriginal Health Professions Program; as well as the Clinical Long Range Planning Committee (1991).

Hospital Appointments
Beginning in the early 1970s, Dr. Baines concurrently practiced as an Associate Physician at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH). He was later appointed as Biochemist-in-Chief at TGH and The Toronto Hospital (after the merger between the Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals in 1986) from 1984 – 1994. Additionally, Dr. Baines has served on several committees including the Council of Heads of Laboratory Departments (1984 – 1988), Joint Council of Laboratory Directors (1987 – 1994), Medical Advisory Board (1977 – 1998), Medical Education Committee (1988 – 1994), Committee for Coordination of Downtown Genetic Services (1989 – 1992), The Toronto Hospital Laboratory Committee (1990 – 1992) at TGH and The Toronto Hospital; the Planning Committee for Women’s College Hospital (1989); the Molecular Diagnosis Laboratory Steering Committee (1991); and the Board of Trustees at the Hospital of Sick Children (1994 – 2004, 2019).

Research and Publications
Dr. Baines published over 80 articles, reviews, and chapters throughout his academic career. Much of his early work related to the structure, function, and physiology of kidneys. He later expanded his research to include studies on the effects of the sympathetic nervous system on kidneys and heart, methods in laboratory medicine, as well as clinical research related to hypertension and blood substitutes. Dr. Baines’s research appears in numerous high-impact academic journals including Kidney International, the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. As of 2024, more than twenty of his most cited articles have over 50 – 200 citations.

Honours and Awards
Dr. Baines received numerous awards, fellowships, and honours in recognition of his work. In addition to the Cody Silver Medal (1959) and Star Medal for Outstanding Scholarship (1965), he was elected a Senior Fellow at Massey College in 1981 followed by the Canadian Society Clinical Chemists Cybermedics Award in 1982 and the Medical Award from the Kidney Foundation of Canada in 1994. He also became a Fellow of the Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1988 and was awarded several major research grants from NSERC, the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Kidney Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and Hemosol.

Family
Dr. Baines was married to Dr. Cornelia Baines (neé van Erk) who is known academically for her work on the Canadian National Breast Screening Study. The couple met and married while in medical school at the University of Toronto. They have two kids: Nicole and Nigel. Dr. Baines passed away on February 27th, 2024.

Bolton, Tom

  • Person
  • 1943 - 2021

Charles Thomas (Tom) Bolton (15 April 1943 – 4 February 2021) was white astronomer and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Academically, he is best known as one of the first astronomers to discover observational proof of the existence of black holes. He is also known internationally for his fight against light pollution in Richmond Hill which led to the establishment of the first municipal light pollution regulation in Canada.

Education

Bolton was born in Camp Forrest, a World War II military base east of Tullahoma, Tennessee. He was raised in Illinois where he later completed his B.Sc. in Astronomy at the University of Illinois in 1966. Afterwards, he received his M.Sc. (1968) and Ph.D. (1970) from the University of Michigan during which he became an expert in astronomical spectroscopy. His doctoral thesis, Spectral Synthesis of Low Dispersion Luminosity Criteria in A and F Type Stars was supervised by Charles R. Cowley. In September 1970, Bolton began a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto where he worked with Robert Garrison and John Heard on spectral classification and radial velocity research programs at the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO).

University of Toronto and the David Dunlap Observatory

While working as a postdoc, Bolton began teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of Astronomy (1970 – 1971), Scarborough College (1971 – 1972), and Erindale College (1972 – 1973). In 1973, he was hired as an Assistant Professor (1973 – 1976) before becoming an Associate Professor (1976 – 1980), eventually receiving full tenure in 1980. Throughout his career, Bolton served on numerous committees within the Department of Astronomy, including the Chant Committee (1978 – 1979), Colloquium Committee (1985 – 1986), Graduate Program Degree Committee (1992 – 1993), Curriculum Review Committee (1990 – 1991), Executive Committee (1991 – 1994), as well as several search and tenure committees at the departmental and university levels.

Bolton’s research primarily involved the spectroscopic observation of stars, with a particular focus on hot massive stars, variable stars, binary systems, and stars with strong magnetic fields or peculiar chemical properties. His success as an astronomer began early in his academic career. In 1970, as a pioneer of spectral synthesis, Bolton developed a computer model for stellar atmospheres capable of generating large regions of spectra that were comparable to spectral data from real stars. This technique would eventually become part of the standard skillset of stellar astronomers.

Shortly after, Bolton presented his most celebrated contribution to astronomy when he discovered and published the first irrefutable evidence for the existence of a black hole in 1972. Much of Bolton’s subsequent work has also contributed heavily to the field’s understanding of stellar evolution. His work has been published in over 100 academic journal articles, often co-authored by his students or collaborating astronomers from around the world.

In addition to his research, Bolton dedicated much of his time to administrative roles and improving the facilities at the DDO. He served as the DDO’s Associate Director (1978 – 1994) as well as the supervisor of the 74-inch telescope (1974 – 1984) and darkroom (1976 – 1983). Between 1970s and 1990s, Bolton led several campaigns to upgrade and modernize the equipment at the observatory including the acquisition of a PDS microdensitometer, an image slicer for the cassegrain spectrograph, and a CCD camera for the 74-inch telescope. He also chaired numerous committees, including the Telescope Scheduling Committee (1971 – 1984); Shop Committee (1982 – 1983; 1992 – 1994); Safety Committee (1981 – 1994); and the DDO Review Committee (1992 – 1997).

As the DDO’s Light Pollution Officer (1972 – 1997), Bolton fought against the rapidly increasing levels of light pollution in the Greater Toronto Area which threatened the DDO’s ability to conduct research. By 1986, Bolton succeeded in generating enough negative publicity against developers in the Town of Richmond Hill that the Town
agreed to pass a light pollution abatement by-law and authorized Bolton to review and approve the lighting plans for all new developments until the by-law could be implemented. During this time, Bolton also helped to draft the by-law which was established as the first of its kind in Canada in 1995.

Professional Activities

Outside his role at the University of Toronto, Bolton was also highly involved in the broader astronomical community. He was a founding member of the Canadian Astronomical Society (CAS) and an active member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), American Astronomical Society (AAS), Planetary Society, and the Illumination Engineering Society (IES). Within the IAU, Bolton served on Divisions G (Stars and Stellar Physics) and V(Variable Stars), as well as numerous commissions and committees including Commission 30: Radial Velocities (1976 – 1988), Commission 42: Close Binary Stars (1979 – 2015), and Commission 27: Variable Stars (1982 – 2015). Beginning in the late 1970s, Bolton also served on several peer review, scientific advisory, and observing time assignment committees for NASA’s International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), Hubble Space Telescope, Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE); the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope; the Canadian Space Agency (CSA); the National Research Council of Canada; and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Likewise, Bolton was passionate about public education and outreach, giving over 100 interviews for television, radio, and newspapers, as well as public talks about astronomy throughout his career.

Health and Retirement

In the early 1990s, Bolton began experiencing several health issues that forced him to take extended sick leaves and eventually, a long-term disability leave in 1997. In July 1992, Bolton was deeply impacted by the suicide of his Ph.D. student and friend, Michael Fieldus, who was within a couple of months of completing his degree. Bolton, along with the Fieldus family, petitioned to have the University grant Fieldus’ degree posthumously and worked to complete Fieldus’ thesis using the data that Fieldus had collected. Although Bolton had been able to convince the School of Graduate Studies that Fieldus’ situation would warrant consideration, their request was ultimately denied. After Fieldus’ death Bolton helped to establish the Michael S. Fieldus Award presented to students in the department who exemplified Fieldus’ leadership and academic excellence.

In 2007, the University of Toronto announced the plan to sell the DDO and the surrounding property for development. Distressed by the University’s decision, Bolton became a founding member of the DDO Defenders, a community group which sought to protect and conserve the DDO property. The efforts of Bolton and the DDO Defenders resulted in the designation of the DDO as a heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2009 and a National Historic Site of Canada in 2019. However, the sale of the DDO in June 2008 forced Bolton to vacate the Observatory. This put an early end to his career as his health issues prevented him from travelling to work at other observatories. Bolton retired and was appointed Professor Emeritus status in 2008.

Family

Bolton was born to Clifford T. and Pauline (Voris) Bolton in 1943. Prior to moving to Toronto, Bolton was married to Mary Jean Harris, separating in the mid-to-late 1970s. In 1985, Bolton met amateur astronomer Carolyn Susan Challenger through the RASC in Toronto. The couple married in 1986 and Bolton became a stepfather to her four children, David, Stephen, Craig, and Bill Hodges. Challenger died on December 7th, 2012 and Tom Bolton died on February, 4th 2021at his home in Richmond Hill.

Science for Peace (Toronto, Ont.)

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/142148972
  • Corporate body
  • 1981-

Science for Peace is a registered charity concerned with issues relating to human security, including world peace, environmental and social justice. The national office is based at the University of Toronto’s University College with local chapters across Canada. For further information, see the Science for Peace website.

Science for Peace was founded in 1981 by University of Toronto faculty members led by professor of physics, Eric Fawcett. The founding group also included mathematical psychologist Anatol Rapoport, nuclear physicist Derek Paul, chemistry Nobel Laureate John Polanyi, and mathematician, L. Terrell Gardner, amongst others. Motivated by the threat of nuclear war and the arms race, their objective was to “encourage scientific activities directed towards peace, and to urge the publication and dissemination of the findings of peace research.”[1] Science for Peace traces its origins to a committee created by Fawcett in 1980 called “The Committee for Directing Science Toward Peace.”[2] The objective of this committee was to prepare a paper for presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s first Canadian conference, held in Toronto in 1981. Following the conference, the committee continued to meet and became Science for Peace, achieving charitable status in 1984. Membership grew rapidly.
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One goal of Science for Peace in its early years was the establishment of peace studies as a field of study at the University of Toronto. As a result of their efforts, a Chair of Peace Studies was established at University College. Anatol Rapoport was appointed the first professor of peace studies in 1984 initiating what became an interdisciplinary four-year degree program, coordinated by L. Terrell Gardner. The program evolved into the Peace, Conflict and Justice program at the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice. Rapoport was elected president of Science for Peace in 1984 and remained on its executive until 1998. His wife, Gwen Rapoport, did administrative work for the organization and edited its newsletter. Other notable Science for Peace members over the years include Lynn Trainor, George Ignatieff, Ian Hacking, Hanna Newcombe, Ursula Franklin, David Suzuki, John E. Dove, John P. Valleau, E.J. Barbeau, Brydon Gombay and John Tuzo Wilson, amongst many others.

Other educational activities of Science for Peace include the Science for Peace Seminars organized by Eric Fawcett and Myriam Fernandez in fall 1981. The seminars provided education about peace-related topics by local experts. In 1982, George Ignatieff (then Chancellor of the University) established a series of free lectures: the University College Lectures in Peace Studies. These were later combined with the seminars to form the Science for Peace Public Lectures, supported by other peace-related groups and reaching a wider audience, both in person and via broadcast on CIUT-FM’s “Peacetide” and excerpts in “Peace” magazine, edited since 1985 by University of Toronto sociologist and Science for Peace executive member Metta Spencer.

While the initial focus of Science for Peace was on the nuclear threat, by the late 1980s it had broadened to include the environmental crisis and the potential harms attendant on the move towards corporate globalisation. Membership expanded beyond University of Toronto faculty to include students and members of the public in all disciplines and professions across Canada.

Additional activities of Science for Peace and its membership since its formation in 1981 include the following: various teaching activities; publication of academic research and regular bulletins; organization of working groups, petitions, workshops and conferences in Canada; attendance at national and international peace conferences and events, including the Pugwash Conferences and events related to the Science for Peace International Network (SPIN). On occasion, members of the organization have acted in a consultative capacity to the Canadian government in matters relating to peace and disarmament and have been recognized both nationally and internationally for their contributions to world peace.


Notes
[1] Alton, Janis, Eric Fawcett and L. Terrell Gardner. “The Objectives of Science for Peace” in The Name of the Chamber was Peace: A selection of the Science for Peace public lectures and University College lectures in peace studies Toronto, 1986. Toronto and Fort Myers: Samuel Stevens and Company, 1988.
[2] Paul, Derek. “Reflections on the Origins of SfP by one of its founders: Derek Paul interview 2020.” Audio interview, 2020, accessed at the Science for Peace "About Us" page.

Uyeno, Godfrey

  • Person
  • 1935-

Shoichiro Godfrey Uyeno was born in 1935 as the eldest son to Akiko Shimano and Tashichi George Uyeno. Godfrey was born in Vancouver B.C. but moved with his family to Tashme, B.C. during the forced removal of Japanese Canadians during WWII. The family moved to Kaslo, and then settled in Blenheim, Ontario in 1946. As a young man, Godfrey joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, serving as navigator from 1958-1963. After that, he stayed with the RCAF working ground jobs.

Theall, Donald

  • https://viaf.org/processed/CAOONL%7Cncf10383369
  • Person
  • 1928-2008

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Theall received his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1950, and then his Master of Arts and Doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1951 and 1954. Theall married Joan Ada Benedict in 1950, with whom he had six children: Thomas, Margaret Rose, John, Harold, Lawrence, and Michael. He was the grandfather of Stephen, William, and Katie. Theall passed away on May 15, 2008, from cancer.

Theall worked at the University of Toronto from 1953 to 1965, starting as a lecturer and ending as a professor. He became chair of the combined Departments of English during his last year at UofT. Following that he worked at McGill University from 1966 to 1973 as the chairman and Molson professor, and then from 1974 to 1987 as the founding director and Molson professor with the graduate program in communications. In addition, he became the president and vice-chancellor of Trent University from 1980 to 1987. After he became a professor until 1994 when he retired with emeritus status.

From 1967-1971, Theall was co-director of the National Film Board of Canada/McGill University Summer School on Media. In 1974, he was the first cultural exchange professor between Canada and China. Afterwards, he was on the Board of Directors for the International Communication Association from 1979-81 and was the founding president of the Canadian Communication Association from 1978-80.

Theall is well-known for his work on James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. He is described as the “pioneer in computing in the humanities.” He also worked on communication theory, Marshall McLuhan, poetic theory, T.S. Eliot, Wyndham Lewis, science fiction, film theory, Alexander Pope, satire, Harold Innis, virtual reality (VR), and Cyberspace.

Hyodo, Terez

  • Person
  • 1928-

Born Blanche Theresa Frances Caruana in Toronto, Ontario on September 27, 1928. She was the granddaughter of British immigrants who came to Canada in 1912. She grew up in the Junction neighborhood in Toronto, and attended Catholic school. At the time, her family was not encouraging of her education, so she began working as a waitress at the age of twelve to earn enough money for her high school textbooks. At age 14, she began to work in Victoria Cap Factory in Hamilton, Ontario. Making caps in the 40s, she met Kim Takeda who introduced her to Wesley Hyodo. The two eventually eloped and eventually had five children.

The family moved to Germany as Wesley, a Sergeant Major in the Canadian Armed Forces, was posted there in 1957. They Returned to Canada, living in Scarborough in 1959. Sadley, Blanche and Wesley separated in 1963, and divorced in 1967.

To raise her family as a single mother, Blanche began night school learning stenograph and typing. She then took a job working full-time as an Administration Assistant at the Department of Transportation.

Blanche stayed close with her family in-laws. She was a regular attendant of the Hyodo family picnic started by Toshi Hyodo soon after WWII. She was also a regular volunteer for the Japanese Canadian redress movement, beginning in 1984. As a member of the Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, she offered her time as a professional stenographer and advised on government administration. She took minutes and helped organize much of the many records the organization created. In 1991, Blanche was a co-host of the Earth Spirit Festival and helped organize the banquets of the event.

It was on her 80th birthday that she chose to officially change her name to Terez Hyodo.

Hirabayashi, Gordon

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/60391319
  • Person
  • 1918-2012

Gordon Hirabayashi was born April 23, 1918 in Sandpoint, Washington, USA. His father, Shungo Hirabayashi, immigrated to the United States in 1907, and Mitsuko, Gordon’s mother, came to the United States in 1914. Both of Gordon’s parents came from the Nagano prefecture in Japan. Prior to immigrating to the United States, both Shungo and Mitsuko had studied English at Kenshi Gijuku academy in Japan and it was there that they converted to Christianity.

Hirabayashi went to study at the University of Washington in 1937. He was active with the YMCA and attended a leadership conference at Columbia University in the summer of 1940. After that summer he returned to University and registered with the Selective Service as a conscientious objector and joined the Religious Society of Friends. Though born in the United States and thus a citizen, as a Japanese American his rights were continually encroached upon during WWII. President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the mass removal and internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast on February 19, 1942 with Executive Order 9066. Instead of following these orders, Hirabayashi began to resist. He left school and began to volunteer with the American Friends Service Committee and defied the newly placed curfew on those of Japanese Ancestry.

In order to create a test case against these new laws, Hirabayashi turned himself into the FBI for not obeying the imposed curfew. He argued he was not guilty as the laws were prejudice and unconstitutional. His case, Hirabayashi v. United States, (320 U.S. 81) culminated with him serving time in prison. After his release, he spent another year in prison after refusing to complete the Selective Service Form 304A, "The Statement of United States Citizens of Japanese Ancestry" from the draft board as it singled out Japanese Americans.
After the war, Hirabayashi completed his B.A., then went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington. He taught around the world, and eventually settled in Edmonton at the University of Alberta in 1959. In 1987, shortly after his retirement, lawyers contacted him seeking permission to reopen his wartime conviction. That year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of his case, vacating his personal conviction.

Gordon Hirabayashi passed away on January 2, 2012. Later that year he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama for his stand against Japanese American internment.

Davis, Chandler

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/9931215
  • Person
  • 1926 – 2022

Horace Chandler (“Chan”) Davis (1926 – 2022) was a white mathematician, pacifist, human rights activist, science fiction writer, poet, musician, and educator who taught in the University of Toronto’s Department of Mathematics from 1962 until the mid-2000s.

As a scholar in the field of mathematics, Davis is best known for his work in the areas of operator theory and linear algebra, as one of the creators of the theory of fractal ‘dragon curves’, the eponymous Davis-Kahan theorem, Bhatia-Davis inequality and Davis-Kahan-Weinberger dilation theorem. His interdisciplinary work included publishing in areas such as ethnomathematics and ethnobiology, mathematics education, and ethics.

Embedded in many aspects of Davis’ life and work was his deep commitment to social justice and human rights. His advocacy to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom encompassed the release of political prisoners internationally; upholding gender and racial equity in academic environments and beyond; and promoting social responsibility in science. Within the context of UofT, he was active in Science for Peace, a leadership figure within a group of radical mathematicians, and campaigned against labour inequity on campus.

Professor Davis was born on August 12,1926 in Ithaca, New York. His parents, Horace “Hockey” Bancroft Davis and Marian Rubins Davis, were both economists and educators grounded by a deep-seated belief in socialism, racial equity, and labour rights. Their teaching brought the family to several universities and colleges across the United States, as well as in Brazil and Europe.

At the age of sixteen, Professor Davis was awarded a National Scholarship to Harvard, where he later received his Bachelor of Science in 1945, followed by an MA and PhD (under Garrett Birkhoff) in 1950. While at Harvard, he joined groups of science fiction writers and enthusiasts, the Astounding Science-Fiction Fanclub and the Boston Stranger Club, as well as The Futurists, who approached the genre from a Marxist perspective.

For a brief period in 1943, Davis joined the US Communist Party (CPUSA), later withdrawing as a requirement for his participation in the Navy Officer’s Training Program. The latter led to Davis’ work as a minesweeper for the US Navy in the spring of 1945. The following year he returned to Harvard for his graduate studies.

During this period, Davis expanded his participation in groups both political and creative: he re-joined the CPUSA, became a member of the Federation of American Scientists, a group of scientists who resisted the military use of nuclear energy, and the US’ left-wing Progressive Party. From his early publishing of the science-fiction fanzine “Blitherings”, Davis also began writing his own short-stories, publishing his first, “The Nightmare” in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946. Davis continued to write both science-fiction and essays on the genre until the 1970s, publishing sporadically later in his career.

At a meeting of the Young Progressives in 1948, Davis met the eminent social historian Natalie Zemon, then a student at Smith College, with whom he shared similar political values. In 1950, Davis accepted a faculty position at the University of Michigan, where the two, now married, relocated.

In 1954, Davis was summoned to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the McCarthy-era investigative committee known for its aggressive pursuit of individuals suspected of carrying communist sympathies. Davis declined to answer the Committee’s questions about his political affiliations citing his First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. This differed from many other individuals who invoked their Fifth Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questioning. Davis’ defiance, particularly through his attempt to challenge the constitutionality of the hearings , led to his indictment for contempt of Congress. Following the decision, Davis together with two colleagues, Mark Nickerson and Clement Markert, faced an investigation by the University of Michigan, and all were ultimately fired.

In 1957, Davis was convicted of contempt of Congress and through a number of appeals attempted to bring the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. By 1959, these efforts were exhausted and Davis was found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison.

In both the period after his dismissal from the University of Michigan and following his release from prison, Davis struggled to find employment as having been blacklisted by most American academic institutions. For a period, he served as Editor for the American Mathematical Society’s Mathematical Reviews (1958 – 1961). After his release from prison, he also began considering Canada, where other academics facing similar persecution had succeeded. He reached out to Donald Coxeter at UofT’s Department of Mathematics and in 1962 was hired by the University as Associate Professor. Zemon Davis also accepted a role at the University and the family relocated that year.

At the Department of Mathematics, Davis was known for his Monday afternoon operator theory seminars and the impact he had on his numerous students, as evidenced in Series 2.2: Alphabetical Correspondence. Over his career, Davis authored over 80 papers. Many of these focused on his primary mathematical interests: linear algebra and operator theory. However, his wide-ranging research including among other topics geometry, fractal ‘dragon curves’, and the philosophy of mathematics. He edited four books: Linear Algebra and Its Application(1977), Geometric Vein: The Coxeter Festschrift with Branko Grünbaum, Coxeter Legacy: Reflections and Projections with Erich W. Ellers (2006), Shape of Content: Creative Writing in Mathematics and Science with Marjorie Senechal and Jan Zwicky (2008).

Davis’ involvement in professional associations spanned the majority of his career. Three decades after his work with Mathematical Reviews, Davis took on the role of Editor-in-Chief for The Mathematical Intelligencer in 1991. Here he was celebrated for his expansive view of the mathematical community and its interests alongside his reputation as both a generous and rigorous editor. Davis also brought his deep social concern and principled approach to the mathematical community, and a broader scientific one, through his participation in the AMS’ Committee on Human Rights of Mathematicians, its precursor, the Mathematics Action Group, the Canadian Mathematical Association Committee on Human Rights, the Association for Women in Mathematics, Science for Peace, and Science for the People .

His activism similarly connected him to numerous other organizations and individuals, a productive network he long maintained. These included the Committee for Concerned Canadian Jews.

In addition to his academic career and advocacy work, Davis found inspiration in creative expression, writing poetry and composing music throughout his life. In 1986, he published a volume of poetry, Having Come This Far, and a book of prose, It Walks in Beauty in 2010.

At the age of 96, Davis passed away. The impact and influence of Davis’ work has been written about extensively, often noting how his intellect, compassion, creativity, and integrity manifest throughout his work and relationships.

He was survived by Natalie Zemon Davis (1928 - 2023), and their three children, Aaron Davis, Hannah Davis Taieb, and Simone Weil Davis.

Skydiggers

  • Corporate body
  • 1988-

Skydiggers was formed in Toronto in 1988 by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson. Maize and Finlayson were childhood friends and had previously performed as West Montrose. Peter Cash, Wayne Stokes, and Ron Macey filled out the initial lineup. With support from Peter’s brother Andrew, who also suggested their name, they began performing regularly at the Spadina Hotel.

Skydiggers were the first Canadian band to sign with Enigma Records and released their debut album in 1990. Enigma folded in 1991, and the band moved to FRE Records. There, Skydiggers released Restless in 1992. Stokes then left the band and was replaced by Mike Sloski, Steve Pitkin, and then Joel Anderson. Just Over This Mountain was released in 1993, earning the band a Juno Award for “most promising group.” Peter von Althen replaced Anderson after this album.

In 1995, Skydiggers signed with Warner Canada and put out Road Radio. After touring, Cash left the band and was replaced by Paul MacLeod. When the group left Warner, von Althen also exited. In 1997, the band signed with DROG Records and released Desmond’s Hip City. They subsequently toured with Blue Rodeo and Sarah Harmer. In 1999, they re-recorded Restless as Still Restless: The Lost Tapes, and in 2000, released the live album, There and Back.

In the following years, Skydiggers recorded Bittersweet Harmony (2003), Skydiggers/Cash Brothers (2006), City of Sirens (2009), The Truth About Us (2009), Northern Shore (2012), All Of Our Dreaming (2013), No. 1 Northern (2013), She Comes Into The Room (2013), Angels (2014), Here Without You (2014), Warmth Of The Sun (2017), Let’s Get Friendship Right
(2019), and the EPs Hide Your Light and Bide Your Time (both 2023).

Finlayson and Maize have produced a side project, Dark Hollow (2006), and in 2010, Maize released a solo album, A History Of Forgetting.

Monahan, Edward J.

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/66184992
  • Person
  • 17 August 1928 - 6 July 2021

Edward Monahan received a Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of St. Michaels College in 1949. He continued at St. Michaels College and graduated with an M.A in 1950, and a PhD in 1953, both also in Philosophy. He also received a Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in 1953.

Monahan’s career was filled with academic professing and university administration. His teaching appointments include Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University from 1953-1956; Associate Professor of Philosophy at Xavier University from 1956-1957; and Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Francis Xavier University from 1957-1964.

Monahan acted as the Associate Executive Secretary of the Canadian Association of University Teachers from 1965-1970, where he co-chaired The Commission of Inquiry on Forty Catholic Related Colleges and Universities. He published the results of this Inquiry as A Commitment to Higher Education in 1970. Monahan later acted as the Executive Assistant to the Principal of Queens University from 1971-1972; the President of Laurentian University from 1972-1977; and the Executive Director/President of the Council of Ontario Universities from 1977-1991. Monahan was awarded an honourary doctorate from Lakehead University in 1981. Monahan also served on the Collegium of the University of St. Michaels College and in 1981-82 chaired a committee to study the function of the Collegium, and published the results in what became known as “The Monahan Report.” In the 1990s Monahan reviewed funding, accountability, and governance in colleges and universities across the Commonwealth, and published the results in several scholarly journals.

During his retirement, Monahan wrote Collective Autonomy: A History of the Council of Ontario Universities, 1962-2000, which was published in 2004. The following year he began researching the history of St. Michaels College, and published Teach me Goodness, Truth and Knowledge: A History of St. Michaels College in 2017.

In 2008, Monahan was awarded an honorary doctorate, the Doctor of Sacred Letters, from the University of St. Michaels College in recognition of his service to higher education in Ontario.

Edward Monahan died in Toronto, Ontario, on July 6, 2021.

Cooper, Afua

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/49116761
  • Person
  • 1957-

Afua [Ava Pamela] Cooper was born on November 8, 1957, in the Whithorn district of Westmoreland, Jamaica. She moved to Canada in December 1980 as a direct result of the increasing political violence in Jamaica. After the birth of her son Akil in July 1981, Cooper worked as an instructor at Bickford Park High School in Toronto, but she was already beginning to perform her poetry at Toronto's spoken word venues. Her first book of poetry, Breakin Chains, was published in 1983, the same year that she enrolled at the University of Toronto to major in African Studies. In 1988 she took up a residency fellowship at Banff School of Fine Arts and wrote two books of poetry, The Red Caterpillar on College Street (1989), for children, and Memories Have Tongue (1992), which was a finalist in the 1992 Casa de las Americas Award. Currently, Dr, Cooper serves as a full professor at Dalhousie University’s Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology with cross-appointments in the Department of History and Gender and Women Studies.

Eloísa Cartonera

  • Corporate body

Eloísa Cartonera is a graphic arts and independent publishing cooperative founded in 2003 in Buenos Aires by Fernanda Laguna, Washington Cucurto (Santiago Vega), and Javier Barilaro. Eloísa Cartonera publishes illustrated and handmade books of poetry, novels, short stories, and essays. The texts are created and donated by established and emerging Latin American authors, poets, artists, and activists. The Eloísa Cartonera team works with cartoneros, or cardboard collectors, to source material used for the covers of their illustrated handmade books. The small-scale, independent collective model of production and the use of inexpensive and recyclable materials creates publications that support social solidarity and sustainability efforts and make books accessible to a wider public.

Uyeno, Tashichi George

  • Person
  • 1904-1994

Tashichi Uyeno was born July 4, 1904 in Hikon, Japan. His father was Mohachi Uyeno (1873 – 1959), and his mother was Miyoko Uyeno. Tashichi immigrated to Canada with his father in June of 1911. He had a sister, Mary (1916 – [1949]), and a brother Kenjiro (d. 1939). Mohachi’s brother Shuchi Fukunaga (b. 1890), eventually came to British Columbia as well. Mohachi was a skilled oar maker and worked for The Tommy Oar Co. Tashichi would go on to become an agent and broker for Richmond Trading Company which worked to import goods from Japan to Canada and the United States. In 1934, he returned to Japan to marry Akiko Shimano (1912-2005). They would later have two children, Shoichiro Godfrey Uyeno (1935- ) and Haruyo Kathleen Uyeno (1938 – 2022). The children were born and raised in Vancouver until the forced removal from the coast during WWII. By then, the family had crisscrossed the Pacific, as Mary Uyeno was now living in Shiga, Japan with her mother, since 1931. Kenjiro passed away in 1939, so his wife and children went to live with Mary and Miyoko. Eventually, Mary would marry and have three children. Though she desperately missed Canada and her life there, she would never return.

Prior to 1940, Tashichi had begun to use the name George T. Uyeno in business matters. By then he was a successful businessman, with agents in both Japan and the United States. He entered as a share holder with his father into the Vancouver Shoyu Manufacturers Limited, to begin manufacturing soy sauce in British Columbia, a commodity and product highly anticipated by many in the area. All the investors were Japanese Canadian, and by 1942 all of them were forced to sell their shares of the company to John Lim and King Chan. The family were forced to sell much of their personal assets and property, including land in North Vancouver. The family resided in Vancouver for as long as permitted, eventually going to Tashme, B.C. Shuchi Fukunaga also lived with the family in Tashme, though exiled to Japan in August of 1946. The Uyeno family moved frequently in these years, traveling from Tashme, to Kaslo, eventually settling in Blenheim, Ontario in 1946. They would later make their way to Toronto. George passed away July 10, 1994.

University of Toronto. Dynamic Graphics Project

  • Corporate body
  • 1967-

The Dynamic Graphics Project was founded in 1967 by Professor Leslie Mezei. He was joined by Professor Ron Baecker in 1972, who coined the name Dynamic Graphics Project in 1974. The lab’s name was intended to imply the spirit of the place, and to encompass both Computer Graphics and Dynamic Interaction Techniques, which was subsumed by the new field of Human Computer Interaction in the early 1980’s. The lab is now home to several faculty members and dozens of post-docs, visiting researchers, graduate students, undergraduate research assistants, and staff. The lab’s alumni are now on faculty at top universities throughout the world and at major industrial research labs, and have also won academy awards for their groundbreaking work.

Szakacs, Jim

  • Person
  • n.a - 2019

Jim Szakacs is a Canadian who had an avid interest in advertising and Hollywood entertainment. Szakacs graduated Regina Central Collegiate and after his years of education he was the Negotiating Supervisor for the Media Department at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). DMB&B was an advertising agency in the United States that expanded to Canada.
He collected vintage magazines that mainly pertained to Hollywood and entertainment. In his collections includes vintage magazines, portraits of various stars and musicians, books on Hollywood throughout the silver and golden screen. Lastly, Szakacs was an avid scrapbooker, who would dedicate his scrapbooks to various stars and films. Jim Szakacs’ hand-made collection of celebrity obituary scrapbooks, all oversized scrapbooks that are choc-full of clippings, collages, stills, articles, and obituaries that he sourced and compiled over decades. Szakacs dedicates entire pages to chronicling the careers of prominent film stars, musicians, and public figures. He collected clippings from vintage magazines from 1917 to the modern-day articles and posters from 2019.
Jim Szakacs passed away on July 2, 2023.

Weait, Christopher

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/488149294285080521410
  • Person
  • 1939-

Christopher (Robert Irving) Weait is a bassonist, teacher, and composer. He was co-principal bassoonist of the Toronto Symphony (1968-1985), and was a member of the Toronto Winds (formerly known as the Toronto Woodwind Quintet), the Toronto Baroque Trio, Canzona Trio, and the Toronto Chamber Winds (1979-1985). He taught at the University of Toronto from 1973 to 1984.

Weinzweig, John

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/74658981
  • Person
  • 1913-2006

John Weinzweig, composer, teacher, and administrator, was born in Toronto on March 11, 1913 and died in Toronto August 24, 2006. He studied at the University of Toronto, where he studied with Healey Willan, Leo Smith, and Sir Ernest MacMillan. In 1934, he founded the Universtiy of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted until 1937. In 1952, he was appointed to the Faculty of Music, where he taught until his retirement in 1978. Throughout the 1980s, he gave guest seminars, workshops, and residencies.

Schafer, R. Murray

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/78771967
  • Person
  • 1933-2021

R. Murray Schafer attended the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto from 1952 to 1955, where he studied with Alberto Guerrero (piano), Greta Kraus (harpsichord), John Weinzweig (composition), and Arnold Walter (musicology). He was a visiting composer at the University of Toronto in 2001.

Goddard, Peter

  • Local
  • Person
  • 1943-2022

Peter Darwin Goddard studied at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, receiving his Bachelor of Music (1967) and Master of Music (1971). His teachers included Margaret Butler (piano), Mieczyslaw Kolinski (musicology), and Gustav Ciamaga (electronic music). He was a pop music critic for various newspapers and magazines, and was the author of several music books.

Monohan, Thomas

  • Local
  • Person
  • 1937-1994

Thomas (Tom) Monohan, double bass, joined the teaching staff at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in 1967.

Fisher, Constance L.

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/92579748
  • Person
  • 1928-2023

Constance Fisher, stage director, soprano, was born in Hamilton, Ontario October 3, 1928. She studied with Alberto Guerero (piano), and Weldon Kilburn and Irene Jessner (voice) at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and with Herman Geiger-Torel and the Opera School. In 1972, she became the stage director and instructor of the University of Toronto Opera Division, and then divisional co-ordinator and resident stage director in 1978. She was married to conductor and coach William James Craig. Fisher passed away on May 10, 2023.

Lysenko, Boris

  • Local
  • Person
  • d. 2017

Boris Lysenko, piano, joined the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in 1981 and was made an adjunct professor in 1986.

McIntyre, Paul

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/264269046
  • Person
  • 1931-2020

Paul (Poirier) McIntyre was born in Peterborough, Ontario on October 1, 1931. He was a composer, pianist, conductor, and administrator.

He attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music (1951), Artist Diploma (1952), and Doctor of Music (1958). His teachers included Eileen McManamy, Eric Rollinson, Oskar Morawetz, Arnold Walter, Bela Böszörmenyi-Nagy, Alexander Uninsky, Tony Aubin, Olivier Messiaen, Igor Markevitch, Sixten Ehrling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Pierre Monteux.

McIntyre taught at the University of Minnesota (1964-1967) and the University of Windsor (1970-1996), where he was also Director of the Music Department (1970-1980).

McIntyre passed away on November 4, 2020.

Jewison, Norman

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/112441627
  • Person
  • 1926-2024

Norman Jewison, Canada’s most distinguished and celebrated film director, was born in Toronto in 1926. He attended Kew Beach School, and while growing up in the 1930s displayed an aptitude for performing and theatre. He served in the Navy (1944–1945) during World War II, and after being discharged travelled in the American South, where he confronted segregation, an experience that would influence his later work.

Jewison attended Victoria College in the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.A. in 1949. As a student he was involved in writing, directing and acting in various theatrical productions, including the All-Varsity Revue in 1949. During the summer he worked as a waiter at the Banff Springs Hotel, as well as doing local theatre production. Following graduation he was determined to work in show business, preferably as an actor, and ventured to Hollywood and New York in search of opportunities.

Finding the employment prospects in the United States dim and the cost of economic survival high, Jewison came back to Toronto to drive a taxi for a living, but maintained his ambitions by acting and writing during the summer. After seeking Canadian television production work but finding it unavailable, he moved to London, England, where he worked sporadically as a script writer for a children’s show and bit part actor for the British Broadcasting Company, amid supporting himself with odd jobs. Out of work in Britain in late 1951, he accepted an offer to be a production trainee for CBC-TV in Toronto.

When CBC went on the air in the Fall of 1952, Jewison was an assistant director. During the next seven years he wrote, directed and produced a wide variety of musicals, comedy-variety shows, dramas and specials, including the The Big Revue, Showtime and The Barris Beat. In 1953 he married Margaret “Dixie” Dixon, a former model. They would have three children—Michael, Kevin and Jennifer—who would all pursue careers in the entertainment world, sometimes working on a Jewison film.

His reputation for high quality work was established, and in 1958 Jewison was recruited to work for CBS in New York, where his first assignment was Your Hit Parade, followed by The Andy Williams Show. The success of these shows led to directing specials featuring performers such as Harry Belafonte, Jackie Gleason, and Danny Kaye. The television production that proved pivotal to Jewison’s career was the Judy Garland “comeback” special that aired in 1961, which included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and led to a weekly show that Jewison was later called in to direct. Visiting the studio during rehearsal for the special, actor Tony Curtis suggested to Jewison that he should direct a feature film.

Norman Jewison’s career as a film director began with the comedy Forty Pounds Of Trouble (1962), starring Curtis. The next three films he directed, including two with Doris Day, The Thrill Of It All (1963) and Send Me No Flowers (1964), were also light comedies done under contract for Universal Studios. After The Art Of Love (1965), Jewison was determined to escape from the genre and tackle more demanding projects. His breakthrough film proved to be The Cincinnati Kid (1965), a drama starring Steve McQueen, now considered one of the finest movies made about gambling. This triumph was followed in 1966 by the acclaimed satire on Cold War paranoia, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, which was the first film Jewison also produced, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Continuing the string of successes was one of the films that have become closely identified with its director: In The Heat Of the Night (1967), a crime drama set in a racially divided Southern town and starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, while Jewison was nominated for Directing. As a follow-up he directed and produced another film with McQueen, using innovative multiple screen images in the crime caper The Thomas Crown Affair. From that point Jewison would produce all feature films he would direct, often with associate Patrick Palmer, and would also act as producer for films directed by others, beginning with his former film editor Hal Ashby’s The Landlord (1970).

After the completion of the period comedy Gaily, Gaily (1969), Jewison, having become disenchanted with the political climate in the United States, moved the family to England. At Pinewood Studios northwest of London, and on location in Yugoslavia, he worked on what would become one of the top grossing films of all time, the musical Fiddler On the Roof (1971, re-issued 1979), which would win two Oscars and be nominated for five others, including Best Picture and Directing.

Jewison’s next project was the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), based on the record album produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was filmed in Israel, where Jewison also produced the western Billy Two Hats (1974), starring Gregory Peck. Superstar, controversial for its treatment of a sacred subject, was followed by another movie that sparked critical debate— this time the violence in Rollerball (1975), set in the near future where corporations ruled the world and entertainment centred around a deadly game. The next film he directed, the labor union drama F.I.S.T. (1978), also provided some turmoil, this time around the script adapted by star Sylvester Stallone.

In 1978 Jewison returned to Canada, settling in the Caledon area in Ontario, and establishing a farm that would produce prize winning cattle. Operating from a base in Toronto, as well as one maintained in California, he directed high profile actors Al Pacino in …And Justice For All (1979), and Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn in the romantic comedy Best Friends, as well as producing The Dogs Of War (1981) and Iceman (1984). During this period Jewison also acted as producer for the 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981), which was slated to air the day President Ronald Reagan was shot, and had to be rescheduled.

Revisiting the theme of racial tension that had characterized In The Heat Of The Night, Jewison’s A Soldier’s Story (1984), based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play, was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His subsequent film was also based on an acclaimed play. The provocative Agnes Of God, set in a Quebec convent, starred Jane Fonda, Meg Tilly and Anne Bancroft; it received three Academy Award nominations.

Jewison’s next film proved to be one of the most popular romantic films ever made. Moonstruck (1987), starring Cher, was a box office hit that garnered three Academy Awards, including Cher as Best Actress. It also competed for the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as providing Jewison with his third nomination for Best Directing. During this period he became the force behind a project that had long been of interest: the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies was incorporated in 1986. Renamed the Canadian Film Centre, it began operations in 1988. As founder, Norman Jewison has continued his efforts for the Centre in many capacities.

For the next decade Jewison continued to direct feature films released by major studios: In Country (1989), a drama concerned with Viet Nam veterans and the daughter of a war casualty; Other People’s Money (1991), a social comedy about greed in the 1980s; Only You (1994) a romantic comedy set in Italy; and Bogus (1996) a fantasy about a young boy and his imaginary friend. He also served as producer for the film January Man (1989), and executive producer for the Canadian movie Dance Me Outside, and branched back into television both as a director and producer, including the series The Rez.

The Hurricane (1999) was Jewison’s third film to explore the effects of racism, telling the story of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who had been falsely convicted for a triple murder in New Jersey during the mid-sixties. Denzel Washington was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Carter. In 1999 Jewison’s work was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when he was bestowed with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award for lifetime achievement.

The Thalberg award was one of many honours Jewison has been awarded, including Honorary Degrees from Trent, Western Ontario and the University of Toronto, and being made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1992. In addition, he has received numerous tributes at Canadian and international film festivals and retrospectives, and been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame. A park in downtown Toronto was named after him in 2001.

Norman Jewison has continued directing and producing; his latest film to be released was the thriller The Statement (2003), based on a novel by Brian Moore, and starring Michael Caine. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, as well as his sustained support, he was installed as Chancellor of Victoria University in 2004. That same year his autobiography This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me was published, expressing the enthusiasm, conviction and creative passion that have sustained a rewarding career.

Norman Jewison died in Los Angeles in 2024.

Janis Cole & Holly Dale

  • Corporate body
  • 1975-Present

Janis Cole (b. 1954, Chatham, Ontario) and Holly Dale (b. 1953, Toronto, Ontario) are a filmmaking duo who have produced and directed works together, and separately. They first met in 1975 at Sheridan College, in Oakville, in the film studies program. At the time, the pair both lived near Toronto’s Yonge Street strip, which was known for its sex shops, massage parlours, and sex workers. Cole and Dale took to documenting the people and scenes around them in their signature direct cinema style, relying mostly on interviews with their subjects, and minimal to no voiceover narration. Their first documentary films together, “Cream Soda” (1976) and “Minimum Charge, No Cover” (1976) both dealt frankly with sex trade workers and entertainers. Their next film, “Thin Line” (1977) also explored the lives of those on the social margins – this time focusing on the inmates at the Penetang Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
The pair launched their film production company, Spectrum Films, in the early 1980s, and continued to explore themes of social marginality. Their first feature and breakthrough film, “P4W: Prison For Women” (1981) focused on the stories, experiences, and relationships of five inmates at Kingston’s Prison for Women, Canada’s only female prison at the time. “P4W” was groundbreaking in terms of its largely positive portrayal of a lesbian relationship onscreen. It was also incredibly successful, earning over half a million dollars in Canadian sales against its modest $32,000 budget, and garnering Cole and Dale a Genie Award for Best Theatrical Documentary.
Cole and Dale followed up the success of “P4W” with “Hookers on Davie” (1984), which examined the lives of cis and transgender sex workers on Davie Street in the West End of Vancouver, set in the context of mayor Mike Harcourt’s efforts to “clean up” Vancouver’s streets, as well as the federal government’s Fraser Commission investigations into prostitution and pornography. In gaining the trust of their subjects, Cole and Dale produced a remarkably fierce and candid work that earned the duo their second Genie Award nomination for Best Theatrical Documentary.
The pair’s next film dealt with the world of filmmaking itself. “Calling the Shots” (1988) was a feature-length documentary about the lives of women in the film industry, with interviews of Jeanne Moreau, Anne Wheeler, Sandy Wilson, Margot Kidder, Penelope Spheeris, and Lizzie Borden among others. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1988 and was nominated for Best Theatrical Documentary at the Genie Awards in 1989.
Cole and Dale also collaborated on projects for television. In 1992, Cole wrote, and Dale directed a Canadian Heritage minute about Agnes MacPhail, the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, and her battle for penal reform. And in 1996, Cole wrote, and Dale directed the television film “Dangerous Offender” (also known as “Dangerous Offender: The Marlene Moore Story”) for CBC. The film centered on Marlene Moore, one of the women Cole and Dale had originally profiled in “P4W,” and the first woman in Canada to be designated as a dangerous offender. The wrenching portrayal of Moore’s life behind bars earned the film seven Gemini Award nominations and two wins: one for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, for Brooke Johnson’s performance as Marlene, and one for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, for Jayne Eastwood’s performance as Marlene’s mother.
Cole and Dale also collaborated on a book version of their film “Calling the Shots”, which was released by Quarry Press in 1994. Together, they also received the 1994 Toronto Arts Award. Their films have appeared in countless international festivals, including Toronto, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Syndey, and Tokyo.
Outside of her collaboration with Dale, Janis Cole continued her own work in film and television. In 1990, she directed the documentary short “Shaggie: Letters from Prison”, a segment in the Canadian film anthology “Five Feminist Minutes.” This film also explored the life of Marlene Moore through letters she wrote from prison, until her suicide in 1988. Cole also directed the short film “Bowie: One in a Million” (2001), which was a tribute to her friend Cathie Bowie, who was murdered by her husband. Cole also wrote for the television series ”Bliss” as well as “Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science.” Additionally, Cole was also a contributing writer and editor of “POV Magazine” and a writer and film reviewer for “NOW Magazine.” Cole has taught several filmmaking, writing, and documentary workshops at the Winnipeg Film Group, Charles Street Video, and Trinity Square Video. She was also a professor in the Integrated Media program at OCAD University for 30 years and is now a Professor Emerita. Cole holds a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Outside of her collaboration with Cole, Dale also continued to work in film and television. Dale attended the inaugural Canadian Film Center program in 1995, resulting in her first narrative feature film – the vampire romp “Blood and Donuts” (1995). Dale then largely focused on directing for television, starting in the mid-90s on series such as “Traders”, ”Bliss” and “Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science.” In the early 2000s, her credits included several episodes of “Twice in a Lifetime”, “The Collector” and “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye.” Dale also directed several episodes of “Durham County”, the first of which earned her both the Gemini Award for Best Direction in Dramatic Series and the DGC Craft Award for Direction in a Television Series. Dale also directed episodes of hit Canadian shows such as Flashpoint” and “Being Erica.” Dale began to find work south of the border, directing episodes of well-known American programs such as “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” “The Americans,” and “Dexter.” She also continued to direct on high-profile Canadian series such as “Mary Kills People” and “Transplant,” the latter of which earned her a Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction in a Drama Series. Her recent directorial credits include “Batwoman” and the Netflix series “FUBAR” starring Arnold Schwartzenegger.

Allison Black

  • Person
  • 1996-Present

Allison Black is a film producer and co-founder euclid431 Pictures, alongside her partner, Nathan Morlando. She has produced the films “Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster” (2011, directed by Nathan Morlando), “Mean Dreams” (2016, directed by Nathan Morlando) and “Giant Little Ones” (2018, directed by Keith Behrman).
Black began her film career as a script analyst and story editor at Alliance Atlantis, and then became Director of Development at Serendipity Point Films. During this time, Black and Morlando worked closely together on scripts Morlando developed for other producers. Eventually, the pair moved to Los Angeles and founded their production company. “Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster” was their first feature, and a labour of love for the duo, as it spent over a decade in development before finally being greenlit. The film – centering on the story of Edwin Alonzo Boyd, notorious Canadian bank robber – was shot in Sault Ste. Marie and went on to premier at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. There, it received the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. The film was also nominated for five Genie Awards in 2012, including a best actor nomination for Scott Speedman, best supporting actor nomination for Kevin Durand, and best supporting actress nomination for Charlotte Sullivan. The film was also nominated for achievement in production design and visual effects.
Black and Morlando’s next film, “Mean Dreams”, a coming-of-age thriller, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. The film starred Sophie Nélisse, Josh Wiggins, Bill Paxton, and Colm Feore. It went on to play at the Toronto International Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival and was named by TIFF to their annual Top 10 list of Canadian films.
Black and Morlando then produced “Giant Little Ones”, another coming-of-age tale, directed by Keith Behrman. As with “Edwin Boyd”, this film was also shot on Sault Ste. Marie. It starred Josh Wiggins, Kyle MacLachlan, and Maria Bello. “Giant Little Ones” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. It was nominated for the TIFF’s People’s Choice Award, and was selected as one of TIFF’s Top 10 list of Canadian Films for 2018. It also received the award for Best Feature Film 13+ at the LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lovers in 2019.
Black is a graduate of the University of Toronto, and holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies.

Ostry, Sylvia

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/23279983
  • Person
  • 1927-2020

Biographical Summary
-1927: Born in Winnipeg
-1944: Entered University of Manitoba as a student in 1st year medicine, having taken two years pre-medicine.
-1945: Transferred to McGill University, entered BA programme
-1948: BA (Hons) in economics, McGill
-1950: MA, McGill University
-1954: PhD, Cambridge University and McGill
-1948-1950, 1951-1954: Lecturer, Sir George Williams University
-1951-1953: Sessional lecturer, McGill University
-1951-1953: Undertook research on urban development in Quebec for Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation
-1953-1955: Lecturer, McGill University
-1954: Research on unionism in a modern industrial society for National Film Board
-1954-1955: Research on third-party intervention in the Canadian railway industry for Universities Research Programme, Department of Labour, Ottawa
-1955-1957: Research officer, Institute of Statistics, Oxford University
-1958-1959: Research officer, Department of Labour, Economics and Research Branch, Ottawa
-1958-1959: External lecturer, Carleton University
-1958-1962: Assistant professor, McGill University
-1959-1960: Commissioned to undertake study on definition and measurement of unemployment, Senate Committee on Manpower and Employment
-1961-1962: Commissioned to undertake study on population, labour force and wages for Government of Manitoba Committee on Manitoba's Economic Future
-1962: Commissioned to write census monograph on the labour force for Dominion Bureau of Statistics
-1962-1964: Associate professor, Université de Montréal
-1964: Assistant Director (Research), Labour Division, Dominion Bureau of Statistics
-1964-1965: Consultant on manpower studies, Economic Council of Canada
-1965-1969: Director, Special Manpower Studies and Immigration, Dominion Bureau of Statistics
-1966-1969: Department of Manpower and Immigration
-1969-1972: Director, Economic Council of Canada
-1972-1975: Chief Statistician of Canada, Statistics Canada
-1975-1978: Deputy Minister, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada and Deputy Registrar General
-1978-1979: Chairman, Economic Council of Canada
-1979-1983: Head, Department of Economics and Statistics, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
-1984-1985: Deputy Minister, International Trade and Co-ordinator, International Economic Relations
-1985-1988: Ambassador for Multilateral Trade Negotiations and the Prime Minister's Personal Representative for the Economic Summit
-1989: Volvo Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, New York
-1989: Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies and Visiting Professor, Department of Economics and Political Science, University of Toronto
-1990: Chairman, Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto
-1990-1994: Chairman, National Council of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs
-1991-1997: Chancellor, University of Waterloo

Wilkins, Rick

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/79736169
  • Person
  • 1937-

Rick (Herbert Richard) Wilkins is a Canadian arranger, composer, conductor and tenor saxophonist. Born in Hamilton, Ontario on February 1, 1937, he played in and arranged for various dance bands in Hamilton and Burlington before moving to Toronto in 1957. In Toronto, he performed with Benny Louis' dance band among others, and was an arranger for Jack Kane's CBC orchestra. He briefly studied arranging with Phil Nimmons at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto.

Throughout his career, he prepared and conducted music for a number of CBC and CTV specials, including scoring Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite for a 1979 CBC TV presentation. During a stint in Los Angeles, he was a music director at CBS TV for a series and several specials featuring the Jackson Five. In addition to his work as an arranger, Wilkins also composed a number of original scores for CBC TV dramas, documentaries, and the opening ceremonies at the Calgary Olympics, to name a few.

As a performer, Wilkins worked with various Toronto studio orchestras and was a member of the Boss Brass, Nimmons 'N' Nine Plus Six, and other ensembles.

Wilkins was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002.

Russell, Peter H.

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/305138176
  • Person
  • 1932-2024

Peter H. Russell was born in Toronto on November 16, 1932. He received his early education at University of Toronto Schools (1946-1951) and studied philosophy and history at the University of Toronto from 1951 to 1955. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Oxford University from 1955-1957. He continued his studies in philosophy, politics and economics graduating with a BA in 1957.

Following graduation and his return to Toronto, he was employed as an assistant at Gilbert E. Jackson & Associates. He moved to Montreal that same year to take a position with Aluminum Company of Canada. In July, 1958 he resigned his position in the Personnel Department to join the University of Toronto as a lecturer in the Department of Political Economy.

Prof. Russell progressed through the ranks as a faculty member, advancing to Assistant Professor in 1962, Associate professor in 1965 and full professor in 1968. At the same time as he was appointed full professor, he was also appointed acting Principal for Innis College for one year. In 1971 he was confirmed as principal for a five year term. During his career at the University of Toronto, Prof. Russell participated in other university committees, including, among others, Chair of the Academic Appeals Board (1981-1983) and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science (1987-1993).

While undertaking these administrative responsibilities, Prof. Russell continued to research, teach and publish. In the mid 1960’s he was a Research Fellow, Dept. of Government at Harvard University and was visiting professor from 1969-1971 at Makerere University, Uganda. This latter involvement led to an effort to develop a project between Makerere University and University of Toronto in the early 1990s. He was also visiting fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (1976-1977), Australian National University (1986 and 1994), and European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy (1993). His involvement in numerous professional associations such as the Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Political Science Association, Royal Society of Canada, to name just a few, included sitting on boards and committees, planning conferences, producing studies and reports. His publications include 13 books, dozens of articles in scholarly journals, and chapters in books. As an expert in judicial, constitutional and Indigenous politics , he was in demand by both government and special interest groups as a consultant, advisor and researcher. In particular, he worked for the Dene Nation Southern Support Group, the Royal Commission on certain activities of the RCMP, the Government of Canada’s Task Force to review comprehensive native land claims, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee of Ontario, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Ipperwash inquiry (Ontario), to name just a few. He was also Canada’s ‘Envoy’ to the Deh Cho Dene in the NWT.

In addition to his academic and professional duties, Prof Russell was also active in local community groups such as the Wychwood Park Rate Payers Association (President 1974-1976), the Legal Aid Committee of Ontario (1976-1988) and University Settlement House (1976-1985), Chairman of the Churchill Society for Parliamentary Democracy and founding president of RALUT (Retired Academics and Librarians of the University of Toronto and CURAC (College and University Retiree Associations of Canada).

For this work and his academic achievements, Prof. Russell received numerous awards and recognition such as Officer, Order of Canada (1986), Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (1988), Honorary Doctor of Laws, from University of Calgary (1990) and University of Toronto (2001) and Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Guelph.

Prof. Russell was appointed University Professor in 1994 and retired in 1996. He continued to write and lecture from his home in Toronto until his death on January 10, 2024.

CCMC

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/147681489
  • Corporate body
  • 1974-

The Canadian Creative Music Collective, or CCMC as they were known by 1978, is a "free music orchestra" founded in Toronto in 1974. The group was inspired by free jazz and defined themselves as "a composing ensemble... united by a desire to play music that is fluid, spontaneous, and self-regulating."

By the time of their third album (1978), they had developed several hundred interpretations of the acronym CCMC, including Craven Cowards Muttering Curses, Cries Crashes Murmurs Clanks, Careless Choir Muffling Chord, Completely Canadian Monster Circus, Certified Careless Mush Concept, Clip Clop Manure Crop, and Catchy Canuck Melody Convinces. These names are featured on the cover of their third album Volume Three.

CCMC established the Music Gallery in 1976 where they performed twice-weekly until 1983, and then weekly. They were formally associated with the Gallery until 2000. CCMC has also performed on multiple tours in Canada and Europe and at various national and international festivals, and has recorded 11 albums.

CCMC was made up of: Peter Anson, guitar and synthesizer (1974-1979); Graham Coughtry, trombone (1974-1977); Larry Dubin, percussion (1974-1978); Greg Gallagher, saxophones (1974-1977); Nobuo Kubota, saxophones (1974-1994); Allan "Al" Mattes, bass, bass guitar, electronics (1974-1996); Casey Sokol, piano (1974-1988); Bill Smith, saxophones (1974-1977); and Michael Snow, piano, trumpet, guitar, analogue synthesizer (1976-2023); John Kamevaar, drums, electronics (1981-1996); Paul Dutton, vocals (1989-); Jack Vorvis, drums (1994-1996); and John Oswald, alto saxophone (1996-).

Harmantas, Frank

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/2037114
  • Person
  • 1946-2023

Frank Harmantas taught low brass at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he also started and directed the University of Toronto Trombone Choir.

Harmantas received a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois before joining the United States Army Band as Principal Trombone and Soloist. While in Washington, D.C., he also obtained a Master's Degree in Performance from the Catholic University of America. He also studied at Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music. In 1971, he joined the Toronto Symphony. He has also appeared as principal trombone with the CBC Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra, and the Hamilton Philharmonic.

Harmantas passed away in Toronto on August 6, 2023.

McPeek, Ben

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/8684779
  • Person
  • 1934-1981

Benjamin Dewey "Ben" McPeek, composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist, was born in Trail, British Columbia on August 28, 1934. He moved to Toronto in 1953, where he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and the University of Toronto with John Beckwith, Talivaldis Kenins, Oskar Morawetz, Godfrey Ridout, and John Weinzweig. He received his certification as an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) in 1954 and his Bachelor in Music in 1956.

McPeek began his musical career playing piano in various Toronto dance bands and singing on CBC with the Five Playboys. In the 1960s, he started composing and directing musical theatre, including Up Tempo 60, That Hamilton Woman, Suddenly this Summer, Actually this Autumn, and the 1968 Spring Thaw. In 1963, he wrote his first opera The Bargain. His musical Joey, co-written with Helen Porter, was produced at the Charlottetown Festival in 1973.

In 1964, McPeek established himself as a jingle writer for television and radio and formed his own company Ben McPeek Ltd. He went on to write 2000 jingles in the 1960s and 1970s. McPeek also composed scores for films, including The Rowdyman (1972), Only God Knows (1974), and the documentary Catch the Sun (1973). In 1979, he formed the Canadian Film Composers Guild with Harry Freedman.

McPeek was also active with popular music, and founded the label Nimbus 9 Productions in 1966 with Jack Richardson. In 1982, he initiated what would become the Imperial Oil McPeek Pops Library, a collection of Canada pop music arranged for symphony orchestra.

His other compositions include a piano concerto, piano sonatas, other solo piano music, music for bras and woodwind quintet, and various orchestral works.

McPeek passed away in Toronto on January 14, 1981.

Faculty of Music Anti-Racism Alliance

  • Local
  • Corporate body
  • 2020-

The Faculty of Music Anti-Racism Alliance (FoMARA) is a student organization which aims to create an equitable and safe environment within the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, empowering the voices of BIPOC members. FoMARA advocates on issues surrounding racism, systemic oppression, and colonialism. Goals of the organization include facilitating student activism, fostering dialogue between students, faculty, and administration, and challenging Eurocentric pedagogy, curriculum content, and performance values within the Faculty of Music.

Blachford, Frank

  • https://viaf.org/viaf/105288766
  • Person
  • 1879-1957

Frank Blachford was a violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He was born on December 28, 1879 in Toronto, Ontario and passed away on June 24, 1957 in Calgary, Alberta. He studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music (TCM) with Bertha Drechsler Adamson and graduated with his ATCM in 1897, before continuing his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory with Hans Sitt and Carl Reinecke, graduating in 1901 with the Helbig prize. He then studied in Geneva, Switzerland with Henri Marteau and in Berlin, Germany. He returned to Canada in 1901 and taught at the TCM until his death. He was also concertmaster of the Conservatory Orchestra (1906-1908) and the Welsman Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1908-1918), and was a first violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1932-1946). He also performed as a solo violinist. As a chamber musician, he founded the Toronto String Quartet in 1907; performed with the Schumann Trio (1902-1905), the Conservatory Trio (1926-1928); and, conducted the Conservatory String Orchestra (1914-1925) and the Victoria College Orchestra (1920-1930). In 1932, he formed the Blachford String Symphony, a group of 16 musicians from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Blachford's compositions include pedagogical works for violin, and transcriptions of baroque and romantic music for string quartet and orchestra. He also wrote a number of songs.

Conservatory Chamber Music Club

  • Local
  • Corporate body
  • 1937 - ca. 1943

The Conservatory Chamber Music Club of the Toronto Conservatory of Music (TCM) was sponsored by members of the Conservatory Quartet (Elie Spivak, Harold Sumberg, violins; Cecil Figelski, viola; and Leo Smith, cello). They held their first meeting on November 29, 1937 at TCM with William Haehnel, president and Phyllis Parker, secretary. Other members of the initial executive were Molly Sclater, librarian; Emily Baker, rehearsals; and Persis Hebden, convener. The Club aimed to present chamber music rarely heard elsewhere, including a minimum performance a one original Canadian compositions at each meeting. They also formed a Chamber Orchestra of approximately 22-25 members, conducted by a music student (Frank March, 1937-1938; Wilfred Powell, 1938-1939; and Broch McElheran, 1939-1940).

Membership was open to students of TCM and other institutions, and ranged from 65 to 170 people. The Club met monthly throughout the school year (September or October to May), usually at TCM. Meetings included performances and guest lectures and refreshments for informal discussions. In November 1941, after the Musicians' Union decreed that no member could perform at a Club meeting without a fee, the Club turned to "impromptu chamber music," whereby instead of a pre-scheduled program, members would bring their instruments and perform chamber music together ad hoc.

Guest speakers at Club meetings included Leo Smith, Viggo Kihl, Donald Heins, Ettore Mazzoleni, Norman Wilkes, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Frederick Horwood, Hugo Burghauser, and Elie Spivak. Original Canadian compositions included those by Patricia Blomfield, William Haehnel, Robert Manson, C.M. Birkett, Martin Chenhall, Thomas J. Crawford, Walter McNutt, Healey Willan, Godfrey Ridout, Ernest Farmer, John Weinzweig, Godfrey Ridout, Mrs. Piersall, Horace Lapp, George Coutts, Barbara Pentland, Robert Fleming, and Marcus Adeney.

In 1939, Chris Wood took over as president and Elinor K. Doan replaced Phyllis Parker as secretary. Godfrey Ridout was president during the 1942-1943 academic year.

Hemmy, Jack Itsuo

  • Person
  • 1923-2000

Jack Itsuo Henmi was born February 3, 1923 in Victoria, B.C. He was the eldest child of Sokichi Henmi (1894-1967) and Tatsu Henmi, nee Uchimi (1895- n.d.).

Sokichi Henmi immigrated to Canada in 1913, following his father, Kanekichi Henmi (1872-1935) who had come in 1907. Sokichi most likely immigrated with his mother Toyo Henmi nee Okuda (1872-n.d.). The two men began as fishermen, though Sokichi briefly worked at the Gorge Tea Garden in Victoria, B.C. Later, he would take up a dry-cleaning business, “Central Cleaners and Dryers”. During WWI, Sokichi was conscripted into the army, but did not show up for the physical. Japanese were exempt from military duty, yet the conscription order still required a physical. At the request from his mother Kanekichi, Sokichi was allowed to return to his work thanks to Rev. Kosaburo Shimizu negotiating his release and the judge dismissing his case. Tatsu Henmi immigrated to Canada in 1919 to join her husband, whom she married in a ceremony in 1918 in Japan where the groom was absent.

Kanekichi and Toyo would later welcome two daughters, Cindy Eiko Henmi (1914-1990) and Yaeko Henmi (1917-2002). Eiko became a prominent figure in Japanese Canadian rights, and Canadian literature as a poet. She wrote for The New Canadian, and sometimes published under the pseudonym Cinderella. She, like her brother, would eventually make her way to Montreal after internment.

Sokichi was an active member in the Japanese Canadian community in Victoria. He, with the help of Kunio Uyede helped to fundraise for a Judo Club dojo. At the beginning of relocation when Japanese Canadians were being forced off Vancouver Island, he and other community leaders approached the British Columbia Securities Commission to help facilitate the move as it had been in limbo for months.

Tastu and Sokichi soon welcomed two sons, Jack Itsuo Henmi and Robert Hiroshi Henmi (1928-n.d.). The two boys grew up in Victoria B.C. and enjoyed a variety of activities including basketball, Judo, and playing music. Jack graduated Victoria Highschool, class of ’42. His life was turned upside-down with WWII. He tried to join the Canadian Army in 1941 but was rejected. When forced to move off of Vancouver Island, the Henmi’s made their way to Sandon, B.C. Jack was a young, single man and thus separated from them, and sent east to manual labor jobs. He worked at a sugar beet farm in Glencoe Ontario, then went on to Port Credit. By 1943, Jack found employment with Stark Electrical Instrument Company, which allowed him to move to Toronto, ON.

Jack Itsuo Henmi began using “Hemmy” as his last name after coming to Toronto. He quickly joined the growing group of Nisei and other Japanese Canadians who had made their way to the city after being interned and forced out of the West coast. On November 17, 1945 Jack married Mary Ruriko Okazaki (1919-n.d.). They had four sons.

Mary Ruriko Okazaki was the daughter of Seisuke Okazaki (1888-1965) and Tomeyo Okazaki nee Yamada (1887-1944). She also had a brother, Arthur Kiyoto Okazaki (1921-n.d.). Seisuke immigrated to Canada in 1907 and worked as a chauffeur. He later pivoted to dry-cleaning, and became the owner of Victory Cleaners in Vancouver, B.C. During internment, the family eventually moved to Toronto, ON.

Jack Hemmy’s first job in Toronto was with Stark Electrical Instrument Co. in 1943. He moved to the city and joined the many other Japanese Canadians who were also finding employment and community. He enrolled in Ryerson Institute of Technology’s Photography program, taking night courses. Jack entered a two-year apprenticeship with Clement Staila Co. Ltd, learning photostat operations and reproduction. After completing the apprenticeship, he continued to work there for 13 years. In 1967, he started Dyna Photostat Service Ltd. He continued to run and operate the business for 10 years. 1977 brought Jack to Leslie Advertising as Account Executive. By the 1980s Jack taught as a reprographer within the Technological Studies Department of Ontario College of Art (now Ontario College of Art & Design University), retiring in 1988. Throughout his career, Jack took on freelance work, primarily from the Japanese Canadian community. He worked for The New Canadian, photographed events held by the Japanese Consulate in Toronto, and covered many gatherings at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.

Hidaka, Susan

  • Person
  • 1929-

Susan Hidaka (nee Kobayashi) was born in 1929 in Okanagan Centre, British Columbia. She was the youngest of seven children. Her father, Denbei Kobayashi (1878-1968) came to Canada and eventually began work as an orchard worker in Okanagan Centre. In 1913 he returned to Japan to marry Hiro Yanagisawa, coming to Canada together in 1914. They both became prominent members of the Japanese Canadian community in Okanagan Centre, and worked as fruit farmers.

Susan attended a one-room school in Okanagan Centre. Growing up during WWII, she and her family all had to register with the RCMP. They were not interned though, as they resided far already from the western coast. Many Japanese Canadians came to the area to work as help for the harvest, and Denbei Kobayashi helped many settle into life in the area. From 1943 to 1947 Susan attended Kelowna High School. The school was far from her family and she had to find board. She worked the last two years as a houseworker and maid, thus allowing her to obtain nicer board. With no hope for employment in the area after she graduated from high school, Susan moved to Calgary at her teacher’s recommendation to attend Garbutt Business College. From there she got a job with Imperial Oil Ltd and quickly moved up in the company.

In 1957 Imperial Oil Ltd was to open a new office in Toronto. Only men were being transferred, so Susan resigned and took a long holiday in Hawaii. After her return, she went to Toronto to be hired by Imperial Oil’s Public Relations Department with the help of a senior manager in Calgary.

The 1960s also saw Susan begin to work with the Japanese Canadian community in the Toronto area. She began volunteering to help with the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) project and in 1962 was elected to the Board as Secretary. Here she also met Kunio Hidaka, whom she married. The two moved to Washington D.C. in 1965 so that Kunio could study at George Washington University. Susan found employment with the Washington Hilton Hotel as an executive assistant to the Resident Manager. She worked here for only 3 years, but in that time crossed paths with many influential people, including Joan Crawford, and Ethel Kennedy.

Unsure about the future, the couple moved back to the Greater Toronto area in 1968. Susan continued her volunteer work, which included local politics, the JCCC and the planning for the Japanese Canadian Centennial. By the 80s the Redress movement was underway and though she was never interned, she felt strongly about the many injustices.
In 1985, her husband Kunio passed away suddenly. This loss led her to move back to the City of Toronto to be closer to friends and family in 1987. At the time the Momiji Seniors Centre was underway, and Susan moved in in 1994. From then, she’s been an active Board member and volunteer on many committees.

Imai, Ken

  • Person
  • 1911-2007

Reverend Canon Paul Ken Imai was born November 10, 1911 in what was at the time called Manchuria, though his family had roots in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. His father, Kumajiro Imai was a devout Anglican and named his son Ken as it means “offering” in Japanese. He studied and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from Rikkyo University also known as Saint Paul’s University. He then achieved a Bachelor of Divinity from the Anglican Theological College, in 1936 in Tokyo. A year later on July 28, 1937 Imai was ordained to Deacon at the Christ Church Cathedral in Sendai, Japan. His studies continued in Ohio where he began to study at the Graduate School of Applied Religion within the University of Cincinnati, then studied at the General Theological Seminary and Columbia University within the Department of Sociology, in New York City from 1938-1940. It was during this time that he leaned English. Returning to Japan, Imai was ordained to Priesthood December 4, 1940 at Christ Church Cathedral. For a short period in 1941 he spent time at the Saint Savior’s Church in Akita, Japan.

When WWII began, Imai was a conscientious objector, but was eventually drafted into the Japanese army. Before being drafted, he gave a sermon from the pulpit against the war. During the war, he was often sent to the front lines as a scout. His English language skills served him well, and he often interpreted for the army. Imai was injured in Papua New Guinea and later captured by the Americans. He also spent time in a POW camp in Australia.

Not much is known about Imai’s family prior to WWII. He had a wife and daughter, the later passing away during her travel from Manchuria to Japan. It is not known when his first wife passed away. It is believed that the Nozomi Rose, a strain of roses, was names after his first daughter.

After WWII, Imai became the Chaplin at St. Margaret’s Rikkyo School in Tokyo. In 1947 Imai married Yachiyo Grace Tobimatsu (1920-2017), an English teacher. They had two children in Japan, Shin Imai (1950-) and Margaret Imai Ko (1952-) and once in Canada they had, Rei Imai (1954-). He stayed at the school in Tokyo until 1953 until he was called by the Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada to minister Japanese Canadians in the Toronto, Hamilton, London, St. Catherine’s, and Montreal area.

Ken Imai and his family were some of the few Japanese permitted to enter Canada during the period after the war. The family traveled from Yokohama to San Francisco, then took a train to Toronto via Chicago. The assignment from the Church was initially to be three years, but the family decided to continue their life in Canada, and received citizenship in the 60s.

Imai continued his education in Toronto. As part of the three year assignment, Imai was also awarded a scholarship from Trinity College at the University of Toronto, to pursue a Master of Theology (Degree granted in 1958).

Rev. Ken Imai began to lead the St. Andrew’s Japanese congregation and their first location was the Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square, Toronto). Their congregation outgrew the church, so they moved to St. Anne's Parish Hall (651 Dufferin Street, Toronto) in 1956. By 1957 they were self-supporting and named St. Andrew’s Dufferin. The congregation rapidly grew and moved to the Cathedral of St. Alban the Martyr in 1961. Eventually, when the choir school took over, the congregation moved to St. David, Donlands (49 Donlands Ave, Toronto).

Imai was dedicated to his parishioners. In order to better reach the Issei who read mostly Japanese, he translated the Book of Common Prayer with the assistance of Rev Reg N. Savary and copy-editing done by Shizuko Moritsugu from 1965-1967. 1969 marked the 25th anniversary of the congregation. Celebrations were held, and guests included Lt. Governor of Ontario Ross Macdonald and Right Rev. Bishop Hunt. 1973 marked the 100th anniversary of the first Canadian missionary to Japan. To celebrate the occasion, Rev. Imai and his congregation gathered with notables including Canadian primate Most Rev. Ted Scott, the presiding Bishop of Japan John N. Okubo, the Japanese Ambassador to Canada and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Nishiyama, Counsel General Mr. and Mrs. Yamaguchi, and 33 Canadian missionaries to Japan.

In 1975 Rev. Imai was appointed honorary Canon of the Cathedral Church of St James in Toronto. By 1976 he was inducted as Incumbent of St. Andrew’s Church and retired from there in 1978. He and his wife went to England, where he was Chaplain of the Rikkyo Japanese School. After, he moved into the position of Dean of Shoei Centre at King Alfred's College in Winchester, England, holding the position from 1981 to 1983. At the time this was an all-girls boarding school, with pupils from ages 18-20.

Rev. Canon Imai and his wife returned to Toronto in 1983 to retire. Imai’s dedication to the Japanese Anglican community continued until 1997, as he would often guest preach at Japanese language churches, while also running a Bible class. He passed away November 27, 2007.

Imai, Shin

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/313490867
  • Person
  • 1950-

Shin Imai helped form the Sodan-Kai group during the Redress movement for Japanese Canadians. He played a pivotal role in the events leading up to Redress, and the organizing of the Japanese Canadian people in the Toronto area.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Imai immigrated to Canada as a child with his family in 1953, one of the few Japanese families allowed to enter Canada during the post-war era. His father, Reverend Canon Ken Imai, was an Anglican Minister who had been invited to Canada to lead a Japanese speaking congregation, composed of Japanese Canadians who had settled in Toronto after internment. Though the family was initially prepared for three years in Canada, they chose to stay and received Canadian Citizenship in the 1960s.

During the Redress movement, the Toronto chapter of the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (JCCA) had become fractured, and members were torn between whether or not Redress should include individual financial compensation and civil rights protection. Though his family had come to Canada after the war, Imai became an active member in the movement. At the time he helped to prepare briefs for the National JCCA Human Rights Committee. He, along with two other lawyers Maryka Omatsu and Marcia Matsui created the Sokan-Kai in 1983. The Sodan-Kai was meant to be a forum for public discussion on Redress, taking no sides and acting separately from the Toronto JCCA and the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC). Imai was inspired by Vancouver sansei called the Canadian Centennial Committee and Canada’s growing awareness of the treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII. The group began informal discussions at each other’s homes, and members grew to include Joy Kogawa, Ron Shimizu, Edie Goto, Yukio Mizuyabu, Roger Obata, Bryce Kanbara, Wes Fujiwara, Connie Sugiyama, Jim Matsui, David Fujino and Harry Yonekura. Imai chose the name “Sodan-Kai” as it roughly means “discussion society”. The group came from many different backgrounds and had varying opinions on Redress. What they held in common was their belief that Japanese Canadians should be informed about the issue and have a platform to discuss it before addressing the Canadian government.

The first public meeting of the Sodan-Kai was held Sunday May 15, 1983 at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC). Over 300 came to listen to members of the Japanese American Citizens' League, George Imai of the National Redress Committee, and Gordon Kadota the NAJC president. The second meeting was held Saturday, July 23, 1983, with Shin Imai and Frank Moritsugu acting as chairmen. Those in attendance agreed to form a Toronto Redress group from members of both Sodan-Kai and the Toronto JCCA.

The Sodan-Kai participated in the Prince Hotel Conference where the NAJC and its representation was overhauled. Their participation caused much controversy, especially from those who still followed the Toronto JCCA. The third public meeting of the Sodan-Kai was Sunday, October 23 at the JCCC, though there was little discussion of Redress.

After dismissive comments from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the Sodan-Kai organized the CentreStage Forum, titled “Racism and Injustice: The Japanese Canadian Experience”. Taking place at the St. Lawrence Centre on April 25, 1984, it was the first time non-Japanese Canadians were invited to participate. Shortly after the forum, the group stopped meeting, but only until 1987 did they formally dissolve.

The logo for the Sodan-Kai was designed by David Fujino.

Shin Imai received his law degree in 1980 and has spent much of his career working in human rights, refugee law and indigenous rights. He currently teaches at Osgood Hall Law School.

Kabayama, Michiomi Abraham

  • Person
  • 1926-2016

Michiomi Abraham Kabayama was born 15 April 1926 in Japan, the eldest of eight siblings. He was the son of Rev. Jun Kabayama and Maki Kabayama (nee Tomekawa). The family emigrated in 1929 as Rev. Jun had been called to serve the Japanese United Church in Ocean Fall, B.C. The family stayed in Ocean Falls, until 1942 when Japanese Canadians were forced to relocate away from the coast. The family were the last to leave Ocean Falls, as Rev. Jun helped organize the many Japanese Canadians living there and prepared them for wherever they were forced to go. The Kabayamas then went to Hastings Park in Vancouver with only the possessions they could carry. The family was separated at Hastings Park, with Rev. Jun, Moichiomi, and the second eldest son Yoshiomi going to live in the men’s quarters, while Maki and the rest of the family lived in the women’s. In August 1942 the family was ordered to move again to Raymond, A.B. They lived in a small shack and worked on a sugar beet farm. Rev. Jun continued to minister the many Japanese Canadians who had been relocated to Alberta, traveling from town to town on a bicycle no matter the weather.

Michiomi would go on to obtain a PhD in Chemistry and Physics at the Universite du Montreal. He worked for TetraPak Canada, a member of the Vinyl Council of Canada, and published articles on the science involved. He had a wide variety of skills and interests, including Kendo and became a Sensei at the Takahashi Judo Club in Ottawa in 1974. Michiomi was an avid volunteer and supporter of human rights. In 1990 he was the Chairperson of the NAJC Task Force on Native Peoples and was tasked to lead the Earth Spirit Festival. Working with the Native Cultural Centre and the Greater Toronto Chapter of the NAJC, the festival celebrated both cultures’ arts. Many notables performed at the event’s 2-year run including David Suzuki and Buffy Saint Marie. Michiomi Abraham Kabayama passed away June 12, 2016.

Mori, Kenzo

  • http://viaf.org/viaf/252575379
  • Person
  • 1914-2007

Kenzo Mori was born January 25, 1914 in Vancouver B.C. He stayed in the city only briefly as a child, as he returned with his family to Japan in 1918. Mori came back to Canada at the age of 16, and graduated high school in British Columbia. He went on to attend UBC, earning an arts degree. As a young man he worked at the Canada Daily News until WWII where he was interned with his brother George in Kelowna, B.C. Having grown up in both Canada and Japan, Mori was bilingual in both English and Japanese, and became the point person for many Japanese speaking internees as he helped them advocate for themselves to the Canadian government. He worked as a farm hand in Kelowna, then moved to Summerville (Mississauga), Ontario in 1946, then later to Toronto. He married Isao (1915-2008), and they lived together in Toronto for over 50 years.

With a background in publishing, Mori went on to be the President, publisher, and editor of the Japanese section of The New Canadian, starting as assistant Japanese editor in the late 1940s. His involvement with the publishing community includes being an active member of the Advisory Committee of Multiculturalism of Ontario and a founding member of the Board of the Canada Ethnic Press Federation.

Mori’s acts of service and positive impact on the Japanese Canadian and broader community has been recognized through receiving the Queen's Jubilee Award for public service. He also received a Fifth Class Order of the Rising Sun from Japan's emperor for promoting relations between Canada and Japan in 1986. In 1977, he co-wrote with Hiroto Takami Kanada no Manzo Monogatari: The First Immigrant to Canada, telling the story of Manzo Nagano, the first Japanese immigrant to Canada. Mori passed away in 2007, just shy of his 93rd birthday.

Murakami, Michael

  • Person
  • 1943-

Michael Murakami was born July 7, 1943 in Kaslo, B.C. His mother, Aiko Murakami (nee. Kondo) was born in Steveston, B.C. in 1917, and grew up in Victoria, B.C. after the Kondo family moved to the area in 1918. Michael’s father, David Masawo Murakami, was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1917.

The Kondo family began their life in Canada when Shinjiro Kondo, a fish broker, traveled to Victoria in 1900 from Wakayama, Japan. He began work as a fisherman in Steveston, and in 1908 he sponsored Kinu to come to Canada to join him as his wife. Together they had five children, Tohachiro also known as Toki (1909), Matsuye (1910), Fusako (1912), Eichi (1914), Aiko (1917), and a sixth after moving to Victoria, Fumiko also known as Finks (1921).

In Victoria, Shinjiro began again as a fish broker, selling to Chinese restaurants in the area. He also spent his time volunteering for the Japanese Language school and became a Buddhist lay minister. Kinu who was trained as a dressmaker made children’s clothes, adding to the family’s income. The family was close to the Shimizus, who owned a rice mill, and Aiko became close to their daughter. Aiko was encouraged to finish highschool and eventually went into bookkeeping. She was an active member of the Japanese Canadian Citizen League and participated in their conventions with her brother Eichi. Like many women at the time, Aiko worked as a domestic and eventually took up dressmaking. Through these career choices she was able to move to Vancouver and attend Marietta’s School of Costume Design.

David Murakami was the youngest of three siblings. His parents had emigrated from the Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan and had settled in Vancouver across the street from Hastings Park. David worked as a fisherman, along the Skeena River. He held Captain’s papers and also worked as a skipper.

Aiko and David met at a New Years Eve party in 1941, and on May 7, 1942, they married at the Powell Street Japanese United Church. Eiko Henmi was the maid of honour, with Thomas Shoyama as the best man. Their courtship was in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and so the couple were quickly sent to Kaslo, B.C. only 10 days after getting married.

The newlyweds joined many other Japanese Canadians who were also forcibly uprooted and moved to the interior of B.C. David worked as a truck driver for the B.C. Securities Commission and Aiko worked in the local Commission office. David was also named the official photographer in the Kalso internment camp by the B.C. Securities Commission, an important title as cameras had been forbidden to Japanese Canadians. In 1943, their son Michael was born. By 1944 the family moved to New Denver for David’s health. New Denver, B.C. had a recent sanitorium built for interned Japanese Canadians. It was often called “The San”. In New Denver, Aiko began teaching at the New Denver Orchard internment camp school, the elementary school for Japanese Canadians, and when they left in February 1947, she had been appointed principal.

The family eventually moved to Hamilton, then Toronto, ON. Aiko began to work as a secretary for Mitsui’s Canadian office and David became a watchmaker. David served on the board for the Watchmakers Association of Ontario for many years. During her free time, Aiko volunteered for the Toronto Nisei Women’s Club, and also served as president.

During the 1980s both Aiko and David were active in the Redress movement. Both marched on Parliament Hill in April 1988. On September 22, 1988, it was Aiko who ensured the Japanese flag was removed at Westbury Hotel after someone wrongfully included it along with the Canadian flag. In 1988 Aiko and David moved to Edmonton to be with their son Michael and his family. They both continued their work with the Redress movement, helping to organize Edmonton’s celebrations for the monumental victory. Aiko also served as the regional Redress Coordinator in the area.

David Murakami passed away in Edmonton, A.B. in 1992. Aiko Murakami passed away in Toronto, O.N. in 2020.

Shoyama, Thomas Kunito

  • Person
  • 1916-2006

Thomas Kunito Shoyama was born in Kamloops, B.C., on September 24, 1916. His parents had immigrated to Canada from Kumamoto-ken, Japan and upon settling in B.C. eventually had six children. After completing high school, Shoyama went to study at UBC in Vancouver, earning combined degrees in Arts and Commerce in 1938. He soon began work with Edward Ouchi and Shinobu Higashi to publish The New Canadian, then a weekly newspaper for Japanese Canadians. He worked as publisher and editor of the newspaper as it moved to Kaslo, B.C. during WWII when Japanese Canadians were being removed from the coast. In 1945, Shoyama left The New Canadian to join the S-20 unit of the Intelligence Corps of the Canadian Army. He was one of the first people of Japanese descent to be allowed to join the Canadian Army during WWII, and he worked to learn Japanese during this time. His time in the military was short, leaving in 1946.

The same year, he was hired by the Economic and Advisory Planning Board (EAPB), an arm of the government of Saskatchewan. Shoyama left Saskatchewan briefly from 1948-1949 to attend graduate studies at McGill University, but soon returned to the prairies to work for Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). While in Saskatchewan, Shoyama began to grow his family life, marrying Lorna Moore late in 1950, with whom he had a daughter in 1956. He continued to work for the EAPB until 1964 when he moved to Ottawa to be a senior economist for the Economic Council of Canada. Shoyama held many prominent positions in Ottawa, including Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance, Deputy Minister in the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1979 he briefly became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Constitutional Matters and Chairman of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. He resigned from both positions the same year to accept a teaching position at the University of Victoria.

Throughout his career, Shoyama has been the recipient of many awards recognizing his work both for Japanese Canadians, and the broader Canadian public. These awards include: Officer of the Order of Canada (1978), the Outstanding Achievement Award in the Public Service of Canada (1982), the Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (1982) and the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Government of Japan (1992).

Tanaka, George

  • Person
  • 1912-1982

George Tanaka was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1912. After high school he began working with Mr. Moritsugu in 1920 as a gardener, and studied architecture and landscaping on his own.

After Pearl Harbor, he was sent to a sugar beet farm near Tilbury, O.N., then moved to Toronto, working in electronics. In 1943, he with other Japanese Canadians founded the Japanese Canadian Committee for Democracy (JCCD). At the tail end of the war when Japanese Canadians were allowed to join the army, he served with the Canadian Armed Forces. He also took part in the National Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (NJCCA, now the National Association of Japanese Canadians) as national executive secretary from 1947 to 1953.

In 1955 Tanaka began his own landscape practice in Ontario. From there his career quickly grew. He was elected vice-president of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), serving from 1967 to 1970. Tanaka received awards for his work in landscaping, winning two of the top Excellence in Design Awards at the first national competition of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CLSA) in 1969. He then joined the board of the CSLA in 1972 as secretary, and was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1975.

Throughout his successful career, Tanaka continued to advocate for Japanese Canadians. He was a founding member of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC). He and his wife Cana tragically passed away in a car accident in 1982.

Tokiwa, Masaji George

  • Person
  • 1898-1978

Masaji George Tokiwa was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, February 5, 1898. He moved to Canada with his brother Tsunesuke Tokiwa (1891-[1971]) in 1917, settling in Ocean Falls, B.C. He worked in the lumber industry there but soon went to Vancouver to receive his Barber License. Around this time Masaji returned to Japan to marry Hiroko (Hiro) Alice Tokiwa (1902-1970), bringing her Canada. Both were from farming families and both had received education, Masaji had completed highschool, Hiro completing middle school. He returned to Ocean Falls where he became a prominent member of the Japanese Canadian community.

At the time, the workers at the sawmill in Ocean Falls were almost all Japanese Canadian single men. The Tokiwa family were one of the first to settle there as a family. Masaji and Hiro had four children: Helen Sachiye Tokiwa (1925-2014), Paul Yoshiharu Tokiwa (1927- 1994), Samuel Mitsuo Tokiwa (1929-2014), and Lily Yasue (nee. Tokiwa) Gibson (1932- ). Though the town was segregated, Masaji was respected by both the Japanese Canadians and the white settlers. He worked as one of the three barbers there. No longer working in the sawmill, many of the men there came to Masaji to discuss their problems. As he interacted with all the men in the mill by cutting their hair, he became a leader figure and helped many of the men out with their problems.

When the province of British Columbia began to forcibly remove Japanese Canadians from the coast, Tokiwa decided to move to Kelowna with his family to work on a farm. The government quickly pushed against this decision and Hiro and the two girls moved to Vancouver to stay with an Aunt, leaving Masaji to work on the farm himself. Previous to the war, both sons had been sent to Japan for education. Masaji was concerned that if they were to stay in Canada, they would not receive adequate education due to discrimination against those of Japanese descent. Masaji and Hiro had planned to eventually retire to Japan, but the war completely upturned this. In Vancouver, Hiro, Helen, and Lily were moved to Hasting Park. From there they then went to live in Tashme, B.C.

The family was told Masaji could rejoin them if they all moved out of the province. With the help of a Minister in Tashme, the Tokiwa’s reunited in Beamsville, O.N. to work on the Prudhomme’s farm in November of 1942. They were one of the first Japanese Canadian families to be sent there. Both Lily and Helen were musically inclined and continued their studies there. Helen practiced the piano and organ at the local Church, and Lily sang in school recitals. Masaji’s leadership and intelligence was quickly perceived and the Prudhomme’s soon moved him to work in their greenhouse instead of the farm fields. Tokiwa was a strong believer in education and began to search for a new home for the family that would have more education opportunities for his eldest, Helen.

In 1948, the family moved to Toronto, O.N. The brothers, who were in Japan during the war, returned to Canada to join the family in 1950. In Toronto, Masaji took up the business of barber again and quickly grew a loyal customer base. Hiro worked in a garment factory along Spadina Ave. for a few years, Lily went into nursing, and Helen began to train at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Even in Toronto, Masaji continued to be a leader for the Japanese Canadian community. He is noted to have been a fantastic speech maker and was an integral member in the creation of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC). He was an elder in the church. The family had converted to Christianity early in their time in B.C., and continued to practice in Toronto, following Rev. Shimizu. After the passing of Masaji in 1978, his son Paul took over his spot on the board of the JCCC.

Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians

  • Corporate body
  • 1947-

The Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians has its history stemming from the National Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (NJCCA). Founded in 1947 by Roger Obata and other nisei leaders, the NJCCA was the first national organization by Japanese Canadians. Japanese Canadians were still disenfranchised and facing injustice from the unlawful dispossession of the community. In April 1980, the NJCCA changed their name to the NAJC, though many chapters, including the Toronto chapter kept NJCCA in their name.

1977 marked the centennial of the fist issei, Nagano Manzo, arriving in Canada. This large community celebration brought many Japanese Canadians together, and informal discussion of redress began. By the early 80s, friction between members in the Toronto JCCA began and stemmed from whether redress should include individual compensation, representing the huge loss of assets and work during the internment. Many members of the Toronto JCCA felt that the Toronto chapter was not representing the views of the majority, nor aligned with the NAJC on the national level. To protest this, members created the North York Chapter of the NAJC, which later would be renamed to the Greater Toronto NAJC, headed by Wes Fujiwara. Between 1983 and 1984, the nonpartisan group Sodan-Kai helped bring together and facilitate discussions between the Toronto JCCA and those who believed redress should include recognition of individual loss. In their efforts to seek redress, the NAJC had the Price Waterhouse Associates assess the loss endured by the Japanese Canadian community from the internment. This was calculated to income and property losses at not less than $443 million in 1986 dollar. The Greater Toronto NAJC organized and led many demonstrations demanding the Canadian government recognize their racist actions towards the Japanese Canadians and offer redress. These demonstrations include the Ottawa rally in April 1980 where many prominent members of the Japanese Canadian community met with Minister of State for Multiculturalism Gerry Weiner, opening up the discussion for redress.

On September 22, 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces a Redress Settlement negotiated between the National Association of Japanese Canadians and the federal government. The Redress Settlement acknowledged injustices against Japanese Canadians during and after World War II, provide a payment of $21,000 to all Japanese Canadians affected by the provisions of the War Measures Act, expunge criminal records of those charged with offenses stemming from violation of provisions of the War Measures Act, re-instate citizenship of those exiled to Japan, establish a $12million community fund to help rebuild community infrastructure, and provide $24million to establish the Canadian Race Relations Foundation

Toronto became the Eastern Regional Office for the Redress Advisory and Assistance Committee, aiding field workers as they intern aided members of the Japanese Canadian community complete their redress forms. The Eastern Regional Office also worked with members of the community re-apply or appeal unsatisfactory decisions regarding their Redress applications.

After winning the battle for Redress, the Greater Toronto chapter of the NAJC continues to seek justice and support marginalized communities who have faced discrimination from the Canadian government and elsewhere.

Irwin, Kathleen

  • Local
  • Person
  • 1902-1990

Kathleen Pole Irwin was born on November 23, 1902 in York, Ontario to Charles Irwin and Anna M. Warren. She attended the University of Toronto in the early 1920s and received a Bachelor of Music degree. After graduating, she performed in a two-piano duo with Winnifred Mazzoleni. The duo toured throughout Canada and the United States in the 1930s. She also performed with violinist Florence Richardson and in another two-piano duo Winifred MacMillan. Irwin stopped performing after her marriage in 1939 to Dalton Constright Wells (1900-1982), with a few exceptions. She joined the Women's Musical Club of Toronto (WMC) in 1946 and served in various executive positions, including as President (1955-1957). She retired from WMC in 1964. She passed away on February 16, 1990.

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