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Alan Rodney Bobiwash (1959-2002) was an Indigenous anti-racist activist, scholar, and crusader for racial equality and social justice. Predominantly based in Toronto, Bobiwash held many prominent positions both within and outside of the academic community and was recognized in Canada, and throughout the world, as a spokesperson for the rights of Indigenous people.

Alan Rodney Bobiwash was born in Blind River, Ontario in 1959 as part of the Anishnabek Nation, from the Mississauga First Nation on the north shore of Lake Huron. Bobiwash, one of eight children (five sisters and two brothers), was born into the Bear Clan and his Anishnabek name, Wacoquaakmik, meant “the breath of the land”. He attended Garson-Falconbridge Secondary School just outside of Sudbury, Ontario, and graduated in 1978. After high school, Bobiwash attended Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, where he graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies. His honours thesis was titled, "An Economic and Social History of Pinehouse, Saskatchewan." After graduating from Trent, Bobiwash went on to study at Oxford University, Wolfson College, where he wrote on the topic of Metis, Indian, and Company Regulations in the Post-Monopoly Era: The English River Fur Trade District. 1870-1885. During his academic career, Bobiwash won the Native Studies Prize and was named the Bata Scholar at Trent University, as well as earning a Short Term Residency Fellowship at the D’Arcy McNickel Centre for the History of the American Indian, Newberry Library Chicago.

In 1987, Bobiwash began lecturing part-time at the University of Manitoba in the Native Studies Department where he taught a course entitled Native Identity. From 1988-1990, he taught at Trent University in the Native Studies Department where he was a lecturer in a wide variety of Indigenous courses at all levels. Bobiwash was one of the more politically active faculty members at Trent and encouraged his students to take a hands-on role in addressing the issues facing Indigenous communities. After a break from teaching, Bobiwash began lecturing at the University of Toronto in the Aboriginal Studies Program in 1996. At the time, Bobiwash was also the Director of First Nations House at the University of Toronto, as well as the coordinator for the Office of Aboriginal Student Services and Programs; positions he held from 1994 until 1997.

In addition to his academic career, Bobiwash was highly active in Indigenous communities in Toronto and Ontario, as well as the anti-racist movement in Canada. In the early 1990s, Bobiwash was instrumental in launching a Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint against the far-right organization The Heritage Front, and played a pivotal role in their eventual demise. He also founded an organization called Klanbusters, which was formed to combat the growing prevalence of Klu Klux Klan and affiliated white supremacist organizations in Ontario, Quebec and the Prairie provinces. KlanBusters monitored far-right activities, prevented white supremacist parades and demonstrations and provided an anti-racist hotline. Bobiwash was also an Indigenous rights leader with a particular focus on pay equity, and the status and rights of urban Indigenous populations in Canada. In 1998, Bobiwash became the director of the Native Canadian Centre Toronto, where he had worked previously as a policy analyst and Native Self-Government and anti-Racism Coordinator from 1991 to 1993.
From 1991 until 1998, Bobiwash ran Mukwa Ode First Nations consulting Inc. Mukwa Ode was an Indigenous consulting group that worked with Indigenous and non-Indigenousl clients in a number of different areas. Among many projects, Mukwa Ode Consulting created the Toronto Urban Native Self-Government Handbook, conducted a review of the perception of policing in Toronto’s Indigenous community, and worked closely with the Greater Toronto Aboriginal Management Board (G.T.A.M.B.). Throughout his professional career, Bobiwash, as a representative many different Indigenous and Anti-Racist organizations, attended, organized, and participated in numerous conferences, seminars, and workshops around the world. Bobiwash was also a highly sought-after academic and professional public speaker, who was known for his passion for the subjects he addressed, and for his humour in addressing them. In the final years before his death, Rodney Bobiwash worked for the Centre for World Indigenous Studies as the Director of the Forum for Global Exchange, as well as on the C.W.I.S. Board of Directors. In this capacity, Rodney worked to allow Indigenous participation in international forums, and to ensure the inclusion of Indigenous voices in the global debate on biocultural diversity. In 2000, Bobiwash received the Urban Alliance on Race Relation 25th Anniversary Award.

Rodney Bobiwash died of cardiovascular disease associated with complications from diabetes on January 13, 2002, at the age of 42.

Norbert Palej joined the University of Toronto Faculty of Music as an assistant professor in Music Theory and Composition in 2008. He has also served as the divisional coordinator for Theory and Composition (2013-2014, 2015-2017, 2019-2021, 2022-2024), sub-divisional coordinator for Composition (2024-present) and director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble (2011-2014). He is also the coordinator of the Faculty's annual New Music Festival (UTNMF).

Born: 3 October 1925 Golden Grove, New Brunswick; daughter of George Duffley and Ellen Cecilia Quinn; entered 7 October 1950; first vows 15 August 1953; final vows 15 August 1958; died 24 September 2012.

Born in Golden Grove, just outside of Saint John, NB, Theresa, one of four children, attended local schools of St. Vincent's Girls School and commercial course at Saint John Vocational School. Working as a stenographer, Theresa was active in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) in her parish of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, serving as president. She became interested in the Sisters of Service after talking to Rev. Thomas Chidlow, C.Ss.R. who was preaching a renewal mission at her parish in March 1950. Seven months later at the age of 25, Theresa entered the novitiate, professing first vows in August 15, 1953 and final vows five years on August 15, both in the Novitiate chapel.

For 13 years, Sister Duffley was assigned to the community's residences, where she welcomed young women.Sister Duffley's first appointment at the Toronto residence of six months in 1953 was followed by a founding member of the residence in St. John's (1953-1956, 1960-1965); in Montreal (1956-1958); in Halifax (1958-1960); Edmonton (1965-1966) and Winnipeg (four months in 1969). During those years at the residences, she co-ordinated social and recreational activities, directed study clubs, Glee club, Legion of Mary, Christian Family Movement and taught catechetics and prepared children for the sacraments. Throughout these assignments, she also visited the sick and the elderly as well as attending catechetical programmes and night classes

Her residence appointments were interrupted when she served as a secretary at the Motherhouse (1966-1968) and returned home to Saint John to care for her dying mother and assist her father after mother's death. With the closing of most of the residences, Sister Duffley joined two other sisters in 1969 to open a teaching mission at High Level, Alberta. Although she cooked and managed the house, she also prepared a Grade 2 class for First Communion, trained altar girls and helped with music in the kindergarten class.

For the next six years (1972-1978) at the Daly Centre in Regina, she directed the revising and distributing for correspondence courses in religious education to match the theological changes since the Second Vatican Council. Returning to Halifax (1979-1984), Sister Duffley's concern and care of the sick and elderly was realized with her employment as a Red Cross homemaker after taking the required courses. Meanwhile she also continued to provide religious instruction and to volunteer to assist disabled children at Dalhousie University swimming pool. As legal guardian of a niece, she moved to Kingston, Ontario for a year while also a member of the choir at St. Joseph's church and volunteer parish visitor for St. Mary's on the Lake church.

Her skills, experience and empathy with the elderly was utilized for the retired sisters residence for retired at Niagara Manor in St. Catharines, Ontario (1985-1987) and assisting with the move to the new residence at Scarborough Court (August 1989-July 1990). Between those assignments, Sister Duffley returned to Halifax (1987-1989), volunteering as a chaplain at the Infirmary and a member of three choirs. Following a sabbatical auditing courses at Newman Theological College (1990-1991), she lived in Halifax for almost 7 years, residing at the community’s house on Cornwall Street (1991-1996, 1998-2001) and Chebucto Road (1996-1997). Her Halifax service was interrupted for a year (September 1996-September 1997) when she lived at the Motherhouse in Toronto. After the closing of the Cornwall Street house in 2001, she remained in Halifax, living in an apartment on Glebe Road until 2008. During these years, Sister Duffley was committed to serving as chaplain of the new Halifax Infirmary and as a volunteer at the main Queen Elizabeth Health Centre, where she was recognized for her service in 2003. A member of St. Patrick's parish in Halifax, she was a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the parish choir, Eucharistic minister, the parish social committee, member of the diocesan pastoral council as well as teaching Grade 2 catechism.

In 2008, she was appointed as co-ordinator of the community’s retired sisters in Toronto at LaSalle Manor until 2011. She moved to an apartment in Scarborough Court, where she lived until she died on September 24, 2012 in Scarborough General Hospital after contacting an aggressive infection. The wake service and funeral Mass were held at LaSalle Manor with Saint Johner Fr. Edward McGovern as celebrant. Her body was buried in the community plot at Mount Hope cemetery in Toronto.

Born 14 March 1915 in Hamilton, daughter of Gregory Tyszko and Anna Zwolak; entered 21 January 1939; first vows 15 August 1941; final vows 15 August 1947; died 10 October 2002.

The daughter of Polish immigrants who arrived in 1913, Lydia grew up in Hamilton, where her parents assisted in the establishment of the city's first Polish Catholic church. In the church, she founded programs for young women. At home, she nursed a younger sister, Josephine, who had contracted scarlet fever. Lydia studied at St. Ann’s school, Cathedral High School and a year of business courses at Park Business School. After her formal education, Lydia was employed as a stenographer and bookkeeper in Hamilton. Lydia entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton for a month in late 1938 before being admitted to the novitiate of the Sisters of Service in January 1939, professing first vows on August 15, 1941 and final vows in August 15, 1947.

For her first appointments, Sister Tyszko was assigned to helping the young women in the community's residences in Toronto (1940-1942), Montreal (1942-1943) and Vancouver (1943-1946). Throughout her life, she assisted newcomers to Canada. With her European roots and experience and fluency in languages, she was able to bridge the transition.Upon the request of the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Fargo, ND, Sister Tyszko joined the staff in September 1946 for three years and also helped with the mission’s catechetical program on weekends and during the summer. Returning to Vancouver as superior of the residence in the postwar period of 1949 until 1955, planned movies, musicals, sing songs and English-language classes were arranged especially for the women and men working in the federal employment program for Displaced Persons. During the spring and summer of 1951, Sister Tyszko travelled across the country, visiting the missions, representing Sister General Mary Quinn as the Extraordinary Visitor.

Back in Eastern Canada, she received a posting as superior at Montreal residence (1955-1957) before moving to Halifax to attend the Maritime School of Social Work (1957-1959). Shortly after graduating in May 1959, she resumed residence work as superior in Edmonton (1959-1961), the final assignment before embarking on a diverse career as a professional social worker. She joined the staff of Catholic Family and Child Services (1961-1966) under the Edmonton archdiocese as its first social worker, also helping to develop the social agency. Accepted to open the community's South American mission, she studied at the Coady International Institute in Antigonish, NS (1966-1967), where she also served as Dean of Women (1967-1968) at the Coady Institute. In June and July 1968, she accompanied Sister General Mary Reansbury to Brazil and Peru to explore mission locations in South America. Upon returning and council approval, Sister Tyszko enrolled in the Latin America Institute in St. Mary’s, Ontario to learn the Portuguese language and prepare for the new mission in Brazil. In June 1969, Sister Tyszko and Sister Leona Trautman, a long-time teacher in the community's western rural missions, opened a mission in Casa Nova, Brazil. In co-ordination with the Edmonton Province Redemptorists, the sisters provided religious instruction, trained catechists and assisted women for two years. Upon returning to Canada, Sister Tyszko joined the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto (1972-1978), working with families in the north end of the city.

In 1978, she returned to the women’s residence in Halifax as director and superior (1978-1982) and became chaplain to the Polish community in Halifax (1982-1987) after she assisted 10 Polish seamen, who jumped ship in Halifax in August 1981. Almost immediately, the police took the young men, who had spent two days sleeping and hiding in a city park, to the Polish-speaking Sister Tyszko. Sister Tyszko helped the men apply for permanent status, enroll in language schools and find work. For the Sisters of Service, she was a member of the Chapters in 1954 and 1960, where she also acted as secretary. In 1987, she assumed the position of bursar-general and retired in 1993. During her term as treasurer, the financial operation was streamlined and consolidated with a lay chartered accountant hired to provide professional oversight.

After a sabbatical at Gonzago in Spokane, Washington, she returned to Halifax (1995-1996) and Edmonton (1996-1997) before joining the retired sisters at Scarborough Court for three years. She moved to Providence Centre in 2001, where she died in her sleep at the age of 87. The wake service was held at the chapel in Scarborough Court. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Fr. Charles Reeves, chaplain of Scarborough Court and was followed by burial in the SOS plot in Mount Hope cemetery in Toronto.

Born 12 October 1915 in Peterborough, Ontario, daughter of Captain Charles Jackson and Anne Chloe Sharkey; entered 2 August 1937; first vows 2 February 1940; final vows 15 August 1945; died 4 December 2000.

Although born in the eastern Ontario city of Peterborough, Bertha spent most of her childhood in Dartmouth, NS, where her parents, a British Army officer and a nurse, moved the family of seven children. She studied at Our Lady Immaculate Convent, Dartmouth high school and St. Patrick’s girls high school in Halifax. After Bertha spoke about her vocation to Fr. Lucian Howard, C.Ss.R, whom she met at a retreat in Halifax, he wrote to the Sisters of Service about her. Both Bertha and her sister Mary were interested in the community, which Mary entered in August 1936. After Bertha and her mother visited Mary at the Toronto novitiate in June 1937, Bertha decided to join the community, entering on August 2, 1937 at the age of 21. Professing first vows in February 1940, she made final vows on August 15, 1945 in Edson.

Although born in the eastern Ontario city of Peterborough, Bertha spent most of her childhood in Dartmouth, NS, where her parents, a British Army officer and a nurse, moved the family of seven children. She studied at Our Lady Immaculate Convent, Dartmouth high school and St. Patrick’s girls high school in Halifax. After Bertha spoke about her vocation to Fr. Lucian Howard, C.Ss.R, whom she met at a retreat in Halifax, he wrote to the Sisters of Service about her. Both Bertha and her sister Mary were interested in the community, which Mary entered in August 1936. After Bertha and her mother visited Mary at the Toronto novitiate in June 1937, Bertha decided to join the community, entering on August 2, 1937 at the age of 21. Professing first vows in February 1940, she made final vows on August 15, 1945 in Edson.

After the her father’s death in 1960, she remained in Halifax, serving at the women’s residence (1961-1966) and a volunteer social worker (1962-1969) at the city's St. Vincent de Paul Society as well as taking charge of the Vincentian shop, the Halifax archdiocese’s central hub for distributing used clothes and furnishing. During this time, she earned in May 1968 a diploma in public health nursing from Dalhousie University, and worked for the Victorian Order of Nurses (1968-1971) in Halifax.

Following a year-long study of the French language, she spent four months at L’Arche in France. Back in Halifax, she was assigned to the women's residence (1972-1975), now accommodation for women engaged in short-term studies and city employment. After a successful cancer operation in 1975, Sister Jackson needed a slower pace for a full recovery, and joined her sister Mary for the first time on the same mission. The Jacksons shared an apartment in Fort McMurray, AB, where Sister Mary was the supervisor of religious education and art in the Fort McMurray separate schools. Through Sister Mary Phillips, co-ordinator of the Early Childhood Services for the Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School District, Sister Bertha was placed as a teacher aide in a pre-school class. In the second year, she used her experience as a public health nurse to teach a 10-lecture dietetics course at Keyano Community College to students enrolled in a home care certificate course.

Returning to the Halifax residence (1978-1979), Sister Jackson moved to an apartment in Dartmouth to begin as a pastoral associate in Pope John XXIII parish (1979-1986) of Cole Harbour. Moving as a pastoral assistant at St. Peter’s (1986-1994), the Dartmouth home parish of the Jackson family, she was recognized for her organization and co-ordination of the parish’s outreach program for the sick and housebound. On the parish's 165th anniversary in 1994, Sister Jackson was awarded the Archdiocesan Medal of Merit by Archbishop James Hayes “for her extraordinary dedication and spirit of sacrifice of the diocesan church.” Soon afterwards, she resigned at the age of 79 as her health declined.

In retirement at the community's house in Halifax (1994-1998), she later moved to Scarborough Court, Toronto (1998-2000) and was joined by her sister Mary, who died in 1999. Sister Bertha died suddenly at the age of 85 on December 4, 2000 at Scarborough Court. The wake service and Mass of Resurrection with celebrant Fr. Charles Sitter S.J. were held in the community's chapel. Her body was buried in the same plot as her sister Mary in the community’s section at Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.

Originally named Publications Office and the Community Relations Office, Marketing and Communications at UTSC is responsible for the outward promotion of the university’s image to stakeholders, including prospective and current students, through various media channels. The department also publishes the Annual Review, the annual student recruitment Viewbook, and other publications; it is responsible for the website and social media outlets; and it directs marketing and advertising of the university.

The University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble was first listed as an ensemble in the 1992-1993 Faculty of Music academic calendar under the direction of Robin Engelman. Prior to this, it was offered as one of several chamber music ensembles at the Faculty (PMU 191, PMU 291, etc.).

Directors of this ensemble include Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, Beverley Johnston, Mark Duggan, Aiyun Huang, and Ryan Scott.

Born 2 February 1918 in Ste. Amelie, Manitoba, daughter of Herbert Phillips and Elizabeth Crossland; entered 2 August 1935; first vows 2 February 1938; final vows 15 August 1943; died 18 June 2000.

The eldest of eight children, Mary was born on the family homestead near Ste. Ameile, a Franco-Manitoban community in southwestern Manitoba. From her birthplace, Mary’s family moved to North Bay, Ontario and later settled in the east-end of Toronto, where she worked in her father’s grocery store. Entering at the age of 17 to fulfil her great desire “to serve the people of God in Western Canada,” she professed first vows on her 20th birthday on February 2, 1938. After profession, Sister Phillips studied at St. Joseph’s College School, Toronto, to earn high school credits for a year.

A variety of appointments followed. When posted to Edmonton in 1939, she completed high school credits at St. Mary’s high school, and was assigned to the women’s residence (1939-1940) in the city. She was moved to the newly-opened teaching mission in Sinnett, Saskatchewan (1940-1941) as a housekeeper and music teacher. At St. John’s Hospital, Edson, Alberta (1941-1950), Sister Phillips was the bookkeeper in the accounting department and a teacher in the summer religious vacation schools. Transferred to the teaching mission at Rycroft, Alberta (1950-1954), she combined the duties of superior of St. Michael’s dormitory with teaching music. She returned to the Motherhouse (1954-1955) to recuperate from ill health and joined the teaching community at Christian Island, Ontario (1955-1956).

Returning to Edmonton, she earned a teaching certificate (1956-1957) and rejoined the Rycroft mission (1957-1969) as a teacher. She chaired a Junior Red Cross study week at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1964 and attended a study week of the Social Studies Council of the Alberta Teachers Association. During that time, she took a one-year sabbatical to finish a bachelor of education degree in 1967 at the University of Alberta and attended additional courses in early childhood education. She received the federal Centennial Medal in 1967. In the summer of 1968, Sister Phillips trained teachers in Uganda as a member of Project Overseas, a program of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation. The following summer, she trained teachers in Ghana under the same project.

Remaining in the Peace River area, she taught in the public school (1969-1970) at Faust, Alberta, and continued to live there while teaching at nearby Joussard (1970-1973) and working on community projects. In 1970, Sister Phillips was awarded the Hilroy Fellowship for developing a language program to assist Indigenous and Métis students. She resumed work in early childhood education as coordinator of the Fort McMurray Early Childhood Services (1974-1976), where she lived in a trailer for the next 17 years. While co-ordinator in 1975, she attended the National Education Association, a summer school in Oxford, England to study the British Infants Schools. Returning to the classroom, she taught students (1976-1977) with learning disabilities in the Fort McMurray Catholic School District, dividing the teaching day between Good Shepherd and St. Paul’s schools. At the same time, she updated her professional skills with special education courses at the Eugene campus of the University of Oregon and was the board’s resource teacher for children with learning disabilities. She developed expertise in psychological and achievement testing, and program planning for special education and learning disabled students.

She served as chair of the 1970 Chapter, following the Second Vatican Council, and chair of the steering committees of the Chapters in 1978 and 1979 that undertook the review of the community’s rules and constitutions. From 1979, she served as part of the pastoral team of St. John the Baptist church in Fort McMurray, co-coordinating sacramental programs as well as visiting hospitals and volunteering as choir director and organist. She also was a member of the council of the Catholic parishes of Fort McMurray. In this oil resource community, she assisted in the social support services as a founding member of the Growing with Grief Group, a local member of the senior’s group, Golden Year’s Society and a board member of the Cornerstone Counselling Centre. At the Fort McMurray Regional Hospital, she was a member of the volunteer services committee for pastoral care committee, worked with home care and introduced a palliative care program at the hospital.

After retiring in 1982, she was presented with the Tree of Life award in 1987 by the Fort McMurray Education Centre, and the Achievement Award for community service by the Alberta government in 1991. The Catholic School District in Fort McMurray named its newest school as the Sister Mary Phillips School; it opened in October 1993. In 1991, she moved to Seba Beach, the community’s cottage an hour’s drive west of Edmonton for that year. In joining Sister Marilyn MacDonald in Stony Plain, Alberta (1992-1996), she assisted in pastoral care at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish (1992-1996). The two sisters moved to the Edmonton residence (1998-1999), where they provided a bed-and-breakfast accommodation for family and friends of patients in the city’s hospital.

Early in January 2000, Sister Phillips was diagnosed with cancer and was admitted to palliative care at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Edmonton. She died on June 18, 2000 with Sister Frances Coffey at her bedside. A Mass of Christian Burial was held in Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, Stony Plain with Fr. Richard Theroux, the main celebrant, assisted by retired Bishop Emmett Doyle, Frs. Gordon Roebuck and Jack Spicer, C.Ss.R. In following her wishes, Sister Phillips’ organs were donated, and an urn containing her ashes was buried in the SOS section in St. Joachim’s cemetery, Edmonton. In Fort McMurray, a memorial service was held in the gymnasium of Sister Mary Phillips School and a memorial mass at St. John the Baptist church. In Toronto at Scarborough Court, members of the Phillips family joined the retired sisters in celebrating her life.

Beverley Johnston was an instructor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in music education (1982-1984) and returned as an instructor and later adjunct professor in percussion (1996, 1999-present). She also directed the University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble (2008-2017).

Sam Solecki is a writer and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto Department of English. He is the author of numerous original works, mainly within the genre of literary criticism. His books include The Etruscans in the Modern Imagination (2022), A Truffaut Notebook (2015), Ragas of Longing: The Poetry of Michael Ondaatje (2003), The Last Canadian Poet: An Essay on Al Purdy (1999), Spider Blues: Essays on Michael Ondaatje (1986), and Aspects of Education in the Work of D.H. Lawrence (1974). Solecki also authored three books on the work of Josef Škvorecký: Josef Škvorecký and His Works (1996), The Achievement of Josef Škvorecký (1994), and Prague Blues: The Fiction of Josef Škvorecký: a Critical Study (1990). His essay, “Josef Škvorecký and the Central European Imagination,” appeared in the book Images of Central Europe in Travelogues and Fiction by North American Writers (W. Zacharasiewicz ed., 1995). Solecki also collaborated with W.J. Keith and J. Metcalf on Volleys (1990), a book focused on debates between the three authors.
In addition to his original books and essays, Solecki is also known for his edited collections of other authors’ poetry, prose, and letters. His edited collections include One Muddy Hand: Selected Poems (2006), which featured the work of Earle Birney; Yours, Al: The Collected Letters of Al Purdy (2004); Beyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (2000); Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland (1998); Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets: Selected Poems of Al Purdy (1996); and Starting from Ameliasburgh: The Collected Prose of Al Purdy (1995).

Born 29 August 1904 in Sydney, NS, daughter of Richard Walsh and Mary Theresa Walsh; entered 7 October 1927; first vows 2 February 1929; final vows 2 February 1934; died 18 February 1991.

The eldest of six children of Newfoundlander parents, who met in Sydney, Alice attended local schools, taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame. As a child, Alice’s favourite pastime was playing school with her siblings, as the oldest, she was the teacher. In pursuing her childhood pastime, she graduated from Normal School in Truro, and taught for one year in a rural school. Before her family moved to Indiana where her father was building furnaces in the steel mills, Alice saw the advertisement in The Catholic Record, showing Sisters Catherine Donnelly, Margaret Guest and Catherine Wymbs dressed in their uniforms ready for the first western mission.

After a year in Indiana and encouragement from two priests, the 23-year-old Alice decided to enter the Toronto Motherhouse. She made first vows on February 2, 1929 and final vows on February 2, 1934. For the first appointment, Sister Walsh joined the newly-opened catechetical mission in Edmonton in February 1929. During that summer, she embarked on catechetical tour in communities of Saskatchewan, the first of many future summer tours. In September, she was assigned to Camp Morton (1929-1935) as a teacher at King Edward school No. 2 and remembered walking to school many times because it was too cold for the horse, Nelly, retired from pulling Eaton’s department store vans in Winnipeg. Shortly after final vows, she was assigned to the religious correspondence school in Regina (1935-1937), where her writing talent was enlisted to edit the children’s page of the Salve Regina Quarterly, the archdiocesan paper. Throughout the years, she contributed articles in The Field at Home. She returned to Camp Morton as a teacher in the Bismark school (1937-1943) in nearby Berlo.

After serving as superior at the catechetical house in Edmonton (1943-1949), Sister Walsh returned to Camp Morton (1949-1951) for a third teaching assignment. From hence, she was dedicated to the development of catechetics and religious education. After a second appointment at the Regina correspondence school (1951-1952), she directed the Winnipeg archdiocese’s office (1952-1966) of Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), the Church’s official religious education organization. During this period, she attended a CCD summer course (1954) in Catholic University in Washington with Sister Mary Jackson. Following the Second Vatican Council, she enrolled in the initial course of the Divine Word in London, Ontario (1966-1967) and helped to introduce the theological changes to the sisters, particularly with its effects on religious education in Regina (1967-1968), and assisted Edmonton separate school board (1968-1969). For a final teaching posting, she taught at St. Michael’s school in Rycroft, Alberta from 1969 until it closed in 1971. Drawing from her vast experience, she was assigned to the Daly Centre, the former religious correspondence school in Regina (1971-1976), to develop an adult course in religious education.

In failing health, Sister Walsh joined the retired sisters at Niagara Retirement Manor in St. Catharines, Ontario (1976-1989) and Scarborough Court (1989-1991) in Toronto. At the age of 87, she died in Scarborough Centenary Hospital on February 18, 1991 following an operation. Her wake was held at O’Connor funeral home in Toronto and a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Redemptorist Fr. Raymond Corriveau in St. Boniface church, adjacent Scarborough Court. Her body was buried in the SOS section of Mount Hope cemetery in Toronto.

Sommer H. Forrester joined the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in 2025 as an Associate Professor in Music Education.

The Toronto Student Movement (TSN) was founded in Toronto in 1968 as an association of radical students at the University of Toronto. The organization and its members were generally part of a neo-Marxist New Left, focusing on promoting campus democracy through university governance, interrogating class hierarchies embodied by the University, and building a shared movement between students and workers.

References:

Milligan, Ian. Rebel Youth : 1960s Labour Unrest, Young Workers, and New Leftists in English Canada. 1st ed. Vancouver, British Columbia: UBC Press, 2014, 85-87. https://doi.org/10.59962/9780774826891.

Elspeth MacGregor Cameron (1943-2025) was a Canadian writer known for her biographies of noted Canadian literary figures such as Irving Layton and Earle Birney. Her biography of Hugh MacLennan, Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life, was nominated for a Governor General's Award. No Previous Experience won the W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize. She has also published a volume of poetry.

Paul Quarrington was a writer, novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and musician. Born in 1953 in Toronto, he spent his childhood in Don Mills, Ontario, before eventually moving back to Toronto. Quarrington attended the University of Toronto for two years, before dropping out to pursue writing and music. Quarrington was a prolific writer, authoring ten novels, seven non-fiction works, several stage plays, and numerous scripts for Canadian films and television shows, as well as contributing work to newspapers and magazines such as the National Post. Quarrington was also a musician; he made up one half of the duo Quarrington/Hill with Dan Hill, and later Quarrington/Worthy with Martin Worthy, before becoming the lead singer and guitarist of the band Porkbelly
Futures.

Quarrington received numerous awards for his work, including a Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay for Perfectly Normal, the Stephen Leacock Award for his novel King Leary - which also won the 2008 Canada Reads competition - and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction for his novel Whale Music. His novel Galveston was also nominated for the Giller Prize. In 2009, Quarrington was awarded the Matt Cohen Award by the Writers Trust of Canada for his contributions to Canadian literature.

In May 2009, Quarrington was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. He spent the next months touring with Porkbelly Futures, working on his memoir Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Life and Music, writing screenplays, and being featured in the documentary film Paul Quarrington: Life in Music. Quarrington passed away on January 21, 2010.

Beatriz Hausner is a poet, translator, editor, and librarian. Hausner was born in Santiago, Chile in 1958; she moved with her family to Toronto in 1971, where she studied French and Spanish literature at the University of Toronto. Hausner has published several poetry collections, including She Who Lies Above (2023); Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (2020); Enter the Raccoon (2012); Sew Him Up (2010); and The Wardrobe Mistress (2003). Her work has been translated into Dutch, French, Greek, and Spanish. Hausner has also translated the works of various poets, often focusing her attention on surrealism. These include the works of César Moro, Rosamel del Valle, Enrique Gómez-Correa, Jorge Cáceres, Aldo Pellegrini, among others. Hausner was greatly influenced by her mother, artist Susana Wald, and stepfather, poet Ludwig Zeller; she often translated Zeller’s poetry. Hausner was a publisher at Quattro Books, was President of the Literary Translator’s Association of Canada, and lead the Public Lending Right Commission as its Chair. Hausner also worked at the Toronto Reference Library for several decades, eventually returning to graduate school to get her Master of Information from the University of Toronto to work as a librarian.

The Hong Kong Homemakers' Alliance (HKHA) was founded voluntarily by a group of existing members of the Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres (HKFWC) in March 4, 2001. The Alliance was primarily concerned about the lack of support and social recognition for homemakers, that are full-time stay-at-home fathers or mothers. Its mandate is to raise public awareness about the burden on homemakers, advocate for the societal and economic values of housework, ,provide opportunities for education and development for homemakers, and to promote the socio-economical status of homemakers through eliminating biases.
Being a direct subordinate group of the HKFWC, the Alliance operated within the centres location and scope of services of the HKFWC. It launched forums on retirement protection and recurring health problems of homemakers, conducted research on time use of full-time mother, and met with ministers and lawmakers to impact social policy.

The Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres (HKFWC) is a non-partisan organization that supports grassroots women and promote gender equality in Hong Kong through an array of services, education, and advocacy. It was created and operated by women, with the mission of promoting Women's rights, developing women's individual potential, advising decision-making bodies through collaborative efforts, and pioneering women-focused resources and services.
HKFWC was initially founded as a subsidiary organization of the Hong Kong Council of Women (HKCW). Following the War on Rape Campaign in 1979, the HKCW set up a Steering Committee to assess the needs and feasibility for a community centre that offers social services to grassroot women. This nurtured the establishment of the Women's Center, marked by the opening of a telephone helpline on May 5, 1981. The centre operated in the back office of former Urban Councilor, Elsie Elliot, until 1985 when it moved into the Lai Kok Estate premises in Shum Shui Po. Its distinctive identity and directives eventually led to its independence from the HKCW in 1992, after which the Centre renamed to the Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres.
Following its independence, HKFWC continued to expand its network of services to other districts in Hong Kong. In 1996, a second centre was opened in Tai Wo Estate, Tai Po. In 2014 and 2016 respectively, two new centres premiered in Fanling (Women in Self Enhancement centre) and Sheung Shui to extend the reach to North District. 2019 witnessed another milestone when Jockey Club Wah Fu Centre, the first service unit on Hong Kong Island, was set up.
HKFWC's contribution to women's welfare were recognized by governing bodies locally and abroad. In 1989, it was granted membership of the Community Chest. In 2002, it acquired Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
To obtain charitable status with tax exemption, Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres Limited was established in 2015. The transfer of HKFWC to the compnay limited by guarantee was completed in 2023, and the existing HKFWC formed under Societies Ordinance was dissolved.

The Hong Kong Council of Women (1947) was formed as a non-governmental organization in August 1947 to help coordinate the efforts of individual women and existing women's organizations in terms of social and civic affaris of the colony. Being affiliated with the International Council of Women, HKCW followed its footsteps in striving for the rights and wellbeing of women. The constitution of HKCW mandated that its objectives are to promote welfare and human rights of women, promote conditions of life of children, removing legal, social, and economic barriers on women, coordinate organizations within boundary of these purposes, and raise funds for the said objectives. HKCW extended its influences through holding meetings on subjects of interests, forming sub-committees, convening conferences and inquiries, and submitting recommendations to the colonial government.
HKCW has carried numerous campaigns that led to legislative changes in Hong Kong. In 1950s, they began rallying for separate taxation, which allows married couples to undergo taxing assessment individually. In 1960, a joint campaign with 140 other groups was launched to change marriage laws, demanding complete eradication of the concubinage system. HKCW joined the Federation of Asian Women's Association (FAWA), creating a presence not just in Hong Kong, but also South east Asia. In the following decades, HKCW continued to strive for women's benefits, including relaxation of abortion laws, introduction of maternity benefits, increased employment opportunities and vocational trainings for married women.
In 1981, HKCW set up a Steering Committee to assess the needs and requirements for a community centre that provides women-focused social services. This led to the establishment of the Women's Center, that would later become the Hong Kong Federation of Women's Council. In 1984, several office and storage facilities were acquired from Union Church in Kowloon to provide venues for women's refuge. The Harmony House for battered women opened in April 1985, and Lai Kok Estate was fitted as the premise for the Women's center.
HKCW gradually ceased to operate from mid-1980s. The records of the organization was partially deposited in the Government Records Service of Hong Kong in 2000, and partially transferred to the Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres.

Sheldon Grimson is a photographer based in Toronto, Ontario. In 1970, Grimson was hired by Oxford University to photograph portraits of leading Canadian poets and writers for the book 15 Canadian Poets. This book came to be a standard textbook in Canadian schools and is still in print. In 1980, Grimson had the chance to photograph additional Canadian writers for Anansi Press.

Walter Oldfield was born on October 19, 1878. Mabel and Walter Oldfield were married in Hong Kong in 1910, and they had two children (Mildred and Ernest) born in 1911. The Oldfields worked as Canadian missionaries with the New York-based Christian and Missionary Alliance during the first half of the twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1947, Mabel and Walter Oldfield were stationed in Guangxi, China where they were actively involved in developing and implementing Christian conversion and evangelization programs. They published several accounts (books and pamphlets) of their missionary activities and lived experiences in Guangxi, China including With You Alway: The Life of a South China Missionary, Kidnapped by Chinese Bandits, Over “the Hump” with God, Pioneering in Kwangsi [Guangxi]: The Story of Alliance Missions in South China, Travels Among the Tribesmen, and Two Hundred Miles of Miracles. Mabel and Walter Oldfield left China definitively in 1947 and returned to Canada. Walter Oldfield died in 1958.

Mildred Oldfield (married name Millar) lived with her parents in China until the age of 16 when she returned to Canada. Mildred would later attend Victoria College, University of Toronto from 1929-1933, and she married F. Graham Millar in 1934 or 1935. Both graduated 1933. Graham Millar’s mother was E. Maud Graham, who wrote A Canadian Girl in South Africa. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library holds the papers of E. Maud Graham and F. Graham Millar.

E. Maud Graham (1876-1949) was born and raised in Owen Sound, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1896, attended Bryn Mawr College, 1896-97, and from there went to Ontario Normal College in Hamilton. Graham worked as a governess and a teacher, eventually serving as principal of the Girl’s High School in Quebec City in 1907. In 1902, Graham was selected to travel to South Africa with 39 other Canadian teachers in order to teach the children of Boar refugees from the South African War of 1899-1902. Graham wrote articles from South Africa for the Montreal Daily Witness, and later developed these articles into her memoir about her experiences: A Canadian Girl in South Africa (1905). In 1908, Graham married Frederick Gourlay Millar (1876-1972), a fellow teacher from Wiarton, Ontario. Millar also attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1898, and also did post-graduate studies at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. Millar taught at Hamilton Collegiate Institute and was classical master at Boy’s High School in Quebec City. Millar taught in Brantford, Ontario and in Hamilton from 1924-1944, where he became principal of Hamilton’s first High School of Commerce in 1928. Graham and Millar had three children, including Helen Millar (Becker) and Graham Millar.

Frederick Gourlay Millar (1876-1972), was a teacher from Wiarton, Ontario. Millar attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1898, and also did post-graduate studies at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. Millar taught at Hamilton Collegiate Institute and was classical master at Boy’s High School in Quebec City. He also taught in Brantford, Ontario and in Hamilton from 1924-1944, where he became principal of Hamilton’s first High School of Commerce in 1928. Millar married E. Maud Graham in 1908. They had three children, including Helen Millar (Becker) and Graham Millar.

Mabel Oldfield (née Dimock) was born on April 9, 1878. Mabel and Walter Oldfield were married in Hong Kong in 1910, and they had two children (Mildred and Ernest) born in 1911. The Oldfields worked as Canadian missionaries with the New York-based Christian and Missionary Alliance during the first half of the twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1947, Mabel and Walter Oldfield were stationed in Guangxi, China where they were actively involved in developing and implementing Christian conversion and evangelization programs. They published several accounts (books and pamphlets) of their missionary activities and lived experiences in Guangxi, China including With You Alway: The Life of a South China Missionary, Kidnapped by Chinese Bandits, Over “the Hump” with God, Pioneering in Kwangsi [Guangxi]: The Story of Alliance Missions in South China, Travels Among the Tribesmen, and Two Hundred Miles of Miracles. Mabel and Walter Oldfield left China definitively in 1947 and returned to Canada. Mabel Oldfield died in 1965.

Mildred Oldfield (married name Millar) lived with her parents in China until the age of 16 when she returned to Canada. Mildred would later attend Victoria College, University of Toronto from 1929-1933, and she married F. Graham Millar in 1934 or 1935. Both graduated 1933. Graham Millar’s mother was E. Maud Graham, who wrote A Canadian Girl in South Africa. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library holds the papers of E. Maud Graham and F. Graham Millar.

Phil Nimmons (clarinetist, composer, arranger, and band leader) was born in Kamloops, British Columbia on June 3, 1923, and raised in Vancouver. His life-long career in music began with playing clarinet in high school, and leading a small band in his Point Grey neighbourhood. Nimmons studied at the University of British Columbia 1940-1944 in preparation for a career in medicine. At this time, he played in local dance bands (Sandy DeSantis, Stan Patton, Barney Potts, Wilf Wylie, and Dal Richards) and joined the jazz quintet of the guitarist Ray Norris, where he actively arranged a substantial body of music. He subsequently studied clarinet 1945-1947 at the Juilliard School with Arthur Christmann and composition 1948-1950 at the Royal Conservatory of Music with Richard Johnston, Arnold Walter, and John Weinzweig.

In 1953, Nimmons formed his own jazz band (which took the name Nimmons 'N' Nine in 1957). Early broadcasts on CBC and its concert debut in 1956 at the Stratford Festival marked the beginning of this venture. Through various iterations, including Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six, this ensemble continued in some form much of the rest of his career. Subsequently, Nimmons has performed with David Braid, billing themselves as Nimmons ‘N’ Braid. In November 2013, Nimmons performed in a concert billed as “Nimmons ‘N’ 90” in celebration of his 90th year. Nimmons joined the University of Toronto in 1973 as instructor in jazz techniques and was named Director Emeritus of Jazz Studies in 1991.

Nimmons, and his ensembles, toured widely, including many engagements around the world. Nimmons is known to create works in both the jazz and classical vein. Nimmons was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre. He also founded jazz programs at several schools and universities, including the Banff School of Fine Arts (1970), the University of Toronto (1973), the University of Western Ontario (1978), the Courtney Youth Music Centre (1982), and the InterProvincial Music Camp, near Parry Sound, Ontario (1987).

Nimmons was awarded the first Juno in the Jazz category in 1976 for the recording of his Atlantic Suite (1974) by Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six. Nimmons has received many commissions including “Transformations” (premiered by Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six), which was commissioned jointly by the CBC and the Ontario Arts Council for World Music Week Conference (1975), hosted by the Canadian Music Council on behalf of the International Music Council (UNESCO). “Invocation” was commissioned jointly by COJO and the Ontario Arts Council and was premiered by Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six in the 1976 Olympic Games. “Plateaus: Cartiboo Country Tone Poem,” commissioned by the CBC Vancouver Orchestra and premiered in 1986, was subsequently recorded by that ensemble for CBC Classics. The Olympic Arts Festival of the 1986 Winter Games commissioned “The Torch,” and the work was premiered in Calgary by an Olympic Jazz Band, directed by Rob McConnell.

Nimmons passed away in his home in Toronto on April 5, 2024.

Co-owners of the BamBoo Club, Patti Habib and Richard O’Brien met when they both worked at CBC Radio. O’Brien worked on This Country in the Morning and Habib worked as a story producer for CBC Radio’s As It Happens. The two ran a speakeasy named M.B.C. in the late 1970s. The name was an allusion to the fact that Habib and O’Brien had been unable to buy the legendary Embassy Tavern which was nearby. The M.B.C. was open only two days a week (Monday and Thursday) but it attracted big names of the day such as Rough Trade, Parachute Club to soul singer Junior Walker. Bands would often play until 6a.m.
Habib and O’Brien spent these early years building a reputation for throwing [adjective] parties and building a mailing list of attendees. In 1983 they leased a space at 312 Queen Street West that had been a laundry and then a shop called Wicker World and the BamBoo Club was born.
The space needed massive renovations including adding toilets, fixing the plumbing, and removing heavy equipment from when the space was a laundromat. O’Brien and Habib enlisted many friends to help with the renovations and sourced their furniture and decorations for the club from clubs that had gone out of business. They had promised to host the release party for Parachute Club’s debut self-titled album and they kept that promise despite not having a liquor license nor running water in the venue. The club officially opened on August 26, 1983 with a show by American funk band, Prince Charles and the City Beat Band.
The BamBoo quickly built a reputation as an unpretentious space with good food and the best in live performances of world music. The very popular menu of Thai and West Indian food was thanks to chefs Wandee Young and Vera Khan respectively. The menu changed very little through the club’s almost 20 year run and in 1997 Patti Habib and Richard O’Brien put out a cookbook based on that menu. The kitchen’s “Spicy Thai Noodles” was the first introduction for many Torontonians to Pad Thai.
In summer of 1984, Habib and O’Brien opened the club’s rooftop patio dubbed the Treetop Lounge. This offered a view of the Toronto skyline including the CN Tower and a Jamaican style bar and bbq. The Treetop Lounge raised the club’s legal capacity to 500.
The décor of the club was bright and colourful. Much of it’s aesthetic was due to artist Barbara Klunder. Her African-influenced art was essential to the BamBoo’s marketing. The logo, ads, menus, posters, t-shirts, giant murals, monthly newsletters, and much more were designed by Klunder in her unique style.
Richard O’Brien was responsible for booking most of the bands and the BamBoo’s lineups reflected his taste in music. The BamBoo was somewhat unique in the Queen Street West scene because, with space for 500 patrons, it had a much larger capacity than many of the other small clubs on Queen Street. The capacity made it an attractive venue for larger international acts. Over the years it featured international musicians and bands such as Hugh Masekela, Fishbone, Cecil Taylor, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Emiliano Salvador, David Byrne, King Sunny Ade, George Clinton, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Erykah Badu, sonny Okusun, Kanda Bongo Man, Native Spirit, Okyerema Asante, Sankofa, Slim Gaillard, Bunny Waller, Buckwheat Zydeco, and many more. It was the venue for early iterations of Afrofest. It also provided a stage for local talent such as Leroy Sibbles, Mesenjah, Rio Connection, CoCaDa, Ramiro’s Latin Orchestra, Mother Tongue, Arrow, Molly Johnson, Soul Stew, Siyaka, Lillian Allen, the Shuffle Demons, Willie Williams, Clifton Joseph, Jason, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Parachute Club and later Parachute frontwoman Lorraine Segato’s solo projects, 20th Century Rebels, Skatones, Kali & Dub, Jacksoul, Bass Is Base, the Sattellites (their 1987 live album Live Via Sattalites was recorded at the BamBoo), and many more. The club also hosted yearly Christmas parties with a Santa Claus for the kids, as well as benefits for various causes, notably they initiated a pro-choice Queen Street club crawl in support of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, and an event to support the CBC which featured everyone from Margaret Attwood to Ernie Coombs (aka Mr. Dressup). The BamBoo was also home to an annual St. Patrick’s Day event that Richard O’Brien and childhood friend Marcus O’Hara had founded in the late 1970s called Martian Awareness Ball. These events also featured O’Hara’s sisters singer, Mary Margaret O’Hara and actress Catherine O’Hara. The club also played host to many parties and events including its annual Toronto International Film Festival parties and its Caribana parties.
The BamBoo was also known as a great place to work. The staff was incredibly close knit, they often worked and socialized together. Patti Habib and Richard O’Brien were known for helping the staff out in any way they could.
In 2000 Richard O’Brien had a very serious stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side. He was not able to participate in running the club as much as before so all of the work fell to Patti Habib. The club closed after their October 31st 2002 event called BooHoo where the Sattalites and Billy Bryans performed. Richard O’Brien had plans for a new venue called Bambu By the Lake on Queens Quay. The venue did not work out and O’Brien suffered a second stroke in 2007 and passed away.
The BamBoo Club is gone by very much not forgotten. Several reunion parties have taken place and Patti Habib maintains a very active Facebook group called BamBoo Reunion where she and others post updates about former staff and bands who played the club.

Doug Williams was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1946. He directed his first dramatic film at the age of 18 in 1965. He studied drawing and painting at Arts & Crafts/Wayne State University, photography at OCAD, creative writing at University of Toronto, and is a graduate of London Film School U.K. (formerly London School of Film Technique).
He is the author of a coming-of-age travel memoir, Promised Lands: Growing Up Absurd in the 1950s and ‘60s. Williams is married to screenwriter Laura Phillips, and has two children.
His directorial credits include: Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1984); Best of Both Worlds (1984); Hitler’s Canadians (2007); and many episodes of television shows such as The Phoenix Team (CBC), Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (Landmark Entertainment), T and T (Nelvana), Mister Dressup Show (CBC), Fraggle Rock (CBC/Jim Henson), Polka Dot Door (TVO), Join In (TVO), The Maximum Dimension (TVO), The Elephant Show (CBC), Eric’s World (CBC), Spread Your Wings (CBC), and two pilots: Great Work If You Can Get It (CBC) and The Wee Wonders (PBS).
In 2016 Williams began a series of video interviews with comrades and friends from his days in the League for Socialist Action (LSA). He wanted to preserve the memories of the activism of the group. Interviews were conducted all across Canada and included everyone from LSA that Williams could find and that agreed to be interviewed. Williams edited the many hours of video and created the film Let’s Rent A Train (2023).

Caryll Houselander was born on September 29, 1901, in Bath, England, to Gertrude Provis Houselander and Willmott Houselander. After her parents' separation, Houselander was sent to a French-run convent boarding school in Olton (1913-1915) until she became ill and paused her education to live in a convalescent home. In 1917, she moved to an English convent school, but dropped out to begin working that same year. Despite lacking formal theological education, Houselander went on to make significant contributions to various religious periodicals and published multiple books throughout her adult life. She was a Catholic artist, mystic, and spiritual writer. Her first book, "This War is the Passion," was published in 1941. Houselander's work often explored the theme of finding Christ in humanity and emphasized the importance of empathy in the modern age. Her writings provided comfort and guidance to many individuals during and after the World Wars. Houselander passed away on October 12, 1954, at the age of 53.

John Coolidge Hurd Jr was a theologian, educator, and pioneer of computer-assisted research in the humanities, who served as a professor in the Faculty of Divinity at a Trinity College from 1967 to 1993. He was born on 26 March 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Harvard University where he received a BS in chemistry in 1949. He then attended the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA, obtaining a Bachelor of Divinity in 1952 before receiving an MA and PhD from Yale University in 1957 and 1961 respectively. He taught religion at Princeton University and New Testament at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, before becoming a professor of New Testament Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity College, University of Toronto in 1967.

He served as editor-in-chief of the Anglican Theological Review (1966-1969) and was president of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (1972-1973) as well as the chairman of several other societies including the Working Group on Computer-Assisted Research in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Association of Theological Schools Selection Panel for Curriculum Development and Teaching, and several within the University of Toronto and Trinity College. For over twenty years Hurd served as Trinity's Director of Advanced Degree Studies. In 1977 he received an award from the Association of Theological Schools for the development of computer-assisted instructional materials in his Greek Tutor programme.

Hurd was appointed Dean of Divinity (pro tem) in 1992 and held that position until 30 June 1993. As dean, Hurd also sat on the Diocese of Toronto candidate committee and on the Provincial Commission on Theological Education. He is one of the founders of the Toronto School of Theology. In 2002 Trinity College awarded Hurd the degree of Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa).

Hurd's publications include A Bibliography of New Testament Bibliographies (1966), The Origin of 1 Corinthians (1984), and From Jesus to Paul: Studies in Honour of Francis Wright Beare (1984).

John C. Hurd married Helen Porter on 20 December 1948. They have three children, Elizabeth (born 7 March 1953), Louisa (born 22 January 1956), and Lyman (born 17 October 1961). Helen Hurd died 7 May 2016. John Hurd died 16 October 2025.

Stephen Harold Riggins was born in 1946 in Loogootee, Indiana, to parents Harold and Eithel Riggins. Riggins completed his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology in 1968, and his Masters of Arts in Sociology in 1971, both from Indiana University. He obtained his PhD in Sociology in 1980 from the University of Toronto. His thesis was entitled "Institutional Change in Nineteenth-Century French Music". Dr. Riggins has taught courses at Sociology departments of various universities, including the University of Toronto from 1981 to 1982 and 1989 to 1990, at Laurentian University from 1982 to 1985 and at the University of Alberta in Edmonton from 1986 to 1989. In 1990 he accepted a teaching position in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador as an Assistant Professor. He became a full Professor and then Head of the Department of Sociology in 2005. Dr. Riggins retired from teaching in 2015.

Stephen Riggins is a member of various professional associations, including the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association, Canadian Society for Asian Studies, American Sociological Association, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and the Indiana Historical Society. He has participated as an organizer and participant in various conferences including the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association's annual meetings. His teaching interests include mass communication and public opinion, sociology of the arts and popular culture, and sociology of families and deviance. His research interests include ethnicity and mass media, symbolic interactionism, contemporary French cultural policy and democratization of culture.

Dr. Riggins has published numerous articles, as well as books, including Beyond Goffman: Studies on Communication, Institution, and Social Interaction (1990), Ethnic Minority Media: An International Perspective (1992), The Socialness of Things: Essays on the Socio-semiotics of Objects (1994), The Language and Politics of Exclusion: Others in Discourse (1997), The Pleasures of Time: Two Men, A Life (2003), Creating a University: The Newfoundland Experience (2019, with Roberta Buchanan) and Canadian Sociologists in the First Person (2021, with Neil McLaughlin). He has been with his partner, Paul Bouissac, for over 50 years and presently divides his time between St. John's and Toronto.

The Toronto Chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNCTO) was incorporated in Ontario in 1985. The grassroots, non-profit organization is made up of Chinese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area organizing to advance equity, social justice, and inclusive civic participation of Chinese Canadians, under an overarching respect for diversity and human rights. Major activities include public education, systemic advocacy, community development, coalition building, and providing direct assistance to individuals facing discrimination.

The CCNCTO is a local member chapter of the umbrella Chinese Canadian National Council that was formed in Ontario in 1980 (as the Chinese Canadian National Council for Equality) as an outcome of the Anti-W5 campaign protesting the irresponsible journalism of CTV. Chinese Canadians across the country had mobilized against the national television network’s W5 program segment “Campus Giveaway” (aired September 30, 1979) that depicted Chinese-presenting students as “foreigners” taking up “Canadian” spots on university campuses. In Toronto, an Ad Hoc Committee Against W5 under the Chinese Canadian Council of Ontario first gathered in support of University of Toronto students whose images were included in the segment without their consent and who took legal action against CTV. The campaign concluded in April 1980 with a public apology from CTV and the formation of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Equality and some of its first member chapters. The Toronto Chapter is a direct offspring of the Toronto Ad Hoc Committee Against W5.

A major, decades-long issue within the Chinese Canadian community taken up by the CCNC and supported by the CCNCTO was the campaign for redress among those who had paid the discriminatory Chinese head tax to enter Canada under the country's Chinese Immigration Act (1885-1947).

Herbert Edward Terrick Haultain (1869-1961) was a mining engineer, inventor, and professor at the University of Toronto. He received a degree in civil engineering from U of T in 1889, after which he worked for several mining companies until returning to the University in 1909 as a professor of mining engineering. He held this position for 30 years before stepping back from teaching to focus on research.

During Haultain’s tenure as professor, he initiated the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, requesting author Rudyard Kipling to compose the text. The ceremony was first held in 1925 and has since spread to be used at universities throughout Canada.

Haultain was also an advocate for public well-being initiatives, such as occupational therapy for injured soldiers returning from World War I. He established the first occupational therapy program at the University of Toronto in 1918 - a ward aide course held in the Mining Building - which would become the foundation for modern occupational therapy studies at the University. The six-week course would eventually develop into a two-year long diploma run by the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Reestablishment by 1926, then a full degree offered by the Faculty of Science by 1974. Similarly, he co-founded the Technical Service Council in 1927 out of an interest in the Canadian economy. The Council aimed to combat the loss of Canadian engineering graduates to foreign industries, especially to the United States.

Around 1937, Haultain invented the Infrasizer and the Superpanner. These devices were used to separate ores in mining laboratories, functioning as advancements from traditional gold panning. By the 1940s, the Infrasizer in particular saw success in mine operations around the world. His contributions to the process of milling ore were recognized with the Randolph Bruce gold medal, awarded by the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and in 1994, he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

Professor Emmet I. Robbins (1939–2011) was a classicist and Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Toronto. His scholarship focused on ancient Greek poetry, particularly Greek lyric. His approach also explored Greek texts within broader cultural and literary frameworks, drawing connections between ancient Greek poetry and other artistic and mythological traditions.

Robbins started his post-secondary education at Carleton University, then continued at the University of Toronto, where he completed his B.A. (Honours Classics, 1963), M.A. (1965), and Ph.D. (1968). After several years abroad, Robbins returned to the University of Toronto in 1972, joining St. Michael’s College. He served as Chair of the Department of Classics from 1990 to 2000. His collected essays were published posthumously in Thalia Delighting in Song (2017). In addition to his scholarly work, Robbins was known for his broad interests, particularly as a musician and avid language learner.

Robbins died in Toronto in 2011.

References:
MacLachlan, B. (2011). In memoriam : Emmet Robbins. Canadian Classical Bulletin,
17.12.1. https://www.cac-scec.ca/wp-content/uploads/bulletin/ccb17/ccb17_12.1.html

Robbins, E. I., & MacLachlan, B. (2017). Forward in Thalia Delighting in Song : Essays on Ancient Greek Poetry (1st ed.). University of Toronto Press,. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442662346

Miriam Saville was a diabetic patient treated by Dr. Charles Best in late 1929 when she was about fourteen years old.

Biographical note provided by Catherine Caufield (Miriam’s niece):

Miriam Saville was born November 10, 1916 in the White Horse Inn, Foxton, Cambridgeshire, England. The White Horse was owned by the family of her mother (Miriam Saville [1895-1986], née Smith).

Miriam Smith Saville married Harry Saville on October 26, 1915. Baby Miriam, born in November 1916, lived above the White Horse with the large extended family until her father came home from the war (WWI) injured in body and spirit. In 1920, they immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, where four more children were born. The family faced great hardship. Harry’s war injuries made steady work difficult, and the Great Depression deepened their poverty. During this period, Miriam’s mother took on housecleaning jobs to help support the family, a form of employment that was often socially stigmatized for married women at the time.

Miriam grew up on St. Germain Avenue in Toronto. As a child, Miriam was among the early recipients of insulin, receiving treatment after falling into a diabetic coma in late 1929, when she was around fourteen years old. The coma got her the medical attention she had needed for some time.

Miriam married Richard Chalk in 1942 at St Timothy's Anglican Church, located just around the corner from her childhood home. The couple settled in Mimico (now part of Etobicoke), and had one daughter, Barbara, born on January 5, 1944.

In her later years, Miriam gradually lost her sight, likely due to diabetes. Her mother would take travel every Thursday by streetcar from St. Germain Avenue to Mimico to help her daughter with housework. Miriam’s nieces, Catherine and Janet, recall going to the hospital so their mother could visit her.  

Miriam Saville Chalk died on October 21, 1969, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947) was a Canadian civil servant, poet and short story writer. Scott was a member of a group known as the "Confederation poets" which also included Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman. This term was first applied to them by scholar and editor Malcolm Ross when he collected their work in the anthology Poets of the Confederation (McClelland & Stewart, 1960). The Confederation poets were the first Canadian writers to become widely known after Confederation in 1867. Scott’s legacy as one of Canada’s preeminent poets has been overshadowed by the prominent role he played in supporting the forced assimilation of Indigenous children through the residential school system.

In 1880 Scott joined the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs as a third-class clerk. In 1893 he was promoted to Chief Accountant. He was made superintendent of Indian Education in 1909 and was deputy superintendent-general from 1913 to 1932. As deputy superintendent, Scott oversaw and expanded the residential school system for Indigenous children. In its 2015 report, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) stated that that residential schools were “part of a coherent policy to eliminate Indigenous people as distinct peoples and to assimilate them into the Canadian mainstream against their will.” The establishment and operation of residential schools has been labelled by the TRC as cultural genocide.

In 2023, the University of Toronto rescinded Scott's honorary degree following a student petition-initiated review process and unanimous recommendation to de-recognize by the university's Standing Committee on Recognition. The associated statement identified Scott's responsibility for "the expansion and entrenchment of the Indian residential school system" and cited "an abhorrent disregard on the part of Scott (and Canada) for the fundamental human rights of Indigenous populations, and especially Indigenous children." (From: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-derecognizes-duncan-campbell-scott-role-indigenous-residential-school-system).

The library at Victoria University (and its earlier institutions) existed from at least the 1840s. In 1910, the Birge Carnegie Library was built to house the collection, and in 1961 the Victoria College Library was built for the Victoria College collection; the library was renamed to the E.J. Pratt Library in 1967.

The position of Librarian existed at Victoria University dating back to at least 1878. Incumbents in the position included:

• Gervas Holmes, 1878-1879
• S.C. Smoke, 1879-1881
• Andrew J. Bell, 1881-1886; 1888-1889
• Lewis E. Horning, 1886-1888
• Abraham R. Bain, 1889-1891
• R. H. Johnston, 1891-1896
• John Fletcher McLaughlin, 1896-1907, 1912-1913 (Acting)
• Augustus Edward Lang, 1907-1912, 1913-1924
• Francis Louis Barber, 1924-1945
• John Daniel Robins, 1945-1952
• Margaret V. Ray, 1952-1965
• Lorna D. Fraser, 1965-1977
• Robert C. Brandeis, 1977-2013
• Lisa Sherlock, 2013-2024
• Roma Kail, 2024-2025 (Interim)
• Amy Furness, 2025-Present

Deborah Barnett (born December 15, 1953) is a Canadian creative director, fine press printer, and graphic designer based in Toronto.

She attended high school at Central Technical School in Toronto and was accepted into the school’s art program, where she took an interest in sculpture and drawing. Shortly after graduating, she became a founding member of Dreadnaught Press, working first as an apprentice, and later as an art director. The fine press printing collective was well-known in the Canadian literary and publishing community, and served as a space for Barnett to hone her print, design, and typography skills.

Beginning in 1981, Barnett lectured at the annual Banff Publishing Workshop in Alberta for nearly a decade, teaching design, art direction, and colour theory. After Dreadnaught Press disbanded in the mid 1980s, she started her own commercial design studio under the name Dreadnaught Design. Clients included Price Waterhouse Cooper, The National Arts Centre, The National Ballet of Canada, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, and Reed Books Canada. In 2001, Dreadnaught Design became Someone.ca. Launched by Barnett and business partner Aaron Benson, Someone.ca specialized in website development, web design, and communications. During this time, Barnett also took on creative director roles for several large investment firms. She returned to more extensive fine press printing in 2010, collaborating on letterpress projects and creating custom materials for clients. In 2015, she launched Someone Editions, a specialty letterpress imprint in the spirit of Dreadnaught Press, alongside editor and poet Beatriz Hausner.

In 2018, Barnett took on the role of Master Printer at Kelly Library at St. Michael’s College, where she taught printing and typesetting workshops, and led production of a series of limited edition chapbooks for the Kelly Library Print Studio. In 2021, she earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Interdisciplinary Art, Media, and Design (IAMD) from OCAD University.

Author of One Man Alone, Days of Rage and Quebec in Revolt: the Guibord Affair.

Leong Ding Bong was a photographer based in Vancouver, B.C. He also ran a hat and tailor store.

Willard Gurdon Oxtoby was a scholar of religion and a professor at Trinity College from 1971 until 1999. Oxtoby was born 29 July 1933 in Kentfield, California to Gurdon C. Ox-toby and Miriam Burrell Oxtoby. Willard Oxtoby graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Stanford University in 1955. He then attended Princeton University where he received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in 1962. From 1958 to 1960 he worked in Jerusalem as part of the team that studied the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1963 he was ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church.

Oxtoby’s first teaching appointment was in the Faculty of Divinity at McGill University where he taught a course on Jerusalem, among others, from 1960 to 1964. Oxtoby then undertook postdoctoral studies in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Comparative Religion at Harvard where he also held a teaching fellowship. From 1966 to 1971 Oxtoby was an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Yale and from 1971 until his retirement in 1999 he was a professor of the study of religion at Trinity College, University of Toronto. While at the University of Toronto Oxtoby founded the Centre for Religious Studies in the School of Graduate Studies and served as its director from 1976 to 1981. Oxtoby also served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Religion at Princeton University from 1971 to 1984 and served as President of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Islamic Research from 1984 to 1992. In 1964 Oxtoby was elected to the American Society for the Study of Religion; he served as the Society’s Vice President from 1984 to 1987 and President from 1990 to 1993.

Willard Oxtoby’s publications include The Meaning of Other Faiths (1983), Moral Enlightenment: Leibniz and Wolff on China (1992) (with Julia Ching), World Religions: Western Traditions (1996) and World Religions: Eastern Traditions (1996). Oxtoby also edited the American Academy of Religion’s Monograph Series AAR Studies in Religion (1969-1970) and was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Pluralism.

In 1958 Willard Oxtoby married Layla Jurji, and they had two children, David (b. 1960) and Susan (b. 1963). Layla Jurji died in 1980 and in 1981 Oxtoby married Julia Ching, a scholar of Chinese philosophy and religion and a professor at the University of Toronto. Julia Ching died on 26 October 2001 and Oxtoby died on 6 March 2003 in Toronto

Paul Grant Stanwood is a Professor of English specializing in literature from Renaissance and Reformation England. He was born April 25, 1933, in Des Moines, Iowa. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1954 from the Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), he went on to continue his studies in English Language and Literature/Letters at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), where he obtained his MA in 1956 and PhD in 1961, and also studied abroad at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1958-59. He began his teaching career at Tufts University in 1961, and has also at various times taught at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), the University of Cambridge, the University of York, and the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg. However, he has been most active at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he has been a Professor of English since 1975 and Professor Emeritus since 1998.

Stanwood’s specialization in English rests largely in Reformation-era literature and theology, which first materialized when he edited the last three parts of Richard Hooker’s signature work, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. For this publication, he was part of a joint venture supported by the Folger Shakespeare Library to edit and republish the works of Hooker, which was headed by New York University Professor William Speed Hill (1935-2007), who served as general editor of this edition. Stanwood completed his editing of the Ecclesiastical Polity in 1981, which formed the third of five volumes that were published by Harvard University, and served on the editorial staff until the final volume’s publication in 1998.

Following this, Stanwood continued his investigations into English literature, publishing books on John Donne, John Milton, and Izaak Walton. His most recent work, Paul’s Cross and the Culture of Persuasion in England, 1520-1640, as well as Sermons at Paul’s Cross 1521-1642, was a collaboration with Torrance Kirby, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at McGill University. For his contributions to the study of the English language in the Renaissance and Reformation, Stanwood was made director of the Fourth International Milton Symposium at UBC in 1991, received a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies in 2008, and variously served as President of the John Donne Society and President of the International Association of University Professors of English. His Sedgwick Lecture, delivered at UBC in March 2008, was published as John Donne and the Line of Wit: From Metaphysical to Modernist in 2009, following which he received the John Donne Society Distinguished Service Award in 2010. He also won accolades for his contributions to Anglican theological study, receiving an honorary Doctor of Sacred Letters degree from the University of Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 2003, and investment into the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster in November 2013.

Stanwood continues to teach at UBC, and lives in Vancouver. The university instituted a prize in his honour, the Paul G. Stanwood Prize, presented to PhD graduates in English with the best thesis.

Sinclair McLardy Adams was born in London, Ontario on 5 April 1891. He graduated with a BA in Honours Classics, Trinity College, Toronto, in 1913. After a short period as a reporter with the Toronto Daily Star, he taught for three years as classics master at Appleby College, Oakville. In 1919 he received his MA degree in Arts at Trinity College and joined the faculty as a member of the Classics staff in 1920. He served the College in many capacities, including Professor of Classics from 1933 and Professor of Greek from 1936 to the late 1950s. He was College Librarian from 1927 to 1954 and Professor Emeritus until his death. He was a popular teacher and a contributor of many published articles. The culmination of a lifetime’s work on his favourite author was Sophocles the Playwright, published by University of Toronto Press in 1957.

In 1919 Adams married Valerie Dell Waddington (1892-1948), sister of Mossie May Waddington Kirkwood. Prof. and Mrs. Adams had two sons, Geoffrey (1926-2012) and Eric (1933-1934). Prof. Adams died in Toronto on June 9, 1960