John Danahy has contributed in a major way to the success of the Lakeview Legacy Project

I had the good fortune to attend a presentation on January 18, 2012 by John W. Danahy of the University of Toronto faculty of architecture, landscape, and design. The talk, organized by the Lakeshore Planning Council Inc., was at the Mimico Centennial Library. In a previous post, I speculated about the differences, if any, between the […]

I will bear witness: A diary of the Nazi years (Victor Klemperer 1998)

In the prologue to I will bear witness: A diary of the Nazi years (1998), Malcolm Chalmers notes that for readers in Germany, Victor Klemperer’s wartime diary “has become one of the key works through which the Third Reich and the murder of the Jews is understood.” A unique feature of the diaries, Chalmers adds, is […]

Eric Williams, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1961 until his death in 1981, wrote a widely cited book about capitalism and slavery

The British empire was dismantled after the end of the Second World War

I was in elementary school in Montreal in 1955 when the ‘Richard Riot’ occurred in that city. The event, on March 17, 1955, was named after Maurice Richard, the star player for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. In later years it was described as a key factor in Quebec’s Quiet Revolution of […]

Study tracking 2.5 million students over 20 years links good teachers to lasting gain

I found this January 2012 New York Times article, about research that links good teachers to lasting gains, of interest. The article reports that a large-scale study – tracking 2.5 million students over 20 years – found that public school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores appear to have a lasting positive effect […]

Show and Tell Evening – January 17, 2012 – Long Branch Library

The next meeting of the Long Branch Historical Society will be at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, January 12, 2012. Meetings are held at the Long Branch Library, 3500 Lake Shore Blvd. West. The meeting will feature a Show and Tell Evening of Artifacts and Memorabilia. You don’t need to be a member to attend our […]

The first Crusade: Military leadership entails the management of violence

Among the books I’ve been reading with regard to military history is Armies of heaven: The first Crusade and the quest for apocalypse (2011). Jay Rubenstein does a commendable job of citing sources in such a way that the story is driven forward at a steady pace, covering vast amounts of ground while maintaining the […]

Karolyn Smardz Frost (2007) documents the story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn who “stole themselves” from slavery

Further details regarding Mimico’s Town Hall

I’m pleased to share with you the following comments from Paul Chomik: “There is not, and never has been a community named ‘Mimico-by-the-Lake’. That is simply the name of Mimico’s second Business Improvement Area (BIA) which does not contain or represent any residents – it only represents some of Mimico’s businesses. The community should never […]