We are pleased to invite you to attend the next public meeting of the West Toronto Junction Historical Society:
Thursday, May 7 @7:00 pm – Annette Branch, Toronto Public Library, 145 Annette Street.
Alison will be discussing the history of the first and longest-running residential school in Canada.
Alison Norman is a settler historian, researcher, and historical consultant. She is a member of the Mohawk Institute Research Group, and is co-editor of a recently published book on the history of the Mohawk Institute entitled “Behind the Bricks: The Life and Times of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s Longest-Running Residential School.”
Published in September 2025, “Behind the Bricks” tells the story of Canada’s first and longest-running residential school which operated from 1828 to 1970 in Brantford, Ontario. Many consider the Mohawk Institute to have been a model for the entire residential school system. “Behind the Bricks” brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts to examine the policies and motivations that shaped the experiences of all three parties involved with the school—the government, the church, and the students and their communities.
Alison earned her Ph.D. and B.Ed. from OISE/University of Toronto, where her dissertation focused on Six Nations women’s work in the early 20th Century. She held a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship at Trent University in which she began research into the history of Indigenous teachers in 19th century southern Ontario, and she worked as a researcher for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Alison also worked in the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs as a historian for six years, and is currently a Senior Historian at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
The WTJHS Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the lower level auditorium of the Annette Street Library. Please plan to attend.
The AGM agenda will include the following major items:
Election of a Board of Directors in accordance with the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act bylaw;
The 2025 Financial Statements prepared by our accounting firm;
A proposed 2026 budget;
The 2025 WTJHS Annual Report, the primary resource for reporting on our 2025 activities.
Call for Nominations for the WTJHS Board of Directors
A 13-person Board of Directors will be voted on at the AGM. Several current Directors have indicated their desire to remain on the Board. However, there are vacant positions that still need to be filled.
This is a Call for Nominations for any of the following vacant Director positions.
Chair of the Board
Secretary
Engagement Facilitator
Detailed role descriptions of these positions are found on the WTJHS website under Volunteer Opportunities – Board of Directors.
Volunteers are also needed to fill other vital roles which do not require election. Details of these roles are found on the WTJHS website under Volunteer Opportunities – Other Volunteer Roles.
A Nomination Committee has been formed to compile a slate of Director nominees to present to members for election at the AGM. If you are interested in serving as a Director for one year, or are available for other roles within the organization, please submit your request to the Nomination Committee at junctionhistorical@gmail.com by April 23, 2026. We will be in touch.
Zahra Ebrahim will lead us in a part reading, part talk, and part discussion, highlighting essays from the book she co-edited, Messy Cities: Why We Can’t Plan Everything. Zahra will be sharing the inspiration behind the book, the tensions of “messiness” and giving a richer context of the stories shared about our west end community.
📅 Date: Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 🕖 Time: 7:00 PM 📍 Location: Annette Street Library
Zahra Ebrahim is the Co-Founder of Monumental. Her work has a deep focus on community-led approaches to policy, infrastructure, and service design. Over the last two decades, Zahra has worked with communities to co-design towards better social outcomes, leading some of Canada’s most ambitious participatory infrastructure and policy programs.
Zahra is currently an Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, and an Adjunct Professor at the Daniels School of Architecture. She is also Vice-Chair of the Toronto Arts Council, and Chair Emeritus at Park People. She is the co-editor of the book Messy Cities, and her newest book, Women, Walking, is set for release by Coach House Books in September 2026.
John Beram will take us on a fascinating tour of the former industries of the West End of Toronto and the connections some of these companies had with the West Toronto Industrial Athletic Association and the sports leagues and facilities they supported, such as the Ravina Gardens Arena, and their lasting impact on our community’s character.
📅 Date: Thursday, March 5th 🕖 Time: 7:00 PM 📍 Location: Annette Street Library
John Beram grew up in the Junction Area and attended public and high school locally. He has a keen interest in the west Toronto industrial history and has spoken on many occasion on these local employers and their history.
A video recording will be provided after the talk.
West Toronto Junction Historical Society 