The Ward Uncovered: The Archaeology of Everyday Life
250
The Ward Uncovered: The Archaeology of Everyday Life
250Paperback
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Overview
In early 2015, a team of archaeologists began digging test trenches on a non-descript parking lot next to Toronto City Hall — a site designated to become a major new court house. What they discovered was the rich buried history of an enclave that was part of The Ward — that dense, poor, but vibrant 'arrival city' that took shape between the 1840s and the 1950s. Home to waves of immigrants and refugees — Irish, African-Americans, Italians, eastern European Jews, and Chinese — The Ward was stigmatized for decades by Toronto's politicians and residents, and eventually razed to make way for New City Hall. The archaeologists who excavated the lot, led by co-editor Holly Martelle, discovered almost half a million artifacts — a spectacular collection of household items, tools, toys, shoes, musical instruments, bottles, industrial objects, food scraps, luxury items, and even a pre-contact Indigenous projectile point. Martelle's team also unearthed the foundations of a nineteenth-century Black church, a Russian synagogue, early-twentieth-century factories, cisterns, privies, wooden drains, and even row houses built by formerly enslaved African Americans.
Following on the heels of the immensely popular The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood, which told the stories of some of the people who lived there, The Ward Uncovered digs up the tales of things, using these well-preserved artifacts to tell a different set of stories about life in this long-forgotten and much-maligned neighbourhood.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781552453698 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Coach House Books |
| Publication date: | 07/17/2018 |
| Pages: | 250 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.25(w) x 8.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Holly Martelle founded Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants Inc., which was honoured with the Ontario Archaeological Society’s award for Excellence in Cultural Resource Management in 2013. She lives in Toronto.
Michael McClelland, OAA, FRAIC, is a registered architect with over twenty years of experience. He is actively involved in the promotion of Canada’s architectural heritage and is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants (CAPHC). He is the recipient of a certificate of recognition from the Ontario Association of Architects and the Toronto Society of Architects for his outstanding contributions to architecture and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Tatum Taylor is a writer and heritage specialist at ERA Architects. She holds a master's degree in historic preservation from Columbia University, where she worked on the editorial team for the Future Anterior Journal. She lives in Toronto.
Table of Contents
Preface Hon Jean Augustine 12
Introduction: The Object Is The Subject John Lorinc Tatum Taylor 18
The Lay of The Land 25
Park Lot 11 John Lorinc 26
Chief Justice Robinson's Plan Guylaine Petrin 30
Doing Justice to the Courthouse Site Tatum Taylor 34
Daily Life 39
The Privies Holly Martelle 41
A Fine Kettle of Fish Holly Martelle 46
You Are How You Eat Tom Porawski 52
Coconuts In Latrines! Elizabeth Driver 58
Digging Up the North Market Peter Popkin 62
A Matter of Mending Matthew Beaudoin 68
Ceramics as Nineteenth-Century Social Media Holly Martelle 71
Two Eyes and a Smile Abbey Flower 77
The Civic Engagement of Ward Children Bethany Good 84
'Jewish Boys With Hoops' Vid Ingelevics 89
All Manner of Shoes Abbey Flower 94
The Milk Bottle Battle Sarah B. Hood 96
The Seltzer Bottle's Journey Nicole Brandon 101
Work Life 107
A Tool From Another Time: The Projectile Point Ronald F. Williamson 108
Adding Sparkle to Everyday Life Sarah B. Hood 113
When EATON'S Pitched Its Tent Wayne Reeves 119
Cap and Trade Ellen Scheinberg 124
The Multiple Lives of Ordinary Buildings John Lorinc 127
The Commercial Tenants of Chestnut Street's Factories 132
Social Life 135
The History of a Black Canadian Church Rosemary Sadlier 136
Freedom Abounds Natasha Henry 142
Resisting Stereotypes: African Torontonians Protest Minstrelsy Karolyn Smardz Frost 150
Remembering Uncle TOM'S Cabin Cheryl Tompson 156
A Slack Literary Society Heather Murray 163
'Fashionable Jamaican Wedding Kathy Grant 167
The Synagogue on Centre Avenue Simon Patrick Rogers 173
Animal Bones, Broken Dishes, and a Cup For Elijah Holly Martelle 178
The Role of the Shammas Ellen Scheinberg 184
Worship Services in Translation Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng 186
Memories of the Chinese United Church Gordon Chong 191
Individual Lives 195
Writing Home Edited Tatum Taylor 196
Correspondent: Cecelia Holmes Karolyn Smardz Frost 202
More Than a Shoemaker: Francis Griffin Simpson Karolyn Smardz Frost 208
Francis Simpson on Being Black In 1860S Toronto Edited John Lorinc 213
The Arresting Case of Annie Whalen Craig Heron 219
A Druggist for Chinatown: Tom Lock Arlene Chan 224
The Stone in the Ground: Rev. Thomas Jackson Rosemary Sadlier 229
From Pushcart to Property Magnate: Henry Greisman Ellen Scheinberg 234
The Archaeological Life 239
Bomb Scare Holly Martelle 240
Mapping the Past Micheal McCleland 246
Why Were Archaeologists Working In The Ward? Ronald F. Williamson David Robertson 252
Water Table: How the Organics Survived Abbey Flower 258
The Mystery of the Hidden Cross Holly Martelle 262
The Layered City: The Promise of Urban Archaeology John Lorinc 265
Drawing Conclusions Holly Martelle Micheal Mcclelland John Lorinc Tatum Taylor 276
Notes 283
Image Credits 293
The Contributors 295
The Editors 301
Acknowledgements 303