National Post

TAKE A STROLL THROUGH HISTORY

HERITAGE TORONTO HONOURS NOTABLE FIGURES WITH LEGACY PLAQUES AT THEIR FORMER RESIDENCES.

- Martha Uniacke Breen

If you’re staying in town this Canada Day weekend, why not take a stroll around your neighbourh­ood and check out the addresses of notable past residents, who may have once walked those very same sidewalks?

Heritage Toronto’s Legacy Plaques Program honours houses (or sites) that were once home to prominent members of the city’s literary, political, arts, media or scientific society. First conceived by Toronto’s poet laureate (and author of the children’s classic, Alligator Pie) Dennis Lee, the program seeks to commemorat­e notable figures who lived in Toronto before, during, or after becoming recognized for their achievemen­ts by their peers and by the public.

Many are Toronto-born, though figures from elsewhere in Canada and internatio­nally are also considered if they lived in the city for a time. The Legacy Plaque volunteer board, in concert with Heritage Toronto, chooses about three notables per year; to date, about 45 historical figures have been recognized in this way.

According to Heritage Toronto’s manager of plaques and public education, Camille Begin, Legacy Plaques are seen as a way to honour these prominent individual­s’ memory and cast a spotlight on their contributi­on to our local history.

Homes are marked with a blue plaque with cream lettering (either mounted on the building or on a post in front) that names and offers up a few facts about the individual who lived there. If the original home was torn down, plaques are applied to the building that went up in its place (for example, that’s what happened with Amelia Earhart’s former home).

Most of the blue plaque houses are still private homes, so good neighbourl­iness demands you stop and read the plaque without unduly disturbing the residents. Still, it’s interestin­g to know who might have once lived just down the street from you.

LEGENDARY HOMES

392 Sherbourne Street: Amelia Earhart (1897-date unknown. Earhart disappeare­d in 1937, as she attempted to become the first woman to fly around the world.)

Not very many people know that Amelia Earhart’s flying career got its start in Toronto. She watched the fledgling air show at the CNE in the summer of 1917 and fell in love with the idea of flying. While working as a wartime nurse, tending wounded Canadian veterans back from the front, she earned her wings at the Armour Heights Air Field, alongside other wartime pilots. Earhart lived in the city from 1917 to 1919 and she stayed at the St. Regis Hotel, which once stood at this address — now a more modern apartment building.

41 Weybourne Crescent: Eric Arthur (1898-1982)

One of the foremost defenders of Toronto’s architectu­ral heritage, even though his own style leaned more to contempora­ry work, architect and educator Eric Arthur designed this handsome cedar-clad home in Lawrence Park and lived here from 1957-1982. Arthur’s famous book, Toronto: No Mean City, is credited with helping to slow the city’s mania in the ’50s and ’60s for demolishin­g irreplacea­ble heritage buildings, and to recognize their architectu­ral and historic value. But he had been interested in preservati­on for decades before that, founding the Architectu­ral Conservanc­y of Ontario in 1933.

69 Albany Avenue: Jane Jacobs (1916-2006)

Jane Jacobs may have done as much for the city’s residentia­l neighbourh­oods as Eric Arthur did for its venerable public buildings. An American by birth, Jacobs took up residence in this West Annex home in 1971 and lived there till her death in 2006.

AMELIA EARHART’S FLYING CAREER GOT ITS START IN TORONTO. SHE WATCHED THE FLEDGLING AIR SHOW AT THE CNE IN THE SUMMER OF 1917 AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE IDEA OF FLYING. EARHART LIVED IN THE CITY FROM 1917 TO 1919 AND SHE STAYED AT THE ST. REGIS HOTEL.

(A hand-painted guerrilla memorial quoting from her writings is familiar to commuters driving north on Bathurst Street from Davenport.) Jacobs was instrument­al in stopping the Spadina Expressway, which would have cut through the downtown core and meant demolition of hundreds of homes. She championed the idea that a city works best when it develops organicall­y, bringing citizens together to shop, live and otherwise go about their daily business together, rather than sequesteri­ng them in defined business and residentia­l areas. Considered messy and radical at the time, it’s the way a lot of the inner city has come to be planned (and revitalize­d) today. 20 Dale Avenue: Morley Callaghan (1903-1990)

Probably the pre-eminent writer in English Canada of his day, Morley Callaghan became friends with Ernest Hemingway while both were young reporters at the Toronto Star, and in his memoir, That Summer in Paris, chronicled his famous boxing match with the American writer in which he beat him. (Hemingway blamed it on the referee, F. Scott Fitzgerald.) Callaghan was part of the legendary circle of Montparnas­se writers that included, along with Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, James Joyce and others. Yet many of his stories chronicled Canadian life, especially in short story form, of which he was a master. Callaghan lived in this South Rosedale house from 1951 until his death in 1990. 1652 Bathurst Street: Lorne Greene (1915-1987)

While the national Parks Canada Bronze Plaque program recently rejected Greene’s nomination for its own honour, the city has commemorat­ed the apartment building where he lived while working for then fledgling CBC Radio from 1941 to 1944. While most internatio­nal audiences knew him in later years as the crusty-but-loving patriarch Ben Cartwright on the American TV series Bonanza, he was known as the “Voice of Canada” (or, more familiarly, “the Voice of Doom”) for his wartime news broadcasts. Greene was also one of Canada’s bestknown local theatre and television actors of his day, and co-founded the Academy of Radio Arts and Jupiter Theatre.

12 Admiral Road: Lester B. Pearson (1897-1972)

Canada’s 14th prime minister is remembered throughout the world for his efforts on behalf of restoring and maintainin­g peace around the world. He lived in this stately house in the Annex from 1925 to 1928. He went on to earn the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in resolving the Suez Crisis of 1956, and created the United Nations peacekeepi­ng forces. He presided over a progressiv­e and prosperous period as leader of the country, creating our own flag in 1965 and helping to launch Expo 67 in Montreal to celebrate Canada’s centennial. After his years in government, he returned to Toronto and became a member of the faculty of the University of Toronto.

29 Wells Hill Avenue: Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

Many more people are able to quote Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum, “The Medium is the Message,” than are able to adequately explain it. A professor of English literature, a literary critic and communicat­ions theorist, McLuhan was the founder of the Toronto school of communicat­ions theory; his classic Understand­ing Media is required reading for journalism and media students. McLuhan and his family lived in this house in the Casa Loma area from 1955 until 1968. 240 Robert Street: Gwendolyn MacEwen (1941-1987)

Long celebrated as one of Canada’s greatest poets, Gwendolyn MacEwen was a colourful literary figure in life, and an influence on many young bohemian writers and artists in the heyday of 1960s Yorkville Village. She published five books of poetry — including Afterworld­s, which garnered the second of her two Governor General’s Awards — while living in this modest row house in the Harbord Spadina area from 1983 until her death in 1987.

For more informatio­n on the Legacy Plaque Program and a complete map of plaque locations, go to heritageto­ronto.org/toronto-legacy-plaquespro­gram Special to National Post

 ?? PETER J THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST ?? Former prime minister and Nobel Laureate Lester B. Pearson once lived in this home at 12 Admiral Road in Toronto.
PETER J THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST Former prime minister and Nobel Laureate Lester B. Pearson once lived in this home at 12 Admiral Road in Toronto.
 ?? PETER J. THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST ?? The former Toronto home of Eric Arthur, architect and heritage advocate, at 41 Weybourne Crescent.
PETER J. THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST The former Toronto home of Eric Arthur, architect and heritage advocate, at 41 Weybourne Crescent.
 ?? PHOTOS: PETER J. THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST ?? The former Toronto home of professor of literature and media theorist Marshall McLuhan at 29 Wells Hill Avenue.
PHOTOS: PETER J. THOMPSON / NATIONAL POST The former Toronto home of professor of literature and media theorist Marshall McLuhan at 29 Wells Hill Avenue.
 ??  ?? Writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs lived at 69 Albany Avenue from 1971 to 2006.
Writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs lived at 69 Albany Avenue from 1971 to 2006.
 ?? COURTESY OF HERITAGE TORONTO ?? Amelia Earhart lived at St. Regis Hotel from 1917 to 1919.
COURTESY OF HERITAGE TORONTO Amelia Earhart lived at St. Regis Hotel from 1917 to 1919.

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