York from Gibralter Point (Toronto), 1828. Artist: Joshua Gleadah. Toronto Public Library Collection.
Unlike Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto does not have a history museum, but that may soon change, thanks to a couple who has provided funding.
Toronto has a number of small history museums, such as Mackenzie House, the restored home of the city’s first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie. None, however, provides an entire picture of the city’s past, from the days of aboriginal settlement to the Great Fire of 1904 to the galloping spread of suburbia in the 1950s and 1960s.
Financier Stephen Smith and his wife Diane Blake have established a registered charity, the Museum of Toronto, and given it some “seed money” to start.
According to the Globe and Mail, the charity has hired two staff, an executive director and a director of programming, who have been working on a logo and branding. The next step is to unveil the project to the media in May, followed by a launch event in June.
Mr. Smith is chief executive and co-founder of First National Financial, Canada’s largest non-bank mortgage lender. He is also chair of Historica Canada, a group that works to spread awareness of Canadian history. It is responsible for the Canadian Encyclopedia and television’s Heritage Minutes.
You can read more in the Globe and Mail article.
