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February 2025

EVENTS

Being Black on King webinar

Online

FREE - Registration is required. Donations are encouraged.

Wednesday, February 19 | 7:00 - 8:30 PM

For Black History Month, we're pleased to offer an online presentation on Toronto's Black heritage. Led by emerging historian Faith Ebanks, the event will delve into the deep-rooted Black history that spans King Street East. You'll be introduced to inspiring leaders and movements that helped shape and transform the community, while exploring a range of issues from the development of a segregated education system, to the troubled legacy of banking and economic practices and the impacts on Black businesses.

There will be a Q&A session following the presentation.

Interested in exploring some of these stories ahead of the webinar? Check out the new Being Black on King digital tour below!

Presented by

Image of a man in a three-piece suit standing waving to the camera outside a restaurant.

EXPLORE

Being Black on King Street digital tour

Take a self-guided journey to key locations where Black Canadians built communities, challenged injustice, and shaped Toronto’s history along King Street East.

Uncover the story of the first Underground Railroad site excavated in Canada, the hidden truth behind a 19th-century Black entrepreneur, and the legacy of Toronto’s first Black mail carrier. Learn how food, business, and activism intersected to create spaces of both resistance and celebration.

Explore at your own pace and discover the legacies that continue to shape the city today.

EXPLORE NOW

This story was researched and written by emerging historian Faith Ebanks and was made possible by the generous support of:

PLAQUE

Installation of No. 2 Construction Battalion

This Black History Month we're highlighting the newly installed plaque for No. 2 Construction Battalion at 200 King Street West.

During the First World War, thousands of men from across Canada enlisted to serve in military; however, by the end of 1915, at least 200 Black volunteers had been turned away by racist recruiting officers. Although some Black men were able to enlist, the British War Office questioned the loyalty of Black soldiers, and many white men refused to serve with them.

Communities across Canada saw these rejections as unacceptable and lobbied the Militia Headquarters and the Governor General to respond. In July 1916, the Department of Defence and Militia authorized the formation of No. 2 Construction Battalion.

19 officers and 595 soldiers sailed for Europe in March 1917. The unit was involved in logging, the maintenance of logging roads, and the operation of electrical and water systems within camps. After the war, the unit was disbanded in September 1920.

On July 9, 2022, the Government of Canada issued a formal apology for the racism and discrimination endured by members of No. 2 Construction Battalion.

See the plaque yourself at the corner of King Street West and University Avenue, the site of a recruitment office for the battalion in 1916.

Image of a historical plaques attached to a red brick wall. In the background two people walk past.

New Plaques

Torontonians can now visit recently installed plaques commemorating the Founding of the Empire Club, Women in the Workplace, and St. Elizabeth Hungarian Community.

Among these plaques, the Women in the Workplace plaque at 156 Front Street West highlights the vital yet often overlooked contributions of women to Toronto’s workforce. Once a mail-order warehouse for The Robert Simpson Company, this site saw women take on industrial roles—especially during the First World War—paving the way for greater workplace equity despite persistent challenges.

Additionally, we updated plaques for Young Men's - Young Women's Hebrew Association, and Gete-Onigaming.

The Gete-Onigaming plaque replaces a plaque produced by the former Toronto Historical Board. Originally titled Davenport Road, Gete-Onigaming (Anishinaabemowin for “at the old portage”) commemorates the 13,500-year-old trail that linked the Humber and Don Rivers.

In downtown Toronto, the trail avoided uneven ground by following the base of an escarpment formed by glacial Lake Iroquois during the last ice age. Gete-Onigaming connected Indigenous settlements, fishing grounds, and trade routes leading to the Great Lakes, the Atlantic coast, and the Midwest. Sections of the trail became the basis for Davenport Road. Read the new plaque at 750 Davenport Road near Davenport Road and Bathurst Street.

HERITAGE HAPPENINGS

With the clock counting down, Toronto's historic Old City Hall faces an uncertain future

Old City Hall loses its only tenant — the Ontario government, which has used the building as a courthouse since 1972 — on April 1. City staff are about to embark on an effort to find a new use for the national historic site. (CBC)

Survey says more young Canadians believe the history of the Holocaust is exaggerated

The poll also reported that 46 per cent of all respondents said they were interested in learning more about the Holocaust, with the highest interest reported among younger age cohorts. (CityNews)

From wasteland to wetland: re-naturalizing Toronto’s Don River into Lake Ontario

The $1.3-billion flood prevention project in Toronto’s Port Lands is one of the most ambitious urban nature restoration projects in Canada’s history. (Canadian Geographic)

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Image Credits

Howard Matthews, Archie Alleyne, Dave Mann, and John Henry Jackson, owners of the Underground Railroad restaurant, 1970. Image: Dick Loek/Toronto Star

Restauranteur Howard Matthews at the Underground Railroad Restaurant, King Street, 1978. Image: Courtesy of the Matthews family

No. 2 Construction Battalion Commemorative plaque, 2024.

Women in the Workplace (156 Front Street East) Heritage Property plaque, 2024.