Toronto Archives to open new exhibit chronicling lives of children in early 20th century
The City of Toronto will launch a new Toronto Archives exhibit called "From Streets to Playgrounds: Representing Children in Early 20th Century Toronto." Archival photographs, video and artifacts paint a vivid picture of the lives of children in vulnerable Toronto neighbourhoods in the early 1900s, including the area known as "The Ward" where Toronto City Hall currently stands.Date: Thursday, September 29Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (remarks at 6 p.m.)Location: City of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Rd.The exhibit reveals rarely seen images that demonstrate how activists of the time used photography to help move children from the streets into structured, supervised and safer playgrounds. Also included are contemporary images that raise questions about how our viewpoints of children and their independence may have changed over the past 100 years.This exhibit is produced in partnership with faculty members from the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and the University of Brighton (U.K.). The research and production of the exhibit was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council with assistance from the City of Toronto Archives.The exhibit opens to the public on September 29 and runs through August 2017. Admission is free.For more information about this exhibit, visit http://www.toronto.ca/archives.
