Canadian Automotive Museum

Conservation/Preservation:

Archives

Extensive collection of Canadian automotive reference materials including periodicals, books, advertisements, manuals, and sales literature.

Artefacts

Artefacts include:

  • Over 75 vehicles dating from 1903, including motorcycles, trucks and cars. The museum highlights  Canadian manufacturers such as McLaughlin-Buick, Brooks, Redpath, Tudhope, McKay, Galt, Gray-Dort, Brockville, as well as foreign automakers including Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, Alfa-Romeo, and Bentley.

Dominion Modern: Museum of Modern Architecture & Design

Conservation/Preservation:

Archives/Library

Collections include:

  • Industrial and domestic objects,
  • Over 200 taped interviews with Canadian designers, engineers, and architects,
  • Design and ephemera,
  • Books and periodicals,
  • Photographs and documents related to corporate histories.
  • The Andy Smith Collection includes architectural photographs from 1965 to 1990. Dieter Reppin Collection includes history and output of Art Associates and TDF.

Artefacts

Furniture, objects and industrial design.

Public Programming:

Exhibitions

Photographs and summaries of past exhibitions are located on the website. Toronto Subway: A Love Story, Honest Edwardianism Hand Painted Signs in the 21st Century, Alumni Hall of Fame, Vinyl Graphic

Design Exchange

Conservation/Preservation:

Archives/Library

Holdings include documents and textual records as well as a small collection of publications related to design.

Artefacts

Collection includes over 1000 pieces of Canadian design spanning over six decades.

Public Programming:

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are rotating, often focused on contemporary Canadian design. Past exhibits include: Stephen Burks Man Made Toronto, Designers in the Classroom, RGD Spacial Graphics and Capacity – an exploration of women in design.

Tours

Tours focus on the architectural history of the financial district from 1900s to present day.

Digital

Five on-line exhibits display photographs of artifacts from the permanent collection: http://www.dx.org/index.cfm?id=14613

  • Electronics,
  • Furniture,
  • House wares,
  • Lighting,
  • Textiles.

Other

Lectures, workshops, and film screenings.

Evergreen Brick Works

Conservation/Preservation:

Sixteen of the original factory buildings have been preserved, notably the three long tunnel kilns and six single-track drying tunnels. Efforts are also underway to encourage the re-growth of heritage plants.

Public Programming:

Exhibitions

Brick Kilns: Evergreen Brick Works uses art and interactive exhibits to tell visitors the story of the brick making process, the workers’ experience, and the history of the site.
The Kilns building is also home to the CRH Gallery. Unique, large-scale art installations are displayed throughout this space.

Koerner Gardens: A showcase for sustainable urban greening, this is a 20,000-square-foot native plant demonstration space. These large native plant and food gardens inspire visitors with tips, techniques and designs for creating gardens in urban settings. School groups, community groups, home gardeners and families participate in the planting, care and maintenance of the garden mounds.

Weston Family Quarry Garden and Don Valley Brick Works Park: This natural heritage site offers nature trails through the former quarry of the brick works.

The extensive work of graffiti artists on the site, which dates from the years when the site was abandoned, has also been protected.

Tours

Guided Walking Tours, Saturdays, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ($5 suggested donation).
Tours are general in nature and focus on a variety of themes including: the natural, geologic, and historic significance of the site, art, adaptive reuse and green design, as well as how Evergreen’s mission is reflected in the spaces and programs.

Other

The Pavilions: The Pavilions is a centrally located, covered, outdoor space for community gatherings and festivals. Since 2007 it has been home to Saturday and Sunday programs including a Farmers’ Market.

Centre for Green Cities: Since September 2010, Evergreen and a community of like-minded organizations have made their home in this intellectual and educational nexus of the Evergreen Brick Works campus. The Centre aims to bring together innovators, educators, and leaders in social and environmental thought.

Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre

Conservation / Preservation:

Architecture

Four original, in situ buildings remain on the grounds. These consist of two historic homes, the former paper mill and the remains of the brewery complex. The Cottage has been restored to the 1940s reflecting life on the home front in East York while Helliwell House has been restored to reflect workers’ lives in the late 1890s. The paper mill has been restored to a fully-accessible theatre and gallery now known as the Papermill Theatre and Gallery.

Artefacts

The Museum’s collection consists primarily of artifacts related to the time periods to which the two historic houses have been restored.

Archives

Archival materials related to Todmorden Mills and East York are housed at the Toronto Reference Library, City of Toronto Archives, and Archives of Ontario.

Environment / Nature

The site contains a 9.2 hectare wildflower preserve that is being re-naturalized to pre-European contact.

Public Programming:

Exhibitions

The artifacts on display in the historic houses reflect the time periods to which the homes have been restored.

Education / Tours

Guided tours of the two historic houses and grounds are available year-round. Educational, curriculum-linked programs are available to school groups. Seasonal guided walks of the wildflower preserve are also provided.

Art Gallery

The Papermill Gallery regularly exhibits the works of local artists, community art groups and emerging artists.

Theatre

The Papermill Theatre offers performance space for theatre, community celebrations and corporate events.

Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation

Conservation/Preservation:

Artefacts

Conservation and preservation of a collection of four vintage models of Canadian transit buses.

Public Programming:

Events

Provides special events typically involving the chartering of vintage transit buses for enthusiasts and members.

Archives of Ontario

Conservation/Preservation:

Archives

Ontario Government Records:

The majority of the records in the collections of the Archives were created by the government of Ontario and its predecessors in the fulfillment of its legal and administrative functions. These records date from the late eighteenth century to the present day concerning:

  • Political and legal decisions.
  • The evolution of provincial administration.
  • The interaction between the government and its citizens.
  • The rights and responsibilities of Ontarians.

Private Sector Records:

Since 1903, the Archives of Ontario has been acquiring records from the private sector. The Archives holds the records of over 2600 private individuals, businesses, clubs and associations, labour and political organizations. These collections can range in size from one or two items to thousands of items that occupy hundreds of metres of shelf space.

These records include:

  • Paper files, diaries and photographs.
  • Maps and architectural records.
  • Sound recordings and moving images.

Genealogical Records:

The Archives of Ontario holds many important sources for researching family history in Ontario. There is no single finding aid or database for this type of research.

Vital Statistics:

Historical registrations of births, marriages and deaths. No database yet exists that allows you to search these records by name. Rather, these records must be searched using microfilm.

Records Relating to Aboriginal Peoples:

The Archives of Ontario has a substantial number of records relating to aboriginal history, very widely scattered through the Archives’ total holdings. Dating from the 1760s, most focus on what is now Ontario. However, a reasonable number — for example, fur trade and missionary papers — refer to Aboriginal people of Quebec, other parts of Canada, and the United States

Library:

The J. J. Talman Library at the Archives of Ontario is a research and reference collection for the general public and the staff of the Archives. Most of the Library collections relate to the social, political, economic, cultural and military history of the Province of Ontario.

There are approximately 75,000 pieces including:

  • Books, pamphlets and Ontario Government publications.
  • Periodicals, microfilm, microfiche and other printed and published items.

Special Collections

Photographs:

The Archives of Ontario’s photographic collection consists of approximately 1.7 million images documenting activities, people, places and events in Ontario from the mid-1800s to the present.

These images come in many formats including: colour and black and white prints, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, slides, and glass plate negatives.

The Archives photographic holdings include images from many private sources such as: photojournalists, studio photographers, amateur photographers, and corporate collections.

The Archives’ photographic holdings also include images created by many Ontario government ministries and agencies to document programs and activities.

Photographs are accessed through the Reading Room.

Online Photographic Database:

A selection of images drawn from the holdings of the Archives of Ontario which document the province’s history and landscape. Images are continually being added to the database.

Cartographic Records:

The Cartographic Records Collection of the Archives of Ontario contains over 40,000 maps, plans, hydrographic charts, atlases, bird’s eye views, and other cartographic materials relating to the Province of Ontario. Many of these maps are in manuscript form and thus are unique items.

The Archives has significant collections of private cartographic records including those produced by or for: Lieutenant Governor Simcoe, Thomas Talbot, the Canada Company, and David Thompson.

The foundation of the collection consists of maps produced by and for the Government of Ontario, most notably the Ministry of Natural Resources and its predecessors. Maps in the collection span the period from the early eighteenth century, when Ontario was still part of New France, to the present.

The collection contains maps and plans documenting many aspects of the province’s history and development including:

  • Exploration maps, settlement maps and township and town surveys.
  • Road maps, fishing maps and boundary maps.
  • Electoral plans, fire insurance plans, and maps showing the location and distribution of various natural resources.

Architectural Records:

An extensive architectural records collection of approximately 200,000 drawings and other items, dating from the early 1820s to the 1990s. These records document Ontario’s built environment and heritage.

The collection consists of architectural materials created or accumulated for government purposes. An example would be the records of the Public Works Department, which was responsible for the construction of prisons, hospitals, special schools, and other facilities.

The Archives also holds architectural records created by individual architects or private sector firms. The scope of these records ranges from houses to factories to skyscrapers.

Documentary Art:

The Archives of Ontario holds a collection of approximately 4000 documentary art records that document the people, places and events in Ontario from the 1790s until the 1900s.

The collection contains paintings, drawings, and prints by both amateur and professional artists, such as: Caroline Armington, William Armstrong, Thomas Burrowes, Anne Langton, C. W. Jefferys, Stewart C. Shaw, Elizabeth Simcoe, Fred Brygden, Robert Sproule, Owen Staples, and Dorothy Stevens.

It covers a wide range of subjects such as views of small towns, famous and infamous people, and historical events.

Public Programming:

Exhibits

Several exhibitions that highlight the collections. The most recent online exhibits can be accessed directly from the website.

Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada

Conservation/Preservation:

Archives

Online library of links to related digital archives, related literature, videos and related aerospace museums of Canada, historical information regarding aircraft built between 1945 and the mid-1960s in Canada.

Artefacts

Canadian aviation memorabilia pertinent to Canada’s aircraft industry from 1945 to the mid 1960’s.