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The Ward finally tells the diverse stories of this extraordinary and resilient neighbourhood through archival photos and contributions from a wide array of voices, including historians, politicians, architects, storytellers, journalists and descendants of Ward residents. Their perspectives on playgrounds, tuberculosis, sex workers, newsies and even bathing bring The Ward to life and, in the process, raise important questions about how contemporary cities handle immigration, poverty and the geography of difference.
‘The Ward shines a light on one of Toronto's most historically significant and most forgotten neighbourhoods. Instead of a straight history, the book's editors opted to present the Ward through multiple short essays, each with its own unique point of view. The result is a fascinating and varied look at an area that once concurrently defined the city and acted as its biggest shame. As a result of the Ward's eventual razing, there are few artifacts left to teach newer generations about this important part of Toronto's history. This book helps correct that.’
– 2016 Toronto Book Awards Jury Citation
‘The Ward shines a light on one of Toronto's most historically significant and most forgotten neighbourhoods. Instead of a straight history, the book's editors opted to present the Ward through multiple short essays, each with its own unique point of view. The result is a fascinating and varied look at an area that once concurrently defined the city and acted as its biggest shame. As a result of the Ward's eventual razing, there are few artifacts left to teach newer generations about this important part of Toronto's history. This book helps correct that.’
– 2016 Toronto Book Awards Jury Citation
John Lorinc is a journalist and editor. He reports on urban affairs, politics, business, technology, and local history for a range of media, including The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Corporate Knights and Spacing, where he is senior editor. John is the author of five books, including No Jews Live Here: A Memoir (Coach House Books, 2024), and has co-edited eight anthologies for Coach House, including The Ward (2015), Any Other Way (2017), and Messy Cities (2025). John is the recipient of the 2019/2020 Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and was the winner of the Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy, for Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias (2022). He lives in Toronto.
Michael McClelland, OAA, FRAIC, is a registered architect with over twenty years of experience. He is actively involved in the promotion of Canada’s architectural heritage and is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants (CAPHC). Prior to establishing E.R.A. Architects with Edwin Rowse in 1990, McClelland worked for the Toronto Historical Board. He is the recipient of a certificate of recognition from the Ontario Association of Architects and the Toronto Society of Architects for his outstanding contributions to architecture and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Ellen Scheinberg is a historian, writer and the president of Heritage Professionals, which specializes in archival, museum and information management initiatives. She lives in Toronto.
Tatum Taylor is a writer and heritage specialist at ERA Architects. She holds a master's degree in historic preservation from Columbia University, where she worked on the editorial team for the Future Anterior Journal. She is actively involved with ICOMOS Canada and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario's Executive Committee. Her interests include the interpretation of under-documented community histories and the connections between place, memory and language.
Introduction – John Lorinc
Searching for the Old Ward – Shawn Micallef
No Place Like Home – Howard Akler
Before the Ward: Macaulaytown - Stephen A. Otto
My Grandmother the Bootlegger - Howard Moscoe
Against All Odds: The Chinese Laundry – Arlene Chan
V-J Day – Arlene Chan
Merle Foster’s Studio: ‘A Spot Of Enchantment’ - Terry Murray
Missionary Work: The Fight for Jewish Souls – Ellen Scheinberg
King of the Ward – Myer Siemiatycki
Where the Rich Went for Vice – Michael Redhill
A Fresh Start: Black Toronto in the 19th Century – Karolyn Smardz Frost
Policing the Lord’s Day – Mariana Valverde
‘The Maniac Chinaman’ - Edward Keenan
Elsie’s Story – Patte Rosebank
Lawren Harris’s Ward Period - Jim Burant
‘Fool’s Paradise’: Hastings’ Anti-Slum Crusade – John Lorinc
Strange Brew: The Underground Economy of Blind Pigs – Ellen Scheinberg
The Italian Consulate – Andrea Addario
Excerpt: The Italians in Toronto – Emily P. Weaver
Arthur Goss: Documenting Hardship – Stephen Bulger
Fresh Air: The Fight Against TB – Cathy Crowe
The Stone Yard – Gaetan Heroux
William James: Toronto’s First Photojournalist – Vincenzo Pietropaolo
The Avenue Not Taken – Michael McClelland
Timothy Eaton’s Stern Fortifications – Michael Valpy
Settling In: Central Neighbourhood House – Ratna Omidvar and Ranjit Bhaskar
Toronto’s Girl with the Curls – Ellen Scheinberg
Chinese Cafés: Survival and Danger – Ellen Scheinberg and Paul Yee
Defiance and Divisions: The Great Eaton’s Strike – Ruth A. Frager
Elizabeth Street: What the City Directories Reveal – Denise Balkissoon
Growing Up on Walton Street – Cynthia MacDougall
Revitalizing George Street: The Ward’s Lessons – Alina Chatterjee and Derek Ballantyne
Taking Care of Business in the Ward – Ellen Scheinberg
'A Magnificent Dome': The Great University Avenue Synagogue – Jack Lipinsky
Reading the Ward: The Inevitability of Loss – Kim Storey and James Brown
Toronto’s First Little Italy – John Lorinc
The Elizabeth Street Playground, Revisited – Bruce Kidd
Divided Loyalties – Sandra Shaul
Crowded by Any Measure – John Lorinc
A Peddler and His Cart: The Ward’s Rag Trade – Deena Nathanson
Toronto’s Original Tenement: Wineberg Apartments – Richard Dennis
An Untimely Death – Brian Banks
Paper Pushers – Ellen Scheinberg
The BMR’s Wake-Up Call – Laurie Monsebraaten
Excerpt: Report of the Medical Health Officer ... – Charles J. Hastings
Dr. Clarke's Clinic – Thelma Wheatley
Slum-Free: The Suburban Ideal – Richard Harris
The Glionna Clan and Toronto’s First Little Italy – John E. Zucchi
'The Hipp’ – Michael Posner
Before Yorkville – John Lorinc
Public Baths: Schvitzing on Centre Avenue – Ellen Scheinberg
Sex Work and the Ward’s Bachelor Society – Elise Chenier
The Health Advocates: McKeown on Hastings – John Lorinc
Remembering Toronto’s First Chinatown – Kristyn Wong-Tam
Tabula Rasa – Mark Kingwell
Unrealized Renewal – J. David Hulchanski
A Short History of the ‘Civic Square’ Expropriation – John Lorinc
Storytelling is Part of the Story – Tatum Taylor
How We Think About What (Little) Survives – Patrick Cummins
Institutional Memory – Scott James & Victor Russell
Alternative Histories – Michael McClelland