Adam Bunch

Iconic. Polarizing. Unforgettable.

Robarts Library has been called many things over the past 50 years. The Unquiet Library podcast explores the voices, tensions, and histories that shaped it.

The first episodes are now streaming. 🎧

open.spotify.com/show/0AjhamY...

Glad people are talking about this.

In preservation battles, someone always compares the current, aging building *with no repairs* against a flashy promise.

Ordinary people can't read drawings, or compare the qualities of different buildings. They don't get that the new thing is almost always worse.

The institutional buildings of 1960s Canada were extraordinarily well-built. Throwing them away would be madness.

The 1969 Science Centre is an incredible piece of architecture. It needs some work.

The new building complex is a kludge that will be inferior by any measure.

Darcy Ballantyne: I spent last summer trying to find myself in the classified ads The piece ran in the Star every week from the 1960s to 1980s.

Darcy Ballantyne discovered her father was Austin Clark. Here her powerful adoption story. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Did the author Ernest Hemingway attend a baseball game while he lived in Toronto? The Hemingway Society has just posted a blog with my thoughts on that (go @torontobluejays.bsky.social!): www.hemingwaysociety.org/hemingway-an...

Good chance to let the city know what we think about street bins, transit shelters, & benches.

For Mark Carney, the leader of a democratic country, to back a war his counterpart Trump started without the approval of the United States government, should raise serious questions for Canadians about the value our own Prime Minister places on our democratic process.

Explicit support for an illegal war started by a country that is directly threatening us. This is beyond appeasement, it's total complicity.

How a convention in Chatham helped spark the American Civil War | TVO Today John Brown held a meeting to discuss liberating slaves via a guerrilla war — just before his infamous raid on Harpers Ferry.

NEW! For TVO @therundowntvo.bsky.social I look at a convention convened by American abolitionist John Brown in Chatham in 1858 that served as a prelude to his raid on Harpers Ferry the following year - one of the events on the road to the Civil War #BHM #cdnhistory

www.tvo.org/article/how-...

Stylized “Simpson’s” logo from the 1980s

Outlines of Simpson’s letters that were affixed to the building at street level

The old Simpson’s labelscars reveal themselves now that the Hudson’s Bay store plaques have a been taken down at the historic Queen Street flagship.

Doug Ford wants TTC officers to crack down on drug users. Why some say that’s a bad idea The provincial government is exploring a move that would grant greater authority to the city’s specialized transit peace officers

Do you know why this is dangerous? Because this law states that you can be jailed for six months, fined $10K, or both if you are merely *suspected* of having or using drugs. People will absolutely be profiled — and not just homeless people. www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...

YouTube video by TVO Docs Magical Imperfection: The Life and Architecture of Raymond Moriyama | TVO Docs

Has Doug ever once acknowledged Raymond Moriyama, the world renowned 🇨🇦 architect of the original Science Centre? TVO made an excellent doc on him. Highly recommend watching, though it makes all this even more heartbreaking. He sadly passed away in 2023 (at 94!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoIh...

Important to call lies out when there are lies. These are lies from a liar.

It is #BlackHistoryMonth. Peggy (fl. 1766–1827) was one of the hundreds of Black people enslaved in Upper Canada. She and her children were held in bondage on Peter Russell’s estate & farm. Surviving documents attest to her resistance to subjugation.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/peggy... #BHM

60 years ago, the Bloor-Danforth Line opened. Here’s a look back at the confusion and chaos The opening of the TTC's Bloor-Danforth line was consumed by familiar debates over car culture, streetcars vs. subways, and whether the suburbs should fund transit

NEW! Today marks the 60th anniversary of the ceremonial opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway (now Line 2). For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I look at its origins and how its first few days went.

Guest-starring a Shelbyville idea... #TOHistory

www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...

Two women in winter coats and hats walking along the sidewalk among a crowd of people who are taking part in a strike. Fonds 1266, Item 23261.

A large crowd of men and women in winter coats and hats, gathered on a sidewalk outside the Fashion Building as they take part in a strike. Fonds 1266, Item 23262.

A large crowd of men and women in winter coats and hats, gathered on a sidewalk outside the Labor Lyceum building as they take part in a strike. Fonds 1266, Item 23260.

A large crowd of men and women in winter coats and hats, gathered on a sidewalk as they take part in a strike. Visible storefronts include Caplan's restaurant and a barber shop. Fonds 1266, Item 23263.

At 10am on February 25, 1931, members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) walked off the job. Highlighting poor working conditions, long hours, and low wages, hundreds of women continued their strike for two and a half months.

Kinda amazing that Trump shits on Canada and Mexico every day, and there's the Mexican-American captain of Canada's Toronto Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews, standing behind him as he defiles an Olympic Gold Medal

He hates your mother and your fans Auston Matthews but - you do you: be a collaborator

Absolutely wild that Ted Rall did this cartoon in March 2003. archive.rall.com/main.php?g2_...

February 23: Only You Can Keep Toronto Clean. Only You. It's not a lot to ask.

The Curio Emporeum offers some mid-1980s tips on how to keep Toronto clean when it comes to taking care of your garbage. Plus a look at the city's street-cleaning efforts around that time. #TOHistory

jbscurioemporium.substack.com/p/february-2...

Tonight, Feb 23 at 7:30, join us online to hear about Ken McKinlay's Top 10 Tips For Being a Better Researcher. Free.
torontofamilyhistory.org/event/top-te...

'Topaz,' dappled grey mare, Clayton's Meat Market, Toronto - February 23, 1911.

📸: Reginald S. Timmis
Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, Toronto Public Library.
‏
#OnThisDay #1910s #torontohistory #horses #jeremyhopkin

My virtual talk tomorrow, Feb. 24, at 3pm.

TIL their first "logo" featured a tire with arms and legs running away with a coin with arms and legs.

ICYMI Join me this Wednesday in Brampton for a #BlackHistoryMonth Author Talk at the Cyril Clark Theatre...

Register for free here, and I'll see you there

bramlib.libnet.info/event/15261809

2026 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Maple Leaf Stadium, as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs International and Little World Series championships.
It’s unfortunate the Jays don’t seem to have an interest in honouring that.

On this date in 1872, two horse trotting races were held on the ice of Toronto Bay. The prizes for first place were $150 and $120 dollars respectively. It’s not known how the horses spent their winnings.

Incorrigible Trailer Want to hear an unbelievable story? Let us tell you Velma’s. In 1939 Velma Demerson was jailed for falling in love with a Chinese man. Pregnant and without…

🧵🥚Want to hear an unbelievable story? Let us tell you Velma’s.
Many pregnant women and girls, like Velma, were incarcerated under the Female Refuges Act in institutions such as industrial refuges, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory, and even maternity homes. Full story in thread. 1/2
vimeo.com/728649147

Over 28 years, 140 people died because of the Berlin Wall (all causes: intentional shootings, drownings, accidents and including guard fatalities) #comparativeborderregimes