Disarrangement and Discovery in the Archives

Arrangement and description are crucial components to our work as archivists. We organize and maintain the order of the records and then describe their context and contents to make them accessible.

This means that you rarely find “hidden treasures” in an archives. Our goal is to have records arranged and described in such a way that anyone would be able to find an item. Nevertheless, there are instances where a collection wasn’t properly arranged or described, and we unearth items we didn’t know we had, or didn’t know would be so interesting. 

This happened not too long ago when we found this intriguing scrapbook for St. Ann’s Parish, Penetanguishene, in a not-so-obvious part of our collection.


Select pages from the St. Ann's parish scrapbook, showing correspondence, photographs, and  newsclippings

HO 53.16

ARCAT Special Collections

The scrapbook is made from a converted collection register, containing historical articles, newspaper clippings, correspondence (parish affairs, invitations), broad sheets and photographs pertaining to Catholic activity in Huronia into the 1920s.

Most records we have for parishes can typically be found in our Parish Collection. Files in our parish collection are arranged and described first according to the parish, and then according to functions and activities (parish history, publications, construction and renovation, etc.).

The scrapbook, however, is not part of the parish collection, and has been included as part of our holograph series in our Special Collections. The holograph series is a puzzling assortment of bound, handwritten volumes, including anything from account ledgers to journals. To make matters even more confusing, we also have an entirely separate scrapbook series as part of our special collections.

Maintaining the original order of records and following standards such as RAD help archivists avoid unclear organization in their collections. Sorting out the kinks in our special collections is going to take some time, but we look forward to seeing what else we uncover.

In the meantime, here are some more pages from the Penetanguishene scrapbook:



HO 53.16

ARCAT Special Collections

 Find out more about our holdings on our website.

Director's Cut: 1914 Album - Archdiocese of Toronto property record

One of my favourite items in our archival holdings is a photo album from 1914 featuring exterior shots of many of the churches in the Archdiocese of Toronto. We've shared several photographs from this album in various posts.


Collage of photos previously scanned from PH 31P/227AL. Includes: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Toronto (01); St. Mary's Parish, Toronto (03); St. Anthony's Parish, Toronto (04); Holy Family Parish, Toronto (06); St. Helen's Parish and rectory, Toronto (07); St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto (08); St. Cecilia's Parish, Toronto (11); St. Patrick's Parish, Toronto (13); House of Providence, Toronto (17); Loretto Academy, Toronto (19); St. Stanislaus Parish, Toronto (21); Sacred Heart Orphanage, Sunnyside, Toronto (22); St. Michael's Cathedral rectory, Toronto (23); St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto (24); St. Michael's School, Toronto (25); St. Clare Parish, Toronto (29); St. Ann's Parish, Toronto (35); St. Joseph's College School, Toronto (37); St. Catharines School, St. Catharines (40); St. Joseph's College School and Convent, Toronto (43); and St. Paul's Parish and rectory, Toronto (45).

This photo album was commissioned in 1914 and reflects the geographical boundaries of the Archdiocese at that time. Each page consists of one representative photograph of the building, mounted on a fabric backing. Buildings include churches, schools and institutions owned by or associated with the Archdiocese of Toronto. The album is not a comprehensive property survey, however, as some of the existing churches within the city of Toronto and the majority of rural churches were not photographed for this project. In total, there are 45 black & white or sepia tone photographs.

How PH 31P/227AL is being preserved.

ARCAT Staff Photo

Typewritten in blue ink on the fabric support of each print is the name or location of the photographed building. To enhance the long-term preservation of the photographs, the album was taken apart and the photos were placed in individual archival sleeves. Unfortunately the original cover was not photographed before it was discarded, but included the title "Archdiocese of Toronto, CANADA".

This album is credited to Pringle and Booth of Toronto, and was apparently a feature of the waiting room at the former location of the Chancery Office at 355 Church Street. When the offices were moved to our current location at 1155 Yonge Street, someone wisely decided that this album should be preserved in the Archives.

Here are a few of the photographs from outside the city of Toronto that we had not scanned until now:

St. Gregory the Great Parish, Oshawa

PH 31P/227AL (31)
ARCAT Photo Collection

St. Ann's Parish, Penetanguishene

PH 31P/227AL (27)
ARCAT Photo Collection

Record of the Week: Happy Easter!

This week's Record of the Week is a 1960s photo from St. Ann's Parish in Penetanguishene. We wish you a blessed and happy Easter!

St. Ann's Parish, Penetanguishene, Early 1960s
PH 0170/26CP

"Good friars, with zeal and affection for the glory of God:" 400 years of Catholicism in Huronia

On Wednesday, August 12th, a memorial mass celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first recorded Catholic mass in Ontario will be held at Carhagouha, a site near Lafontaine and Georgian Bay, commemorating the event which occurred nearby in 1615.

The celebrant of that mass was Fr. Joseph Le Caron, OMR, who was one of four Récollet Friars to accompany Samuel de Champlain to New France in 1615.

Statue of Fr. Joseph Le Caron at St. Ann's Church, Penetanguishene.
PH 170-33P
1954

Champlain brought the priests with him to evangelize the natives living in the area. The Récollets said the first recorded mass in Montreal on the Île de Montréal on June 24th, 1615. Fr. Le Caron then made the 1100 km journey by canoe and overland to Huronia. He was accompanied by twelve Frenchmen and guided by Ouendat traders. He took up residence among the native Ouendat people of the area, and some time later Champlain arrived.

This is how Champlain recorded the first mass that was said in his presence in Ontario:

The Works of Samuel de Champlain in Six Volumes: Volume III, 1615-1618. H.P. Biggar, ed. 1929. The Champlain Society: Toronto. pp. 22-23.

"On the morrow I left that village to go to another, called Touaguainchain, and to another called Tequenonquiaye, in both of which the inhabitants received us very kindly, giving us the best cheer they could with their Indian corn served in various ways. This country is so very fine and fertile that it is a pleasure to travel about in it.

"Thence I had them conduct me to Carhagouha, which is enclosed for defence and protection by a triple wooden palisade, thirty-five feet high. in this village lived Father Joseph, whom we found there and were very glad to see him in good health, he on his side being no less delighted; for he expected nothing less than to see me in that country. And on the twelfth day of August the reverend Father celebrated the holy mass, and a cross was set up near a little cabin apart from the village, which the savages built while I was staying there..."

Le Caron and the other Récollets only stayed in New France for a short time, and a few years later the Jesuit missionaries who are memorialized at Midland's Martyrs' Shrine took over their work.

In 1922, a cross was erected by the Knights of Columbus on the spot once believed to be Carhagouha (doubts about the exact site were later expressed by many). It was blessed by Archbishop McNeil.

PH 31C-14P
1976

PH31C - 03CP
1976

Memorial masses have been celebrated at the site over the years. In 1965, Archbishop Pocock celebrated the 350th anniversary of the mass:

PO SU20-07b
1965

Archbishop Pocock offers mass at the Carhagouha memorial.
PH 14C-07P
1965

In 1615 one French priest said mass for a handful of the Catholic faithful. 400 years later there are 223 parishes, 21 missions and 1.9 million Catholics in the archidocese. Between then and now there have been millions of stories of Catholics leaving their homes to explore new life in our region. The Archdiocese of Toronto was founded on the pioneering spirit, and that spirit lives on today.

For more information about Wednesday's mass and other events, check out the Martyrs' Shrine Events Calendar.

Happy Campers at Marygrove

For many Ontarians, summer is synonymous with camping.  Maybe it’s a long weekend at a campground roasting marshmallows or a family road trip in the camper van. For many children and teenagers, it’s an annual tradition to go away to camp with their peers.

In the early 1950s, Mgsr. Jean Marie Castex, pastor of St. Ann’s in Penetanguishene, began an all-girls Catholic summer camp. Marygrove Camp was situated within parish territory on the shores of Georgian Bay. Over the years it developed into one of the best-equipped, best-run camps in the province. However, by 1961 its success made the camp too much for the parish to handle. Msgr. Castex asked that Catholic Charities take over and run the program specifically for underprivileged girls:

“Monsignor knows there are hundreds of needy girls in the in the Archdiocese who would benefit from a two-week period at the Camp.  He wants to see the Camp used exclusively for needy girls rather than girls who possess and can afford forms of summer recreation, including camping, in other surroundings. In addition, the Camp is quite an enterprise for one parish and might not be continued by a succeeding pastor.” (OC12.MC01, 21 Mar 1961)

Catholic Charities welcomed the transfer of Marygrove Camp to their care and gave the Toronto Central Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society responsibility for its supervision and financing.

Generations later, the Council continues to offer fully subsidized 8-day camping holidays for 1,100 girls aged 5 to 13. The Marygrove Camp for Girls is supported by special collections taken at Archdiocese of Toronto parishes, as well as outside charities, like The Toronto Star’s Fresh Air Fund. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Toronto Central Council also runs a similar Camp Ozanam for Boys in Stouffville.

The following photos were taken in the 1950s, when Marygrove was still run as a Catholic girls' camp by one of the parish priests at St. Ann's.  The collection comes from Rev. John Joseph Kelly, who was the associate pastor under Msgr. Castex from 1949 to 1962.

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-126P

Rev. John Jospeh Kelly, associate pastor at St. Ann's Parish in Penetanguishene,
oversees the construction of camp cabins [ca. 1950]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-80P

Aerial photograph of the Marygrove Camp shoreline on Georgian Bay near Penetang [1956]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-117P

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-11P

Group photo of the 1954 Marygrove Camp staff, including counsellors, nurses, kitchen staff, custodians and Rev. Kelly

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-10P

Making a splash [1954]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-23P

It's all fun and games [1954]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-29P

Each cabin was named after a patron saint [1955]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-126P

Sitting on the dock of the (Georgian) Bay [1956]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-50P

Campers in front of Mary shrine [1955]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-53P and 55P

Always a bit of drama! [1956]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-94P

The camp accepts girls as young as five [1959]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-95P

Target practice [1959]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-102P

Arts and crafts [1959]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-107P

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, Merrily is Marygrove verily
Life is but a dream!
[1959]

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-107P

Rev. John Joseph Kelly fonds, PH73-15P

Raising the Union Jack [1954]

Even Priests Can't Resist a Little Competition

PanAmania has swept through Southern Ontario, with events in 48 sports happening from Simcoe County to the Niagara Region.

Catholics have long recognized the importance of sports. In a homily in 2000 Pope Saint John Paul II said:

"Playing sports has become very important today, since it can encourage young people to develop important values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, sharing and solidarity. Precisely for this reason, in recent years it has continued to grow even more as one of the characteristic phenomena of the modern era, almost a "sign of the times" capable of interpreting humanity's new needs and new expectations. Sports have spread to every corner of the world, transcending differences between cultures and nations.

"Because of the global dimensions this activity has assumed, those involved in sports throughout the world have a great responsibility. They are called to make sports an opportunity for meeting and dialogue, over and above every barrier of language, race or culture. Sports, in fact, can make an effective contribution to peaceful understanding between peoples and to establishing the new civilization of love."

We were able to find a few sports shots in the archives:

While not an Olympic sport, bowling has been a part of the Pan Am games since 1991. This year's competition will take place from July 22-25.

Monsignor Jean Marie Castex bowls as part of the league at St. Ann's Parish, Penetanguishene in the early 1960s.
PH00170-29P

The champions of St. Ann's, Penetanguishene Bowling League show off their trophies [1949-1964].
PH00170-13P

Racquetball has been in the Pan Am games since 1995 and events will be taking place from July 19-26. The Squash competition has already taken place, with Canada receiving two silver and two bronze medals.

Priests-in-training compete in some kind of racket sport at St. Augustine's Seminary.
St. Augustine's Seminary Photo Collection

The Canadian men's baseball team is doing well in preliminary rounds. The medal games will be played on Sunday, and the women's competition will start on Monday.

Seminarians playing baseball on St. Augustine's grounds.
St. Augustine's Seminary Photo Collection

St. Matthew's Boy's Baseball Team, 1959.
PH0087-12P

Field hockey games will be played throughout the two weeks of competition, but this is Canada, so it was easier for us to find pictures of ice hockey:

Students play hockey on the rink at St. Michael's College, 1917.
PH27B-12P

Good luck to all of the athletes competing in this year's events!