ARCAT needs your help!

Archivists often know a little bit about everything, especially when it comes to the subject areas of their holdings. The archivists at the Archdiocese of Toronto are no exception as they collect facts, names, dates, faces and places as quickly as they collect materials pertaining to the history of the Archdiocese. However, archivists can't know it all, which is why we need your help!

 

Back in November 2018, we received a panoramic photograph with zero contextual information. We found very little success in our attempts to identify the location, date, and the names of many of the individuals in the photograph.

 

As you can see, many Bishops and priests are present, indicating a large special event of some kind. We believe we have identified former Archbishop Neil McNeil, who was Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. This gives us an indication of the date range.

 

Take a look at the photograph below and see if you recognize the building or any of the individuals pictured.

 

If you're confident in your detective skills, comment your responses on this post or email us at archives@archtoronto.org 



Photograph Collection
PH 36/12P

See below for close-up sections of the photograph:

We believe the individual in the bottom right hand corner is Neil McNeil, Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934.

Could the man in the middle row on the far left be Fr. Charles Coughlin?

Encapsulating & Mounting a Panoramic Photograph

A panoramic photograph was recently donated to us that features an impressive group shot of people standing in front of St. Patrick's Church, Toronto, during the 3rd German Catholic Convention of the Province of Ontario in 1937. Upon receiving the photograph, it was evident that it had been rolled up for quite some time due to its strong curl. In an effort to flatten the photograph while minimizing the risk of cracking, the photograph was placed in our humidification chamber and flattened. For more information and instructions on how to humidify and flatten an item, check out our previous blog post on the topic. 

 

After the process was complete, this is what I was left with:



While I was happy with the results, I was reminded that paper fibres have the ability to remember how they have been treated in the past. Therefore, I wasn't confident that this guy wouldn't attempt to curl himself back up again.

To ensure that the print remain flat, I decided to encapsulate it and mount it. Here's how I did it!

First, the supplies and tools you'll need:

A tape measure, archival-safe double sided tape, box cutter

Mylar sheet, foam core board

Mylar acts to keep the print flat as well as provide support. It also protects against fingerprints and its transparency allows the print to be viewed while in its enclosure. I chose a more sturdy foam core board to mount the print since I wanted to ensure that it would not curl again. If this is not a concern, you can opt for any kind of archival board.

First, you want to measure the panoramic photograph.

Next, you want to cut two identical pieces of Mylar that are large enough to cover the entire print with 5-8cm of extra Mylar on all sides.

I recommend taking this opportunity to clean any dust/debris from the Mylar sheets using any regular microfibre cleaning cloth:

Next, apply the double sided tape to one piece of Mylar. I recommend only applying tape on the long edges, that way the print is secured but you're still able to slide it in and out of the enclosure.

Once you put the second piece of Mylar on top of the first, you can slide the print into the sleeve you've created. Since it was a challenge to line up both pieces of Mylar perfectly, I ended up trimming the edges to clean it up.

After this, you can put double sided tape on the back of the encapsulated print along the two long edges and stick it to your mounting board.

Next, trim the excess mounting board from the print leaving as much space as you prefer. I decided to trim it so it aligned with the edge of the Mylar.

You've encapsulated and mounted a panoramic photograph! Feel free to label it and store it as you see fit. Since the photograph is secure and safe in its encapsulation, it can go directly on a shelf. If you encapsulate more prints, these can be stacked on top of each other with a protective board placed on the very top. Alternatively, an encapsulated and mounted print can be placed in secondary housing such as an archival box.

For more information on caring for panoramic photographs, check out this Kathleen A. Kinakin's Thesis on the topic.

Exhibit A: You can't always get what you want

Sometimes I can't help but hum the song from the Rolling Stones to myself when people request graphic material from us.

Everyone loves to see photographs of the past, and photographs of our bishops, parishes, priests, and various events to can help bring Toronto’s early Catholic history to life.

Unfortunately, we don’t always have photographs and portraits people are requesting. Photography was not accessible, never mind affordable, for most people until the late 1800s, when photography equipment and techniques drastically improved.

Finding visual documentation for the history of our Archdiocese is therefore a bit of a challenge.

For example, we at ARCAT have always wished for is a better portrait of our first Bishop, Bishop Michael Power. In our collection we only have photographs of a portrait belonging to St. Michael's Cathedral. If you call looking for a portrait of Bishop Power, we're going to send you this:

Photograph of an original painting of Bishop Michael Power

PH02/01CP

If you’re a follower of our blog you have probably seen his portrait before. Bishop Power died in 1847, before photography was popularized. And the portrait was painted in the 1930s, well after Bishop Power’s death. Although it’s beautiful, it’s never stricken me as exactly the most realistic portrait there is.

There is nothing else we can really pull from our archives when we're asked for publishable graphic of Bishop Power. We know of two other portrayals of Bishop Power that we found in books in our reference library, but unfortunately don't know who owns the originals, or if the originals still exist for that matter. And both books were published well after Bishop Power's death, so we don't know where the illustrations came from, when they were created, and how accurate they are. There are similarities between all three portraits of Bishop Power, and maybe through comparison we can better visualize what he would have looked like.

Bishop Michael Power's portrait and coat of arms, as published in  Armorial des évèques du Canada : album historico-héraldique contenant les portraits et les armoiries des évèques du Canada depuis Mgr de Montmorency de Laval jusqu'à date avec notice biographique pour chacun by Gérard Brassard.. [1940]

ARCAT Reference Library, 282.092 BRA 1940

Bishop Michael Power as illustrated in  Jubilee Volume - The Archdiocese of Toronto and Archbishop Walsh 1842-1892 edited by J.R. Teefy, 1892

ARCAT Reference Library, 282.713 TEE 1892

The illustrations we have, or rather don't have, for Bishop Power extends to other people, landmarks and subjects from our early days. While we will try to find something when we're asked for a photograph, sometimes, you're going to be disappointed.