Add a touch of Toronto history to your next video call with these 12 vintage virtual backgrounds. Download these free backgrounds of interior photos of Toronto landmarks and other spots from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — and discover a bit of history as you find a favourite!...
In 2022, Susan Anderson donated a set of postcards to TPL from her grandfather William Alfred Anderson, a photographer and postcard maker from Muskoka, Ontario. We've digitized many of these vintage views of cottage country, dating back to 1911. Read on to learn about Anderson and to see highlights of...
This year, Toronto Public Library celebrates 140 years. However, lending libraries have been part of the city for more than two centuries. We preserve rare items on our Digital Archive that showcase the history of these 19th-century libraries in what is now downtown Toronto. A big piece of this history...
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Nobel Prize in Literature. He's known for titles such as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea. What you may not know is that Hemingway had a...
King Charles III was crowned on May 6, 2023 at the age of 74. As a constitutional monarchy, Canada recognized this historic date — the first coronation in 70 years for Commonwealth nations. In an earlier blog post, we highlighted six rarities from our archives that document past coronation celebrations...
On July 1, 1923, the Canadian government passed a new Chinese Immigration Act — commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act — to restrict Chinese immigration. For its 100th anniversary, let's revisit this important part of Canadian history through precious records in our community-built Chinese Canadian Archive. Brief history of...
Did you know that we once had a branch devoted just to music? The Music Library opened its doors in 1959 and operated for nearly two decades. It offered thousands of records, books and scores to borrow or use on the spot. Here's a look back at this largely-forgotten location...
As a constitutional monarchy, Canada has held huge celebrations for past coronations of British monarchs. The crowning of King Charles III on May 6, 2023 marks the first coronation in 70 years for Commonwealth nations. Below is a quick overview of this age-old ceremony and six pieces of history tying...
In 1922, Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery and her family vacationed two weeks in the small town of Bala in Muskoka, Ontario. She took the proof of her novel Emily of New Moon to edit. But this trip would inspire The Blue Castle, one of her only two books for...
"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert." – Andrew Carnegie During the early 20th century, 125 libraries in Canada were built with grants from the Carnegie Foundation. Of those, 111 were built in...