Toronto’s Greek community can learn more about its history in the city at an exhibition taking place this week.
The Greek Canadian History Project’s (GCHP) exhibition Memory and Migration: A History of Greek Immigrants to Toronto, 1864-2014 is now on display at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, in the Rotunda .
The exhibition continues this evening until 9 p.m. and Friday May 16 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
A celebration to kick off Greek Heritage Week in Toronto was held Monday at City Hall, attracting more than 150 people.
The exhibition, which celebrates 150 years of Greeks in Toronto, includes photographs documenting the community’s Independence Day parade, a large Greek Orthodox Easter service at Maple Leaf Gardens beginning in 1960, the opening of the city’s first Greek Orthodox church and an image of Toronto’s first documented church. Greek immigrant – Dr. Petros Constantinidis – arrived in the city in 1864 and became one of Toronto’s first operating surgeons.
The historical exhibition also includes newspaper clippings, books, documents and brochures. This exhibition is the culmination of a decades-long collection owned by Toronto Greek Michael Mouratidis. The exhibition also includes photos from the GCHP’s Toronto Telegram collection.
Co-founded by Dr. Sakis Gekas, Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair of Modern Greek History at York University, and Christopher Grafos, PhD candidate in history, the GCHP artifact collection is housed at Archives and Collections special Clara Thomas of York University.
To learn more about the GCHP or to donate to the collection, visit its Facebook page at tiny.cc/ms0wfx for more details.
~Georgia Balogiannis
