Connexions project awarded funding from Documentary Heritage Communities Program

April 11, 2020

The Connexions Archive is pleased to announce that it will be receiving funding from Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program to carry out a project to digitize and share the documentary history of Toronto grassroots community groups.

The new project, “Building stronger communities by building on the past: Sharing the histories of Toronto’s grassroots community groups,” builds on the work done in a previous digitization and virtual exhibit project. A significant number of periodicals and vertical file documents will be scanned during the project, catalogued with descriptions, and put online. The project will also involve writing and designing interpretative materials which will explain and provide context for these documents. An important objective is to make these materials accessible and interesting to students studying Canadian society, urban studies, and issues such as gentrification, poverty, homelessness, access to health care, and other issues.

The project will run from April 2019 through to the end of March 2020.

Connexions Co-ordinator Ulli Diemer said “This will enable us to make a significant collection of documents available to a wide audience. Our physical archive is an important piece of Canadian heritage, but digitizing the materials and making them available online makes it possible for many more people to view the materials.”

The project will also involve doing oral history interviews with people who participated in various social movements and recording their memories and analyses for future generations.

Connexions maintains a large website devoted to the history of movements for social justice, in Canada and in other countries.

Contact:

Ulli Diemer
Co-ordinator
Connexions Archive & Library
Phone: 416-988-9586
www.connexions.org/CxArchive.html