Unearthing The Necropolis

Show Notes

This podcast episode explores the past and present of the Toronto Necropolis. We interviewed Cabbagetown historian, George Rust D’Eye and historian and Toronto Necropolis tour leader with Toronto Heritage, Jonsaba Jabbi for their expertise and opinions on the history of the Toronto Necropolis. The Toronto Necropolis is located in Cabbagetown and remains a public fixture in the neighbourhood for people to walk though, bike, or sit and enjoy the picturesque nature and displays of highly decorated grave monuments. The Toronto Necropolis has always reflected this public openness by being open to anyone regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. to be buried there. We discuss the contrasting signage to this openness, as the signs in the Toronto Neropolis do not display the diversity of the site and instead tell a very narrow narrative about who and what is deemed noteworthy in this cemetery.

Guests

George Rust D’Eye

Jonsaba Jabbi

Bibliography

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“Chinamen in Toronto: Extraordinary Funeral at the Necropolis.” The Globe, October 25, 1877. https://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/chinamen-toronto/docview/1552976951/se-2.

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Filey, Mike. Toronto Sketches 7. Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2003. https://books-scholarsportal-info.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/en/read?id=/ebooks/ebooks0/gibson_crkn/2009-12-01/4/410695.

Heritage Toronto. “Black History Unburied.” Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.heritagetoronto.org/whats-on/black-history-unburied-september-19/

Mount Pleasant Group. “Toronto Necropolis.” Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.mountpleasantgroup.com/en-CA/Locations/Cemeteries/toronto-necropolis.aspx.

Rust-D’Eye, George. Cabbagetown Remembered. Erin: Boston Mills Press, 1984.

Scadding, Henry. Toronto of old : Collections and Recollections, Illustrative of the Early Settlement and Social Life of the Capital of Ontario. Toronto : Adam, Stevenson, 1873. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.13373.

Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper, and Karolyn Smardz Frost. The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Toronto General Burying Grounds. Historical sketch : Toronto, Canada 1826-1905. Toronto? : The Trust, 1905?. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.75570

Toronto General Burying Grounds. Rules and Regulations. Toronto : Copp, Clark, 1914. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.87097.

“Toronto Necropolis.” The Globe, November 28, 1850. https://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/toronto necropolis/docview/1510601667/se-2. “Toronto’s Cemeteries: The Improvement in Progress at Mount Pleasant. The Necropolis and St. James’ - Plot Selected for the Soldiers’ Burying Ground.”The Globe, April 25, 1883. https://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/torontos-cemeteries/docview/1532125969/se-2.#

Music Credit

Gentle Feelings by SergePavkinMusic