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Authority record
YMCA of Montreal
YMCA1 · Corporate body · 1851-

The first YMCA-the Young Men's Christian Association-was founded in London, England in 1844 by George Williams, age 23. It was a religious (Evangelical Protestant) movement for young men who had left their families and migrated from outlying areas to jobs in London. Its goal was their character development. It provided fellowship and opportunities for constructive use of leisure time.

At the world's fair that took place in London in 1851, YMCA pamphlets were distributed to visitors from all over the world, including a number of Montrealers who judged that it would fulfill a need in their city.

An inaugural meeting of the Montreal YMCA took place at St. Helen Street Baptist Church in November 1851. The Montreal YMCA can claim to be the first in North America, although YMCAs started up in Boston, New York, Toronto, and other North American cities about the same time.

The North American YMCAs formed a confederation in 1854. The World Alliance of YMCAs was formed in 1855.

In 1853, the Montreal YMCA hired its first paid employee, Samuel Massey. He worked as a missionary to young men in Montreal. As an adjunct to its religious mission, in the 1850s the Montreal YMCA created a social centre in rented quarters where young men could gather. It included a library and reading room. The Y began offering lectures, an employment service, and charitable relief to the indigent.

The first Montreal YMCA building was erected in 1873 on Victoria Square.

That year, the first evening educational courses were held, in French and shorthand. Services were added for younger boys and immigrants. Sports were added in the late 1880s. War work-services to military personnel-was first undertaken during the Boer War. Foreign service-outreach to other countries-became important early in the twentieth century.

Expansion was rapid, and in 1892 the Montreal YMCA created new quarters on Dominion Square, where the Sun Life building now stands. In the Dominion Square Y building there were meeting rooms, a reading room and a library, club and class rooms, an auditorium, a gymnasium, locker and shower rooms, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a dining room.

In 1894, a boys' summer camp was opened in the Laurentians north of Montreal. Outdoor programs have been part of the Association's programming ever since.

In 1912, the Central/Downtown Branch of the Montreal Association moved to new quarters on Drummond Street. That year, the Association opened the Westmount Branch and the North Branch (now YMCA du Parc). Other branches and various satellite units have existed at various times throughout the Metropolitan Montreal region.

In 1931 the Downtown Branch was remodeled and a 500-room residential annex was added to provide low-cost accommodation and meals for men. The residence would later serve as accommodation for refugees. (In 2001 as part of a major renovation of the YMCA Centre-ville, the downtown residence was demolished. The Y opened refugee accommodation in the former Reddy Memorial Hospital on Tupper Street.)

The Montreal YMCA has offered many programs, including physical and aquatics programs and social programs. The educational programs grew to become one of Concordia University founding institutions, Sir George Williams College/University. In the 1970s a shift in government policy in Quebec meant increased emphasis on community recreational programs, and the YMCA provided input and management services for these programs. Community development programs, including immigrant, crime prevention, and offender rehabilitation programs, were added.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Metropolitan Montreal Association included the YMCA Centre-ville, the du Parc YMCA, the Guy-Favreau YMCA, the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve YMCA, the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce YMCA, the Pointe Saint-Charles YMCA, the Saint-Laurent YMCA, the West Island YMCA, the Westmount YMCA, Kamp Kanawana, the YMCA residence for refugee claimants, and the YMCA International Language school and the YMCA Foundation and Metropolitan services offices which were located in the same building as the YMCA Centre-ville.

Vineberg, Lillian
LV1 · Person · [19-] -

1983 Faculty of Fine Arts graduate, artist, and long-time community volunteer, Lillian Vineberg was elected Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors in July 1997 for a one-year term, having served since 1996 as a community-at-large representative. Vineberg assumed the role of interim Chair of the Board of Governors in 1999, following the sudden death of then Chair, Reginald K. Groome, before being elected Chair of the Board of Governors at their November 17, 1999 meeting. Vineberg stepped down as Chair in 2003 and was soon re-elected to the Board of Governors as community-at-large representative until her retirement in 2011.

  • Vineberg served on several Advisory Search Committees: in 1996 she represented the community-at-large on the Advisory Search Committee for the Dean of Engineering and Computer science; in 1997 she was a member of the Advisory Search Committee for the Director of University Libraries; in 1999 she represented the community-at-large on the Advisory Search Committee for the position of Rector and Vice-Chancellor; in 2003 she represented the Executive Committee on the Advisory Search Committee for Provost; in 2004 she represented the community-at-large on the Advisory Search Committee for the Dean of Fine Arts.
  • In 1998, along with other 35 prominent Montrealers, Vineberg was a member of the External Advisory Board of the Faculty of Fine Arts, which was created to publicize faculty accomplishments.
  • In 1998 Vineberg also chaired the Task Force on the Revitalization of the Loyola Campus, created to find solutions to Loyola’s longstanding identity crisis. The Force’s final report was submitted to the Board of Governors at their April 15, 1998 meeting, after seven months of intense work. Richard J. Renaud paid tribute to Vineberg at the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex opening ceremony on September 2, 2003, citing her work as Chair of the Force.
  • Vineberg raised $7,200 in pledges at the 2000 Concordia Shuffle.
  • Vineberg spoke at a February 20, 2001 ceremony unveiling two large installations in the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall lobby in acknowledgement of the generosity of donors to the recent Capital Campaign. She was appointed Chair of the Installation Committee in 2005.
  • On May 11, 2006 Vineberg received the Humberto Santos Award of Merit at the 15th Annual Concordia University Alumni Association Recognition Awards banquet for her work with the Board of Governors, Fine Arts Advisory Board, and Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery Board.
  • The Lillian Vineberg Graduate Award in Painting and Drawing was created in 2010.
Verthuy, Maïr
MV1 · Person · 19XX-

Maïr Verthuy started her teaching career at Concordia University as a Sessional Lecturer in French at Sir George Williams University in 1966, becoming Assistant Professor in 1969. After the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University in 1974, she worked with other feminist scholars on the establishment of a college dedicated to Women’s Studies. She became the first principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at its opening in 1978. Verthuy remained an Associate Professor at the department of Études françaises until being granted the rank of Professor in 1992. She would be getting the title of Distinguished Professor Emerita, in 2004 after announcing her retirement in 2003. She’s the author of many books and articles and presented at many colloquia around the world. Her domains of expertise are women’s rights and French literature.

  • Maïr Verthuy chaired Concordia’s Arts Faculty Council Committee on Experimentation and Innovation in Higher Education (or AFC Education Committee) in 1974.
  • Verthuy was a Democratic Alliance candidate in the St. Louis riding during the Quebec general election of 1976 (becoming Maïr Williams-Verthuy for the occasion as women running at the time had to use their maiden name tacked to their married names).
  • In 1978, Verthuy launched Les Cahiers de la femme/Canadian Women’s Studies of which she was an editor.
  • Verthuy gave the opening remarks at the Terre des Femmes ’79, a meeting of women’s groups from the Island of Montreal organized by the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Loyola’s Campus Centre in March 1979.
  • On May 4, 1979, Maïr Verthuy was honoured at Salon de la femme for her extraordinary contribution to the status of Women in the province of Quebec especially in the field of education.
  • Maïr Verthuy was the chief organizer of the International Conference on Research and Teaching Related to Women, sponsored by the Simone the Beauvoir Institute and held July 26 to August 4, 1982. The conference attracted 342 participants from 82 different countries.
  • Maïr Verthuy received the John O’Brien Tenth Anniversary Distinguished Teaching Award in 1985.
  • A Maïr Verthuy Scholarship was established in 1986. Its first recipient was Kathy Silver.
  • Verthuy was one of the founders of the Centre de recherche et d’enseignement sur la francophonie et les femmes (CREFF) in 1988. Among other things, the centre aimed at promoting local research on women in francophone countries.
  • In September 1995, she represented Canada at the United Nations World Conference on Women held in Beijing.
  • The YMCA selected Verthuy as the recipient for the 1997 Women of Distinction Award for the Advancement of Women.
  • The three-day conference Les Femmes de lettres et le français hors frontière held at Concordia in May 15 to 17, 1998 was held in honour of Maïr Verthuy.
  • On the recommendation of Quebec’s Minister of Education, Verthuy was made Chevalière, Ordre des Palmes Académiques by decree of the prime minister of France in recognition of her long commitment to teaching and research in French language and culture in 2002.
  • Verthuy was granted a Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case on November 7, 2008.
  • She was named to the Order of Canada by the Governor General in 2012.
  • Verthuy was the subject of the 2014 movie Autour de Maïr, directed by Hejer Charf.
  • She was inducted in the Ordre national du Québec, becoming a Chevalière in 2019.
Tittler, Robert
RT3 · Person · 19XX-

Robert Tittler grew up in the Eastern United States and received his doctorate in history from New York University in 1971. He began his career at Concordia University as an assistant professor in the department of History at one its founding institution, Loyola College of Montreal, in 1969, was promoted associate professor in 1975 and full professor in 1981. He served as Chair of the Department of History from 1976 to 1978 and as Graduate Program Director from 1986 to 1989. He took part in various committees both at Concordia and outside the university as well as on numerous editorial and advisory boards. He retired on June 1st, 2005 and was granted the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He specializes in the political, urban, local and art-architectural history of Early Modern Britain, c. 1500-1640 and he has published over 60 scholarly essays and 12 books.

  • In 1971, Tittler introduced the idea of Open Forums at Loyola College, for debating current issues and discuss freely current topics falling outside of academic borders.
  • In 1986, Tittler was appointed general editor of a series on European urban society published in four volumes by Longman.
  • Tittler was named to the Editorial Board of the Toronto-based Records of Early English Drama Publication project in 1987.
  • In 1996, Tittler presided as President over the annual meeting of the Northeast Conference on British Studies at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.
  • He delivered the keynote speech on the topic of ‘Reformation, Collective Memory and Civil Culture in English Provincial Towns’ to the 23rd annual meeting of the Pre-Modern Towns Group in London University in January 1997.
  • Along with Michael Maxwell of McGill University, Tittler co-founded the Montreal British History Seminar in 1997, an inter-university venture hearing scholarly papers and attracting speakers from Montreal universities and beyond.
  • Tittler was appointed visiting professor of history at Yale University for the spring term (January to May) of 1998.
  • He was a key player in the organization of the Northeast Conference on British Studies (NECBS) held at Concordia University on October 27 and 28, 2000.
  • In 2001, Tittler chaired a special committee of the North American Conference on British Studies to study the state of British Studies and British history in Canada with a mandate to work with British Council of Canada on this issue.
  • He was elected chair of the executive board of Records of Early English Drama, a Toronto-based international research and publication, in 2003.
  • Tittler received a Long Service Award from Concordia University in 2004, honouring his 35 years of service.
  • In 2008, Tittler was presented with a festschrift, a commemorative volume of essays celebrating his contributions to the field of English local history.
  • Robert Tittler was named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2017.
Szporer, Philip
PS1 · Person

Philip Szporer is a filmmaker, journalist and part-time instructor at the Department of Contemporary Dance and the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability. He was a contributor to the Concordia's Thursday Report in 1983-1984.

  • In 1999, Szporer was awarded the Pew Fellowship (National Dance/Media Project) at the University of California.
  • He served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts from 2000 to 2016.
  • Szporer co-founded the Montreal-based award-winning media arts production company Mouvement Perpétuel in 2001.
  • In 2010, Szporer won the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, for his 30-year involvement in the dance community.
  • In 2018, he co-founded Dance + Words, a project aiming to facilitate conversations surrounding cultural discourse.
TVSG1 · Corporate body · 1966-1975

Television Sir George (TVSG) came into existence in October 1966, with the ratification by the Students’ Association of Sir George Williams University (later the Day Students’ Association) and made its home in the then newly erected Henry F. Hall Building. The first organization staff was composed of James Joyce as executive producer, Rob Joyce as creative director, and Barry Barnes as technical advisor. Membership was open to all undergraduate students. TV Sir George’s first show appeared on Channel 9 on November 21st 1966. TVSG became CUTV in January 1975.

Shulman, Harvey
HS1 · Person · 19XX-2005

Harvey Schulman graduated from Sir George Williams University in 1965. He would be return to SGWU in 1969 as a lecturer in Political Science.

Sherman, Leah
LS1 · Person · 1925-September 2, 2015

Leah Sherman was born in Montreal in 1925 and died on September 2, 2015. She graduated from Baron Byng High School in 1942. After completing her graduate studies at New York University, she joined Sir George Williams University in 1950 to teach part-time in the Faculty of Arts and became assistant professor in 1960. She was promoted to associate professor in 1965 and to full professor in 1969. Professor Sherman, along with Douglass Clarke and Alfred Pinsky, helped to found the Department of Fine Arts at Sir George Williams University which in 1974, became the Faculty of Fine Arts of Concordia University. With Alfred Pinsky and Stanley Horner, she conceptualized and implemented the original Fine Arts curriculum. She provided leadership in the development and implementation of the BFA in Art Education (1965), the MA in Art Education (one of the first two graduate programmes offered at SGWU), the PhD in Art Education (1967) and the Diploma in Art Education for Certification (1969). She obtained the first authorization to certify teachers for Québec schools for SGWU in 1969. Professor Sherman was the first director of graduate programs in Art Education. She was assistant Chair in the Department of Fine Arts in 1973-1974 and Director of the Visual Arts Division in 1975-1976.

Professor Sherman has served on many University Task Forces and committees. In recognition of her expertise in children’s artistic development, she has been a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development since 1981.

Her work in the history of Québec art education, particularly the work and legacy of Anne Savage, has provided an important source of archival information for teachers and researchers. She collaborated with Suzanne Lemerise of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) on joint histories of art education in Quebec from English and French perspectives. She retired from Concordia University in 1994.

Robinson, Ira
IR1 · Person · 19XX-

Ira Robinson is a professor of Judaic studies in the department of Religion and Cultures of Concordia University. He received his BA in Humanities from the Johns Hopkins University in 1973. Robinson obtained his M.A. in Jewish History from Columbia University in 1975 before becoming a lecturer at the department of Religion of Concordia University in 1979. Harvard University awarded Robinson his Ph.D. in 1980. He was promoted to the Associate Professor rank in 1984 and was the Graduate Program Director of the M.A. in Judaic Studies from 1984 to 1991. He sat on the Council of the Faculty of Arts and Science from 1990-1991 to 1997-1998. Robinson was elected chair of the department of Religion in 1989, a position he would keep until 1997. He was finally promoted Full Professor in 1993. Robinson would be promoted Graduate Program Director again, from 2000 to 2009. Robinson was inducted into the Provost’s Circle of Distinction on May 30, 2013. He was designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2022. Ira Robinson published more than 15 books and over 50 articles. His research interests are Canadian Judaism, Orthodox Judaism in North America, Hasidism, Judaism and science and Jewish mysticism.

  • Ira Robinson obtained his first award, the Louis L. Kaplan Prize in Hebrew Literature from the Baltimore Hebrew College, in 1970.
  • He was awarded the 1986 prize in the non-fiction category of the Kenneth B. Smilen Literary Awards as the editor of Cyrus Adler: Selected Letters.
  • In 1988, Robinson chaired the 3-day event Yiddish Montreal symposium, underlining Montreal as a world centre of Yiddish literary creativity.
  • He was elected president of the Canadian Jewish Historical Society (now the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies) in June of 1994.
  • Robinson was the president of the Jewish Public Library in Montreal from 1996 to 1998.
  • The Koffler Centre for the Arts in Toronto’s Jewish Book Awards Committee granted Robinson the Prize for scholarship on a Canadian Jewish subject for the book ‘Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century’ in 1995.
  • Robinson was instrumental in the creation of the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies in 1999. He has acted as a director for the institute in 2005-2006, and 2012 to
  • He chaired the Canadian Jewish Studies Researchers’ Forum held March 2001 in Montreal.
  • In 2002, Robinson was elected to the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society.
  • Robinson was awarded the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award in 2013 for his continuous support of Jewish Studies.