Showing 48 results

Authority record
Abley, Mark
MA2 · Person · May 13, 1955

Mark Abley is a non-fiction writer, journalist, travel writer, and poet. He was born in Leamington, England, on May 13, 1955, and grew up in Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. He now lives in Montreal.
Abley studied literature at the University of Saskatchewan, obtaining a BA in 1975. He continued his studies as Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, where he completed a second BA with first-class honours in 1978 and a Master’s degree in 1983, both in literature.
After his studies, Mark Abley and his wife Ann moved to Montreal, where he began to work as a freelance writer. His first book, Beyond Forget : Rediscovering the Prairies, was published in 1986.
With the birth of his first child in 1987, Abley joined the Montreal Gazette, where he worked as a feature writer, book-review editor and literary columnist for the following sixteen years.
During his career at the Montreal Gazette, Abley won the National Newspaper Award for critical writing (1996) and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award for international reporting. In 1995, he received a “Dateline Hong Kong” fellowship sponsored by the Canadian Association of Journalists. In 1997, he received a Maclean-Hunter Fellowship in arts journalism from the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Mark Abley left The Gazette and returned to freelance writing in 2003 with the publication of Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Language. In 2005, Abley was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, which he used to write The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches From the Future of English, published in 2008, as the second of three books about language. Abley also wrote a memoir of his father, The Organist : Fugues, Fatherhood, and a Fragile Mind, and a book about Indigenous and colonial history, Conversations with a Dead Man : The Legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott. In his book Strange Bewildering Time: Istanbul to Kathmandu in the Last Year of the Hippie Trail, published in 2023, Abley is reflecting back on his travels through Asia as a young man, in spring 1978. Abley also wrote the text of a children’s picture book, Ghost Cat.
In 2022 Mark Abley received an honorary doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan for his contributions to the literary community.

Abley was a participating member of poets’ workshops during his time in Oxford and later in Montreal. He has published three books of poetry, Blue Sand, Blue Moon (1988), Glasburyon (1994), and The Silver Palace Restaurant (2005), as well as the chapbook Dissolving Bedrock (2001). He received the QSPELL awards for poetry in 1989 and 1995.

Mark Abley has taught writing and literature at various writers’ workshops, at the Banff Centre for the Arts, at the English Department of Concordia University, and he has guest lectured in Concordia’s Journalism program. Abley has also served on juries for the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec, and the Quebec Writers Federation, of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars, and PEN Canada.

articule
A2 · Corporate body · 1979-

articule is an artist-run centre dedicated to social engagement, experimentation and interdisciplinarity.
articule was founded in 1979 by a group of artists to create a place for multidisciplinary artistic presentations focused on research and experimentation. The centre’s founding members shared common values such as bilingualism, collaboration, and management of the gallery through its members’ participation, which remain central to the centre’s operations to this day. The first exhibition “Pile ou Face, mur-mur”, took place in a rented space on de la Montagne Street. articule was incorporated as a non-profit organization the 14th of July 1980.
Since the gallery’s beginnings in 1979, articule’s programming considers equally the work of internationally praised artists as well as that of emerging artists, offering many a first opportunity to exhibit their work in a professional environment.
Following the desire to take art outside of the gallery space, several exhibitions and events take place in locations such as apartment buildings, hospitals, theatres, or parks.
Since its foundings, articule contributed significantly to the development of performance art in Montreal. With thematic conferences, publications such as the newsletter Discussion (1981 to 1989), and workshops, articule became a centre for dialogue and knowledge sharing.

In 2012 the gallery held for the first time the conference Montreal Monochrome?, addressing the mis- and under-representation and systemic oppression of marginalized groups in Montreal’s contemporary art milieu. The several days lasting annual event soon became the gallery’s programming centrepiece.

articule moved several times since its beginnings in de la Montagne Street.
From 1983 to 1991, the gallery shared a building with several other arts-related organizations and galleries at 4060 St-Laurent. In 1991, the centre moved to 15, Mont-Royal West. From 1996 to 2006, it was located at 4001, Berri Street. Thereafter, it relocated to Fairmont Street in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood in 2006.
articule is presently located at 6282, St-Hubert Street, Montreal.
articule was a member of the Société du 5 avril, and is currently a member of the RCAAQ [Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec].

Baculis, Al
AB4 · Person · 1930-2007

Al Baculis was a Canadian clarinetist and composer. He was born in Lachine, Montreal on November 21, 1930, as Joseph George Alphonse Allan Baculis. He was the son of Lithuanian immigrants. From 1948 to 1951, he studied clarinet at McGill University, and from 1952 to 1956 he studied composition. Baculis married Margo MacKinnon in 1963. They lived in Montreal and had two children, Heather and Alan Jr.

During the 1950s, Al Baculis played with the Canadian All Stars, but also with various bands led by Buck Lacombe. In 1958, he started to do studio work for the CBC. Around the same time, Al Baculis played and composed for several NFB films. From around 1965 to 1972, he led the Al Baculis Singers, a studio group working mainly for radio and television. Also in the 1960s, he led the Al Baculis Octet. Al Baculis wrote arrangements for the Ted Elfstrom Octet and played saxophone in the Johnny Holmes Orchestra. In the mid-1960s, Baculis performed with Vic Vogel's band for Canadian soldiers in Europe and the Middle East. Al Baculis composed and arranged the theme for the closing ceremonies of the 1976 Montréal Olympics. From 1977 to 1986, Al Baculis taught arranging and composition at Vanier College, Montreal, and at McGill University, Montreal, from 1978 to 1983.

Al Baculis died on January 22, 2007 in Seminole, Florida, where he had lived since his retirement in 1993.

Belfrage, Frances
FB4 · Person · 1920-2011

Frances Belfrage McDonald was born on June 17, 1920. She was married to Peter McDonald with whom she had a daughter named Molly McDonald. Belfrage wrote several radio plays for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Some of her works include Blues for Charlie, Neon Sign in Green and Red, and The Exile. She also wrote for the British Columbia Department of Education’s Youth in Search of a Future series dealing with vocational guidance.

Frances Belfrage McDonald died on March 13, 2011.

BCRC1 · Corporate body · 1992 - present

The Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC) is a Montreal-based organization established in 1992 that provides professional support to English-Speaking public organizations, families, and individuals within the city’s Black communities. The BCRC is a member of the Black Community Forum that aims to develop, plan, and support effective partnerships within the Black Community. Dr. Clarence Bayne holds the position of president of the BCRC, and Jamar Scott the position of Vice-president and chair of Finance Committee. The BCRC is located in 6767 chemin de la Côte des Neiges, and offers information and referral services, support to schools, workshops, and a documentation center. The Black Community Resource Centre has partnered with several organizations such as the Quebec Community Groups Network, the English Montreal School Board, Volunteer Bureau of Montreal, Centraide du Grand Montreal, and the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, among others, to facilitate workshops, training and programs on health, social services, education, anti-racism, self-esteem, community building, conflict resolution, socio-culture and community development for the integration and empowerment of Montreal minority groups including Black Youth. Dedicated to empowering the Black-Anglo community of Montreal, the centre has developed the Book Project, a historical account of the evolution of the English-speaking black community and Black in Quebec, an in-depth research study into the English-Speaking Black Community in Quebec that aims to provide Black Community Organizations with accurate information, data and sources on their communities.

Black Studies Center
BSC1 · Corporate body · 1973-

The Black Studies Centre is a not-for-profit community organization and registered charity in Montreal, Quebec. The Black Studies Centre was founded by Dr. Clarence Bayne, Adrien Espinet and Leighton Hutson in January 1973.

The Centre has its origins in the Research Institute of the National Black Coalition of Canada which was founded by Dr. Clarence Bayne and operated from 1971 to 1974. At the time of its foundation, the mission of the Black Studies Centre was to protect the interests of Black people in Quebec, to help improve their economic status, and to create and foster organizational structures improving their position in society. In addition, the Centre works to improve communications within the Montreal Black community by promoting Black culture through its many cultural programs and by building up research centres promoting and facilitating the study of Black history. The Black Studies Centre continues to organize workshops, conferences, exhibitions, and other events, and partners with other community organizations and educational institutions in order to offer varied programming geared towards Black youth and other community organizations. Over the years, the Black Studies Centre has partnered with and housed other community organizations, including the Black Theater Workshop, the Black Community Council of Quebec, Women on the Rise, and the Quebec Board of Black Educators. It continues to work in collaboration with the Institute for Community Entrepreneurship and Development (ICED) and the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University.

The Black Studies Centre is governed by a board of directors. It is member of the Black Community Council of Quebec and has a seat on the Board of Directors at the Black Community Resource Centre. During the course of its operations, the Black Studies Centre has gathered extensive documentation on the histories, contributions, and experiences of Black communities in Montreal, Quebec, and Canada. It conducts “extensive research on the social, political and economic status of Black populations in Montreal and Canada; and [has] presented several briefs on the issues to all levels of Government and to the general public and commissions.” The Black Studies Centre receives funding from the Government of Canada and Government of Quebec.

Between 1972 and 2014 the Black Studies Centre was located at 1968 De Maisonneuve boulevard in Montreal. The building, which was belonging to the Black Studies Centre, was sold in 2014 and proceeds from the sale were used to set up the SC Charitable Activity Funding Program. Money from the trust is used to finance the new home at 3333 Cavendish boulevard, Montreal, where the centre is currently located.

Bourne, Huntly
HB5 · Person · [ca. 1916] - February 10, 2011

Huntly Bourne was born as son of Charles E.H. Bourne and Muriel Winnifred (Macdonald) Bourne, around 1916. He married Nancy (Anderson) Bourne in 1946. They lived in Lachine, Quebec with their three children : Stephen, Brian and Janice. Huntly Bourne died on February 10, 2011 in Lachine, Quebec.

Cambridge, Patricia
PC1 · Person · 1939 - [1998 ?]

Patricia Cambridge was born on November 18, 1939, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She migrated to Canada in the 60s and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Concordia University and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from McGill. Cambridge was involved in several community organizations and for several years she was the coordinator of the St. Vincent and Grenadines Association of Montreal’s annual Pageant and Dance. She was also involved with Project Genesis, a community organization that assists individuals affected by social inequalities. Cambridge worked as an Urban Planner for the Quebec Human Rights Commission, the City of Châteauguay, and the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She also worked as a freelance for the Afro-Canada Citizens Enhancement Society and the Black Community Council of Quebec.

Patricia Cambridge and Alfie Roberts had a daughter and two sons.

Charbonneau, Yves
YC1 · Person · 1934-2007

Yves Charbonneau was born in 1934 in a working-class neighborhood in the east end of Montreal to Eugène Charbonneau and Dorothée Coulombe.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Yves Charbonneau was a trumpet player in various jazz orchestras. He married Francoise Labonne in 1962. He had three daughters, Nathalie, Sophie, and Julie, and a son. In 1967, together with Guy Thouin, Jean Prefontaine and Maurice Richard, he formed the group Quatuor du Jazz libre du Québec, where he was the trumpet player. In 1968 the group participated the Osstidcho. Thereafter, Charbonneau accompanied Robert Charlebois, L’Infonie, and Plume Latraverse.
From 1970 to 1972, the Quatuor du Jazz libre du Québec build up an artistic and political commune, known as Petit Québec libre, in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Rochelle in the Eastern Townships. After its closure, the quartet opened l’Amorce, an experimental coffeehouse located at 25 St.-Paul E., in Montreal, where they were performing until the club's destruction by fire in June 1974.
After the break-up of Jazz libre du Québec in 1975, Yves Charbonneau improvised in various groups, playing at Conventum and Véhicule Art. In 1987, he began studying photography at the Cegep of Matane, Quebec.
He died on February 22, 2007.

Charney, Ann
AC2 · Person · 1940-

Ann Charney is a Montreal-based novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Ann Charney was born on April 3, 1940 in Brody/ Lwow, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine) as the daughter of Dora Wengler Korsower and Michael Korsower.

Until the liberation of Poland by the Russians in 1945, Ann Charney’s family was forced to hide because they were Jewish. In 1950, Ann Charney and her parents immigrated to Canada. Since that time, she has lived almost continuously in Montreal, Quebec. In 1960, she married architect Melvin Charney. Together they have a daughter, Dara. In 1965, Charney received a master's degree in French literature from McGill University. She also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.

Ann Charney contributed to a number of Canadian and American periodicals as a columnist and writer of short stories. She published in Maclean’s magazine, Saturday Night, Chatelaine, the Canadian Forum, and Queen’s Quarterly, among others. She also wrote book reviews. Charney's first novel, Dobryd, was published in 1973.

Ann Charney has received grants from Canada Council and the Conseil des arts et des lettres de Québec. She has received various awards, including National Magazine Awards, the Chatelaine Fiction Prize, and the Canadian Authors’ Association Prize, honouring both her fiction and non-fiction work. In April 2006, the French government decorated Ann Charney as an officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters. Ann Charney is member of the Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois and the Writer’s Union of Canada. She was involved with Blue Metropolis since its foundation. She is a member of the Blue Metropolis Foundation Honorary Board.

Clark, David
DC4 · Person · [ca. 1947]-2015

David Clark, a musician, was born in England around 1947 to a musician father.

Clark moved to Montreal in 1968. He received a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from McGill University in 1972. As a student, he played with the McGill Jazz Workshop. Adept in both classical music and jazz, Clark worked as a saxophonist, clarinetist, orchestral arranger and conductor, performing with various well-known orchestras, including the Canada Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Andrew Homzy Jazz Orchestra, and others. Clark was a member of Walter Boudreau’s Quatuor de saxophones de Montréal / Montreal Saxophone Quartet for 15 years, until the 1990s. During the 1990s, Clark spent several summers working as the musical director and bandleader on the cruise ship Amerikanis. Clark also worked as a music teacher at both Vanier College and Concordia University. He taught at Concordia University until 2009 and at Vanier College until 2014. In the 1980s and 1990s, David Clark was a member of the Fossils Club of Montreal, which was founded in 1926 by a group of Westmount High School graduates. Its annual musical productions allowed the club to raise money to allow for underprivileged children in Montreal to attend summer camp. During the 1980s and 1990s, Clark created arrangements and served as conductor for several of the Fossils’ productions. The club existed until around 1996. Clark also played with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal at Carnegie Hall in New York City, a performance that he considers to be the apex of his career.

David Clark died on September 4, 2015, at the age of 68.

CQE1 · Corporate body · 1978-2005

The Conseil québécois de l’estampe (CQE) was established in 1978 under the name of Conseil de la gravure du Québec. It contributes to the visibility of emerging printmaking artists by organizing exhibitions and facilitating networking among artists and partner organizations through meetings and events. The CQE aims to improve the conditions of artists and raise awareness of their practices through publications like Code d’éthique de l’estame originale first published in 1983. In 1988, the CQE created the Prix Albert-Dumouchel to award new printmaking artists and in 2002, it created the Mois de l’estampe, later renamed as Mois de l’art imprimé. The name of the organization was changed from Conseil de la gravure du Quebec to Conseil québécois de l’estampe in 1983. In 2005, the CQE became Arprim (Regroupement pour la promotion de l’art imprimé) as a response to the new needs in the printmaking art scene.

Cutler, May E.
MC5 · Person · 1923-2011

May Ebbitt Cutler was a Canadian writer and publisher.

She was born as May Ebbitt in Montreal, Quebec, on September 4, 1923 as the daughter of Irish immigrants. In 1952, she married the labour lawyer Phil Cutler. They had four sons : Keir, Adam, Michael and Roger. May Cutler died March 3, 2011 at the age of 87 in Montreal.

May Cutler received a master’s degree in arts from McGill in 1945, and a MA in journalism from Colombia University, New York City. She worked as a journalist for newspapers like the Montreal Herald and the Montreal Standard. She also wrote several books, especially for children, and plays. In 1967, she founded Tundra Books, a publisher's house for children's books in Montreal, thus being the first female publisher of children's books in Canada. Cutler ran Tundra Books until it was sold to McClelland and Stewart in 1995.
In 1987, May Cutler became the first female mayor of Westmount for a four-year period. She also was member of the Council on the Arts of the Montreal Urbain Community.

Dubicanac, Tom
TB4 · Person · [19--]-

Tom Dubicanac is a Montreal artist and architect, also known under the pseudonym Archigrok, which he shared with architect Ted Cavanaugh. As Archigrok, they participated in the exhibition "Corridart on Sherbrooke street" in Montreal in 1976.

Dutkewych, Andrew
AD3 · Person · 1944-

Andrew (Andy) Dutkewych was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1944. He lives in Canada.
In 1966, he graduated from Philadelphia College of Art. He received a Post Graduate Diploma from Slade School of Art (London, England) in 1968. Since then, he is working as visual artist, mainly focusing on sculpture.
Andy Dutkewych was founding member of Véhicule Art.
He teaches Sculpture at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.

Eisenkraft, Harriet
HE3 · Person · [19--]-

Harriet Eisenkraft is a journalist and editor. She studied at the University of Toronto and at Ryerson University. She is married to Gary Klein, and they have two children, Elise and Daniel. She is involved in several non-profit organizations and charities, like Axis Music and Dancing with Parkinson. Eisenkraft was deeply involved in the administration and the building up of the Jewish congregation Shir Libeynu, Toronto, Ontario, since 2000, and had been a board member and served as Vice President of the congregation since 2007. From 2012 to 2014 Eisenkraft was president of the congregation.

Elfstrom, Ted
TE1 · Person · [1916]-

Ted Elfstrom was a Montreal-based musician and trombone player. He was born in 1916. In the 1930s and 40s, he went on tour with the Mart Kenney Orchestra. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Ted Elfstrom was active in Montréal, leading the Ted Elfstrom Octet, including Marcel Baillargeon, Jo Christie, Gerry Danovitch, Nick Ayoub, Gilles Moisan, Armand Maiste, Don Habib and Ronny Page. During the same period, Ted Elfstrom organized the Ted Elfstrom Orchestra and the Montreal Woodwind Chamber Group, which played jazz as well as classic music. Ted Elfstrom often worked with Al Baculis. In the early 1970s, he was part of the Johnny Holmes orchestra.

Feist, Daniel
DF2 · Person · 1954-2005

Daniel Feist was born in Montreal on January 27, 1954 as the son of German immigrants Ursula and David Feist. His father was a visual artsit. Daniel Feist was married to Susan (Susie) Kessler. They had two children, Emily and Max. Daniel Feist died in Montreal on February 11, 2005.

Feist received a BA degree in Communications Studies and German and a minor in music from Concordia University, where he later studied music composition.

He worked as a freelance broadcast and print journalist, electroacoustic musician, band manager, and record producer, and he taught at Dawson College (1980-1984) and in the Department of Music and the Department of Communications Studies at Concordia University (1990-1999). From 1997 to 1999, Feist offered the World-Beat Music History Course in the Department of Music. As part of the class work he brought world music artists who were residents of Montreal to Concordia’s Oscar Peterson Concert Hall to perform and be interviewed.

Feist was one of the first broadcasters to embrace world music (world beat, i.e., the popular music of the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world). He traveled widely, especially in Africa, where he also lived for several years, and interviewed many performers. He was considered an expert in the music of Africa and the Caribbean.

Since the early 1990s, Feist hosted the world-beat program “Rhythms International” on Sunday nights on the Montreal radio station CJFM Mix-96FM. Rhythms International was the only program of its kind on commercial radio in Canada. For several years, Feist also provided a version of Rhythms International for Air Canada’s and Delta Airlines’ in-flight programming, and he wrote and hosted the world-beat series “A Whole New World”on CBC-FM radio from 1993 to 1995.

As an electroacoustic composer, Feist was a member of the Concordia University Electroacoustics group, which had been founded in 1982 as the Concordia Electroacoustics Composers Group. The group’s members composed electroacoustic music and gave concerts. In 1990 his composition “Auxferd Nightburr’d November 2 A.M.” was voted jury winner at the first ACREQ (Association pour la création et la recherche électroacoustiques du Québec) Electroclips competition.

Feist was a long-time contributor to Montreal’s The Gazette as a world-beat music critic and he wrote for programs of events such as the Montreal festival Nuits d’Afrique. In 2001 he covered the United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban for the Southam News Agency. In 2002 he covered the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Being diagnosed with cancer in 2004, Daniel Feist wrote together with Stan Shatenstein a series of articles for The Gazette chronicling his treatment. Theses articles were published as a book by CanWest in 2006, entitled "Cancer: My Story".

General Idea
GI1 · Person · 1969-1994

The artist collective General Idea was formed in Toronto in 1969 by three Canadian artists known as Jorge Zontal, Feliz Partz, and AA Bronson, pseudonyms they adopted to better reflect their identities within the group. What began as an artistic collaboration between friends, lasted for 25 years until the death of two members in 1994.

Jorge Zontal, originally named Slobodan Zaia-Levy, was born in a concentration camp in Parma, Italy, on January 28, 1944. After the end of the Second World War, Zontal and his mother reunited with his father, who was sent from Italy to Auschwitz. The family immigrated to Venezuela when Zontal was eight years old. In the 1960s, Zontal went to study architecture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, graduating in 1968. He also studied video at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, where he met Bronson, who was then teaching a workshop. A visit to Toronto made him move there permanently.

Felix Partz, born Ronald Gabe, was born on April 23, 1944, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Partz studied Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba in the mid-1960s. He traveled to Toronto in the summer of 1969 to visit his friend at Rochdale College, when he decided to remain in the city.

AA Bronson, born Michael Tims, was born on June 16, 1946, in Vancouver. In 1964, he enrolled in architecture studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Three years later, Bronson abandoned his studies to participate in building an alternative community that also produced the newspaper The Loving Couch Press, where he became a contributing editor. In 1969, Bronson settled at Rochdale College in Toronto.

The same year, the three artists met at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. Shortly after that, Bronson, Zontal, and Partz founded the artist collective General Idea.

During the group’s artistic career, they produced a wide variety of media-based artworks and installations commenting on popular culture, mass media, consumption, social inequalities, the AIDS crisis, and queer identity, among other topics. In 1971, General Idea created the fictional narrative Miss General Idea Pageant, satirizing glamour and commenting on beauty, fame, and the commercial process of the art world. In 1984, the group created The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion, a bigger-scale event based on the Miss General Idea narrative from 1971, which included a series of architectural proposals for the installation of a pavilion. In 1972, they published the first issue of FILE Megazine, a publication that aimed to promote other artists’ works as well as General Idea’s major projects. The group released 26 issues, the last one was published in 1989. In 1986, General Idea produced a painting for an exhibition in support of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, featuring the word AIDS in the style of Robert Indiana’s 1966 work LOVE, which was highly popular and appeared in a wide variety of formats such as keychains, napkins, postage stamps, etc. General Idea’s intention in creating the AIDS painting in the same style as LOVE was for it to spread like a virus and raise awareness of the AIDS crisis. The AIDS painting was later produced on a variety of different media, including sculpture, posters, wallpapers, and rings, and was used as a logo for AIDS campaigns in several cities such as New York, Berlin, and Toronto, and AIDS awareness became a central subject of the group’s work.

General Idea’s innovative conceptual approach to art-making gave them widespread recognition, participating in 149 group exhibitions and 123 solo exhibitions around the world.

General Idea remained active until the deaths of Jorge Zontal and Felix Partz on February 3, and June 5, 1994, respectively, from AIDS-related causes.

Guerin, Bellelle
BG3 · Person · 1849-1929

Bellelle Guerin was a Canadian writer and the founder and first president of the Catholic Women's League of Canada. Bellelle Guerin was born as Mary Ellen Guerin on September 24, 1849 in Montreal. She was the eldest child of six and only daughter of civil engineer Thomas Guerin and Mary Maguire, both of Irish descent. Guerin spent several years of her education at the Mont Sainte-Marie Convent in Montreal. During this time, she became renowned as a writer and poet. It was then that she adopted the name Bellelle Guerin.

Guerin never married, but raised her brother’s two children, Thomas and Mary Carroll, after the death of their mother in 1888. Her brother, James John Edmund Guerin (July 4, 1856 – November 10, 1932), was a physician and politician. When he was elected mayor of Montreal in 1910, Bellelle served as mayoress. During the following two years, she accompanied him to civic functions and participated in such events as the International Eucharistic Congress, held in Montreal in 1910, and the visit of Earl Grey in Montreal.

In 1917, Guerin became president of the Catholic Women’s Club, formerly the Ladies of Loyola Club. In November 1917, the Montreal branch of the Catholic Women’s League (CWL) was founded, with herself as first president. Under Guerin’s initiative, the Catholic Women’s League of Canada was created in June 1920 to unify the various branches of the CWL, and once again, she was elected first president.

In 1922, Guerin was honored with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1923, she was made honorary president for life of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada. Meanwhile, the national membership of the CWL had grown to 50,000.

Bellelle Guerin died at age 79 on January 28, 1929, in Montreal.

Harper, Dorothy
DH6 · Person · April 1921-December 2003

Dorothy Evelyn Harper was born on April 3, 1921 in Victoria, British Columbia. She moved to Ottawa, Ontario, when she was a teenager, and later lived and worked in Montreal, Quebec. In September 1947, Harper married Allan Gordon (Gord) Craig while he was in the Royal Canadian Air Force. They had two children, in 1953 and 1955 respectively.

In the 1960s, Harper started her own business, Dorothy E. Craig Imports, which imported women's clothing and shoes, among other items, from Hong Kong.

Harper passed away in December 2003.

Harvey, Franklyn
FH2 · Person · 14 février 1943 - 16 mai 2016

Franklyn Harvey, né à St. Andrews, Grenade, le 14 février 1943, était un activiste, philosophe politique, universitaire, auteur et ingénieur. Il a fréquenté l'Université de Londres, où il a obtenu un baccalauréat ès sciences en génie en 1964. Plus tard, Harvey a déménagé à Montréal, Québec, où il a étudié à l'Université McGill. Il y a obtenu une maîtrise en sciences de l’environnement en 1968. Pendant ses études à Montréal, Harvey faisait partie du cercle d'étude C.L.R. James et du Caribbean Conference Committee. Il a assisté à l'influent Congrès des écrivains noirs à Montréal en 1968. Après avoir terminé ses études, Franklyn Harvey a déménagé à Trinidad, où il était un membre fondateur du mouvement New Beginning. De plus, il faisait partie de la direction grenadienne du Movement for the Assemblies of People (MAP) et du Joint Endeavour for Welfare, Education and Liberation (JEWEL), qui jumelaient en 1973 sous le nom de New Jewel Movement, un parti d'avant-garde marxiste-léniniste à Grenade. Fait significatif, Harvey était le principal auteur du Manifeste du mouvement New Jewel. Harvey est retourné au Canada en 1974 et s'est établi à Toronto. Il est devenu l'éditeur de Caribbean Dialogue et de Caribbean Connection. Il était membre du Groupe de travail latino-américain, une organisation de recherche et de solidarité établie à Toronto, et directeur de Paticiplan, un réseau de consultants indépendants et de praticiens du changement au Canada et dans les Caraïbes,qui a travaillé avec des ONG du monde entier. Franklyn Harvey est décédé à Ottawa le 16 mai 2016.

Hour
H1 · Corporate body · 1993-2012

Administrative history: Hour, later renamed Hour Community, was an English-language newspaper published every Thursday in Montreal, Quebec, between February 1993 and April 2011. Founded by Pierre Paquet, Martin Siberok, Peter Wheeland, and Lubin Bisson, the first issue of Hour was published on February 4, 1993. Articles published in this weekly paper focused on music, film, art, and nightlife in Montreal. In addition to news coverage and feature pieces, Hour also included significant listings documenting current and upcoming events. At the time of it’s founding, Pierre Paquet was the President-Publisher, Martin Siberok was Editor-in-Chief, Peter Weiland was News Editor, Lubin Bisson was Director of Operations, Leslie McGregor was Arts & Entertainment Editor, Jean-Luc Bonin was Art Director, and proofreading with done by Peter Dunn. In April 2011, Hour changed its name to Hour Community and as a cost-cutting measure by the publisher and owner of the paper, the editorial staff was let go. At this time, Kevin Laforest was named the Editor-in-Chief. It was announced on May 2, 2012, that Hour Community would cease operations and its last issue would be published on May 3, 2012. At the time of its closure, Hour Community was owned by Communications Voir.

Isacsson, Magnus
MI1 · Person · 1948-2012

Magnus Isacsson, a Swedish-Canadian filmmaker, was born in Sweden in 1948 and moved to Canada in 1970. He studied political science at the University of Stockholm in Sweden and later in Montreal, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Université de Montreal in 1973. He also studied history and cinema at McGill University and took classes at Concordia University in Montreal, though he did not receive a degree from either institution. He was married to Jocelyne Clarke, documentary filmmaker and founder of Productions Pléiades. They had two children, Anna and Béthièle.

Early during his career, Isacsson worked as a radio producer for the Swedish Broadcasting and the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC). From 1980 to 1986 he was a producer for CBC’s English and French-language networks and worked as a producer for several programs, including Le Point, The Fifth State, and Contrechamps. Isacsson became an independent filmmaker in 1986.

With a documentary filmmaking career of over 25 years, Isacsson produced, wrote and directed several documentaries about critical social and political issues. During his career, he won several awards. Notably, he was the recipient of the Golden Sheaf Award for Uranium in 1991, and his film Power won best documentary at both the Paris International Environmental Film Festival in 1997 and at the Lausanne festival in 1999. Pressure Point (1999) received the Quebec Film Critics award for Best Documentary in 2000.

Magnus Isacsson was awarded the 2004 Prix Lumières from the Quebec Directors’ Association, and in 2012, Isacsson was named member Emeritus of the association. He was also a member of the Documentary Association of Canada, the Association des Réalisateurs et Réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (Sartec), and was a former vice-president of the Observatoire du documentaire,

Isacsson was also an educator and throughout his career taught several courses and workshops about documentary film production. He taught at Concordia University in Montreal, Whitman College, the Quebec film school and at University of Montreal, among others. He also taught audiovisual production in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and collaborated in the production of teaching material Produire en Vidéo Légère volumes 1, 2 and 3.

His last film, Granny Power (2014), was completed and released posthumously by his wife Jocelyne Clarke.

Magnus Isacsson died in August 2012.

Johnston, Peter K.
PJ2 · Person · 1929-[2005?]

Peter K. Johnston was born in 1929. He lived as a farmer in Hudson, Quebec. He was a known collector of jazz, including an extensive collection on Harry James. He was member of the Montreal Vintage Music Society. He was co-author of the discography Harry James and his orchestra, published by the Joyce Record Club, and stood in contact with Peter Levinson, who wrote a biography on Harry James in 1999.

Lee, David
DL2 · Person · [ca. 1950]-

David Neil Lee is a Canadian writer and musician, born around 1950 in British Columbia. He is the author of several books.

Lee studied English at UBC, before he moved to Toronto, where he performed as a jazz musician. In the mid-seventies, he started writing articles for Coda and other music magazines. He was co-editor of Coda with Bill Smith from 1976 to 1983. From 1983 to 1990, he was part owner of the Canadian publishing house Nightwood Editions, together with his partner Maureen Cochrane, whom he married around 1985. Lee and and Cochrane lived in Toronto, before moving to London, Ontario in 1988 for a few years. They later returned to British Columbia. They have two sons, Malcom and Simon.

In 1985, Lee started working on a biography of the Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley, entitled “Stopping time : Paul Bley and the transformation of jazz.” The biography was published in 1998 by Vehicule Press.

In 2004, Lee obtained a MA in Music Criticism from McMaster University. In 2017, he received his PhD in English from the University of Guelph. He is member of the Writers’ Union of Canada.

As musician, David Lee plays with the Lee Palmer Bennett Trio.

David Lee is now living in Hamilton, Ontario.

Leith, Linda
LL4 · Person · December 13, 1949-
Llewellyn, Leon
LL3 · Person · 1951-

Leon Llewellyn was born on April 29, 1951, in Grenville, Saint Andrews, Grenada, to Eric Llewellyn and Vera Renaud Llewellyn. Llewellyn attended St. Andrews Anglican School in Grenville, Grenada (1956-1963), followed by Van Horn Elementary, in Montreal, Quebec. He later attended Northmount High School in Montreal (1965-1969). He is a graduate of Sir George Williams University in Montreal (1969-1975), where he received a BA in Fine Arts in 1974 and a Diploma in Art Education in 1975. Llewellyn is married to Danielle Fortas and they have two children, Jonathan and Julia Llewellyn.

Llewellyn is an artist and retired visual arts teacher, whose career was spent working for the English Montreal School Board, where he taught at Laurier MacDonald High School in Saint Leonard. Prior to his time working at Laurier MacDonald High School, he taught art and music at Aime Renaud High School in St. Leonard and worked as a teaching assistant at Miriam School in Montreal. Llewellyn was involved with many Black community organizations in Montreal, including the Black Studies Centre, Negro Community Centre (NCC), Cote-des Neiges Black Community Development Project, and the Quebec Board of Black Educators, among others. In addition to teaching art and developing art and photography programs for community organizations, including the Black Studies Centre, Llewellyn worked as a set designer for the Black Theater Workshop and a lighting technician at the Revue Theater. Llewellyn participated in many community organized exhibitions and provided artworks for community organizations, journals, and newspapers. He was present at many significant events in the Montreal Black community, including a presentation by Angela Davis in Montreal in 1974. In the 1960s and 1970s, he drew political and editorial cartoons for Uhuru and Focus Umoja. Llewellyn was the artist responsible for the sign above the doorway of the NCC, and the logo and banner on the top of Focus Umoja.

Logos
L1 · Corporate body · [1967-1972]

Logos was an underground magazine covering arts, culture and politics that was published in Montreal between 1967 and 1972. Paul Kirby was the founding editor of Logos. The cover art of the early issues was by John Wagner. Other early contributors included Adriana Kelder, Robert Kelder, Alan Shapiro, and Chandra Prakash.

McConnell, Wilson Griffith
WGM1 · Person · 1908-1966

Wilson Griffith McConnell was born on March 3rd, 1908, as the eldest of four children of John W. McConnell and Lily Griffith. His father, John Wilson McConnell, was a well known Montreal personality and one of the richest men in Canada. Wilson Griffith McConnell was managing his father's sugar refinery, St.-Lawrence sugar.
Together with his wife Marjorie Wallace McConnell, he had one daugther, Jill.
As a jazz fan, Wilson Griffith McConnell was a collector of music recordings and recording equipment.
Wilson Griffith McConnell died on January 12, 1966.