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Black Doll Head
19th century Black dolls generally took two forms: racist caricatures marketed to White families; or Black-painted dolls made from the molds for White dolls. This rare doll, which may have been manufactured in Germany, was made from a mold designed to depict a Black person.
Glass Bottle
This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio.
Commemorative Plate
This commemorative plate was made in honour of Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) which documented the experience of Josiah Henson's enslavement in the United States and escape.
Brass Key
Brass residential key, excavated in November 2015. Located at the Museum of Ontario Archeology.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Whale Oil Lamp
Luxurious press-glass whale oil lamp. A rare find on an Ontario archeological site, especially in a working-class neighborhood as whale oil was an unreliable and often expensive source of light. In the 1960s, most switched to Kerosyn.
Gate Post
Iron gate post finial from fence line between two residential properties on Centre Avenue.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Seltzer Bottle
Some of the seltzer bottles have been linked to various local Jewish-owned seltzer companies that operated after 1900, including Fauman Brothers, Halpern Brothers, Paris Soda Water Manufacturing Company, Union Soda Water, Toronto Soda Water and Ontario Soda Water.
Projectile Point
A 2,000-year-old projectile point or spearhead which was made from Onondaga chert along Lake Erie and which has somehow found its way to the Dig. Archaeologists speculate that it may have been found near the former residence at 76 Chestnut Street, before being accidentally dropped, or purposefully disposed of, in the privy behind the house.
Porcelain Dentures
Vulcanite dentures covered in porcelain teeth.
Black Porcelain Doll
Hat Mould
Hat form from the Fashion Hat & Cap Company, which occupied the former Eaton's factory on chestnut Street from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Black Doll Head
19th century Black dolls generally took two forms: racist caricatures marketed to White families; or Black-painted dolls made from the molds for White dolls. This rare doll, which may have been manufactured in Germany, was made from a mold designed to depict a Black person.
Glass Bottle
This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio.
Commemorative Plate
This commemorative plate was made in honour of Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) which documented the experience of Josiah Henson's enslavement in the United States and escape.
Brass Key
Brass residential key, excavated in November 2015. Located at the Museum of Ontario Archeology.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Whale Oil Lamp
Luxurious press-glass whale oil lamp. A rare find on an Ontario archeological site, especially in a working-class neighborhood as whale oil was an unreliable and often expensive source of light. In the 1960s, most switched to Kerosyn.
Gate Post
Iron gate post finial from fence line between two residential properties on Centre Avenue.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Seltzer Bottle
Some of the seltzer bottles have been linked to various local Jewish-owned seltzer companies that operated after 1900, including Fauman Brothers, Halpern Brothers, Paris Soda Water Manufacturing Company, Union Soda Water, Toronto Soda Water and Ontario Soda Water.
Projectile Point
A 2,000-year-old projectile point or spearhead which was made from Onondaga chert along Lake Erie and which has somehow found its way to the Dig. Archaeologists speculate that it may have been found near the former residence at 76 Chestnut Street, before being accidentally dropped, or purposefully disposed of, in the privy behind the house.
Porcelain Dentures
Vulcanite dentures covered in porcelain teeth.
Black Porcelain Doll
Hat Mould
Hat form from the Fashion Hat & Cap Company, which occupied the former Eaton's factory on chestnut Street from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Black Doll Head
19th century Black dolls generally took two forms: racist caricatures marketed to White families; or Black-painted dolls made from the molds for White dolls. This rare doll, which may have been manufactured in Germany, was made from a mold designed to depict a Black person.
Glass Bottle
This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio.
Commemorative Plate
This commemorative plate was made in honour of Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) which documented the experience of Josiah Henson's enslavement in the United States and escape.
Brass Key
Brass residential key, excavated in November 2015. Located at the Museum of Ontario Archeology.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Whale Oil Lamp
Luxurious press-glass whale oil lamp. A rare find on an Ontario archeological site, especially in a working-class neighborhood as whale oil was an unreliable and often expensive source of light. In the 1960s, most switched to Kerosyn.
Gate Post
Iron gate post finial from fence line between two residential properties on Centre Avenue.
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Seltzer Bottle
Some of the seltzer bottles have been linked to various local Jewish-owned seltzer companies that operated after 1900, including Fauman Brothers, Halpern Brothers, Paris Soda Water Manufacturing Company, Union Soda Water, Toronto Soda Water and Ontario Soda Water.
Projectile Point
A 2,000-year-old projectile point or spearhead which was made from Onondaga chert along Lake Erie and which has somehow found its way to the Dig. Archaeologists speculate that it may have been found near the former residence at 76 Chestnut Street, before being accidentally dropped, or purposefully disposed of, in the privy behind the house.
Porcelain Dentures
Vulcanite dentures covered in porcelain teeth.
Black Porcelain Doll
Hat Mould
Hat form from the Fashion Hat & Cap Company, which occupied the former Eaton's factory on chestnut Street from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Into The Ward
Director & Editor: Lia Tarachansky
Collaborator: Mary Bunch
Year: 2021
In 2015 an archeological dig led by Infrastructure Ontario unearthed tens of thousands of objects that attest to the histories of Toronto's first multicultural neighbourhood. Before St. John's Ward was demolished in the mid-20th century, it was home to communities of Irish, Jewish, formerly enslaved, and Chinese immigrants, to name a few. It was home to the city's first Chinatown and the end-point of the Underground Railway.
In 2020 a York University team led by PhD student Lia Tarachansky and faculty supervisor Dr. Mary Bunch began looking at how the 3D virtual emplacement of historical objects can impact how we see the places where we live today. Funded by MITACS and the University, the media studies team assembled hundreds of images, created several short films and emplaced Augmented Reality scans at the site of the dig, embedding the past in the present. Special thanks to the work of Dr. Holly Martelle, Nicole E Brandon, and Abbey Flower.
The following collection of short films documents the process of creating the Augmented Reality project.
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