On Wednesday 16 October, 2024 the Libraries hosted a reception sponsored by the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Portuguese Canadian History Project, a successful collaboration between researchers from York University's Department of History and the University of Toronto and archivists from the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections.
The event, which included dignitaries representing all levels of the Portuguese government in Canada, also launched a travelling exhibit, Movimento Perpétuo: The Portuguese Diaspora in Canada, curated by Dr. Gilberto Fernandes and featuring work that draws heavily from the archival holdings at York.
Dean Joseph Hafner was on hand along with fellow Dean JJ McMurtry and Director of Development Tom McLagan to welcome the Consul-General of Portugal in Toronto Ana Luísa Riquito, the Ambassador of Portugal to Canada António Leão Rocha, and the Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities, José Cesário. Invited guests came as far as Portugal, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
The event celebrated the continued success of the Libraries collaboration with three former PhD students: Dr. Gilberto Fernandes, Dr. Susana Miranda, and Dr. Raph Costa who were recommended by Marcel Martel to approach University Archivist Michael Moir about helping with archival records the students had found in the Portuguese-Canadian Community during their doctoral research. Through their strong community ties and trust-building arose a rich and dynamic project that has preserved knowledge and fostered community engagement. The Portuguese Canadian History Project has been operating for 15 years now and has resulted in the acquisition of well over 100 metres of archival material that reflects the experience of Portuguese-speaking immigrants and settlers in the GTA and Canada broadly. Since 2010, Anna St.Onge has contributed to the PCHP to accession and describe many of the donated archives. These include the records of community organizations, political exiles, historians, organizers, working class poets, and labour unions who organized and represented Portuguese cleaners, textile workers, and hotel staff.
The event was held in the Digital Scholarship Centre adjacent to the Making and Media Creation Lab which lends out recording equipment and provides recording space for students and faculty, resources that the PCHP has used to build the current travelling exhibit. The evening wrapped up in the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections where visitors were able to view original documents featured in the exhibit.
The reception was facilitated by Tom McLagan, Director of Development with the details and logistics led by Marijana Gmitrovic, the External Events Coordinator for Advancement Development at LAPS. Guests were treated to a delicious reception catered by Casa Abril.
Even with the support of LAPS, it can take a small army to pull off a successful event like this. On behalf of the archives, I'd like to extend my thanks to the following people:
- Library Facilities (in particular Charles, Darren, Desmond, Dwayne, Homayon and Randall) who helped set up the space in advance and helped with some last minute emergencies
- YUSA2 staff members Amanda Dinally (who was a research assistant on the travelling exhibit), Gia Ochoa and Josiah Neven (who helped facilitate the tours of the archives); and Ian Galendez (who photographed the event)
- Tim Huynh (who also photographed the event) and Sydney Daley (who helped with configuring the podium and set up some of the audiovisual assets in the exhibit)
- Kris Joseph (who helped Dr. Fernandes in 2022 to learn how to generate 3D images of artifacts featured in the exhibit)
- Julia Holland (who helped digitize many of the archival photographs featured in the exhibit) and
- Stan Xiao, who helped facilitate the early logistics around the event.
