Isabella Valancy Crawford plaque, 299 Front Street West, March 6, 2022. Image by Herman Custodio.
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Resource ID
9851
Access
Open
Credit Line
Image by Herman Custodio
Date of Creation
06 March 2022
Keywords
Program Category
Rights
Herman Custodio
Caption
Isabella Valancy Crawford plaque, 299 Front Street West, March 6, 2022. Image by Herman Custodio.
Description
Located at the entrance to the Isabella Valancy Crawford Park, this plaque commemorates one of the first Canadians to make a living as a freelance writer. Crawford believed in a just society free from gender, class and racial prejudice. With the death of her alcoholic father, at 25 Isabella became the principal earner of her family's income. She started writing for Toronto newspapers and American journals. She lived with her mother in boarding houses on Shuter Street, St. Andrew's Ward, and Adelaide West, and finally in a third-floor flat at 57 John St. at the corner of King. Crawford only published one book of poetry, which featured the love story of Max and Katie. While critic Northrop Frye felt her romantic poem “Malcolm’s Katie” derived its power from drawing on Indigenous stories, today it could be read as appropriation. Similarly, this 1988 plaque is an example of how we wouldn’t write an plaque today.
Marker lat / long: 43.643762, -79.388843 (WGS84)