Emerging Historian Jingshu Yao in front of Cecil Community Centre, on the Changing Chinatown Tour, June 02, 2024. Image by Rachna Shah .
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Resource ID
11112
Access
Open
Credit Line
Rachna Shah
Date of Creation
02 June 2024
Keywords
Chinatown, Community Centre
People Depicted
Jingshu Yao
Program Category
Tours
Rights
Rachna Shah
Caption
Emerging Historian Jingshu Yao in front of Cecil Community Centre, on the Changing Chinatown Tour, June 02, 2024. Image by Rachna Shah .
Description
Tour Leader and Emerging Historian Jingshu Yao stands across the street from the Cecil Community Centre on Cecil street in Toronto. The community centre was a Catholic church in the early 1900's before changing hands after being sold to the Jewish community in the area who transformed it to a synagogue. It then changed hands to the Catholic church once again in the 1950's. It was bought by the Catholic Diocese in 1966, and it became a centre to aid the Chinese community. The building changed hands again in the 1970s, when the Community Homophile Association occupied it as a centre for promoting gay rights. In 1978, it was purchased by the City of Toronto and it became a community centre. Today, the community centre serves the needs of the residents in the Kensington area.
Discover the past and present along Spadina Avenue; from the historical lakeshore and Indigenous trade route to a diverse international neighbourhood; the advocacy by the Jewish and Chinatown community against discrimination so that they could not only survive but thrive in their new home; and the evolving definition of public space and art that grounds the community and its shops, homes, and businesses.
Marker lat / long: 43.653822, -79.39905 (WGS84)