{"id":424,"date":"2013-03-05T19:59:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T00:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kmhs.ca\/?page_id=424"},"modified":"2020-12-17T21:32:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T02:32:36","slug":"growing-tensions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kmhs.ca\/footnotes\/growing-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early in the century, the <\/span>Nathanael Institute<\/strong> moved into the building that is now St Stephen\u2019s Community House, and remained in that location until 1962. The institute was an Anglican Mission, with the major goal of converting Kensington\u2019s Jewish population.<\/span>[i]<\/span><\/a> Despite this mission of conversion, that Nathanael Institute became more of a community centre for the market\u2019s youth; in the 1930s, girls could learn to sew and cook there without the explicit pressure to convert from Judaism.<\/span>[ii]<\/span><\/a> The Institute became one of the most auspicious centres of Hebrew Christian life in the country until the 1960\u2019s, due not only to the skills one could learn there, but the volunteer doctors with whom one could make appointments.<\/span>[iii]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

In the decades leading up to the 1930s, Toronto\u2019s demographics had changed dramatically. In 1901, over 90% of Toronto\u2019s citizenry could trace its heritage back to the United Kingdom. Explosive economic growth paired with more a more open immigration policy from 1901-1931 resulted in an influx of over 100 000 non-British people, the largest portion of this group being the Jewish community.[iv]<\/span><\/a> The arrival of the Nathanael Institute signals the discomfort of the mainly Anglican population of Toronto in response to a growing Jewish population, as the Institute\u2019s stated goal in establishing roots in the market was to \u2018work among the Jews.\u2019[v]<\/span><\/a>  <\/span><\/p>\n

These tensions came to a head in 1933 when a riot broke out at Christie Pits Park, northwest of the market, between a Jewish baseball team and a Christian team who brought a blanket emblazoned with a swastika to their playoff game.[vi]<\/span><\/a> Toronto was not always the diverse and accepting city it is considered to be today; Kensington\u2019s diversity meant that it was shunned by most Torontonians in the early 20th<\/sup> century.[vii]<\/span><\/a> For minority groups who were just beginning to move into Canada from around the world, the neighborhood surrounding the market provided a space where it didn\u2019t matter that one was not from \u2018around here\u2019, or yet fluent in English. Sam Lunansky remembers the shtetl <\/em>\u2013 Yiddish for \u2018village\u2019 \u2013 atmosphere of the community; \u2018Everybody seemed to be a part of it, it doesn\u2019t matter what nationality, everybody was at ease here\u2026 If you came here, it didn\u2019t matter what you spoke.\u201d[viii]<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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The only known photo of the Christie Pitts Riot, taken by a Globe and Mail photographer. Toronto Archives; fonds 1266, Globe and Mail Collection, item 30791<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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[i]<\/span><\/a>Myrvold, Walking Tour,<\/em> 19.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[ii]<\/span><\/a> Cochrane, Kensington, <\/em>59.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[iii]<\/span><\/a> Daniel Nessim,\u201cThe History of Jewish Missions in Canada\u201d (paper presented to the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, Toronto, Ontario, April 27, 2004.) Accessed at http:\/\/www.lcje.net\/papers\/2004\/nessim.doc<\/span><\/a> on February 10th, 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[iv]<\/span><\/a> Daniel Hiebert, \u201cJewish Immigrants and the Garment Industry of Toronto, 1901-1931: A Study of Ethnic and Class Relations.\u201d Annals of the Association of American Geographers <\/em>83:2 (1993): 249.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[v]<\/span><\/a> Myrvold, Walking Tour, <\/em>19.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vi]<\/span><\/a>\u201cChristie Pits Riot of 1933.\u201d Accessed February 9, 2013, http:\/\/www.christiepits.ca\/history\/riot.asp<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vii]<\/span><\/a>Cochrane, Kensington,<\/em> 35.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[viii]<\/span><\/a> Ibid,<\/em> 35.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early in the century, the Nathanael Institute moved into the building that is now St Stephen\u2019s Community House, and remained in that location until 1962. The institute was an Anglican … <\/p>\n

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