Historical items of the week
I don’t usually link the “happened this week in history” item in the Journal by the Centre d’histoire, but this week’s shows a photo of the first car in Montreal, property of Ucal-Henri Dandurand, who evidently also owned a spiffy top hat.
The main Centre d’histoire piece this weekend is about tiny, obscure Avenue Lartigue.
The Journal itself is looking back 47 years to the art heist at the Museum of Fine Arts, which it says is among the ten top art thefts of the 20th century. The art and artifacts taken that day have never been recovered.
The CBC is supporting the Montreal Children’s Library as their charity this year. The institution has been around for 90 years. I had no idea where this library is, and it turns out to be on 42nd Street just east of Pie-IX on the eastern edge of Saint-Michel.
The Gazette’s notable history piece from the last week was the 1984 bombing in an apartment on de Maisonneuve that killed four men, probably in revenge for the murder of gangster Dunie Ryan.
DavidH 17:34 on 2019-12-01 Permalink
That car can be seen at the Chateau Ramezay, it’s part of their permanent collection. I don’t think they have the trailer with the kids we see in the picture.
JP 00:41 on 2019-12-02 Permalink
Regarding CBC’s charity pick, I think the Montreal Children’s Library is a great library and organization. While I was in university, years ago, I had a part-time job as the Science Club animator at the 42nd street location mentioned in the article. It was a lovely library and a very warm, welcoming space, though I’m sure the staff who worked there at the time are no longer there. It definitely served an important role in the community. Growing up, I also used to visit the branch in Parc-Ex (on Bloomfield/St Roch, I think), which I believe closed down when the Montreal Public Library opened a branch nearby. I was sad to hear the other MCL branches have closed.
On an unrelated note, the article says, “… out of a large room in the Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension cultural centre.” How is this location, which I thought was in Saint Michel, considered even remotely close to Villeray and Parc Extension, and why would they lump the three together? They’re all disparate neighbourhoods with their own characteristics and needs, and geographically pretty far from each other. It would take a good 45 minutes by public transportation to even get there from Parc-Ex…I think the centre is actually called Centre Réné -Goupil.
In any case, it was nice to be reminded of this little library, and I hope it will thrive and continue to serve the children in the area. My understanding and impression was that it wasn’t always the safest of neighbourhoods, and it’s important that kids have a safe place they can go to after school, where they can get homework help, read, and have fun too.
Kate 11:53 on 2019-12-02 Permalink
JP, Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension is the name of the borough. I agree with you that the location has nothing to do with either Villeray or Parc Extension but it’s technically accurate, and most journalists stay safe and don’t try to specify locations more precisely than this.