The Hellenic Heritage Foundation Greek Canadian Archives (HHFGCA) at York University has created an innovative map that advances a more comprehensive history of Greek Canadians in Toronto and their businesses.
Since 2021, the HHFGCA project has been working to preserve the history and memories of Greek Canadians, with a particular focus on those who were part of a large wave of immigration in the 1950s and 1960s.
Funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant, “Greeks in Canada: A Digital Public History” has been pursuing innovative tools for research and teaching that bring to life the story of Greek Canadians throughout the 20th century.
Among those tools is a first-of-its-kind interactive map that displays the history of Greek businesses in Toronto from the 1910s to the 1960s, categorized by decade and type.
Using modern Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools, the “Greek Businesses in Toronto Mapping Project” records, maps and displays over 900 entries of Greek stores, restaurants, entertainment venues, garages, travel agencies and more. The entries are placed on base maps from the corresponding periods, ensuring the highest possible historical accuracy in the mapping.
The enterprises that populate the map are drawn from the HHFGCA’s own collection of materials which include Greek business directories, the first yearbooks of the Greek Community of Toronto, as well as newspapers and archival material that were part of a recent sizeable donation of materials to York.
Those who access the map can also see any uploaded contemporary photos of the businesses, as well as oral testimonies from owners, employees or customers, which are drawn from the interviews housed at the HHFGCA’s Oral History collection.
The map serves as both a historical record and a research tool that creates a more comprehensive picture of what types of enterprises existed in the city. In the process, it helps reframe history and correct previous assumptions about what types of businesses made up the Greek diaspora throughout the 20th century.
“There was this tendency to associate Greek businesses with restaurants and food-related business,” says Alexandros Balasis, a PhD candidate in history and project lead of the Greek Businesses in Toronto Mapping Project. “It’s partly true, but by collecting all this data and pinpointing the map, we can see that food services are only part of the story.
“The map gives us a way to visualize how the Greek businesses moved in the city, but also helps us understand the connection between (Greek immigrants) and Canadian society,” says Balasis.
While the project will serve as an important historical record to benefit students and researchers, Balasis and HHFGCA hope for it to have a more immediate, personal and communal impact.
For example, there are plans to use the interactive map to create a digital companion for walking tours run by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation's History Committee. Balasis also imagines the emotional effect the map might have on descendants of Greek immigrants.
“If people can explore the map and maybe find their grandparents’ restaurant, or the place where their father used to work, that’s really powerful,” Balasis says. Maintaining that connection between past and future members of the Greek diaspora is something that is important to Balasis, HHFGCA and the project.
“This is a project by the community for the community,” he says, pointing to how ongoing interviews, as well as a special form on the map’s website, continue to inform and update the map.
“This project is not just a historical record, it aims to serve as a tool to strengthen the memory of the Greek community in Toronto and promote the preservation of its cultural heritage,” says Balasis.
With files from Alexandros Balasis