In her childhood neighborhood, close to where her family house once stood, stands a bronze bust and a blue plaque honoring the Toronto native Mary Pickford. Pickford was born in 1892 (later, she claimed she was born in 1893 or 1894) as Gladys Marie Smith, the eldest of three children. At four, her father passed away, and her mother struggled to provide for the family. At seven (some sources claim at the age of five), she started playing at Toronto’s Princess Theatre to help with the family income. She became a full-time actress, traveled, and performed in the US and Canada without ever having a childhood. In 1907, she received a role at a Broadway play and, following the advice of producer David Belasco, changed her name to Mary Pickford. 1909 was the beginning of her career as a silent film actress. She became America’s sweetheart and the first American celebrity. As one of the first film actresses, she was among the pioneers who developed acting techniques in this medium. Over the years, she became a producer and a businesswoman. She co-founded Pickford–Fairbanks Studios and United Artists and was one of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders. Even though she lived most of the time in the United States, Toronto was always in her heart; she occasionally visited the city and her childhood home, even after it was demolished and Hospital for Sick Children stood instead. On May 16, 1983, Pickford’s widower, Buddy Rogers, and Toronto mayor, Art Eggleton, unveiled her bust and plaque that the Mary Pickford Foundation commissioned. Nearby points of interest include the Textile Museum of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the South African War Memorial, and the Queen’s Park. Read more...

Among the fourteen heroines of the Valiants Memorial, which commemorates leading figures from the military history of Canada, is a life-size bronze statue of Laura Secord. The artists Marlene Hilton Moore and John McEwen created all the five sculptures and the nine busts of the memorial, and Governor-General Michaëlle Jean dedicated it on November 5th, 2006. Laura Secord (1775-1868) was an American-born loyalist who moved to Upper Canada following the American Revolution. On June 21st, 1813, in the amid of the War of 1812 (a territorial conflict between the US and the United Kingdom and its British North America allies), Secord heard of plans for a surprise American attack on the British troops at Beaver Dams, which if succeeded would have furthered the American control in the Niagara Peninsula. To pass on the information, she risked her own life and went on 17 hours and 20 miles walk from her home in Queenston to the British headquarters in Thorold Township. As a result of her bravery and determination, the British and their Mohawk allies defeated the Americans. During her lifetime, Secord barely received recognition for her actions. She became famous by the late 1880s when feminist activists used her story to illustrate women’s fortitude. Since then, it has become a legend in Canada inspiring various books, poems, plays, and another statue of her. Secord’s statue depicts her in the era’s clothing while walking the long way to deliver the intel and help win the war. The second statue that honors a woman in the Valiants Memorial is the bust of Georgina Pope (1862-1938), a notable nurse and the first Matron of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Read more...

In the heart of the town that bears her family’s name stands a bronze statue of Elizabeth Simcoe, commissioned and unveiled in December 2007 for the 150th anniversary of the town’s establishment. It depicts Simcoe in 18th-century clothes, walking and holding her diary. On the rock behind her, statues portray the meeting of the Simcoes with the Objigway Chief, Great Sail, holding Francis Simcoe; the other side features the Georgina Church, circa 1796. Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim Simcoe was born in England in 1762. She married John Graves Simcoe in 1782, and two years later, she purchased the Wolford estate near Honiton with her inheritance money. The Simcoes had 11 children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. In 1791, her husband got nominated as the first lieutenant governor of the new province of Upper Canada. The family sailed to the new world and arrived in Quebec City in November, where they spent the winter before continuing the inland journey to York (now Toronto). Simcoe started to record her adventures and life in the new world in her diary from the first days of the voyage. Simcoe traveled in Upper and Lower Canada and documented her surroundings, flora, fauna, and native peoples in her dairy alongside hundreds of watercolor paintings she drew. Her talent for painting and attention to detail enabled her to create maps for her husband and his crew members. After five years in Canada, her husband’s mission ended, and the family returned to their estate in Wolford. While the family prepared for relocation to India in 1806 due to her husband’s new position as commander-in-chief, he got ill and passed away several weeks later. Simcoe remained at Wolford with her seven daughters and occasionally conducted sketching trips to West Country and Wales. She passed away in 1850. She always said that the time she spent in Canada was the best years of her life. The first edition of her diary was published in 1911; a transcription appeared in 1965, and a paperback edition appeared at the start of the 21st century. It provided a lively, detailed record of life in Canada in the 1790s and is especially rare since was is told from a female point of view. Read more...

Resides in the original house of the Canadian heroine Laura Secord, Laura Secord Homestead is a historical museum that showcases the life, legacy, and bravery of Secord and provides a glimpse into the past. Laura Secord (1775-1868) was born in the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. In 1795, her family and other Loyalist refugees relocated to Queenston in Canada. There, she met and married James Secord and raised her seven children. During the War of 1812, in June 1813, the Americans occupied Fort George, Queenston, and the Niagara area. On June 21st, 1813, Secord overheard the American plan a surprise attack on the British troops at Beaver Dams. She left her homestead in Queenston for a 20 miles (32 km) walk to the British headquarters in Decew House, Thorold Township, to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of the coming attack. Due to her intel, the British and their Mohawk allies were well prepared; they defeated the Americans and stopped them from entering Canada. Her bravery story only got recognized when she was 85 years old, in 1860, when the Prince of Wales visited Niagara Falls; he heard about her contribution to the victory in Beaver Dams and awarded her £100 for her service. She passed away at 93 years of age and was buried in the Drummondville Cemetery in Niagara Falls, next to her husband. In 1910, a monument that stands a 10-minute walk from the homestead was erected in her honor. She was named a ‘Person of National Historic Significance’ in 2003 and was honored with a statue at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa (dedicated in 2006). The Laura Secord Candy Company restored the house and donated its original furniture in 1971. In 1998 they gifted it to Niagara Parks, and The Niagara Parks Commission has been managing it. A visit to the house with costumed interpreters will transport you back to the days that Laura, her husband, James, and their youngest child lived there (1803-1835). In addition to hearing about her life, you will hear about life in Canada during this era. Also at the museum are refreshments, ice cream, Laura Secord chocolates, and a selection of quality souvenirs. Special events such as desserts and crafts workshops take place occasionally. Do not miss the Laura Secord Walk that takes place annually in June. Read more...

In the garden of the Historic Leaskdale Church (the former St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church) stands the life-size bronze statue of the famous Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942). Montgomery came to live with her grandparents at Prince Eduard Island after her mother passed away when she was almost two years old. From a young age, she loved to read and write, and by 16 years of age, she started publishing her poetry and short stories in the local newspapers. Montgomery became a teacher and studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1908 she published her first novel, Anne of Green Gables. At its center is a young red-haired orphan girl, Anne Shirley, who gets adopted by elderly siblings and comes to live on Prince Eduard Island. It quickly became a best-seller, translated to over 36 languages, and adapted into dozens of movies, TV series, films, radio, stage, and web productions, making Montgomery and Prince Eduard Island famous. In 1911, she married Ewen Macdonald, a Presbyterian minister, and left Prince Eduard Island following his assignment at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Leaskdale. There she wrote her 11 books from the Leaskdale manse and raised her children. In 1926, they moved to a new congregation in Norval, Ontario, and nine years later to Toronto. Her final resting place is in the Cavendish Cemetery on Prince Edward Island. During her lifetime, she became one of the most popular authors in the world and published 20 novels, 500 poems, 530 short stories, and 30 essays. In 2006, The Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario, which operates the Leaskdale Manse National Historic Site at Montgomery house, purchased the St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church to preserve and establish it as the L.M. Montgomery National Historic Site. In 2012, L.M.M.S.O launched the project to place a life-size bronze statue of Montgomery on the church grounds. The first statue of her in the world. They managed the fundraising and chose the local artist, Wynn Walters, to create it. On June 20th, 2015, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, unveiled the sculpture in a special ceremony. In her statue, Montgomery sits on a bench in the garden, looking across the fields she loved, holding a book. After visiting the statue, explore the exhibition about Montgomery inside the church and pay a visit to Leaskdale Manse, Lucy Maud Montgomery Home, which nowadays is a museum dedicated to her legacy and showcases her life while living in Leaskdale. Read more...

A visit to the Bala’s Museum will take you back to Canada in the 1920s. The museum focuses on the famous Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and her books but also showcases historical artifacts from the Muskoka region. The story behind the establishment of the museum started in 1990 when Linda and Jack Hutton honeymooned on Prince Eduard Island following Linda’s wish to visit the place where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables. There, they learned that Lucy Maud Montgomery spent her two-week holiday in Bala during the summer of 1922. Not only did Montgomery loved it, but she was also inspired to set there the only novel she set outside Prince Eduard Island, The Blue Castle in Muskoka. When they discovered that the Tree Lawn Tourist Home, where Montgomery ate her meals during her vacation, stands for sale, they bought it. After extensive restoration, on July 24th, 1992, the museum was opened. Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) set almost all of her books at Prince Eduard Island, where she grew up and lived most of her life. Her first novel Anne of Green Gables (published in 1908), became an immediate bestseller and brought her worldwide fame. It was adapted to any possible media type and translated into more than 36 languages. During her lifetime, she became one of the most popular authors in the world and published 20 novels, 500 poems, 530 short stories, and 30 essays. Montgomery’s books have created a travel industry, bringing local and foreign tourists to follow her landmarks across Canada, visiting the sets of the books and other locations related to her in Prince Eduard Island and Ontario, such as this museum. The Bala’s Museum showcases vintage furniture from the 1920s, unique copies of Montgomery’s books from different editions and different languages, dioramas from the novel Anne of Green Gables, the world’s biggest Anne of Green Gables dollhouse, and personal items of Montgomery, including a silver tea set gifted for her 1911 wedding, her correspondence basket, and excerpts from her diary during her visit to Bala. Kids can explore the museum wearing costumes, play in Anne’s school room, enjoy Anne’s tea party with Diana, and host Anne of Green Gable’s birthday party. While at the museum, make sure not to miss a visit to the gift shop that carries a vast collection of Anne’s souvenirs and Montgomery’s books. Read more...

By the end of WW1, the Canadian Association of Trained Nurses, now the Canadian Nurses Association, looked for a way and place to commemorate the army nurses who lost their lives during the war. Their memorial committee fundraised $38,000 from Canadian nurses, received government approval to place it on Parliament Hill, and chose the Canadian sculptor, George William Hill. Hill created the 6 tons relief sculpture from a single piece of white Italian Carrera marble in Italy and shipped it to Canada in 1926; it was unveiled on August 24th, 1926. The memorial presents the history of nurses in Canada, from the arrival of the sisters from France to found Hôtel Dieu in Québec City in 1639 to the end of the First World War. The memorial is the biggest piece hung on the Hall of Honour in the Centre Block, which resides between the House of Commons and the Senate. The plaque at the base of the memorial, which is also called the Nurses of Canada Memorial, reads: “Erected by the nurses of Canada in remembrance of their sisters who gave their lives in the Great War, Nineteen Fourteen-Eighteen, and to perpetuate a noble tradition in the relations of the old world and the new. Led by the Spirit of Humanity across the seas woman, by her tender ministrations to those in need, has given to the world the example of heroic service embracing three centuries of Canadian history.” Also on Parliament Hill is the monument Women Are Persons, commemorating the Famous Five, who led the campaign for equal voting rights for women in Canada in general and the fight to allow women to get elected to the Canadian Senate in particular. Read more about it here. Read more...

Unveiled on July 1st, 1992, by Queen Elizabeth herself, the statue is the first equestrian statue of Her Majesty in the world and it was dedicated in honor of her 40th year of ruling and Canada’s 125th anniversary. The statue stood till 2019 on the east side of Parliament Hill. Due to archeology and other work, it was temporarily relocated to the roundabout in front of Rideau Hall’s main gate, the official residence of the Governor-General, the queen representative in Canada. Made by sculptor Jack Harman, the 4-meter statue stands on a 3.7 meters tall granite base. It depicts Queen Elizabeth riding astride on her horse Centenial, whom she received as a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in commemoration of their 100th anniversary. Queen Elisabeth II (1926) was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary to the Duke and Duchess of York. In 1936, her father succeeded the throne, and the 10-years-old princess became second in line to rule the kingdom. As a member of the royal family, she took on various royal duties, and during WW2, she volunteered in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, serving as a mechanic and driver. After her father died in 1952, she became the Queen of Great Britain, head of the Commonwealth, and the queen regnant of the seven independent Commonwealth countries, including Canada. On August 2nd, 1973, on her visit to Canada, Her Majesty was invited to select a horse from the RCMP stables. The chosen horse, then named Jerry, stayed with the RCMP for a few more years, and on May 15th, 1977, the horse was presented to the Queen at Windsor Castle and was renamed Centenial. To this date, it was the second of eight horses that were presented to the queen by the RCMP. Also located on Parliament Hill are the Queen Victoria statue, which was unveiled in 1901, and the monument Women are Persons which commemorates the Famous Five group who fought for Canadian women voting rights. Read more...

A 300 pounds, 5 feet, 7 inches tall bronze statue of the abolitionist, journalist, publisher, teacher, suffragist, and lawyer, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, stands in the University of Windsor, gazing across the Detroit River to the US. Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) was born free to abolitionist parents who were activists in the underground railroad in the United States. At 16, after graduating from a Quaker Boarding School, she established a school for black children in East Chester and taught in several cities in New York. As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the family emigrated to Canada and settled in Windsor. She established an integrated school and wrote a pamphlet, “A Plea for Emigration; or Notes of Canada West,” reviewing the benefits and opportunities for Black immigrants in the area. On March 24th, 1853, in Toronto, she started publishing an anti-slavery newspaper: the Provincial Freeman, becoming the first Black woman to edit and publish a newspaper in North America. It had a significant impact on the abolitionist movement and the black community. After 11 years in Canada, she returned to the United States as a widow with her two children. During the Civil War, she helped recruit soldiers for the Union Army. After the war, she settled in Washington, DC, worked as a teacher, and took evening classes at Howard University Law School. In 1883, she became the second black woman in the US to earn a law degree. Till her death, she wrote and published articles and was active in the women’s suffrage movement. The journey to create the statue started when the Windsor artist Donna Mayne worked on the ‘Reaching Out’ mural that recognizes Windsor’s black community. When she learned the inspiring story of Shadd, she looked for more ways to honor her legacy and started to design her statue. When The University of Windsor looked for ways to commemorate the Underground Railroad, they accepted Mayne’s proposal to commission and install a statue of Shadd. On May 12th, 2022, it was finally dedicated. Mayne sculptured Shadd based on a photo of hers and measurements she took from Shadd’s descendants. In her statue, Shadd has a determined look on her face; she steps forward while her skirt is pushed backward by the wind, which symbolizes the forces of discrimination she fought. Close to her heart, she holds a copy of the newspaper she established in Canada in 1853, the Provincial Freeman. Another statue of Shadd, sculpted by her great-great niece, the Canadian artist Artis Lane, has been standing in Chatham since 2009. Read more...

A 7-foot granite monument commemorating Laura Secord’s bravery and heroism in warning the British forces of a planned American attack on Niagara Peninsula stands in Queenston Heights Park since 1910, overlooking the Niagara River. Early feminist groups and members of the United Empire Loyalist Association initiated the monument’s creation, and the government-funded it. It has a Bas-relief portrait of Secord and an inscription that reads: “To Laura Ingersoll Secord, who saved her husband’s life in the battle on these Heights October 13th, 1812 and who risked her own in conveying to Capt. FitzGibbon information by which he won the victory of Beaverdams.” Laura Secord (1775-1868) was born in Great Barrington in the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. In 1795, she moved with her family and other Loyalist refugees to Queenston in Upper Canada, where she met and married James Secord. When the War of 1812 broke out between the US and the United Kingdom and its British North America allies, Secord’s husband served in the 1st Lincoln Militia. When she heard he was severely wounded, she rushed to his side and begged for his life from the American soldiers, who presumably were about to beat him to death. By June 1813, the Americans had occupied Fort George, Queenston, and the Niagara area. On June 21st, 1813, Secord overheard the American plans for a surprise attack of British troops at Beaver Dams. She embarked on a 20 miles walk from Queenston to the British headquarters in Thorold Township to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of the impending attack. Based on her intel, the British and their Mohawk allies were well prepared and defeated the Americans. Secord’s story did not become famous until the late 1880s, when feminist groups discovered it and made it a pillar of women’s suffrage. Throughout the years, her bravery and devotion have been the subject of books, poetry, and plays, while gaining mythic status in Canada. A 10-minute walk from the monument stands the Laura Secord Homestead. A museum that tells the story and legacy of Secord in the house she lived during 1803-1835. Read more...