They walked these streets. We will remember them project.

“They Walked These Streets, We Will Remember Them” Remembrance Week Commemorations have expanded this year to tell over 700 stories-5 locations to learn about these soldiers who died in the world wars

The project:
● an innovative and interactive community Remembrance week commemoration in Bloor West Village.
● engages community members in learning about the contributions and the sacrifice of soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars and who never returned.
● vision of two Toronto District School Board teachers, Katy Whitfield and Ian Da Silva, both residents of Bloor West Village.

● Now in its 4th year the project tells the stories of over 700 soldiers in the army, air force, navy.
● Research for the project has been done by Whitfield, an award-winning Canadian history teacher (2015 recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching)
● Military records have been accessed from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and the Canadian Great War project, as well as the Service Files in the Library and Archives of Canada
● Names, addresses, service records of the soldiers, as well as photographs, newspaper articles, medals, and other community connections to the schools, churches and community organizations they were a part of have been uncovered
● Scope of the project:
○ stretches from the west at the Humber River and extends east to Dundas Street West, and from Lake Ontario to the railroad tracks north of Dundas in the Junction-it encompasses the stories from Humbercrest, Bloor West Village, the Junction, High Park and Swansea.
How we tell the stories:
● Each soldier’s story is told using an info-card that documents their military service, accompanied by a QR Code that allows the viewer to connect to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial Website which provides more detail and documents about the soldier’s war experience.
● The info-cards also feature: logos of the schools they attended.

New for 2023:
This year “They Walked These Streets, We will Remember Them” will be displayed in 5 locations in the neighbourhood, between November 3rd-November 12th, 2023, including:
● 285 Durie Street
● 104 Colbeck Street
● Runnymede United Church, 432 Runnymede Road
● Windermere Campus (Runnymede United Church), 356 Windermere Avenue
● Annette Public Library, 145 Annette Street

For more information/Connecting with the Project Coordinators:
Email Katy Whitfield, Project Coordinator: theywalkedthesestreets@gmail.com