Fisher Park turns 100 years old in 2020!

Fisher Park is the hub of Kitchissippi, and in 2020 the park turns 100 years old! I dug through old records and newspapers to piece together the story of how the park came together - why a park was needed, who helped lead the charge to create it, where it almost ended up, and how it developed over the last 100 years. I love this article, and I love Fisher Park, it's been a part of my life for my whole life, as I'm sure it has for just about everyone.

Check out the article at the Kitchissippi Times:

https://kitchissippi.com/2020/03/06/early-days-fisher-park-celebrates-100-years/

Here are some bonus photos that did not make the online or print edition:

1928 aerial photo showing the old GRT rail line at left (now
the Queensway), Harmer as an unpaved road at top going
left to right, and Holland the wide finished road at the bottom.
The square in Fisher Park is the old bowling green.

May 5 1933 aerial photo of Fisher Park, with cleaner detail

Fisher Park High School, May 1954
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-4342)

Fisher Park High junior football team November 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-35167)

Fisher Park Winter Carnival February 1956
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-36701)

Fisher Park during Queensway construction in 1961
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-8455)

Ottawa Journal April 22 1967

75 Years of CARE

Once again I'm straying outside Kitchissippi to write on a topic that's more related to the greater Ottawa history... But this a topic I thought well worth covering.

I'm sure we've all experienced it before, where you hear of something one day, and then suddenly by total coincidence you come across it again multiple times within a short period of time. That happened to me recently with the world relief organization CARE. A flexible acronym, it was originally known as the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, but now stands for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere.

I'd of course heard of CARE and the work that they do worldwide, but with a little digging, was intrigued to find out that their work originated at the close of WWII. In fact, 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the organization. And as far as it's role in Canada, it all began here in Ottawa, with the founding of CARE Canada (or 'CARE of Canada' as it was officially originally known) just a few months after its origination in the States.

I absolutely love the concept of what CARE first was established for. During WWII, large portions of Europe had been decimated. When the war was over, there was so much work to be done to rebuild these large, historic cities. So many people had been displaced, so many soldiers had returned home to nothing. In Canada especially, many citizens still had close ties to Europe. Many had only recently escaped the Nazis by moving to Canada, while others had come during the years prior to the War with the looming threat in Germany. Additionally, a great many others were first generation Canadians, sons and daughters of Europeans, with still large families of close relatives back home.

CARE was established so that individuals and organizations across the U.S. and Canada could make financial contributions to an organization that would lead directly to a family member (or even a person in need in their old hometown) receiving a food aid package.

Stealing from Wikipedia, at first founding, CARE was "initially a consortium of twenty-two U.S. charities (a mixture of civic, religious, cooperative, farm, and labour organizations) with the purpose of delivering food aid to Europe in the aftermath of World War II. The organization delivered its first food packages in 1946. CARE's food aid took the form of CARE Packages, which were at first delivered to specific individuals: the US people paid $10 to send a CARE Package of food to a loved one in Europe, often a family member. President Truman bought the first CARE package. CARE guaranteed delivery within four months to anyone in Europe, even if they had left their last known address, and returned a signed delivery receipt to the sender. Because European postal services were unreliable at the time these signed receipts were sometimes the first confirmation that the recipient had survived the war."

The establishment of CARE was launched as important news in every major newspaper across North America on the morning of Friday November 30th, 1945:

New York Daily News - November 30, 1945

Louisville Courier-Journal - November 30, 1945

What an amazing concept, and it was a huge success in the first years following the war. Again from Wikipedia: "The first CARE Packages were in fact surplus “Ten-in-One” US army rations packs (designed to contain a day's meals for ten people). In early 1946 CARE purchased 2.8 million of these warehoused rations packs, originally intended for the invasion of Japan, and began advertising in America. On May 11, 1946, six months after the agency's incorporation, the first CARE Packages were delivered in Le Havre, France. These packages contained staples such as canned meats, powdered milk, dried fruits, and fats along with a few comfort items such as chocolate, coffee, and cigarettes. (Several on the CARE Board of Directors wished to remove the cigarettes, but it was deemed impractical to open and reseal 2.8 million boxes.)"

Each of the original CARE packages weighed 21.37 pounds, and contained 40,963 calories of food, as well as blanket packages made from materials that could be turned into clothes.

New York Daily News - full page ad
June 26, 1946

New York Daily News - full page ad
October 8, 1946

It was obviously not long before Canadians wanted to take advantage of the organization. In July of 1946, the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, at its HQ in Ottawa at 78 Bank Street, began offering citizens the chance to contribute to CARE, by filling out a form that would be forwarded to CARE in the States.

Montreal Gazette, July 31, 1946

As well, a small collecting office for Western Canadians opened in Winnipeg in the fall of 1946, established by the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada, in partnership with the still U.S.-based CARE.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
November 30, 1946

Official expansion of CARE did not take long. Almost exactly one year after launching in the United States, CARE of Canada was established in Ottawa, at an office in the "Sparks Chambers" building at 193 Sparks Street, between Bank and O'Connor.

A circa 1950 view of 193 Sparks Street, the original home
of CARE Canada. 193 is the segment of the block that
has sets of three identical windows on each floor. CARE
Canada was located in room 313, on the third floor.

Same view now (thanks to Urbsite for the photo
compares and the history of the old Sparks Chambers building
which you can read at: this link

CARE Canada was established primarily through the efforts of A.B. MacDonald, general secretary of the Co-Operative Union of Canada. MacDonald had worked extensively in relief work with the United Nations, serving as national chairman for UNICEF for two years, and saw an opportunity to continue his important work through his firm.

A.B. MacDonald

MacDonald made arrangements for opening of the first CARE Canada office a floor above the Co-Operative Union offices at 193 Sparks Street. He then instituted the first Director of CARE Canada, Mr. Breen Melvin. Breen was 29 years old, Winnipeg born, but educated in B.C., where he worked as a school teacher, then with the Y.M.C.A. War Services during WWII, before working with the UBC in the co-operative field as a field worker in the fishing communities of the west coast. Early in 1946 he joined the British Columbia Co-operative Union as a secretary-treasurer. He later that year
accepted the offer from MacDonald to go to Ottawa and guide the CARE program for Canada, which he did for several years before becoming secretary of the Co-operative Life Insurance Company and the Co-operative Fire and Casualty Company.

The first published mention of the establishment of CARE Canada comes from the Winnipeg Tribune in December of 1946:

Winnipeg Tribune, December 9, 1946

Some Ottawa news coverage followed a month later in January 1947:

Ottawa Citizen - January 4, 1947

Somewhat surprisingly, the United Kingdom was not an eligible destination for the first year or so of operations. It was not until April 2nd 1947 that CARE packages could be sent to the UK. It was explained through the media that it was felt that there was more urgent need elsewhere, and thus the UK waited, becoming the 14th country eligible as a destination on that date. It was reported that CARE Canada, through its Ottawa office had been handling $50,000 of orders per month, which was expected to rise greatly due to the expansion to the UK.

It was estimated that in 1947 alone, over $90,000,000 worth of food and clothing was to enter Europe thanks to the CARE program, all through the $10 packages.

CARE was delivering to Germany as well, beginning in August of 1946. Occasionally blockades were set up by governments to prevent delivery, particularly in German. As a result, CARE stockpiled  30,000 packages in two warehouses in Berlin, and invited residents from the city to come to the warehouse to pick up their packages. Russia would not allow CARE to operate within their country, nor the countries they occupied (which included a portion of Berlin at the time).

Ottawa Journal - Oct 27, 1948

By the early 1950s, CARE Canada had began focusing on war-torn-villages world-wide, focusing village-by-village on rehabilitating the communities. Organizations in Canada (service clubs, youth groups, women's organizations) were encouraged to adopt villages, and contribute directly towards their rebuild. This included things such as tools, livestock, machinery for the making of clothes, school kits, and emergency food. The goal was to build a new life of hope and accomplishment for those who had lost virtually everything.

CARE Canada had moved its headquarters to the more spacious 116 O'Connor Street by this time. An old three-storey brick house that had been converted to a commercial building for three firms, CARE would operate here for the next 15 or so years, until moving to 63 Sparks Street in 1966.

In 1952, CARE Canada made a significant donation when it presented an iron lung to the General Hospital in Rangoon, Burma using surplus funds collected during the previous year. The substantial donation was a contribution to what was known as the Colombo Plan (which was an organized project established by commonwealth countries to battle poverty in South and Southeast Asia). the board of CARE Canada made this decision based on what they felt was an increasing trend in Canadians donating towards the overseas self-help projects, that donors would approve of the sizable contribution to Burma, An iron lung, by the way, was a primitive machine used by hospitals to help improve breathing for those who have lost muscle capacity or simply could not breathe enough. It was known as a 'negative pressure ventilator', and also helped prevent the spread of polio.

7 Years of CARE Canada. Ottawa Journal. April 6, 1953.

By 1955, CARE had raised over $6M in Canada, and $180M worldwide. They continued to offer targeted relief in Europe, but their main focus had shifted to relief and rehabilitation work in other parts of the world, including Asia, South America and Africa. Their primary policies at the time were the distribution of surplus agricultural produce to countries where desperation was prevalent, and establishing self-help program in areas of need, "based on village organization and geared to what the local economy could support in the future and the express desires of the people." The latter would soon develop into CARE's main work over the coming decades.

As wars and devastation continued to affect certain parts of the world, food and clothing became dire needs in certain areas. Hunger and massive crop failures were a major concern in Southeast Asia, while war orphans and refugees were escaping war-torn Russia and Germany.

In 1955, Lillian Wadsworth was appointed Director of CARE Canada, a position she maintained until her sudden passing at the young age of 53 in 1966. She was a trailblazer in Ottawa for women, having started a working career in the 1940s as a director and later on-air host in Ottawa radio at CFRA and CBO, later becoming president of the Women's Press Club Ottawa, president of the Quota Club, president of the Central Council of Service Clubs, first vice-president of the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Council of Women, and had been a long-time member of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the civic committee for the Tulip Festival, and a member of the Ottawa Winter Carnival Committee, all on top of her tireless work with CARE Canada.

Lillian Wadsworth in the offices of the Army Survey
Establishment RCE at Christmas December 1956, receiving
a donation cheque from the unit commander Lt-Col. J. I.
Thompson. Also pictured at left is Gloria Bortolotti.

In November of 1955, Lillian brought Pak Jong Yong, who was Korean-born and an agriculture student at MacDonald College, to speak to a meeting of representative students from all of Ottawa's high schools to talk about the work CARE has done across the world, the effects of war in his country, and the importance of fundraising in the high schools (and everywhere). A photograph was captured from that evening showing Yong speaking to some of the students present.

Pak Jong Yong speaking to Ottawa high school students
November 10, 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035277)

The following are a sampling of photos I found through the City of Ottawa Archives related to CARE and the work they were doing at this time. Fundraising and promotion was extensive at this time, and the newspaper photograph archives captured many photos related to these activities in Ottawa:

CARE window in an Ottawa shop, December 5, 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035727)

CARE exhibit at the  B'nai B'rith convention. Nov 28, 1955
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035591)

This was captioned as "Mrs. Henry Logan, a typist with the
Department of Veterans' Affairs, makes first donation to CARE's
plan for Christmas funds." A.G. Watson of CARE is receiving 
the money while B.W. Ridley, a supervisor at DVA looks on. 
December 8, 1955. (City of Ottawa Archives, CA-035772)

Singing group The Four Aces present A.G. Watson of CARE
Canada with a cheque. December 10, 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives CA-035812)

Joan Hardy donating a cheque. Dec 12 1955.
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-035832)

Mrs E. Jawahir, wife of the venerable archdeacon of
Lahore diocese, West Pakistan at 140 Bay Street.
February 16, 1956
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-036904)

Ottawa Citizen, February 20, 1956

1956 marked the 10-year anniversary of CARE in Canada:

10 years of CARE Canada
May 9, 1956
(City of Ottawa Archives, CA-038326)

Nepean High School put on a fundraising campaign during the Christmas season of 1956. Lillian Wadsworth spoke at the school, and a photo capturing Lillian, principal D.O. Arnold, vice-princila W.R. Sharkey and students Brian Sharkey and Sandra Wilson appeared in the Citizen:

Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 1956

In 1959, Ontario's four major milk producers made a combined gift of $42,000 to CARE Canada, to over the shipping cost of nearly 3 million pounds of Canadian surplus milk powder contributed by the Canadian government, which was shipped to Turkey and Pakistan.

Ottawa Journal. March 4, 1959.

By the 1960s, the targeted relief efforts of donating food to a specific person or individual was phased out, and instead CARE focused on general relief. CARE packages from Canada were still sent overseas with a maple leaf on it, and the words "A gift from the people of Canada", along with the name and address of the Canadian whose donation had purchased the box.

The name of the organization changed in 1959 to "Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere", and by 1961, were involved in the establishment of the Peace Corps with President John F. Kennedy. CARE selected and trained the first volunteers who were deployed to development projects in Colombia. These joint projects with the Peace Corps continued until 1967.

In 1962, CARE absorbed the medical aid organization MEDICO, increasing CARE's ability to improve medicine and health throughout the world. MEDICO trained local personnel in the field of medicine, emphasizing community health care through these development programs that began in the mid-50s. Doctors and medical specialists would donate their time and skills for a month or more to train their international counterparts, paying their own travel expenses.

The last original CARE package was delivered in 1967, a final tally of over 100 million packages sent. (The format would later return on an ad hoc basis following the Bosnian War and through an occasional promotional campaign).

By the 1970s, CARE Canada continued to focus on battling hunger, malnutrition, disease, illiteracy and poverty in developing countries. Though CARE functioned out of the U.S. and Canada up until the mid-1970s, it was not until then that CARE truly became an international organization with the establishment of CARE Europe in 1976, and CARE Norway, Germany, Italy and UK all around 1980. An umbrella organization for CARE International was established in 1982. (There is so much more I could write here, but I'd strongly recommend just reading the CARE Wikipedia entry or any other of a number of great resources on the net discussing the history of CARE).

CARE Canada today has a more directed focus, as per their website www.care.ca: "We help women and girls in over 90 developing countries lift themselves and their families out of poverty and out of crisis. We develop solutions with women and girls and their communities to tackle the big issues facing them like climate change, economic empowerment, food security and emergency relief in times of crisis or disaster." The website goes on to detail the very valid and important reasons why the organization focuses on women and girls today, notably that women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination, face the greatest risk, and are an integral part of the solutions needed to truly overcome poverty. (more at https://care.ca/why-women-and-girls/)

I hope sharing the interesting history of this important organization, and particularly the role Ottawa and its residents have played in it over its 75 years, made for a good read, but may also urge you to consider contributing to the significant work being done by CARE Canada today!

Oliver & Sons Furniture: Early Hintonburg Industry

This month my article in the Kitchissippi Times focuses on a long-lost but important firm that set up shop in Hintonburg back in 1899 and went on to become one of Canada's largest furniture manufacturers. Bankruptcy during the great depression brought about an end to this successful company in the 1930s, but their legacy is one worth exploring.

Please check out the article at https://kitchissippi.com/2020/01/31/early-days-furniture-store-thrived-in-early-hintonburg/

Unfortunately for many months of hunting, I could never find a photo of the factory whatsoever. However I've recently discovered one might exist at Library and Archives Canada, so I will re-add it to this post in the future if I'm able to track it down! In the meantime, I have a few photos that help demonstrate the factory's size:

LeBreton Flats factory in 1895 before moving operations
to Hintonburg in 1899

1922 fire insurance plan showing the buildings
and wood piles. "Oliver" is what is now
Gladstone, and that's Breezehill along the left.

1901 newspaper ad

The night when it was feared the Ku Klux Klan had arrived in Ottawa...in Hintonburg

Obviously not a topic I ever intended to, or wanted to write about. However, sometimes when researching another topic, I'll stumble across an article from long ago that tells a story about something else completely different. That happened to me this week, in discovering arguably one of the most shocking stories from Kitchissippi's past.

**

The evening of Saturday October 22nd, 1927 was cool and cloudy in Ottawa. Life was still good in the city, with the prosperous roaring twenties still pushing forward, with little hint of the pending stock market crashes and economic depression that were just around the corner. The Rough Riders finished their afternoon game at Lansdowne Park against Hamilton (then known simply as the "Tigers"), a 14-7 loss which was actually their first home loss in three years, ending a successful streak that saw them win the Grey Cup in 1925 and 1926. The movie theatres were packed in downtown Ottawa, the streetcars bustling through all of Ottawa's neighbourhoods, the trains roaring through Hintonburg, Wellington Village and Westboro on their way to distant points east and west.

Hintonburg was extensively developed by this time, but pockets of vacant land still remained in the neighbourhood, as land was still cheap enough that the railroads, and even some private ownership could still afford to keep acres of land for future investment.

A snapshot of the southeast end of Hintonburg from a few months later in April 1928 show one such section of the neighbourhood that was still quite under-developed:

April 1928 aerial photo of the area.
That's Young Street and Gladstone running top to bottom
near the centre, with the old GTR railway tracks just to the
right of Young. At the top running left to right is Bayswater
Avenue., while Breezehill and Loretta below it are barely
visible. The Standard Bread factory sits on the right side
of Gladstone, and across the street from it is the J. Oliver
& Sons furniture factory. 

It was in this vacant field not far from where Breezehill intersects with Gladstone today, that a dark moment in Ottawa's history occurred on that chilly October evening.

**

At 9:24 p.m., the telephone rang at Station Number 11 on Parkdale Avenue. The fireman answering the call was told to rush up Gladstone Avenue to Breezehill Avenue for a live fire. At the same moment, the station alarm sounded, indicating the fire alarm box had been pulled at the J. Oliver & Sons furniture factory on Gladstone Avenue at the corner of Loretta. This was no false alarm, there was something serious happening in Hintonburg.

A large number of firemen from the station climbed aboard their rigs and raced up Gladstone Avenue. Firemen from another station to the east made their way as well. Their eyes would have seen it well before they arrived, as the sight was viewable for quite a distance in all directions. And what they saw was likely almost impossible to believe. Certainly, one wouldn't have wanted to believe it, not in Ottawa, and not in Hintonburg.

There, in the vacant field alongside the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks, set a little ways back from Gladstone Avenue, was an enormous cross, burning in flames with a glare "which lit up the whole district".

**

The fiery cross was a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, and typically appeared as a spectacle to announce that a supportive branch of the hateful organization had formed in that locality. It's arrival in Ottawa was a major concern.

These were tense times in eastern Ontario, as the Klan had begun to make advances in Canada, and over the previous year had gained significant popularity in certain districts, most notably in Smiths Falls.

It had only been a month earlier that five huge crosses were burned on the St. Lawrence when 3,500 supporters showed up to a meeting of the KKK at Windmill Point, one mile east of Prescott. Though no evidence of the Klan had been recorded in Ottawa to that point, it was noted that several Ottawa citizens were among those at the meeting in Prescott.

The Prescott meeting came on the heels of the second annual meeting in Smiths Falls, which had occurred on August 28th, where it was reported that thousands attended the full day and evening meeting, which concluded with the burning of five crosses, ranging from thirty to seventy feet in height, "the largest cross presented an impressive scene as it burst into flames and illuminated the field showing the white robed figures of the Klansmen in the red glow." A chilling account by the Citizen.

Ottawa Citizen
August 29, 1927

Smiths Falls Klan stories appeared throughout 1926 and 1927, with cross burnings occurring every four to six months. A meeting in September of 1926 brought "between six and seven thousand people...from Kingston, Belleville, Brockville, Perth, Ottawa and the whole countryside", where a speaker, "known as the vice wizard of the Klan movement in Canada, was present from New Brunswick and at the afternoon and evening sessions gave addresses outlining the origin formation and claimed benefits of the Kan movement, which he clearly defined as a Christian, national, gentile, and white man's organization, one hundred per cent Protestant and British", so reported the Citizen.

The development in Smiths Falls had been quick. It was reported only in late April that the first cross burning occurred on the outskirts of town. Originally believed to be most likely a practical joke, a second burning a month later on May 25th confirmed the organization, and the newspaper reported that Klan literature had recently been circulated in the area.

Ottawa Journal, May 27 1926

A dynamite bombing of a church in Barrie in June of 1926 further heightened fears of the KKK in Ontario, as three Klansman took credit for the explosion which occurred just after a rally in the city. The Attorney-General for Ontario Hon. W. F. Nickle was pushed to investigate how extensive the organization of the Klan had grown in Ontario, but he declined, instead (very oddly) issuing a statement noting that "assurance had been given him by Klan officials that the organization stood for law and order and that they would use every effort to facilitate the capture of law-breakers who used the Klan as a vehicle to further their own ends".

According to a Maclean's article from 2017, "The Canadian expansion of the KKK was buoyed by inter-war anti-immigrant sentiment, the usual white nationalism that had deep roots since Confederation and concerns over vice—alcohol, drugs and non-heterosexual monogamous sex that was often prejudicially associated with ethnic minorities. In the United States, similar concerns were in play, but the biggest reason for the revival of the anachronistic post-Civil War-era “Clansman” group at the start of the 20th century was the concern in the south that black Americans were making real political and economic gains. It was a backlash. And that—nearly 50 years after the end of the Civil War—was when the majority of Confederate statues were erected and the majority of Jim Crow laws (establishing segregation and trashing voting rights, among other things) were established. The KKK’s terror campaign was a way of ensuring that systemic discrimination wouldn’t be challenged." (Full article at: https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-kkk-has-a-history-in-canada-and-it-can-return/)

The Klan meanwhile had grown in popularity in western Canada, with membership exceeding 10,000 in the west, where each member contributed $10, providing a kitty of $100,000, a powerful amount of money to organize unfathomable activities and events.

Suffice to say, there would have been a lot worry in Ottawa in 1927 that the Klan might attempt to make a presence in our city. It was reported that in mid-1926, three or four men had come to Ottawa as KKK organizers and had attempted to form a branch, but left town after a brief stay, having achieved nothing. Ottawa police and newspaper editors seemed please to boast that Ottawa essentially had no history with the Klan, yet certainly it was clear that the movement had its local supporters, and those supporters were finding their outlet in the nearby gatherings in Smiths Falls, Prescott and elsewhere.

**

When firefighters arrived to the vacant field off Gladstone Avenue, they quickly extinguished the burning cross using "three hand chemicals".

The cross was made of planed timber, about four inches square, which had been varnished. It was guessed but not confirmed, that the wood had been taken from the Oliver's factory wood piles. It was approximately 15 feet high, with a cross bar about six feet long. It was reported to have been buried at a depth of two feet or more into the ground, and was reportedly "quite firm". There were also stones placed around the base to help support it. They heavy cross arm had been bound to the upright using picture-hanging wire. The entire cross was wrapped around with clothes which had been soaked in oil (and tied by the same picture wire), to make them burn more readily.

The firemen found an empty five-gallon can, wood covered, which had been used to carry the oil that started the fire.

If this had been a prank, it certainly was well planned, and carefully engineered. Lieut. Langdon of the Parkdale fire station was convinced that the fire was not the work of local boys. "The cross was quite heavy", he said "and it was impossible that young boys could have lifted it into position."

A large crowd had assembled, as the fire could been seen from a long distance, while others had followed the fire trucks to the site.

The emergency crews on scene immediately began to search for witnesses and it was a group of boys who had been playing nearby as the sun set, who reported seeing four men run from the cross, jump into an automobile and drive way hurriedly. It was those boys who then rang the alarm from the fire alarm box at Oliver's.

A female witness, who had walked by just before the fire began, reported that she had seen a car parked close to the lot, which she found odd as there were no houses in the area. She was surprised to see the car, but made no investigation into it.

The location was perfect for such a significant display. It was a large vacant field, in the middle of a populated part of the city, in one of it's highest points, allowing it to be seen "at a great distance".

**

As word spread of the incident on Sunday, many ventured out to the location to view the charred remains of the cross. "Youngsters of the neighbourhood gathered about it in wonderment, apparently expecting to see a troupe of white hooded riders gallop on the scene at any minute, but they were doomed to disappointment", reported the Journal.

Still scattered about the field on Sunday morning were portions of the rags used in the fire. These included "remnants of clothing, overalls, bags, shirts, coats, etc." Pieces of the Ottawa Citizen were also found nearby, which also perhaps had been used to help start the fire.

The location of the burning cross (marked with red X)

The lack of Klansmen present at the burning was perhaps the most reassuring part of the incident, as it was apparently typical of the members to remain on guard by the cross, usually on horses, until it had burned itself out. Local police felt this was the first time a burning cross had been extinguished by firemen.

**

The burning of the cross in the field at the end of Breezehill Avenue was big news when the Monday morning newspapers came out in Ottawa.

Interestingly, Ottawa's two English-language papers appear to have taken different views of the incident. The Journal's slant on their reporting was that it was likely the work of boys or just a prank. The Citizen meanwhile leaned more towards it being tied to the KKK. Their headlines appear below:

Ottawa Citizen, October 24, 1927

Ottawa Journal, October 24, 1927

Regardless, on Monday morning the RCMP refused comment on the incident, and also it was noted that "no investigation of the Klan is under way or is even contemplated by the force." Though it would have been outside the jurisdiction of the RCMP apparently, and up to municipal or provincial authorities to investigate, there was still a call for the federal police agency to intervene. However, the burning of a cross was not against the law, and "the act of itself, police officers say, would not justify official action".

On Monday Ottawa Police were insistent that they believed it was "merely the prank of young men seeking a sensation", yet that seems to go against the evidence presented, and fire Lieut. Langdon's comments a day prior. It was noted that Ottawa Police were also "ready to assure the public that should a branch of the organization make its appearance in Ottawa, it will receive short shrift should it attempt to take the law into its own hands in any way. While there is no definite law against the formation of a secret society, acts of lawlessness such as have been attributed to the Klan in various parts of the United States will not be tolerated at all."

The Citizen noted that "some of the authorities incline to the idea that the burning of the cross was largely in the nature of a hoax. But whether it was, or whether it was a token that the Ku Klux Klan has come to Ottawa does not appear to make much difference."  Wow.

Why multiple levels of government refused to consider any kind of investigation astounds me in 2020, and it is hard to imagine why they would not have wanted to get to the bottom of the activity, at minimum to calm the concerns of local residents.

**

The stories which filled the newspapers of Monday October 24th simply stopped right there. No mention of the fire, the KKK or anything related to the incident appeared in the Tuesday newspaper, or in any other following for a full week.

However, just a little over a week later, on Halloween night, a cross was burned in a field in Hog's Back (the field was adjacent to the road linking what was then called Bowesville road with Hog's Back. Bowesville Road is now Riverside Drive, so that would it put it somewhere in the vicinity of Riverside and Hog's Back Road). The description of the cross, its construction, and the same rags and overalls were all the same as the Hintonburg burning from the week prior. The cross apparently burned for an hour until it was put out by local residents, the fire reportedly bringing out "all the Hogsbackers from their homes". Despite this concerning incident, the story drew just two paragraphs in the Citizen, no mention in the Journal, and no comment from the police, nor any further follow-up.

Whether the police and media intentionally (and strategically) avoided covering any Klan topics over the short-term following is unknown. Perhaps the cross burnings were the work of pranksters, and were simply isolated incidents. Perhaps (and probably more likely) it was the work of a very small group of supporters attempting to create a stir, and to their credit, the media buried it.

Regardless, the cross burnings were awful incidents to occur. However, as terrible as they were, especially if they were actually connected to dedicated KKK organizers, we can be thankful that these are seemingly the only two incidents to ever occur in Ottawa related to the Klan. Other Canadian/Ontario cities cannot boast of the same. Yet, it is still shocking to think that an incident like that did once occur here in Kitchissippi.

Tracking down Mickey Mouse's arrival in Ottawa

It may not surprise you to learn that I'm not so much a fan of modern-day cartoons. Or most of what is on TV really. I prefer the vintage stuff, the original stuff. It's not just the entertainment value of the cartoons themselves. It's the history behind it. The incredible amount of time and effort put into their production. Nowadays a cartoon can be made in minutes using an app downloaded to a phone. But back in the 1920s and 1930s, it was a considerable amount of work to make a cartoon. 

I have a deep appreciation for the early Mickey Mouse cartoons. Most would probably think that they are just boring little clips made for kids. But in fact, the early productions of Mickey Mouse animations have a wider appeal. They were actually presented to adults as much as kids back when they first came out. Audiences would have marveled at the work of Walt Disney and his studio when these cartoons first came to the masses. Animation was still in its infancy, black and white only, and the synchronization of the cartoons to sound, let alone to speech and song, was still in early development.

When 'Steamboat Willie' was released in 1928, it was a game-changer in the world of animation. It led to Mickey skyrocketing to becoming the most well-known cartoon figure of all time, and Disney right there as the most famous animator. 

For those who have never seen any of the early Mickey cartoons, I strongly urge you to take an hour out of your day and watch these classic pieces:

1. Here is Mickey's first ever appearance in 'Plane Crazy' from May of 1928, which apparently originally was an undistributed test screening, before being later released after Mickey's initial success: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZPzHg0h80

2. Here is the important 'Steamboat Willie' from November of 1928: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4

3. Mickey's Orphans from 1931 which was the first Oscar nomination for Mickey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2S1eJFRM5Q

4. The Barn Dance from 1929 is really funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BUnhc_Xzo

5. Perhaps my favourite, also from 1929, a lesser known and massively underappreciated cartoon, 'The Haunted House': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hoThry5WsY

I have three kids under the age of 10, and as often as I can, when we're watching TV together, I'll put on these great vintage cartoons, and they love them!

Of course so much is written about the history of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse that I won't bother getting into the depths of the history in this article. The point of putting this little column together was my attempt at digging up the history of when Mickey made his first appearance here in Ottawa, and even specifically right here in Kitchissippi. Not an easy task, and not one that has a definite for sure answer. But I think I've done pretty well below in finding the best possible answer. 

Certainly his first appearance in the States has been documented, as a quick check on Google and Wikipedia confirms it was in New York City on November 18th, 1928. Sure enough, a glance through the NYC newspapers of the day shows that 'Steamboat Willie' was first shown at the Colony Theatre on 53rd Street at noon on that very day. I was fortunate to find an ad from that same day advertising it's opening:

New York Daily News
November 18, 1928

And this is a pretty cool ad from a month later, advertising the showing in Brooklyn, New York:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 30, 1928.

This incidentally was the first mention of Walt Disney in any American newspaper, coming just four years prior:

Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. June 29, 1924.

So back to Ottawa. It appears no theatre in Ottawa screened any of the Mickey Mouse cartoons until 1930. The earliest evidence I can find of Mickey in Ottawa is a week-long engagement starting March 29th, 1930 at both the Regent and Imperial Theatres, as an opening clip to the presentation of a film 'The Vagabond King'. The article below makes brief mention of a "Mickey Mouse" cartoon at the very end, while the theatre's ad for the week does not even mention it:

Ottawa Citizen, March 31, 1930

Ottawa Citizen, March 31, 1930

The Imperial  Theatre was of course what is now Barrymore's today, on Bank Street at Gilmour. The Regent Theatre was located on Bank Street on the northwest corner of Sparks, where the big glass Bank of Canada building now stands. It was open from 1916 until 1972. Ironically, the final film shown in the theatre (pictured below) was Disney's 'Lady and the Tramp'.

The Regent was for many years the favourite spot of Ottawa youth to view cartoons and movies geared towards kids, and was always first to show the Disney full-length productions such as Fantasia, Snow White and Cinderella.

After March, the floodgates seemed to open, as the theatres in Ottawa scrambled to add Mickey to their playlists. The Francais Theatre on Dalhousie Street and the B.F. Keith Theatre on Bank Street (better known by it's future name, the Capitol) advertised Mickey in May:

Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 1930.

Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1930

And again, Mickey re-appeared at the Regent when 'Steamboat Willie' was advertised as beginning the following day, Saturday June 14th, 1930.

Ottawa Journal, June 13, 1930.

'Plane Crazy' was then brought in to the Regent and Imperial in July in this cool ad:

Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 1930

By the mid-1930s, Mickey was the feature at some theatres, notably the Capitol and Regent. 

Ottawa Journal, April 4, 1934.

Prior to 1934, the only theatre in the west end was the old Columbia/Nola Theatre on Wellington across from the St. Francois D'Assise Church. Going through the old ads, it appears they did not show any Disney cartoons until 1936. I'm not sure why that would be the case, perhaps they weren't allowed, if other theatre owned regional rights or something. So it appear that for the first few years, fans of Mickey Mouse in Hintonburg and on out to Westboro and beyond had no choice but to travel in to downtown Ottawa to view the cartoons.

Finally in September of 1936, the first evidence of Mickey in Kitchissippi can be found with an ad for the Columbia Theatre noting that Mickey would be shown along with a double-feature of "Klondike Annie" and "Oregon Trail". 

Ottawa Citizen, September 19, 1936

The Victoria Theater opened in 1934, the Westboro in 1941 and the Elmdale not until 1947. So this may well have actually been the first time Mickey was shown in the west end!

Hope you enjoyed this random bit of Mickey Mouse history! Happy New Year!