"A streetcar was overturned at the corner of Mutual and Queen Streets in the snowstorm of 1944. One passenger was killed and 50 injured." Photo by Alexandra Studio. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"A soldier rides his bicycle in Toronto’s heavy traffic in the summer of 1942." Photo by Ron Laytner/Frank Teskey. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Traffic moves southward along Avenue Road at Davenport during the morning rush hour in November 1958." Photo by Ron Laytner/Frank Teskey. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"On September 5, 1909, American explorer, Admiral Robert E. Peary, seen here on a ship's deck, announced that he had reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909." Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Michele Finney, star of the Razzle Dazzle TV show, interviews the Beatles for The Star in 1964. The Beatles first performed in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens on Sept. 7, 1964." Photo by Frank Grant. Toronto Star Photo Archive. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Torontonian June Callwood, award winning author, broadcaster and social activist at her typewriter in 1966." Photo by Norman James. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Packing 'em in: Honest Ed Mirvish on December 6th, 1983."<br />
Photo by Keith Beaty. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"Fidel Castro celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution in Havana in 1969." Photo by Reg. Innell. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"Urban writer and activist Jane Jacobs standing outside her home on Spadina Road just north of Bloor Street in 1968. Jacobs joined the opposition to the Spadina Expressway when she arrived in Toronto from Washington in 1968." Photo by Frank Lennon. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"First baseman Joe Carter leads the celebration of the 1992 Blue Jays World Series win. " Photo by Mike Slaughter. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
“First baseman Joe Carter leads the celebration of the 1992 Blue Jays World Series win. ” Photo by Mike Slaughter. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
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"Clutching live chickens, a man crosses the road in Kensington Market in June 1977." Photo by Graham Bezant. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"William Lyon Mackenzie King chats with Louis St. Laurent on the platform at the Federal Liberal Convention in Ottawa where St. Laurent was chosen leader in 1948. In the background a portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier hangs behind the leaders." Photo by Norman James. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"Cassius Clay, known as Muhammad Ali, trains for his match with George Chuvalo in Toronto, 1966. Ali won the fight." Photo by Doug Griffin. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"The Queen appears to be asking Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau if he would like to share her umbrella. Queen Elizabeth and Trudeau were caught in the rain at church services held on the front lawn of Parliament Hill in October, 1977." Photo by Jeff Goode. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Soldiers group in front of the recruiting office for the 74th and 75th battalions on the grounds of old Toronto City Hall." 1915. Photo by James and Sons. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"A construction worker bolts structural members for Skydome’s retractable roof in 1988. Designed by Architect Rod Robbie, the SkyDome (renamed the Rogers Centre) officially opened on June 3rd, 1989."<br />
Photo by Mike Slaughter. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"An American soldier cuddles a Grenadian baby after the invasion of the Island by a U.S.-led task force, 1983." Photo by Boris Spremo. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
"Soldiers belonging to the Eaton Machine Gun Battery and their bulldog mascot in 1915." Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Pianist Glenn Gould relaxes in a recording studio ten years after retiring from concert hall performances." Photo by Ron Bull. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
"Malcolm X photographed in a CBC studio before appearing on Front Page Challenge." 1965. Photo by Gerry Barker. Toronto Star Photo Archive, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.<br />
The Toronto Public Library’s special collections department has just received a sizeable donation: more than one million photographs, which represent the complete photographic archive of the Toronto Star for the years 1900–1999.
“This photo archive is believed to be the only complete archive of Canadian news photographs spanning the entire 20th century and we are proud that we can now make this freely available at the library,” said Jane Pyper, city librarian.
The public will have access to most of these images as of July 7. They’ll be available in the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre on the fifth floor of the Toronto Reference Library—the TPL also has plans to make some of images available in its digital archive.
“Part of ensuring the future of Toronto is shoring up our past and our memories of this city as it once was,” commented Star publisher John Honderich.
And those memories involve, unsurprisingly, a wide range of peoples, places, and events—some of which most are us too young to remember (e.g. soldiers from Eaton Machine Gun Battery posing with their bulldog in 1915) and some of which we may well have been around for, but now seem lost in the mists of time (the Blue Jays celebrating their 1992 World Series win). Click through the gallery above to view selected images from the archive.