William Faulkner famously wrote in 1951 that “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” In that sense, it must be admitted that there is a measure of arbitrariness to the division of this website into ‘Past’ and ‘Present’ sections. In fact, the division can be seen as based on my response(s) to the specific question that motivated the entire project - what happened during the 20th century (1900 – 2000) that changed the character of this “village” so profoundly? The ‘Past’ section tends to be based upon information gained from secondary research sources (i.e., presenting views based on existing archival documents) while the ‘Present’ section here focuses on primary sources temporally situated in the post-2000 period during which I was working on this project (i.e., my own photographs and videos that reflect upon the past and/or represent the area and its residents as I found them).

Following from that, the ‘Present’ section includes interviews with individuals who reflect from their vantage point in the present upon the area’s past. As well, as an artist, I have produced several photo and video works that examine and interpret aspects of life on Hallam St. as it was at the time I carried out this project (2008-2013). These works begin to produce a documentation of the area that inevitably becomes itself historical. In that sense, I am addressing the absence that I encountered when searching for visual representations of the Hallam/Dovercourt neighbourhood during the 20th century. My longer-term intention is to donate a selection of my research and finished works to the City of Toronto Archives, thus eventually producing a ‘past’ for current and future residents.