Browse Exhibits (3 total)
Hellenic Students' Association
The Hellenic Students' Association of York is a student run, non-for-profit Hellenic council, which promotes Hellenism within the university's setting. The council organizes an array of events throughout the academic year, such as a general meeting for members, academic nights, Greek nights on the Danforth, and as annual Semi-Formal. The council also looks for other ways to give back to the Greek Community, whether it be with Greek Schools, or singing carols for the Hellenic Hope. With our new and exciting collaborations with the Greek Canadian History Project and York University Libraries Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, the HSA is now able to share a history of the celebration of Hellenism in the Greek Community of Toronto.
The Jean Augustine Political Button Collection
What we collect tells a story. The objects we collect tell stories and the collector of the artifacts can tell a story. Political buttons are ephemeral artifacts created for a specific purpose and usually for a short-time period. Their function may include commemorating an event or conveying one’s support of a cause, movement or political candidate.
This exhibit explores some of the narratives behind selected political buttons from the Jean Augustine collection housed in the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University. The Honourable Jean Augustine, originally from Grenada, was the first African-Canadian woman elected as a Member of Parliament in Canada. There are over 500 political and social activism buttons collected by Jean Augustine from the 1960s to the early 2000s. These political buttons are great tools to understand the socio-political history of Canadian society. Jean Augustine was interviewed about selected political and activism buttons found in her collection on April 24, 2014. Several themes explored in the exhibit include:
- Multiculturalism in Canada
- The Black & African-Caribbean community in Canada
- The status of Canadian women
- Social activism
- Political campaign buttons
Hear the stories of Jean Augustine’s political button collection.