Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.

Riot at Christie Pits

Photos by Alan L Brown - November, 2008

Here, on the north-west corner of Christie Street and Bloor Street West, stands this 2008 Heritage Toronto plaque. This is what it says:

On August 16, 1933, at the end of a playoff game for the Toronto junior softball championship, one of the city's most violent ethnic clashes broke out in this park (then known as Willowvale Park). Toronto was a predominately British and Protestant city struggling through the Great Depression, and youths in several neighbourhoods were harassing those they considered "foreigners". Widespread prejudice against Jews made them particular targets. Two nights earlier, on August 14, fans of the predominately Jewish "Harbord Playground" team were provoked by local "Pit Gang" members with a makeshift swastika, a symbol made familiar by the recent rise to power of the Nazi party in Germany. At the end of the game on August 16, another large swastika was displayed. Jewish fans attacked its bearers. As word of the fight spread, reinforcements - including Italian friends of Jewish youths - rushed to the area. The resulting five-hour riot involved baseball bats and iron bars, and spilled onto the streets. Though no one was killed, Torontonians were shocked by the violence. Mayor Stewart questioned the inadequate response of the Chief of Police to warnings of impending violence, and stated that anyone displaying the swastika emblem would be liable to prosecution.

Plaque Location Co-ordinates: 43.663610 -79.419179

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Posted June 1, 2010
Fantastic that the city made a plaque on the Riot. Such a important part of Toronto's history!

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