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Guelph needs to get better, and more imaginative, at naming stuff

This week's Market Squared tackles the relatively minor controversy of Guelph's inability to think of better names for stuff
20200804 Margaret Greene Park KA
Margaret Greene Park. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday file photo

This week, the City of Guelph posted the results of the #GoldenGuelph project, a digital time capsule by the city's 2020 artist in residence Jenny Mitchell that’s comprised of pictures, art work, t-shirts, videos and audio recordings that memorialize 50 different people, places, things and moments that make up Guelph’s history.

The Royal City has a fine sense of historical appreciation that I think is unmatched in many places in Ontario. Our community-driven desire to protect cultural heritage resources just recently caused a rift between the volunteers of Heritage Guelph and city staff, and it was so noticeable that council recommended mediation between the two.

The passion is unquestionable, but I also wonder if we can do more.

Last summer’s reckoning about race made us start to realize the problematic origin of names. Names like “Bloor” and “Kitchener”, which are used to identify major streets or cities, had meanings lost to all but local history nerds, but they now demand further scrutiny as we study ways to overcome systemic racism.

How many times have you walked down a street, or through a park, and seen a name on a sign and not understood where it comes from?

I’ve lived within a short walk of Margaret Greene Park for almost 20 years, but I couldn’t tell you who Margaret Greene is, or more likely was.

Through the internet I can find out from the City of Guelph what amenities you can find in Margaret Greene Park. I can also get the full read out of the campaign to stop Metrolinx from building a traction power station in the trail behind the park. There are even links to Guelph Museums’ collection of old maps and posters that mention Margaret Greene Park.

But who was Margaret Greene? That I still don’t know.

More than that, looking up the entire complement of Guelph parks makes you understand what a rarity that Margaret Greene’s park is. Not because of its size, placement or attractions, but because it has a name.

So many of Guelph parks are named after the streets they’re found on, or the neighbourhoods they’re located in, but only a few are named after notable Guelphites, and fewer still have their accomplishments well known and celebrated.

You may know that Norm Jary was Guelph’s mayor, and got a park named after him in the Shelldale neighbourhood, but do you know the Hugh Guthrie whose name is raised above a park on Edinburgh South? He was Guelph’s MP for 35 years, he was the leader of the opposition for a year, and he was, at times, Canada’s Solicitor General, Defence Minister, and Minister of Justice.

I wonder how many people out there think that Hugh Guthrie is Cam Guthrie’s dad?

Last fall, council approved the construction of the new main library branch and the South End Community Centre, and while the topic of construction caused a lot of debate, I wondered at the time if we could make some time to debate our lack of imagination when it comes to naming things.

Let us consider Market Square, the Market Parkade, the West End Rec Centre, the Heffernan Street Footbridge, the West Parkade, the East Parkade, the Guelph Civic Museum, the Guelph Youth Music Centre, and the Guelph Provincial Offences Court.

We do have the Victor Davis pool, but it’s located inside the Victoria Road Rec Centre. And before you say, “John McCrae” keep it mind that it was literally John McCrae’s house to begin with.

Our school boards do better with the honorifics including schools named for Jean Little, Ken Danby, William Winegard, and Edward Johnson. Johnson Hall at the University of Guelph is also named after the famous opera singer, but where in our musical-centric town is there a tribute to the man called “The Tenor of His Time.”

You know what? Forget opera!

While keeping a mind the times they are a changing, let’s consider the lesser, lesser known history of Guelph.

For example, do you know about Bud Fowler? He was a great baseball player that had to fight every single day just to play. He was Black, and everywhere he went he had to play exclusively with white players. In the 1870 season, Fowler, as a member of the Guelph Maple Leafs, had to play against the Oneida Castle team, which was sponsored by none other than the Ku Klux Klan.

Imagine the pressure of being the lone Black man in professional baseball swinging at actual fastballs thrown by the Klan. A man this hardy, determined, and possessed to overcome all challenges to play the game he loved deserves a rec centre named after him. Or something. There are a lot of parks with a lot of ball diamonds in this town.  

The Black Past in Guelph website is filled with these stories, and so are the local history book stacks at the library, and the extensive archives at museum. If living history is to mean anything it has to be lived, and these are the names we should be seeing more of.

There’s no question that Guelph loves its history, but I think we can love it a little more.


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Adam A. Donaldson

About the Author: Adam A. Donaldson

In addition to writing his weekly political column for GuelphToday, Adam A. Donaldson writes and manages Guelph Politico, frequently writes for Nerd Bastards and sometimes has to do less cool things for a paycheque.
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