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First Unitarian Congregation of Canada West

What gives? Unless you’re scanning the pavement for change, you might miss this knee-high afterthought of a plaque seemingly misplaced on the wall of the parking lot of the former Sears building at Jarvis and Dundas.

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You’d never know that the First Unitarian Church, designed in the neo-Gothic style by William Thomas, once stood here. Suffragist Emily Stowe, the first female to practise medicine in Canada, was a member of the congregation. The church was mysteriously demolished in 1949 when the congregation moved to its new digs on St. Clair.

What the plaque won’t tell you The Unitarians inspired social movements. They were the first religious denomination to grant women equal status. Joseph Workman, one of the founding members, a superintendent at the Queen Street Asylum, modernized the treatment of mental illness.

Future tense A multi-purpose sports facility may be built on the lot as part of Ryerson U’s expansion eastward. Hopefully, this little-known piece of local lore will receive a more fitting commemoration and not get lost in the construction.

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