Jean Cochrane will present an illustrated overview of the Kensington Market area through its many changes. Beginning with the establishment by George Denison in 1815 of a spacious estate centred on the region, Cochrane will trace the remarkable evolution of the next two centuries, through successive waves of immigrant settlement (notably Jewish and Portuguese), the rise of a counter-culture in the late 1960's and 1970's, and most recently the proliferation of attractive specialty food-shops. Through the decades, Kensington has always maintained, even celebrated, a vigorous sense of community, in spite of its often polyglot nature.

Rosemary Donegan will present an illustrated talk about the stretch of Spadina Avenue running from College Street south to Dundas Street, a bustling hive of commerce and entertainment that has for the past century served as a kind of Main Street for the inhabitants of the Kensington area. While Donegan will address the important role Spadina has played in the lives of the immigrants who have called Kensington Market home, she will focus on the way it also has been the base for cultural activity, primarily music and visual art, that has added to the Market's vitality.