About Us

We started HerstoriesCafe because we wanted to find a way to bring people interested in local women’s history together.  Our free monthly events are informal talks by local, academic historians, archivists, history educators, curators and community members, and are designed to generate dialogue. Café talks are located throughout the city, in places which are historically relevant to the evening topic, and often include an on-site historical walking tour. The locations that we choose for our events allow us to directly engage with historical spaces in Toronto—to tell stories about the urban heritage of our city and to deepen our historical understanding of our own urban landscape.  Our website/blog (www.herstoriescafe.ca) provides information about upcoming talks, welcomes feedback from Toronto communities and provides a place to access historical resources.  

          The Herstories Cafe Toronto provides an opportunity for people to get together to celebrate Canadian women’s history. Come join us at various venues around Toronto: to hear a presentation, enjoy food and drink, and socialize.Think of it as a salon: a place to share ideas, pool historical resources, and stimulate debate in an intimate and relaxed setting.

Coordinators: Dr. Rose Fine-Meyer and Kate Zankowicz

        Kate is a history doctoral student and Rose is a Lecturer at OISE/ University of Toronto. We started Herstories Cafe because we wanted to provide a venue where interested people could hear stories by well known scholars in the field of Canadian women's history-and enjoy a cafe or food in a relaxed environment. We plan to hold events in various cafes, historic and cultural sites each month around Toronto. Please write us with your suggestions, comments and ideas.

HerstoriesCafe acknowledges the generous support of The History Education Network (THEN/HiER). Our free events have benefited from the support of a Small Projects Grant (2011-2012), as well as by members like you. Thank you for your support!

Upcoming presentation about herstoriescafe 

CAWEE Events  - October 24, 2011 - Lunch & Learn Limited Registration!  Where's the "Her" in History? Why Women's History Matters ... With Presenters Rose Fine-Meyer and Kate Zankowicz Join us to celebrate Women's History Month.  Network with some terrific women, enjoy a great lunch and learn about four local women who have made an impact in our history. This talk is woven together by the lives of Elizabeth Simcoe and Pauline Johnson, two entrepreneurial women from the nineteenth century, and Elizabeth Laurie Smellie and Grace McPherson, two major players in World War I. By sharing their stories and reflecting on how they are represented in our commemorative landscape, we will uncover the many ways that women's experiences are central to our collective past. This interactive discussion will ask:  Where's the "her" in history?  How do we get the whole story? How are Canadian women represented in heritage sites and cultural institutions? What can we do to make women more present in the commemoration of our collective past? When:  Monday, Oct 24,  2011 Time:   11:30 am - 1:30 pm Location:  The Hot House Cafe                  35 Church Street                  Toronto, Ontario Fee:    CAWEE Members $35.00 (plus $4.55 HST)            Affiliates $40.00 (plus $5.20 HST)            Non-Members $50.00 (plus $6.50 HST)            Lunch is included. Registration Form   Rose Fine-Meyer and Kate Zankowicz are the founders of Toronto's Herstoriescafe, an event series that brings historical stories about Canadian women into public spaces to engage with historical sites and to give voice to the missing narratives of our past.   Rose Fine-Meyer is an educator, doctoral candidate in the History of Education program and an Instructor in the Teacher Education Program at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.  Her dissertation examines women's narratives in history curriculum. Rose received the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History in 2007 for an interdisciplinary course entitled Archives and Local History that links students to communities and organizations engaged in maintaining and preserving local history. Rose has contributed to articles, workshops and panels on Canadian women's history and place based history. Kate Zankowicz is a museum educator (Royal Ontario Museum) and doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, who has been teaching with artifacts and specimens and developing educational programming in museums for seven years.  Her thesis examines how discourses of national, cultural and gendered identity may be embedded in the pedagogical practices and historical narratives at play in exhibition spaces. Kate has spoken at various conferences on issues of memory and commemoration, Indigenous knowledges, participatory museology and difficult heritage  Connect * Learn * Grow

Quick Links... Our Website Contact Information phone: 416-756-0000 or email contact@cawee.net