St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas reprises community picnic
There was no shortage of human suffering in Hamilton when the Sisters of St. Joseph arrived more than 170 years ago.
Led by Mother Martha von Bunning, they found a community with widespread poverty. A cholera epidemic soon swept the city in 1854. And there were growing numbers of orphaned children as well as older citizens who were destitute.
Faced with this, the sisters came up with two imaginative and highly successful annual fundraising efforts that each lasted for close to a century: The Orphans' Festival" raised money for Hamilton orphanage care and in Dundas the House of Providence Picnic" raised funds for the House of Providence, the forerunner of St. Joseph's Villa.
Both the festival and the picnic - that are part of the history of the vast St. Joseph's health care and social services network in the Hamilton area today - are being remembered over the coming weeks in separately organized events:
On April 21, the Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society will host a presentation about the history of the Orphans' Festival in Hamilton.
On May 31, St. Joseph's Villa is hosting a reprise of the House of Providence Picnic as a fundraiser for the villa.
Orphans' FestivalMost notable about the yearly Orphans' Festival that took place between 1852 to 1953, was that orphans provided the entertainment (except for the very first festival that featured other performers). Dozens of the children would take part - singing, dancing and acting. Thousands of Hamiltonians bought tickets and a lot of money was raised. More than $1,800 was raised in the first year alone.
But more than that, the yearly event offered the chance for the kids to learn skills in the arts and have positive experiences working in a team. They'd get scrubbed up and presented at their best. If audience members were motivated to consider adopting one or two, that would be a bonus.
Christine Lei, who is a professor in the Youth and Children's Studies program at Wilfred Laurier University's Brantford campus, had been researching the history of the Catholic Children's Aid Society when I came upon mention of the Orphans' Festival and I thought oh, this is very interesting,'" she says.
It was a highlight for Hamilton ... a community effort. The festival brought all of Hamilton together once a year for a joyous, festive, and musical occasion," says Lei, whose presentation at Head-of-the-Lake Society is called The History of the Orphans' Festival: Hamilton, Ontario 1852-1953."
The programming changed as time changed. For example, during war years, the emphasis was on military songs and patriotism."
The festival was also a way for orphans to get out in the community, rather than being isolated at the orphanage, she says.
The festival took place at different theatres, including the Grand Opera House on James Street North and the Palace Theatre on King Street East.
Over the years, the sisters took care of thousands of orphans. It started with a small number at a two-storey, eight-roomed house at Cannon and MacNab streets shortly after their arrival in Hamilton, from Toronto, in 1852. The house also served as a convent and a small school. Shortly after a larger orphanage opened on Park Street. In 1879, boys were moved to the House of Providence in Dundas, a newly opened facility that was primarily intended as a home for the aged.
In 1936, the Mount St. Joseph Orphanage opened at 354 King St. W. near Queen Street. In 1960, with the rise of Children's Aid Societies and foster homes, it closed to become the Mount St. Joseph Centre for Emotionally Disturbed Boys. In 2005, the building was sold to developer Darko Vranich and demolished 10 years later to make way for mixed use highrise development.
Lei says she is interested in doing further research and would especially like to interview former orphans - or their descendants - who took part in the festival.
I haven't followed up to find out what became of them. I'm hoping some people in the audience (at her presentation at the Head-of-the-Lake Society) may be able to help."
House of Providence PicnicThe annual House of Providence Picnic that ran from 1879 to 1970 attracted thousands of people each year and was a fundraising event that became the highlight of the Dundas social season for almost a century," says Austin Strutt of the Dundas Museum and Archives.
Located near the present site of St. Joseph's Villa on Governor's Road, the House of Providence was opened in 1879 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton to provide a home for the elderly, orphaned, and disadvantaged. Such institutions were very important in a time before modern hospitals or old-age homes, and they operated primarily on church funds and public donations," he says.
The House of Providence was originally built as a mansion for wealthy merchant and former Dundas Mayor James Coleman. In 1879 the property was sold to Rev. Father McNulty for $10,000. He put up $8,000 of his own money and the rest was raised through picnic fundraising. McNulty lived at the facility that Strutt describes as the one of the most distinctive and imposing structures in the Valley." Unfortunately, it burned down in 1900 and was rebuilt two years later, with the picnic assisting in the fundraising.
For 60 years the picnic remained popular but by the late 1960s plans were made to replace House of Providence with St. Joseph's Villa. After the villa opened nearby in 1970, the House of Providence was demolished, and the picnic discontinued.
Don Davidson, the CEO of St. Joseph's Villa Foundation, says he wants to make the rejuvenated picnic an annual event and include things like a petting zoo, bingo, and baking contests that would be similar to what took place with the original event.
It will take a couple of years to bring back to the grandeur of the former picnic but I want to get the ball rolling. Let's start bringing back some of the nostalgia and let it grow."
The History of the Orphans' Festival: Hamilton, Ontario, 1852-1953
What: Historian Christine Lei talks about the Sisters of St. Joseph orphanages, the orphans themselves, and the festival that was used for fundraising.
Where: The Coach House at Dundurn Castle, 610 York Blvd.
When: 7:30 p.m. April 21. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Information: www.facebook.com/headofthelakehistoricalsociety
House of Providence picnic
What: St. Joseph's Villa in Dundas is hosting a giant picnic to recreate the House of Providence Picnic that took place annually from 1879 until 1970. The 2023 fundraising event is intended for residents, employees and members of the community and will take place under tents in the Villa's upper parking lot and the facility's auditorium. Watch for details in May.
Where: St. Joseph's Villa, 56 Governor's Road in Dundas
When: May 31.
Information: sjvfoundation.ca/events/hoppicnic