An Anarchist Queen and Her Radiant Protégé: Emma Goldman & Marie Tiboldo in Interwar Toronto
2026-05-02 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Toronto) | Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library, 239 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R5, Canada
Feisty Women of Kensington Market – Part One
An Anarchist Queen and Her Radiant Protégé: Emma Goldman & Marie Tiboldo in Interwar Toronto
A public talk with Prof. Franca Iacovetta and Prof. Cynthia Wright
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 2:00 pm (doors open 1:45)
Lillian H. Smith Library, 239 College Street at Huron
FREE ADMISSION

This talk draws on our ongoing research into Emma Goldman’s (1869-1940) interwar Toronto exile as a case study for investigating how she has been remembered inter-generationally in the city’s official and popular memory. A wide range of people have invoked Goldman in various ways – from the anarchist comrades who long outlived her to second-wave feminists, cultural producers, and punk music youth associated with Kensington Market’s anarchist space, Who’s Emma? (1996-2001). But Goldman’s fame has often obscured the lives of her lesser-known comrades, especially the women.
We focus on Goldman’s encounter with Marie Tiboldo (1904-2008), a long-lived Italian Canadian anarchist garment worker largely unknown even to Goldman Specialists, and ask about her role in the work of creating a memory of Goldman for subsequent generations to inherit.
FRANCA IACOVETTA is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, and co-editor of Studies in Gender and History at University of Toronto Press. An historian of Canadian and transnational women’s migration, labour, and radical history, she has published a dozen books.
CYNTHIA WRIGHT is Associate Professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at York University. Trained as an historian, her interdisciplinary research interests and publications have been shaped by Toronto’s many transnational radical movements and social struggles.
This talk is presented by the Kensington Market Historical Society, in collaboration with the Toronto Public Library and the Canadian Studies Program at University College, U of T.

Kensington's Jewish Roots: A Guided Tour
2026-08-30 13:00 - 14:30 | Baldwin and Augusta Stage, Kensington Market, Three streets south of College, West of Spadina, Toronto
FREE! Sunday, August 30, 2026
Start: 1:00 PM, Baldwin and Augusta Stage
Length: 1.5 hours. Rain or Shine.
Specially presented for attendees of the Ashkenaz Festival, this guided tour by the Kensington Market Historical Society (KMHS) bridges the gap between contemporary Yiddish culture and its deep-rooted heritage in Toronto. Taking place on Sunday, August 30, during the legendary Ashkenaz @ Pedestrian Sunday, this tour explores how early Eastern European Jewish immigrants built the bustling open-air market that set the stage for generations of Jewish arts, activism, and community. Discover the physical and cultural foundations of the neighbourhood before enjoying the festival’s afternoon performances.
