Whether for fitness, competition or just plain fun, sports have been, and remain, a significant part of the lives of Ontarians. Many of us remember our own individual moments of triumph and defeat as participants in amateur sports, whether in school gym class, playing on a local team, or participating in tournaments and competitions held at the nearest ice rink, field, pool, court, track, fairway or slopes. Many of us remember heading out to root for the home team, perhaps to support a family member or friend who was playing. Let us take a step into the near and more distant past as we explore what sports were played across Ontario, who participated in them, how they dressed and what equipment they used. Join with the Archives of Ontario in remembering our athletic heritage.
Marsden Kemp, an amateur photographer who lived in Kingston and Picton, Ontario, created this photograph. Kemp was known to travel Eastern Ontario by bicycle to capture his images.
Many of Kemp’s photographs were reproduced from glass plate negatives, which were salvaged by a Picton antique dealer in the 1960’s.
This photograph along with others was maintained and indexed in a photo library by the Photography Branch of the Department of Travel and Publicity and was used to market, advertise and promote tourism in Ontario.
This branch also acted as the official government photographer for other ministries lacking their own photography operations.
An unidentified Penman family member (third from the right) flies over the first hurdle of a senior hurdles race.
The Penman family built and operated woollen mills in Ontario during the nineteenth century including the Penman Mill in Paris, Ontario, which grew into a large multi-factory operation.
Amateur boxing got its start in Canada during the 1890’s. The sport made a name for itself nationally when six Canadian boxers attended the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium and came away with five medals.
The creator of this photograph, William Hampden Tenner, was a farmer located between the Ontario towns of Emo and Devlin in Rainy River District.
The Moose Cree First Nation originally inhabited the area now known as Moose Factory. In 1673, The Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post there, which eventually became the administrative centre of their James Bay or southern department. The name of the area is partially derived from its location on the Moose River and it is Ontario’s oldest English settlement.
Although the origins of ice hockey is often debated, many believe that it was derived from a game called ricket played by the Micmac First Nation in Nova Scotia. The first aboriginal player in the National Hockey League was Fred Sasakamoose, who played for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953.
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