"They walked these streets... 

Welcome to the project website for the 

"They walked these streets... We will remember them" Remembrance project

“They walked these streets…We will remember them” an innovative and interactive community Remembrance week commemoration in Bloor West Village, High Park, Junction, Junction Triangle and Humbercrest. The project helps community members to learn about the contributions and the sacrifice of soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars and who never returned. The project is the vision of two Toronto District School Board teachers, Katy Whitfield and Ian Da Silva, both residents of Bloor West Village and former students at Runnymede Public School and Swansea Public School and graduates of Humberside Collegiate. 

Learning about the stories of soldiers who served in the World Wars in an innovative and engaging way!

Now in its 6th year the project has expanded to tell the stories of over 1350 soldiers in the army, air force, navy in innovative and engaging ways. The research for the project has been done by Katy Whitfield, an award-winning Canadian history teacher. Using military records accessed from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and the Canadian Great War project, as well as the Service Files in the Library and Archives of Canada, the names, addresses, service records of the soldiers, as well as photographs, newspaper articles, medals, and source materials have been found to identify community connections the soldiers had to local schools, churches and community organizations they were a part of. 

The scope of the project: 

The scope of the project’s research stretches from the west at the Humber River and extends east to Dufferin Street, and from Lake Ontario to the railroad tracks north of Dundas in the Junction-it encompasses the stories from Humbercrest, Bloor West Village, the Junction, High Park, Swansea, Roncesvalles and Parkdale.

Commemorative displays will be in 13 locations-November 1-11, 2025

●       285 Durie Street

●       104 Colbeck Street

●       Runnymede United Church, 432 Runnymede Road

●       St. Olave's Anglican Church,  360 Windermere Avenue

●       Annette Public Library, 145 Annette Street

●   St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 404 Willard Avenue 

●   St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 151 Glenlake Avenue 

●   Humbercrest United Church, 16 Baby Point Road 

●   Swansea Town Hall, 95 Lavinia Avenue 

●   Runnymede Presbyterian Church, 680 Annette Street 

●   Morningside High Park Presbyterian Church, 4 Morningside Avenue 

●   Dundas and Roncesvalles Peace Garden (intersection of the Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue.

●   Bloor Collegiate Institute, 90 Croatia Street

Visiting the commemorative displays: 

When you visit a commemorative display you will find that each soldier’s story is told on an individualized info-card that documents their military service. When you scan the QR Code on the info-card using a Smartphone you will be connected to a link on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial Website which provides more detail and documents about the soldier’s war experience. You will find photographs, newspaper articles, medals and more. The logos of the schools and/or churches the soldiers attended have also been included on the info-cards to show their community connections. 

Want to learn more about the project? Email Katy at theywalkedthesestreets@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @theywalkedthesestreets