Greg Curnoe (1936-1992), artist, lived most of his life in London, Ontario. He studied at the Special Art Program at H.B. Beal Secondary in London (1954-1956), the Doon School of Fine Arts (June-October 1956), and the Ontario College of Art (1957-1960). Curnoe married Sheila Thompson in 1965, and the couple had three children, Owen, Galen and Zoe. From Curnoe's early years, his hometown of London became the focus of his life and work, and he attracted much attention to its flourishing art scene. In 1962, he organized the first happening and the first artist-run gallery (the Region Gallery) in Canada. Curnoe played a key role in the founding of the Nihilist Party (1963) and the Nihilist Spasm Band (1965). He began making stamp books in 1962, and has been considered the first maker of artists' books in Canada. He founded the Forest City Gallery in 1973. Curnoe took up competitive cycling in 1971, and it remained a passion and ingredient in his art-making for the rest of his life. Over the course of his career, Curnoe was awarded numerous Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council Grants. From 1964, Curnoe exhibited nationally; in 1969 he represented Canada at the Sao Paolo Bienal in Brazil, and in 1976 at the Venice Biennale. He died in a traffic accident while cycling in 1992. Curnoe was the subject of a National Gallery of Canada retrospective in 1980, and the AGO exhibition Greg Curnoe: Life & Stuff in 2001. His work is to be found in all of Canada’s major public collections, as well as many private and corporate collections.
Mary Augusta Stewart Houston Bagnani (1903–1996), known after marriage as Stewart Bagnani, was an administrator at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario) and a lecturer in fine art. Born in Toronto of a distinguished family, she was the daughter of Stewart Fielde Houston (1868–1910), manager of Massey Hall in Toronto and first editor of The Financial Post. Her mother was Augusta Louise Beverley (Robinson) Houston (1859–1935), daughter of Mary Jane (Hagerman) Robinson (1823– 1892) and John Beverley Robinson (1821–1896), mayor of Toronto (1856), member of Parliament in Ottawa (1872–1880) and Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (1880–1887). Augusta Robinson was one of five children: John Beverley, Napier, Christopher, Minnie Caroline (d. 1923; from 1881 Mrs William Forsyth Grant) and Augusta herself (from 1898, Mrs Stewart Fielde Houston). Stewart Bagnani’s greatgrandfather was Sir John Beverley Robinson (1791–1863), Chief Justice of Canada West (now Ontario) from 1829 to 1862. (Mary Augusta) Stewart Houston attended school in England and in Toronto (Bishop Strachan School), and later studied art history in Rome, where she met Gilbert Bagnani.
After her marriage to Dr Bagnani in Toronto in 1929, Stewart Bagnani worked beside her husband in the excavations at Tebtunis entrusted to the Royal Italian Archaeological Expedition in Egypt of which Dr Bagnani was director. On site, she drew and painted watercolours (now at Trent University) of early Coptic church frescoes, and recorded observations of excavation workers and of local customs to accompany Dr Bagnani’s photographs. When Gilbert and Stewart Bagnani moved to Canada in 1937, they worked at enlarging the farmhouse on their estate Vogrie to accommodate collections of books and works of art. In the 1950s, a mural was commissioned for a room in the house from Canadian artist William Ronald (1926–1998) of the Painters Eleven. In 1951, while her husband was teaching at the University of Toronto, Mrs Bagnani became head of Extension at the Art Gallery of Toronto, a position she held until 1963. When Dr Bagnani accepted a post at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. in 1965, Mrs Bagnani gave lectures there on fine art, worked on promoting the Mackenzie Gallery at the university and volunteered at Kingston (Ont.) Penitentiary. A pamphlet and transcripts of two lectures by Stewart Bagnani are in the library collection of the AGO.
After her husband died in 1985, Stewart Bagnani lived in Toronto until her death in 1996 at the age of 93. She was buried with her husband Gilbert in Cobourg (Ont.).
Gotthard Booth (1899-1975) was a medical doctor specializing in the practice of psychiatry concerned with chronic physical diseases, psychosomatic medicine, and studies in the relationship between religion and health. Born in Nuremberg, Germany, Booth graduated from the University of Munich Medical School in 1923, and in the early 1930s moved to the United States. He resided in Westport, Connecticut but maintained a practice in New York City. Booth taught at Columbia University from 1945 to 1953, was instructor for one year at the New York Medical College, and from 1962 was consulting psychiatrist for the Union Theological Seminary, New York. In 1965 he became a visiting lecturer at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University) and its federated college, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. A fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Booth's research resulted in the publication of more than 60 articles. He worked as a research associate with the New York Psychiatric Institute for ten years. He was also a member of the American Psychosomatic Society, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, the New York County Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
Harley Anson Misener (1897-1972) was a genealogist in Ontario, researching the Misener family. Harley Misener was the seventh generation of Miseners whose first ancestors, Richard Misener and his wife Elizabeth, emigrated with their family from the Palatinate district of Germany to North America in 1720 and settled in New Jersey.
John Jackson (1947 - ) is an environmental activist in Ontario, Canada. Jackson received his BA from the University of Waterloo in 1969. He is a researcher, project director, advisor, chair and coordinator of numerous environmental agencies. Jackson served as President of the Ontario Toxic Waste Research Coalition, a citizens' and agricultural group which succeeded in halting the Ontario Waste Management Corporation's plans to build a hazardous waste plant in West Lincoln in the Niagara Peninsula. In recognition of his leadership, John Jackson was presented a scroll by the Member of Provincial Parliament for the Riding of Lincoln.
Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was Canada's eighth Prime Minister, holding office 1896-1911. Laurier was born in St. Lin, Quebec. He received a law degree from McGill University in 1864, and practiced law in Montreal and Arthabaskville from 1864-1896. Wilfrid Laurier was Liberal party leader from 1887 until his death in 1919.
Marcia Schofield was a student at Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University) from 1947 to 1950.