Multicultural History Society of Ontario

The Multicultural History Society of Ontario (MHSO) is a not-for-profit educational institution and archives located in Toronto, Canada. Established in 1976, the Multicultural History Society of Ontario collects, preserves, and makes available irreplaceable records of our histories of migration and ethnicity. It undertakes educational programming to increase appreciation of the importance of diversity to the development and ongoing vitality of the province.

The MHSO envisions a cohesive society in which Ontarians have the tools to eradicate cliché, stereotyping, and prejudice from our places of learning, work, worship, and play. It sees a role for itself in helping the citizens of Ontario learn to live together in a pluralistic society, and it is working to develop and support an environment in which all peoples in the province can coexist on an equal basis.

Through its efforts to preserve the records and promote the histories of migration and ethnicity, the Society strives to increase access to the products of our diverse heritage, heighten the attention paid to context and complexity in accounts of our past, and create a deeper understanding of the commonalities of our various historical experiences. The MHSO hopes to instill an appreciation of our ‘shared histories’ in all Ontarians regardless of their backgrounds and advance the notion that diversity has made a profound contribution to the province’s social and economic development.

The MHSO was established in 1976 by Professor Robert F. Harney and a few close colleagues who were convinced that the chronicling of immigrant and ethnic stories was essential to understanding Ontario history.

Professor Harney, a renowned scholar in the field of migration and ethnic studies, served as the MHSO's Academic Director from its establishment until his death in 1989.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Harney received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. For twenty-five years, he taught history at the University of Toronto where he stimulated and steered an entire generation of students. In 1989, he was appointed to the newly endowed Professorship and Program in Ethnic, Immigration, and Pluralism Studies. Following his death, this collaborative graduate program was renamed the Robert F. Harney Professorship and Program in his honour.

The MHSO’s guiding spirit for over a decade, Harney forged the Society into an internationally respected institution for research and publishing on the histories of migration and ethnicity. Recognized as “a pioneer in the ethnocultural approach, Harney utilized the memory culture as well as the historical records of the immigrants themselves” in his work.

The MHSO has produced and distributed publications, mounted and circulated exhibitions, and staged conferences, public lectures, and special events. In recent years, it has focused on virtual programming. The MHSO also provides professional and technical services and training to teachers and students, scholars and community historians, heritage and cultural organizations, and members of ethnocultural and indigenous communities.

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