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Rachel Lili Gerstenzang, known as Lili, was born on July 25, 1918 in Harbin, China. Her father, Aaron Tunik was a businessman in the Export Import business. Her mother was Raisa Tunik, née Levin.

Lili Gerstenzang moved to Tientsin in 1921, where she was educated at the British Tienstin Grammar School until 1933. The family moved to Shanghai, where she attended the Shanghai Public School for Girls. She was active in entering art contests and won notable mention in local newspapers.

She married Leon Gerstenzang in 1938. With her husband, Leon Gerstenzang, she left northern China upon the Chinese Communist occupation. They moved to Hong Kong in July 1949.

They moved to Sydney, Australia and lived there from Nov 1950 to Feb 1953. Lili Gerstenzang attended the East Sydney Technical College, studying Art from 1950 to 1952 and moved to Toronto, Canada in late 1952, becoming and immigrant in 1953. Lili Gerstenzang attended the Ontario College of Art from 1955 to 1956 and 1963-1964.

She died 9 February 2019.

Jo Vellacott was a British-Canadian historian, professor, feminist, Quaker, and peace activist. She was born in Plymouth, England on 20 April 1922 to Harold F. Vellacott, a surgeon, and Josephine Sempill. She attended the University of Oxford and, after pausing her studies to work as an aircraft mechanic during the Second World War, graduated with a Master of Arts in 1947. She would then move to South Africa, where she met and married Peter Newberry in 1950. In South Africa she had two children, Mary and Douglas, before returning to the United Kingdom, where they had their daughter Susan. The family emigrated to Canada in 1955, where Peter would join the Air Force and Jo worked as a schoolteacher. She then attended the University of Toronto, where she received a Master of Arts in History in 1965, and McMaster University, where she received her PhD in 1975.

Vellacott and Peter would separate in 1976, and divorce in 1979. She took Fellowships in the United Kingdom for several years, before becoming the Scholar-in-Residence at Queen’s University in Kingston, where she then became Assistant to the Dean of Women. Following her departure from Queen’s, she worked for several years at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University in Montreal, retiring in 1987, and becoming an independent scholar.

Vellacott focused much of her career on women’s history, feminism, pacifism, and Quakerism. A Quaker since her 40s, she was active in the Thousand Islands Monthly Meeting near Kingston, and was a longtime peace activist. She wrote several books and dozens of articles on topics including pacifism, Bertrand Russell, women and politics, and more. She moved to Toronto, where she died in 2019.

Moseley Stephen Scarlett was a Toronto-based musician who specialized in jazz, blues, ragtime, and swing music from the early 20th century. Scarlett was a known entity in the industry, and frequently collaborated and recorded with musicians such as Jackie Washington, Ken Whiteley, Bruce Cockburn, Marg Stowe, and others.

Scarlett was born in Peterborough, Ontario to an electrical engineer and schoolteacher. At the age of 10 his family moved to Ohio, with Scarlett returning to Canada at the age of 18. Scarlett would marry Anne Tener, with whom he had two daughters, Jessica and Gaelyn. Scarlett and Tener eventually divorced, and Scarlett found a long-time partner in Tina Cohen.

Scarlett routinely played at music events across Canada, and the world. He undertook several tours of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany, and frequented music festivals such as Summerfolk and Northern Lights. Scarlett died in Toronto on 30 May 2019 of leukemia.

Felicity Anne Russell (hereafter, Anne) was a granddaughter of Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist, by adoption. Her adoptive father, John Conrad Russell, was Bertrand Russell’s first son from his marriage to Dora Black. Her mother, Susan Doniphan Lindsay, was the daughter of American poet Vachel Lindsay.

Anne was the child of Susan Lindsay and an unidentified father. She was born on September 2, 1945. Susan Lindsay met John Russell when Anne was an infant in 1945; in August 1946, John and Susan married, and by 1947, John had formally adopted Anne.

Anne’s family initially lived in several locations in England after her parents’ marriage, including Kilburn (with Dora Russell), St. John’s Wood in North London (with Griffin Barry, a former romantic partner of Dora Russell and the father of two of her children), a flat on Cambrian Road in Richmond, and, by 1950, the main floor of Bertrand Russell’s home in Richmond (Monk 315-317). After this last move, Anne Russell began attending Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex (Griffin 503).

In December 1952, Bertrand Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, and soon after she moved into the Queen’s Road home, Anne’s parents moved out of it (Monk 355). Anne’s parents separated in 1954 and divorced by 1955 (Monk 359-360).

Thereafter, Anne and her sisters became the subjects of a protracted family custody dispute, the result of which was that Bertrand and Edith Russell won full custody of the children in 1961, with their father, John Russell, retaining visitation rights (Monk 400).

1956, Bertrand and Edith Russell moved the family to Plas Penrhyn, their home in Wales. Following this move, Anne and her sisters attended Moreton Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Shropshire (Monk 370; Griffin 503). Near Russell’s home in Wales lived the Cooper-Willis family: mother Susan Williams-Ellis, a renowned potter; father Euan Cooper-Willis, and daughters Siân and Anwyl, who were close friends of Anne and her sisters.

Anne left Moreton Hall in 1962 (Monk 485). It is likely that she went on to complete her studies at Dartington Hall, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Devon, as her sisters Sarah and Lucy did this as well.

Little documentary evidence exists in the Russell archive about Anne’s adult life, though Ray Monk notes that she moved to New Mexico in 1975, where she has lived ever since (500).

Charles Jeffrey (219016) served as a Lieutenant in the 44th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was killed in action in October 1917.

Jeffrey was born in Buffalo, New York, 4 December 1896 to Charles William and Laura Jeffrey. He also had a sister, Grace. The family relocated to Ottawa. Jeffrey was enrolled as a student at Queen’s University when he enlisted. He sailed to Europe in 1916. He was quickly promoted: first to Sergeant and then Lieutenant. He was shot by a sniper on the afternoon of 27 October 1917, while doing reconnaissance for an attack as part of the Battle of Passchendaele; he was 20 years old.

Dame Ethel Smyth, composer, author, and feminist, was born on 23 April 1858 in Sidcup, England. She was educated at the Leipzig Conservatorium. As well as several operas and other musical pieces, she composed suffragette music, including The March of the Women.

She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Oxford University. She wrote several autobiographical works, beginning with Impressions That Remained (1919) and ending with What Happened Next (1940). She died in Woking, Surrey on 9 May 1944.

Kim Echlin is a writer, translator, and journalist.

Echlin was born in Burlington, Ontario in 1955. She received a B.A. (Hons.) in English at McGill University (1977) and an M.A. in English (York, 1978). Subsequently, she completed a French language course at the Sorbonne (1979) and a Ph.D. in English (York, 1982). Echlin’s Ph.D. research focused on translations of Ojibway narratives about Nanabush; her work brought her into contact with Dr. Basil Johnston, a prominent Ojibway author, ethnologist, and teacher of Anishinaabemowin.

Echlin is the author of several novels, non-fiction pieces, and translations. Significant works include Elephant Winter (1997), Dagmar’s Daughter (2001), Inanna: From the Myths of Ancient Sumer (2003), Elizabeth Smart: A Fugue Essay on Women and Creativity (2004), The Disappeared (2009), and Under the Visible Life (2015). In 2009, The Disappeared was shortlisted for the Giller prize.

In addition, Echlin has taught English and creative writing; worked in television production, significantly as arts producer for the CBC program The Journal (1986-1992); and contributed journalism to a number of publications, including the Hamilton Spectator. Noteworthy teaching engagements include stints at the Dalian Institute of Technology in northeast China (1984-1985) and the Creative Writing program at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. Echlin has also served as Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer-in-Residence at McMaster University (2015-2016).

English semiotician and founder of Basic English, C. K. Ogden can most accurately be described as a polymath. As a Cambridge undergraduate he was drawn to the study of language, and his passion was to be multifaceted, all consuming and lifelong. In 1909 he helped establish the Heretics, a society dedicated to the open discussion of religious matters; in 1910 he began to write for The Cambridge Magazine. The journal won notoriety under Ogden's editorship during the First World War when it avoided the jingoism which consumed most other publications of the time. Also by 1910 Ogden had begun the linguistic research which was to result in his best-known book, The Meaning of Meaning (1923), co-authored with I. A. Richards.

Basic English, the supposed solution to the problem of international misunderstanding to which Ogden was to dedicate the rest of his life, was first revealed in the pages of Ogden's new journal, Psyche in 1929. The effort to win acceptance for Basic English led to the foundation of the Orthological Institute and, as Churchill saw its potential during the Second World War, the establishment of the Basic English Foundation and endless wranglings with bureaucrats. Ogden was also the editor of the prestigious Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method and maintained a voluminous correspondence with some of the most influential thinkers of his day. Additional biographical information is available in W. Terrence Gordon, C. K. Ogden: A Biobibliographic Essay, (Metuchen, New Jersey: 1990).

Archibald Foulds was born in Quebec City in 1883 to Archibald and Mary (nee Cream) Foulds. The family moved to Toronto in 1900, and Foulds graduated from the University of Toronto in 1904. He joined the law firm of Macdonald, Shepley, Middleton & Donald. During this time, he joined the Queen’s Own Rifles. He married Kate Huldah Steele in 1912, and they would go on to have three children (Kenneth, Philip, and Derek).

Foulds entered the First World War as a Captain with the 123rd Infantry Battalion and was mentioned in General Haig’s dispatches for his and the rest of his unit’s role at Ypres during the Battle of Passchendaele. In May 1918, he joined the 8th Battalion Engineers, who were part of the Battle of Mons at the close of the War.

After the war, Foulds returned to practice. The Mason, Foulds law firm would become the largest counsel practice in Toronto. He lived in Toronto until his death in 1983.

Richard Allen is an educator, author and politician. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. on 10 February 1929 and educated at the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, the University of Saskatchewan and Duke University. He joined McMaster University in 1974 and held the rank of Professor in the History Department from 1976 to 1987.

He was first elected as a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the Ontario Legislature for Hamilton West in 1982. Successful re-elections followed in 1985, 1987, and 1990. He assumed responsibility for many portfolios when the NDP was in opposition: 1982-1987, critic for Colleges and Universities; 1983-1985, critic for Cultural Affairs; 1983-1987, critic for Education; 1985-1987, critic for Skills Development; 1987-1990, critic for Community and Social Services and the Office of Disabled Persons as well as Francophone Affairs. When the NDP formed the government in 1990 he became the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Minister of Skills Development, and Minister Responsible for International Trade, and, then in 1994, he became Minister of Housing, a post he held until the government was defeated in 1995.

Allen was chairperson of the Board of Wesley Urban Ministries in Hamilton (1996-2001), the vice-chair of the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada (1991-1992), and a member of the Community Editorial Advisory Board of the Hamilton Spectator (1996-1998).

He died on March 5th, 2019, in Dundas, Ontario.

Philip Steele Foulds was born 12 December 1918 in Toronto to Archibald and Kate, the second of three sons. He attended Upper Canada College and Trinity College at the University of Toronto. While at University, he met Lousie Matthews and they were engaged before he was deployed in 1940.

Foulds served with distinction as a pilot in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, the majority with the 856 Squadron, with over 760 hours in Swordfish, Albacores, Avengers and other planes. Numerous missions involved flying on and off air craft carriers and in other highly dangerous situations. Over the course of his service, he circumnavigated the globe.

Foulds retired from active service at the end of the war. He and Louise had been married during his 1941 leave, and they settled at the Matthew family farm in Kingsville, Ont. They had a daughter, Barbara, and Foulds worked for Hiram-Walker from 1948-1983. They moved to Toronto in the 90s; Foulds passed away after a brief illness on 18 April 2017.

Tools for Peace was formed to provide humanitarian aid to Nicaragua. It grew out a visit of a group of fishermen from British Columbia to Nicaragua in 1981. On their return to Canada they began to gather supplies to help a Nicaraguan fishing village. By 1983 Tools for Peace had been formally organized with a head office in Vancouver and branches across Canada. In the spring of 1984 members of the El Salvadorean Committee in Hamilton, Ont. decided to became active in collecting goods for Nicaragua and joined Tools for Peace. The Hamilton group concentrated on collecting school supplies as well as donating cash. They also sponsored speakers from Nicaragua. Although the Hamilton group was still active as late as 1995, the Vancouver head office had been closed sometime before that. A longer history of the organization, written by Jessie Kaye, is available in hard copy.

William Douw Lighthall, lawyer, historian, novelist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, and editor was born on 27 December 1857 in Hamilton, Ontario. He was educated at McGill University. He practised law in Montreal from 1881-1944, became a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1902, Mayor of Westmount, Quebec from 1900 to 1903, and president of the Canadian Authors Association in 1930.

His first novel, The Young Seigneur; or, Nation-making, using the pen name of Wilfrid Châteauclair, was published in 1888. The next year his poetry anthology, Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada was published. His Canada: A Modern Nation was published in 1904. In 1933 The Person of Evolution: The Outer Consciousness, The Outer Knowledge, The Directive Power, Studies of Instinct as Contribution to a Philosophy of Evolution was published. Lighthall died on 3 August 1954.

H.C. Hass was a Flight Officer with the RCAF (14293) in the Special Ops division. This information provided by the Air Crew Remembered Project.

Faith Fenton was the pseudonym of Alice Freeman, a Toronto schoolteacher. Because the journalism profession was at that time considered disreputable, Freeman took on a pseudonym, in order to keep her teaching job. She both taught school and wrote for the Northern Advance and then the Empire until 1894 when she devoted herself exclusively to journalism, becoming the editor of the Canadian Home Journal. During the Klondike Gold rush she wrote articles from the Yukon for the Toronto Globe. She married Dr. John Brown in 1900, moved back to Toronto, and continued to write.

Rutherford Smith was born on 3 November 1877 in Mount Hope, Ontario, the second son of Joel and Margaret (née Dancey) Smith. He graduated from Caledonia High School and joined his dad in their carriage building business. After his father’s death, Robert Murphy, an archaeologist, helped Smith with his collection in the 1930s. Smith became interested in archaeology after his marriage to Ethel Louise Fothergill in 1929. He enjoyed finding artifacts, researching them and then giving them away. William Cleland and his nephew J.B. Morton convinced Smith to collect artifacts for their value. His wife often helped him catalogue artifacts. He was an active collector from 1933 until 1959. He excavated 64 sites almost entirely within Wentworth County. The largest and most important site from which he collected was the Dwyer Ossuary (AiHa-3) in Beverly Township. After the completion of the dig, he stopped actively collecting. Smith’s main source of artifacts (other than digging himself) was from close friends, William Cleland and Frank Butters, and from farmers as gifts. The Smith artifact collection contains over 10,000 artifacts. The Smith artifact collection, now housed the Ethnography collection in the Department of Anthropology, was willed to McMaster University, shortly after Smith’s death on 10 October 1952 in Guelph, Ontario.

Trenton Air Station was the hub of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada during World War II.

Edward Joseph Frappier (1918-2006) served in the Canadian Forces during the Second World War. A resident of Ontario, Edward Frappier served in the Royal Canadian Navy. In 1945 he served on the Flower class corvette, the HMCS Kenogami and the coastal defense vessel, the HMCS Glace Bay. The couple married in 1945. In 1947 they moved to his hometown of Sudbury. For more biographical information, consult Edward Frappier’s obituary in the Sudbury Star, dated 14 March 2006.