William Dendy fonds

Dendy, William, 1948-
William Dendy fonds.-[ca. 1900], 1921-[194-], 1963-1993, predominant 1970-1992.

ca. 23 m of textual records and other material.

View the full finding aid:
(PDF 765 KB, 170 pages)

William Bruce Dendy, Canadian architectural historian, was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1948 and died May 29, 1993 in Toronto, Ontario.

Dendy graduated from the University of Toronto in 1971, received a B.A. in Architectural History from Cambridge University in 1973, and in 1979 received two Masters degrees in architectural history, one from the University of Cambridge, and one from Columbia University in New York.

He worked as an architectural historian for the Toronto Historical Board from 1973 until 1976, taught Canadian architectural history at the University of Toronto, at the University of Waterloo, at Carleton University in Ottawa, at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Toronto, and at the Toronto Urban Studies Centre.

Dendy also worked on a consultancy basis as architectural historian to many Toronto-based architectural firms, developers, and government agencies, and also led architectural walking tours of Toronto.

Dendy's two published works, Lost Toronto (1978) and Toronto Observed: Its Architecture, Patrons, and History (1986), were both published by the Oxford University Press and both won Toronto Book Awards.

In 1993 Dendy was awarded an honorary membership in the Ontario Association of Architects, and in the same year he was given an Allied Arts Award for his lectures and books on historical architecture. (Sources: Freedman, Adele. "A Life's Work: The William Dendy Collection", University of Waterloo Alumni Magazine (spring 1995): 11-15; "Historian Won 2 Toronto Awards", The Globe and Mail, Monday, 31 May 1993; Hume, Christopher. "Architectural Historian's Death a Significant Loss", Toronto Star, Tuesday, 1 June 1993, sec. B., p. 6; "Will Bequest Establishes the William Dendy Collection", Insights (spring 1995): 1-2.)

The fonds consists of materials documenting William Dendy's life and career as an architectural historian. This includes university course notes, research material for published works, research material on the history of Canadian architecture and other research interests such as Forest Hill, Hamilton, the architects Frank Darling and William Somerville, and the Massey family.

Some materials relate to Dendy's teaching activities, Toronto walking tours and consultancy projects.

Includes articles, card files, clippings, correspondence, electronic records, ephemera, manuscripts, maps, ms. and ts. notes. Graphic materials include photographs, negatives, and approximately 40,000 slides (including more than 17,000 images of Canadian architecture, urban space, and landscape). These slides were taken by Dendy and are each individually identified by him.

Arranged in nine series:
1. Biographical;
2. Personal and Professional;
3. Works by;
4. Research and Writing;
5. Research: Card Files;
6. Research: Electronic Files;
7. Research: Photographs and Negatives;
8. Slides;
9. Videocassettes.

Title based on content of the fonds.
Includes 21 computer disks, ca. 5000 negatives, ca. 900 photographs, ca. 40,000 slides, 1 videocassette.

Donated in 1993 by Dendy's estate.

Finding aid available: file level. (PDF 765 KB, 170 pages)

Call number: GA119

Special Collections

William Dendy fonds