From the archives: Janet Berton
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Learn more about the city’s history from the Vaughan Archives
From the traditional territories of the First Peoples of Turtle Island, to a farmland community, to a bustling city centre and everything in between – Vaughan's transformation is a story worth telling. The City’s popular monthly series continues, with historical content from the Vaughan Archives being shared.
Scroll through memory lane, learn about the city's past and explore the places, people and events that were pivotal to the development of the Vaughan we know today. This month, the City is highlighting Janet Berton.
Janet Walker was born in Fernie, B.C. on June 29, 1920. In 1938, she enrolled at the University of British Columbia where she was an executive member of more than a dozen organizations including Phrateres, the Letters Club, the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, the Radio Society and the Student Christian Movement.
Her main interest was journalism and she served on the editorial board of the University of British Columbia yearbook, The Totem. She eventually became the senior editor of the Tuesday edition of The Ubyssey, the semi-weekly campus paper. There she met Pierre Berton, whom she would eventually marry.
Janet’s career in journalism continued after graduating in 1941 when she worked for the Vancouver Daily Province. Pierre became assistant editor at Maclean’s magazine and the couple moved to Kleinburg in 1959. The Bertons raised eight children there and called Vaughan home for over five decades.
Janet was a community-minded individual who was active in various organizations. She served on the Heritage Vaughan Committee in 1981 and was a member of the executive boards for both the Kleinburg and Area Ratepayers’ Association and the Kleinburg Binder Twine Festival. She was also a past president of the University Women’s Club of North York, a vice-president of the University Women’s Club of the Town of Vaughan and editor of the national Chronicle of the University Women’s Club of Canada. She co-edited the 60-year and 75-year history of the Canadian Federation of University Women.
Janet was a founding organizer of Helping Children and Families, a local information and referral service in Vaughan. She also volunteered her time to several organizations, including Dellcrest Children’s Home for Disturbed Children, the Kleinburg Home and School Association, the Kleinburg United Church, the Explorer’s Group for Girls, the Humber Heritage Committee and Community Heritage Ontario. In 1992, she received a Volunteer Service Award from the Province of Ontario for outstanding community contributions.
Janet passed away on Nov. 6, 2015. Her obituary, published in the Toronto Star, described her as follows: “Journalist, copy editor, public relations expert, general store clerk, unofficial hostel operator, cookbook author, event promoter, pioneering restaurateur, early environmentalist, community activist, explorer, leader, picnic coordinator, tireless volunteer, vegetable gardener, gourmet chef, 24/7 party convener, welcoming host to friends, strangers, stray cats (and let's face it – all creatures great and small); heritage conservationist, and eternal optimist.”
ABOUT VAUGHAN ARCHIVES
Established in 1988, the City of Vaughan Archives is home to more than 600 collections, consisting of both City records and cultural records about Vaughan from 1860 to the present day. Records include, but are not limited to:
- City business records with long-term legal and administrative value, such as Council meeting minutes, by-laws, assessment rolls, financial records, reports and official correspondence
- church, community and school records
- census records
- historical photographs
- land records
- historical maps, plans and aerial photographs
- newspapers
- personal papers of past residents and founding families, such as diaries, family histories, journals and letters
- records of local organizations both past and present
VIEW VAUGHAN'S ARCHIVES ONLINE!
The City's Archival Collection is on digital display for all to explore! The below galleries are now available in the City's online gallery on Flickr:
- Early Communities of Vaughan
- From Township to City: The Evolution of Vaughan
- Featured Artists of Vaughan
- Historical Families of Vaughan
- Historical Figures: Lord Beaverbrook
- Historical Photography
- Recollections of Rural Vaughan
- The Mary Wood Collection
- The Way We Were: Representations of Vaughan's Past
- Vaughan Working Environments
- Vaughan Through the Ages: Medicine, Music and Sports and Recreation
- Early Churches of Vaughan
- Historical Schools of Vaughan
A personal Flickr account is not required to access the City's online gallery, which contains only a small selection of the full archives collection. If you are looking for a particular image, original file, primary source record or more, please visit the Archival Database, or contact the Vaughan Archives by calling 905-832-2281 or emailing archives@vaughan.ca.
By managing and preserving both City and community records, the Enterprise Information Management Services team ensures that Vaughan's rich and varied history will continue to be available for future generations. Learn more at vaughan.ca/archives.
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