{"id":298380,"date":"2022-01-28T19:14:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T00:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yfile.news.yorku.ca\/?p=298380"},"modified":"2025-04-02T13:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:20:41","slug":"my-secret-life-york-masters-student-turns-something-old-into-something-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2022\/01\/28\/my-secret-life-york-masters-student-turns-something-old-into-something-new\/","title":{"rendered":"My Secret Life: York master\u2019s student turns something old into something new"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know the Scadding Cabin, built in 1794 and located on the grounds of the Exhibition Place, is Toronto's oldest surviving building? Or from 1897 to 1967, Toronto\u2019s high-level minor league baseball club was named the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Morgan
Morgan Cameron Ross<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Morgan Cameron Ross,<\/strong>\u00a0a\u00a0history\u00a0graduate from 快播视频, who is currently completing\u00a0a master's degree in history<\/a>,\u00a0is\u00a0also the founder and host of the\u00a0Old Toronto Series<\/a>. A popular history-focused storytelling platform, it\u00a0has\u00a0more than\u00a010\u00a0million\u00a0monthly\u00a0impressions\u00a0across the platforms\u00a0and\u00a0more than\u00a0500,000 followers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you may have seen Ross while scrolling through social media, he is also a mainstay and regular on CityTV and Breakfast Television. Ross is also recognized by many notable names across Toronto for unravelling the city's history through photos, maps and video series highlighting neighbourhoods, famous city landmarks and buildings. Since launching the series in 2017, he says his audience is \u201cincredibly diverse\u201d and the best part about producing history in an exciting, consumable way, is sharing Toronto\u2019s story with an audience who might not pay attention to the city\u2019s past otherwise.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have people from old Italian grandmas \u2013 mostly because their grandkids or kids show them \u2013 to everyone from Drake, Malcolm Gladwell to Peter Mansbridge and a large following from young people,\u201d said Ross.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ross spoke to YFile<\/em> while walking the streets of his neighbourhood, just like he did when he first came up with the idea to start the Old Toronto Series. After moving to Toronto from Vancouver in 2005, Ross fell in love with the city and is embracing the people and places that shape Toronto.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love that about the city, its people from everywhere, these diasporas, ethnic enclaves everywhere, I find those interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cOne thing I like telling people is they can do the same research if they know where to look. It is accessible to everybody. The coolest thing that I find is the number of people that live or grew up here that didn\u2019t know things about their neighbourhood and lived here 30, 40 or 50 years and somehow didn\u2019t know why a building is like that.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 Heritage Toronto People\u2019s Choice Award winner, Ross has successful partnerships with Bosley Real Estate, Architectural Conservatory Toronto, Business Improvement Area\u2019s (BIA) across the city and various local and national brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Ross teamed up with Canadian rapper and producer Kardinal Offishall to highlight the history of Toronto\u2019s Little Jamiaca neighbourhood and the struggles it is facing due to the Eglington Crosstown LRT construction.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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