To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Welcome to Ondatje Hall, Named in honour of Christopher Ondatje- brother of famous author Michael Ondatje (The English Patient). This is where the fellows of Massey College meet in community three times a day. Dinners are formal and all must wear academic gown in order to be served the three courses.  Once a month the college holds a “High Table” meal. The college principal welcomes 22 distinguished guests sit at the head table that is set on the dias to the right of the pulpit.  During the dinner each guest is introduced to the college community.  High Tables are served under candlelight and post-dinner a reception is held downstairs where Port and Truffles cap off the night in style.

The tables and chairs in this room are all original Ron Thom designs. Much thought was put into the details such as the crown over the pulpit which mirrors the bell tower in the quad and the light fixtures built into the dining tables which can be found in many of the rooms around the college.

The George Santayana quote around the perimeter of the hall is hand-painted and is original to the building. It reads: Happiness is impossible, and even inconceivable, to a mind without scope and without pause, a mind driven by craving, pleasure, or fear. To be happy, you must be reasonable, or you must be tamed. You must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world and what things in it can really serve you. To be happy, you must be wise.

This saying pairs well with the motto of the college Saper Aude- “Dare to be Wise”

Ondatje Hall is a sought after as a location for film and television production. It recently was the set for the council chambers of the federation of planets on Nivar. The producers of Star Trek Discovery did not have to change much to make this hall fit in other than cover up the George Santayana quote with Vulcan Text and replace our fireplace screen with the one you see here today which was a prop in the production of Season 4 Episode 4.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Welcome to Massey College’s Chapel Royal, Gi-Chi-Twaa Gimaa Nini Mississauga Anishinaabek AName Amik – The King’s Anishinaabek Sacred Place.

The history of the chapel dates from the founding of Massey College. Vincent Massey, Canada’s first Canadian-born Governor General and one of the founders of the College, insisted that it be included in the design, in order to “symbolize the position that religion should have in a house of learning.” It was intended as a space for people of goodwill, from all faiths.

The original interior design was by the renowned theatre designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch, whose work Vincent Massey admired. The present design is a renovation by the Toronto firm of Shim & Sutcliffe, which added the white oak ceiling, as well as new windows, lighting, fabric wall panels and slate floor.

The designation as a Chapel Royal was granted in 2017 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in honour of the Sesquicentennial of Canada, and the special relationship between Massey College and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The term “Chapel Royal” has a long and colourful history in Britain, going back to the Middle Ages – but there are only three outside of the UK, all of them in Ontario, and all associated with First Nations.

Massey College – in fact the entire City of Toronto – is built on the treaty territory of the Mississaugas. So this Chapel Royal recognized the direct treaty relationship between the Crown and the Mississaugas, which was established in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of Niagara in 1764. It also symbolizes the commitment of Massey College to take an active role in working for the cause of Truth and Reconciliation. It was conceived as a place to gather, to learn and to reflect, and as an inspiration to work toward a new understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Some of the furnishings and artwork in the Chapel Royal date from the early history of the College, and some have been added to reflect its new designation.

The cross and the reredos behind the altar were gifts from Vincent Massey, and date back to 17th-century Russia. The framed fabric on the back wall is from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. On the south wall, from the back: an icon of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of scholars, after whom the chapel was originally named; a plaque with the College Prayer, adapted by Founding Master Robertson Davies from an 18th-century Quaker prayer; and a tapestry depicting the Tree of Life, a reference from the Jewish scriptures.

In the entryway, there is a glass mosaic titled “Covenant Prayer” by the renowned artist Sarah Hall; it was inspired by the 1794 Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship, which was presented by Sir William Johnson on behalf of the Crown at the Treaty of Niagara. On the altar you will see items used for smudging; and beneath it is a bowl created from silver maple by master carver Morley McArthur, which holds ceremonial tobacco bundles from the Chapel Royal tobacco beds. And suspended from the centre of the ceiling is an eagle feather, which was gifted to the Chapel Royal by then-National Chief Perry Pellegarde at an historic gathering of Indigenous leaders with the Governor General, the Lieutenant Governors and the Territorial Commissioners of Canada in the Chapel Royal in 2019.

On your way down the stairs, you passed a large mural by the Ojibway artist, activist and knowledge keeper Philip Coté, which tells the story of the Treaty of Niagara and the Silver Covenant Chain wampum belt.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Welcome to the Upper Library.  This multi-purpose space is used for various events within the College.  The configuration of furniture changes constantly depending on the event — book club, Massey Dialogues, lunches, lectures or receptions.

Originally constructed as a reading room, this space was home to sitting areas with long tables.  The shutters on the South Windows are an original Ron Thom design feature. They used to be on the west windows, but were removed  in 2009  to showcase a stained glass installation. The windows are the creation of Canadian glass artist Sarah Hall.  They honour two outstanding women at Massey: Ursla Franklin and Rose Wolfe.  The windows focus on the nature of light: The light that allows us to see the world around us, the light that sheds itself on learning, the light that reveals the obscure, the light that banishes ignorance, the light that leads us on in the search for meaning and understanding.  In short the light that leads to wisdom.  The nine panels are a unity and should be viewed as a whole, from the ease with its elements of earth and rock and water, to the sky above, and finally to the heavens surmounting the whole, represented by a constellation symbolism.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Welcome to the Round Room.  Do you have any idea how it got its name? Ok, that was an easy one. How about this one…What is the purpose of this room?  No, it is not a council chamber, although the Massey Board of Governors and the Massey Foundation meet here regularly. The Round Room at Massey College is a Ph.D. thesis Defence room. If you were defending your thesis you would sit in the red “Hot Seat” while 22 of your peers grilled you with questions.  About two or three gradute students use this room every year for their defence. Rumour has it that Ron Thom did not want to design this room, because as you might have noticed, nothing else in the building is round! As such Thom used Mahogany instead of Red Oak and Cedar used in the other rooms of the College.  The intricate glass dome hangs from an opposite dome on the roof of the room.  The room is lit by natural light during daytime hours. To replicate that, Thom designed Neon tube lighting in the colour temperature of natural light to simulate a constantly lit dome even at night. The room also features three hidden closets behind the mahogany-panelled walls. It was Thom’s way to create the circular room. If you walk under the middle of the dome and speak you will hear the unique acoustical properties of this space.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

The Quadrangle or “Quad” at Massey college was modeled after Oxford in England.  It remains a quiet, protected space from the hustle and bustle of the main University of Toronto Campus.  The South façade of the Quad contains the public or common areas of the College while the other 3 sides are flanked with 5 Houses which are home to our Junior Fellowship.  All windows within the houses face only inwards to the Quadrangle as you were approaching the building you likely noticed that there are not too many windows to the outside.  The houses which all have entrances into the Quadrangle are not connected on any level but the basement or through the Quadrangle, when the weather is pleasant fellows will come and go through the Quad and during the cold winter months, the basement corridors are used to get from one house to another or to meals in the south block.  There is a sculpture in the Quadrangle dedicated to Ursla Franklin who was a senior fellow and kept an office here at Massey.  The Stone Bench near the entrance to the south block is constructed from Stone salvaged from a demolished portion of Baliol College in Oxford where Vincent Massey the College Founder was educated.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Welcome to the Junior Common Room.  This is a multi-purpose space. Fellows and members of the Massey community use it as a quiet meeting and lounge space. Often the furniture gets re-arranged for public events and cocktail receptions.

The furnishings feature a mix of Arts and Crafts, and Mid-Century Modern design.  These Arts and Crafts Club Chairs and couches were designed by Ron Thom and Joseph Pliss. They were manufactured in Toronto by the Timothy Eaton Company under special commission for the College.  The sling back leather and teak mid-century modern chairs in the room were imported from Denmark — also under commission for the college.  All furnishings in this room are original and date back to the opening of the college in 1963.

The large ceramic table lamps are the creation of potter John Reeve. This commission also included a collection of urns, vases and ashtrays.  All of these pieces feature the stamp for the potter and one for the Massey College Commission.

The windows on the south of the room showcase a walled garden that continues into the private residence of the principal which is attached to the college.  The windows on the north look into the Quadrangle and the reflecting ponds and bell tower.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

The Bibliography Room houses two substantial collections: the rare book collection and the printing collection. The Bibliography Room, colloquially known as the Bib Room, was founded with the College in 1963, with the intention of creating a dedicated space for preserving and furthering the study of the history of the book. Our book collection consists of over 22,000 volumes spanning 4000 years of history: from a Sumerian clay tablet, to 15th century manuscript leaves, to a first edition Charles Dickens novel, the rare book library broadly speaks to the diverse history of the book throughout cultures and time.

Also in the Bib Room is our letterpress printing collection, a highlight for students at Massey College and U of T. Massey College has over 15 presses, including 5 iron hand presses from the 19th century. Letterpress reflects the art and craft of printing using moveable type: each letter of every word is hand set and hand printed. The printing collection houses hundreds of fonts of lead and wood type, with typefaces from different cultures, languages, and styles throughout history. The collection is a living museum, and is regularly activated by students, volunteers, and visiting scholars.

To hear the audio version, scroll to the player below this transcript and press play.

Massey College opened its doors to students in 1963, and is the brainchild of Vincent Massey the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.  As Massey was leaving office, he envisioned a place of fellowship at the University of Toronto.  Once the site on which Massey College sits was settled on as the best location, the Massey Foundation and the University of Toronto struck a deal.  A call for designs went out and the winning submission was from architect Ron Thom. It should be noted that the 1st design that Thom submitted was rejected as being too “West Coast” for Toronto. However the layout and form of the building remained unchanged in the accepted revision which you can see here today.  The building is a mix of mid-century modern with heavy influence from Frank Loyd Wright’s arts and crafts movement.  Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act both for its exterior and custom-designed interior furniture, the College remains one of this city’s architectural gems.

The first Master of the College (A title which is now changed to Principal) was Playwright and author Robertson Davies who wrote his famous play 5th Business while living and working within these walls.  From 1963 until 1970 Massey College only admitted men as Fellows. In 1988 Massey College welcomed its third principal and first woman into that role Ann Saddlemyer.

Today the college is home to 60 resident and 70 non-resident Junior fellows who are some of U of T top graduate students across all disciplines.  The mission of the college is to nurture learning and serve the public good.