Elma Starr in 1974

This photo of Elma Starr, taken 29 June 1974 by Keith Beaty for the Toronto Star, shows Elma in front of the Yonge Street meeting house. The photo was taken in anticipation of the 1810 meeting house getting central heating, electric lights, and running water. In the photo, Elma is holding Dylan Horvath in her arms, and Jennifer Horvath is on the left.

“The 1810 Quaker meeting hall in Newmarket…” by Keith Beaty, 1974. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library.

Elma McGrew Starr (1890-1985) was a well-known member of the Canadian Yearly Meeting. You can read more about Elma’s life in an article written by David Newlands in our Founders and Builders series, and in Elma’s autobiography, Contented.

More information on the updates and work done on the meeting house in 1974 can be found in Jane Zavitz Bond’s article, “The Quakers of Yonge Street: Address to the 24th Annual Meeting,” CQHJ 60 (1996): 24-34.