We are thrilled to announce the launch of OISE Library’s newest archival collection — the Jocelyn Motyer Raymond Fonds. The fonds contains the fascinating work of this educator and researcher during her time at the Institute of Child Study, now The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS), at OISE, and documents the legacy of those who were involved in JICS since its inception through a unique series of recorded interviews.
JICS began its life in 1925 as the St. George’s School for Child Study at the University of Toronto, a prototype in the burgeoning field of child study which was beginning to think about child development and education through the lens of functionalist psychology. Pioneered by Dr. William Blatz, the Institute embarked on the first inquests into children’s mental health in Canada, created a parent education program, and developed a wartime nursery framework which was adopted across the commonwealth. The school was a site where students went about their daily routine, unobtruded but observed, and became an international hive from which cutting-edge research was being produced.
The Institute also initially had its share of darker chapters, coming into international fame in the 1930s after gaining custody of the Dionne quintuplets, the first surviving quintuplets ever born who were taken from their parents by the state and sensationalized through exhibitions, tours, and films while also being observed and studied.
Many of these chapters are chronicled through extensive interviews on audio cassette with researchers, workers, and scholars who were present throughout JICS’s history, many of whom were close to the work of Dr. Blatz himself. Motyer Raymond accumulated these histories over the course of decades, creating an extensive archive of the history of the Institute, and collecting irreplaceable stories, reflections, and perspectives surrounding the work of JICS through the years.
Also included in her fonds are 166 photographs depicting the life and schooling of students in the JICS classroom, captured by journalists from The Globe and Mail to accompany Motyer Raymond’s weekly column “Living with Children,” which ran from 1954-64. This coincided with her time as an educator and researcher at the Institute — from these years we also have some of her research notes, publications, her Master’s thesis, and correspondence related to work at JICS.
Jocelyn Motyer Raymond went on to teach in the Faculty of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, where she founded the Early Childhood Education program. She was also instrumental in bolstering robust childcare legislation in the province. The fonds was donated to OISE Library by Motyer Raymond’s daughter, Michelle Hovey Raymond in 2023. Appointments can be made to view this fonds through oise.library@utoronto.ca.
A detailed finding aid is available on OISE Library’s Discover Archives page.