Object Archives | Page 2 of 2 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

Walter Muise, burns the mortgages

Once the speeches were given, Rev. Derwyn Hill, an original builder who was later ordained, led the “Benediction and Burning” of the mortgages. Could the co-operators have imagined […]

Etching by co-op son, David Hill

David wrote, This is me as a 7-8 year old delivering bread to some clients in the neighbourhood. Helen used to bake loaves of bread and I would […]

Murray Street Park plaque dedicated to Walter Muise

Walter Muise, an alderman for 13 years, was honoured for his commitment to save the shoreline. 9 years after his death this plaque was erected in Murray Street […]

Stuck in the mud

It was noted that a man who became stuck in the mud had to walk out of his boots and carry on “with one bare foot.”

Shingling in the Lakedale Co-op

Some jobs were simply backbreaking and others required skill. Sometimes work could be dangerous. Supervisors and inspectors were on hand, but men who had never done construction found […]

Teamwork was key

Working 30 hours on the co-op site per week, over and above their regular jobs, the builders focused first on grunt work. Eventually, they took on some of […]

Sweat equity begins with land clearing

The men were so anxious to begin the building phase, they cleared the land themselves. Later, they would mix their own concrete, haul and lay bricks for basements […]

Handwritten notes for newspaper article

This handwritten announcement by Bob Walsh turned up in the Grimsby Historical Society Archives, along with the final printed version. Walsh was a strong believer in the co-operative […]

Father O’Brien and Father Sherlock

O’Brien and Sherlock had been introduced to co-operative methods a few years earlier, as students at St. Augustine’s Seminary, when Father Marrocco had come to lecture. After the […]

“34 Family Men Pool Cash, Toil to Build Homes,” The Ottawa Journal, Nov. 10, 1953

Although they were able to raise funds from each of its members for purchase of land, obtaining the down payments for their mortgages proved challenging. After further research, […]

Father Francis Marrocco

Father Marrocco would become a key figure in the Institute of Social Action (ISA) in 1949, inspiring and challenging his students. He was well prepared. He had travelled […]

The well-used copy of The Light from One Candle by Rita Larsen Marrocco.

Although this book is the story of a life, it was also an insightful and ‘well used’ source of information about the ‘sweat equity’ co-operative movement in Ontario. […]