History

Welcome to this research guide for CRM406, Historical Criminology. Explore this site for contextual readings, resources, and tips for getting the most our of your research process. Try to make this guide part of all of your research processes this semester. Please do not hesitate to reach out for assistance on your research projects, after you have attempted your searches on our catalogue and in our databases.

Hart, E. I. Wake Up! Montreal! Commercialized Vice and Its Contributories. [Montreal]: The Witness Press, 1919.
Original pamphlet from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, via the Internet Archive.

TMU Libraries Omni Search
For optimum use, sign in. This search engine searches for journal articles (many are available electronically), books, e-books, theses and dissertations, and newspaper articles from some recent and a selection of archival newspapers. It indexes digitized content such as out-of-copyright books and journals that are available from sources such as The Internet Archive and The Hathi Trust. Omni facilitates discovery and borrowing of print books from other universities in Ontario excluding the University of Toronto. The resources indexed here include all issues of the Maclean's Digital Archive and Canadian Historical Review.

Refine your search using the filters on the left.

For more advanced searching across a more targeted set of resources, you may want to try a discipline specific indexing/abstracting database or collection as listed in the next boxes.

The Report of the Social Survey Commission of Toronto (Toronto: Carswell, 1915) refers to the social evil in subcategories such as: houses of ill-fame, houses of assignation, prostitutes, prostitution, street soliciting, and massage parlors.

Other topics noted in the table of contents are: illicit sale of liquor, feeble-mindedness in relation to vice and recreational facilities, specifically dance halls, rinks, parks and summer amusement resorts, moving pictures, and theatres (burlesque houses, vaudeville houses, regular theatres). 

Some additional keywords that might have been used in historic newspapers and other publications: obscene OR obscenity, gambling OR betting, prohibition OR illegal alcohol, arrest OR raid OR charge, "moral indignation" OR immorality, drugs OR narcotics, "vice squad". 

See also Carol Singer's extensive guide from Bowling Green State University Library: Historical Canadian Newspapers Online

Omni replaces the traditional catalogue that used to search for books, e-books, dvds, and other resources except for journal articles. Now, Omni can be used to look for known books, or when using the default (a keyword) search to find some relevant titles for an assignment. Whether using a Simple or Advanced search, you can use the filters on the left to limit to Resource Type: Book chapters, or, Books & eBooks. You can use the Browse Search with the drop down option for Library of Congress Subject Heading. This type of search is ideal for finding Books and Ebooks in our collection. It will display a selective index of subject headings most relevant to your search When you find book records, you can use the Subject terms in the record to link to similar items. If you want to find books, e-books and articles at the same time, consider using Omni, Advanced Search and Subject Contains ...

Vices: What are they?
In his 1919 pamphlet Wake Up! Montreal!, author E.I. Hart identifies five "master evils."
The Cigarette
The Drug Habit (narcotics or "dope" such as opium and cocaine)
Gambling (including horse-racing, book-keeping, slot machines)
Drink (while acknowledging the legal sale of liquor and beer, also mentions boot-leggers and smuggling) 
The Social Evil (prostitution and "white slavery"--what we today call human trafficking especially as applied to minors)

The author later comments on other matters: reformatories, penal institutions, and redemptive homes; dangers of public dance halls and movies; immodest dress.

The Report of the Social Survey Commission of Toronto (Toronto: Carswell, 1915) refers the the social evil in subcategories such as: houses of ill-fame, houses of assignation, prostitutes, prostitution, street soliciting, and massage parlors.
Other topics noted in the table of contents are: illicit sale of liquor, feeble-mindedness in relation to vice and recreational facilities, specifically dance halls, rinks, parks and summer amusement resorts, moving pictures, and theatres (burlesque houses, vaudeville houses, regular theatres). 

These two publications give some suggestions for search terms that one might use in historic newspapers and other publications. 

Some useful subject searches using Omni Browse Searching & Library of Congress Subject Heading:

Alcohol Law and legislation Canada History
Bars (Drinking establishments) Ontario
Canada Moral conditions [Omni, Advanced search, Subject contains ...]
Drinking of alcoholic beverages Ontario
Drug control Canada
Drug traffic Canada
Gambling Moral and ethical aspects Canada History
Gambling Ontario
Liquor laws Canada 
Obscenity (Law) Canada
Police Ontario Toronto
Pornography Social aspects Canada
Prohibition Canada History
Prohibition Ontario History
Prostitution Ontario Toronto
Sex and law Canada
Sex and law Ontario Toronto
Social control Canada
Social legislation Canada History
Toronto (Ont.) Social conditions
Vice
 

Keyword search for name of a person

Topical searching using Omni, Advanced Search, Subject contains ...
illicit drugs canada
moral panic canada
prostitution history canada
vice control canada

Encyclopedias and dictionaries

remain useful sources of quick information.  In addition to free sources such as Wikipedia, consider some of our licensed electronic content from publishers such as Oxford University Press, as well as printed items. 

Try using Omni, Advanced Search and Subject contains: [type a topical word or words] and either dictionaries, or, encyclopedias

Example Subject contains searches:

drinking encyclopedias
canada biography dictionaries

Research Tip: When searching the online Dictionary of Canadian Biography, use the advanced search. Try searching distillers AND toronto; or, police AND toronto

Research Tip: When searching in the online Canadian Encyclopedia, you can discover articles about treatment of sexual minorities by searching: police raids

Some Free Online Resources

Many books and journals that were published up to 1925 CE are in the public domain (no longer protected by local copyright laws) and available digitally from major sources such as the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/), the Hathi Trust, and from individual libraries, museums and archives via their digital collections. 

Here is a sample search using the Internet Archive and keywords: prohibition ontario toronto
Sample search for a known title: The Black Candle by Emily F. Murphy (1922) Also available in reprint: 

Here is a sample search using the Hathi Trust digital library, with parameters Full-text, and, Full view only and the search terms prostitution ontario toronto
The first result is this 1915 publication: Report of the Social survey commission, Toronto, presented to the City council, October 4th, 1915.