The recent unveiling of a quilt commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Hogg’s Hollow disaster was an emotional event, according to the artist. “
It was very powerful,” said artist Laurie Swim. “Big turnout. You could hardly get next to the case.”
Breaking Ground: The Hogg’s Hollow Disaster 1960 found its permanent home at the York Mills subway station in an unveiling event last month. On March 17, 1960, Italian immigrant construction workers Pasqualle Allegrezza, Giovanni Battista Carriglio, Giovanni Fusillo and brothers Alessandro and Guido Mantella died of carbon monoxide poisoning while constructing a water main near the York Mills subway station.
Michael O’Brien, recording secretary for the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 183, said the event marked a significant turning point in workers’ rights in the province.
“This was a catalyzing event that changed the governance of workplace safety in Ontario.” O’Brien, whose group represents workers who perform the same craft as the deceased, said that every labour organization benefited from the event through the creation of policing provisions to ensure workers’ safety.
“The underlying message is that these poor individuals did not die in vain,” he said. “There were so many other people’s lives that were potentially or realistically saved over the last 50 years.” Swim, who first heard of the Hogg’s Hollow event while at a local arts festival, said she hopes the piece will stand “as a reminder to be vigilant about health and safety in the workplace, especially where the construction trades are involved.”
Now a Nova Scotia resident, Swim began the two metre by six metre, mixed-media fibre quilt in 1998 while living in Toronto. With a core team of 20 stitchers from across the GTA, approximately 4,000 hours over a nine month period were needed to complete the work. First unveiled at City Hall on April 28, 2000, the quilt will now be a part of the City of Toronto’s permanent art collection. “I’m very proud and very relieved that it has finally found a home where 22,000 people a day will go by it,” Swim said
