The Dionne Quintuplets National Historic Event

North Bay, Ontario
The Dionne quintuplets, accompanied by Mrs Olive Dionne and Frère Gustave Sauvé, take part in a program of religious music at Lansdowne Park, during the five day Marian Congress which prayed for peace and celebrated the centenary of the Ottawa archdiocese © National Film Board of Canada | Office national du film du Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / PA-155518
Dionne sisters, Mme Dionne, and frère Sauvé, 1947
© National Film Board of Canada | Office national du film du Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / PA-155518
The Dionne Quintuplets, Yvonne, Emelie, Cecile, Annette and Marie, with Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe who delivered them. © N.E.A. Service Inc. / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada /PA-026034The Dionne quintuplets, accompanied by Mrs Olive Dionne and Frère Gustave Sauvé, take part in a program of religious music at Lansdowne Park, during the five day Marian Congress which prayed for peace and celebrated the centenary of the Ottawa archdiocese © National Film Board of Canada | Office national du film du Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / PA-155518Calendar
Compliments of Sherbrooke Pure Milk Co. Ltd. - The Dionne Quintuplets © Musée McCord Museum / M2002.70.D04_132-05
Address : North Bay, Ontario

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 2018-02-27

Other Name(s):
  • The Dionne Quintuplets  (Designation Name)
Research Report Number: 2016-18

Importance: Birth and survival of five identical, premature and undersized infants

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque:  181 Oak Street West, North Bay

On 28 May 1934, Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie were born to a Franco-Ontarian family in this house, when it was located in Corbeil, Ontario. Midwives Douilda (Donalda) Legros and Mary-Jeanne Lebel, and Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe delivered the quintuplets. The premature birth of five identical, undersized infants was complicated by limited access to medical equipment and facilities. Their birth and survival was an international sensation, bringing intense attention to the “Quints,” who were separated from their parents Elzire and Oliva by the authorities for most of their childhoods and exhibited to tourists from around the world.