Hamilton’s school board archives offer glimpse at 175 years of education history
You think you have challenges dealing with the stuff in your attic?
Imagine trying to organize documents, artifacts and memorabilia from more than 175 years of public school history in Hamilton.
The Educational Archives and Heritage Centre of Hamilton-Wentworth on the Mountain is touted as being the most extensive archival collection of its kind in Canada.
And it's looked after by a retired Hamilton educator named Hal Hillgren, who works as a part-time manager, along with the assistance of more than 20 volunteers.
The 11,000 square-foot facility, which is currently at the former Hill Park Secondary School on East 16th Street, has been around since 1988. But coming out of the pandemic, Hillgren wants to increase its profile and spread word about the availability of school records for genealogical research.
He hopes to develop a section into a museum with changing exhibits. But for now, the facility is open to the public for visits. You just need to call or email Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to make an appointment.
I recently took a tour and was struck by the enormity of the collection, and how well it is organized.
There are attendance records. Yearbooks. Desks. Clocks. School uniforms. School signs. The walls have all kinds of photos and keepsakes.
There are thousands of books. Everything from math textbooks to Dick and Jane, to atlases that still show countries such as the U.S.S.R. and Ceylon. There are inkwells. Remember those chalkboard staff liners, with the five pieces of chalk, that teachers would use in music class? They have at least one of those. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge was one way to remember the lines.
And then there are architectural artifacts. When schools were closing, the manager of the archives would survey the site and collect items for posterity. That's how the archway from Tweedsmuir School, and a wooden railing from the former Strathcona School ended up in the collection. In other cases, signs and cornerstones were removed and added to the archives.
Sometimes there are surprises for the archival manager, such as the wooden shooting gallery from Strathcona School that was in its attic. During the 1920s and through the 1940s, marksmanship was connected to extracurricular activities through cadet organizations.
There is the controversial totem pole from Parkdale School. After five decades on the front doorstep of the building, it was removed in 2019 after a provincially mandated review of the cultural sensitivity of school logos and mascots." Today it is in a back corner of the archives.
There is also a bust of Egerton Ryerson. Controversy over his role with Indigenous residential schools led to his likeness and his name being removed from Ryerson School on Robinson Street. It's now called Kanetskare Elementary School. Kanetskare is a Mohawk word that means by the bay."
Hillgren, who has been manager of the archives for five years, says he believes it's important to learn from the past: If you don't know where you have come from, it's hard to figure out where to go without recreating mistakes.
The archives are meant to be a resource for the board and the public. We find that some people will get into the yearbooks, and they'll spend the whole afternoon," he says.
Miriam Oda, who handles family research information requests, says, The school records can open a whole new world for people."
Once a school and the years of attendance are established, she can sometimes find photos and references to the former student in yearbooks and other documents.
Most of the broader collection comes from the work of long-time manager John Aikman, an avid local historian, who died in 2016 at the age of 74. He ran the facility when it operated out of the former Vincent Massey elementary school on Macassa Avenue.
Ironically, Hillgren found himself at the school in 2019 not only supervising the move of the archival collection to Hill Park, but also casting an eye on Vincent Massey-related items that should also make the trip. The school was slated for demolition and eventually that was carried out.
He and his volunteers focused attention on a cairn out front that featured a historic plaque about the school opening in 1957. They were convinced that historical treasure laid within it.
We thought there might be a time capsule. Why else would they build a cairn on the front lawn?
We spent a whole day bashing it down, but there was nothing. The only thing inside was a bunch of dust."
Lancaster film
If you're a fan of the mighty Lanc' at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, you'll love the 2022 documentary film called Lancaster."
It's currently streaming on several platforms including Tubi. The British production is about the bomber's rise to fame and the crews that flew extremely dangerous missions during the Second World War. There are historic scenes that have been digitally enhanced and breathtaking new footage of the swooping restored Royal Air Force Lancaster.
The RAF bomber is the only other flightworthy Lancaster in the world along with the one at the Warplane Heritage. The Hamilton-based Lancaster is not featured in the film. But that's understandable with the production being shot in Britain.
I learned a lot from watching the 1-hour, 50-minute documentary and I'm sure it will come to mind the next time I hear that unmistakable rumble in the skies above Hamilton.
Educational Archives and Heritage Centre
Who: Run by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
Where: 465 East 16th Street, at the former Hill Park Secondary School that is currently being used as a Learning Centre."
To visit: By appointment by calling 905-527-5092 ext. 4585 or hhillgre@hwdsb.on.ca
Genealogical research: Those wanting access to board records are asked to fill out the online form at: www.hwdsb.on.ca/community/archive/research