Hours: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Location: Location: Lower Level of the Health Sciences Library, McMaster University, C. Barber Mueller History of Health and Medicine Room, 1B30
Contact: Archivist/Librarian: Melissa Caza, cazam1@mcmaster.ca, 905-525-9140 ext. 22928
Website: https://hsl.mcmaster.ca/archives-hamilton-health-sciences-and-faculty-health-sciences
The Archives in the Health Sciences Library consist of approximately 104 fonds, including textual, audio-visual, and photographic records.
Many collections [subfonds] have a detailed inventory called a “subfonds.” Links to the subfonds PDFs may be found on this website, through exploring the collections.
The Archives are divided into three major collections:
- Faculty of Health Sciences Collection (FHS)
- Hamilton Health Sciences Collection (HHS)
- Affiliated Collections.
The Archives are searchable using the Archives Database.
The Hannah Unit has compiled a partial catalogue of each collection, (FHS, HHS, Affiliated) to introduce the researcher to highlights, but complete collection information is available only in the Archives Database.
- The Archives Database can be searched by keyword, proper names, etc.
- The Database can only be accessed from the McMaster Campus.
- As of July 23, 2015, the list of fonds in the database is here, as a downloadable PDF:
HSL Archives Fonds List – July 24, 2015
Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Collection
The FHS collection includes archival material, personal papers, photographs, and video donated by former professors and deans of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster, including:
- Dr John Evans, the first Dean and Vice-President of the Faculty
- Dr Fraser Mustard
- Dr William Spaulding
The collection also includes administrative records of the Faculty, including:
- McMaster School of Medicine
- Mcmaster School of Nursing
The Faculty of Health Sciences fonds has 198 subfonds. There is also a large oral history collection compiled by the first Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, Dr Charles Roland. For a partial catalogue with highlights and overview of the FHS collection, please click here.
Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) Collection
The HHS collection contains material from institutions outside of McMaster, primarily archival records of the hospitals in Hamilton, from the nineteenth century to the present. The hospital archives include:
- The Mountain Sanatorium
- Chedoke Hospitals
- Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals
- Hamilton Civic Hospitals—amalgamation of Hamilton General and Henderson Hopsitals
- Hamilton Health Sciences—amalgamation of hospitals: Chedoke Hospital, Hamilton General Hospital, Juravinski Hospital (formerly Henderson), McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University Medical Centre, St. Peter’s Hospital, the Juravinski Cancer Centre, and the Main Street West Urgent Care Centre.
The collection includes papers donated by physicians, such as Dr Oded Bar-Or, founder of the Children’s Exercise and Nutrition Program, Dr John Basmajian, founder of the Chedoke Rehabilitation Centre, and Dr Daniel Offord, founder of the Offord Centre for Studies of Children. For a partial catalogue with highlights and overview of the HHS collection, please click here.
Affiliated Collections
The Affiliated Collections contain 91 fonds of personal papers, photographs, and patient records. The collections are listed by name and include former patients of the Mountain Sanatorium, nurses, and McMaster alumni. The Affiliated Collections include:
- Henrietta Alderson, an original faculty member of the School of Nursing
- Consortium of Ontario Academic Health Libraries
- Margaret Ewart, wife of Dr Hugo Ewart of the Mountain Sanatorium
- Ralph Wilson, author of “Chedoke: more than a Sanatorium”
For a partial catalogue and highlights from the Affiliated Collections, please click here.