Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10:00am-6:00pm
Location: McLennan Library Building, 4th Floor. 3459 McTavish Street, Montréal, Québec, Canada. H3A 0C9.
Contact: (514) 398-4711; refdesk.archives@mcgill.ca
Access: Open to the public. Retrievals end at 4:00 pm.
Website: http://www.archives.mcgill.ca/
The McGill University Archives has the records of the university, private papers, and records of local organizations. This archive offers 6,660 metres of records and over 400 private fonds. The university offers a three-volume guide to its resources as well as a searchable database. There are many additional records on the history of medicine in the Osler Library of the History of Medicine.
The university’s archives are rich with materials from the university’s medical departments, medical associations, and local hospitals. The archive has the reports, regulations, records of grants and scholarships, and administrative papers of the McGill faculty of medicine (1822-1962). The general correspondences of various departments, including anatomy (1920-2003), physiology (1919-1997), pharmacy (1922-1925), industrial medicine (1922-1932), pathology (1914-1999), surgery (1921-1994), radiology (1919-2000), endocrinology (1946-1951), public health and preventive medicine (1920-1945), bacteriology and immunology (1930-1968), health and social medicine (1939-1963), dentistry (1904-1970), and psychiatry (1936-1999), are in these archives. There are holdings specific to the Department of the History of Medicine (1936-1990). This university also has the records of personnel from the Faculty of Medicine including gynecology, biochemistry, neurosurgery, pediatrics, pharmacy, and pathology in its private papers collection. There are organizational records within these private papers, such as the papers of Dr. J. B. Collip of the Insulin Fund and New Research Institute of Endocrinology (1927-1945) and David L. Johnson (1996-1997) who worked for the Centre for Medicine, Ethics, and Law at McGill University. This archive also has the notable fonds of the Rockefeller Foundation for Medical Education and Clinical Medicine (1918-1924), established through a grant to various Canadian universities in 1919 to modernize Canadian medical studies. The university additionally offers some collections for women’s history, such as the Women Associates of McGill Fonds (1998-1999).
There are records of local health services in these archives, such as those of the Montréal General Hospital (1818-1971), the Royal Victoria Hospital (1887-1971), and the Montréal Neurological Institute (1928-2002). The private papers collection includes papers of doctors from these hospitals, such as those of surgeon James Bell (1852-1911; fonds 1885-1911), bacteriologist Andrew A. Bruere (1864-1894; fonds 1883-1894), gynecologist Archibald Donald Campbell (1920-1927; fonds 1910-1961), gynecologist William Gardner (1866-1910; fonds 1898-1901), and anesthetist William Boyman Howell (1873-1947; fonds 1931-1934).
Included in these archives are also the papers of medical associations like the Association of American Medical Colleges, Mental Hygiene Institute and National Committee (1940-1946), and the Canadian Medical Association (1923-1940). This archive also houses the records of the Medical Council of Canada (1901-). There are records related to medical history during the world wars, such as in the fonds of the Canadian General Hospital No. 3 (1915), on medical officers of the Royal Victoria College (1939-1941), and of the Army Medical Museum (1947-1951). McGill University Archives has a collection of photos (over 9, 000) related to topics like health centres, medical awards, health services, and medical professionals in Montreal.
Related to the field of medicine, this archive has the private papers of geologists like Alfred Cecil Cruttwell (1870-1881; fonds 1870-1873) and George Mercer Dawson (1849-1901; fonds 1860-1901). It has the records of the first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, Logan William Edmond (1798-1875; fonds 1772-1884). There are reports and administrative records related to local organizations such as the Montréal Council of Social Agencies (1921-1976) and the Natural History Society of Montréal (1889-1890, 1913-1925). There are also religious records, such as fonds of the Newman Association of Montréal (1929-1972) and of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church (1792-1909).
The archives additionally house some important political records. The Dale Cairns Thomson fonds (1848-1999) has materials related to his study, participation, and publications on Canadian politics. The archive also has the papers of the Union of Canadian Municipalities (1901-1918) a municipal lobby group.
The archive also offers online resources related to the university including an architectural plan collection and an artifacts collection. There are previous McGill University handbooks, yearbooks, and university newspapers such as Old McGill, McGill Daily, and McGill Fortnightly available online. This university also offers virtual exhibits such as “Virtual McGill: Campuses and Buildings,” “History of McGill Project,” and more relevantly, two exhibits related to the Donner Building for Medical Research including the “Time Capsule” and the “William. H. Donner 1864-1953” exhibits. The “University Records and Family History” exhibit discusses the university’s contribution to medical history. The “History and Archives Committee of the JCCM Collection” exhibit offers photos, some copies of the Montreal Bulletin newspaper published by the JCCM, and a list of finding aids related to the history of the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre of Montreal.