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The Royal Court Entertainers were an amateur concert party consisting of nine members: Mary Hanson, Dorothy Sommerville, Hazel Phillips, Mary Grant, Ethel Morris, Frederick Davidson, Howard Wilson Jerome, Richard Fairs, and Leslie Sommerville. From 1937-1941, they performed old fashioned choruses, humorous sketches and dances for personal parties, garden parties and group events.

Founded in 1897 by C.L.M. Harris as the Hamilton Conservatory of Music (HCM), the conservatory provided higher education in music with focus in piano, strings, winds, organ and guitar, as well as art, physical culture, dance, musical kindergarten and elocution. The conservatory was originally located in the former home of Robert Steele, and in 1899, the conservatory moved to Main and Charles Streets. In 1904, the conservatory moved to its permanent home on James Street South with studio space on the first floor, a recital hall on the second floor, and a meeting room in the basement.

Under Harris' directorship, the conservatory was incorporated by the province of Ontario in 1902, and two years later was affiliated with the University of Toronto as a means to prepare students for the Bachelor in Music from the university. The affiliation ended in 1918, when the HCM began to offer a competing system of examinations. Harris was succeeded by J.E.P. Aldous, W.H. Hewlett, and Bruce Carey who oversaw the administrative functions of the conservatory and presented internationally known artists in the recital hall. After Carey resigned, Hewlett began the first principal of the conservatory.

On May 15, 1965, the conservatory received a royal charter and changed its name to the Royal Hamilton College of Music. During this process, the conservatory renamed its associate diploma (AHCM) in piano, violin, voice, speech arts and drama to ARHCM, and expanded to offer a licentiate diploma (LRHCM) and an honorary fellow's degree (FRHCM).

The conservatory expanded its program to include courses in Suzuki string method, jazz, theatre, and the visual arts. The conservatory also physically grew to offer five branches in the Hamilton area and maintained branches in Windsor, Leamington and Oakville, Ontario.

The college closed in 1980 due to financial problems.

In 1994, Goldshower Recording Company was created by Jean Paul Gauthier. Two years later, the company was renamed September Seventh Entertainment Ltd. The company hosted and produced concerts and events in the Hamilton area, and, most notably produced concerts for Daniel Lanois for over ten years. Under the direction of Jean-Paul Gauthier, September Seventh Entertainment Ltd. created the Hamilton Music Scene festival, the Hamilton Music Awards and the Harvest Picnic festival.

During and after the First World War, many soldiers returning from the front wounded in mind and body needed assistance to provide for themselves and their families. Social assistance programs were non-existent during this period, so returning veterans who struggled to reintegrate into civilian life faced extreme hardships and destitution, along with their families. The province of Ontario established the Soldiers’ Aid Commission on November 10, 1915, to address this emerging issue and to support the needs of veterans, who had given so much for their country during the war. The early mandate of the Commission was to provide emergency financial assistance to returning soldiers, with a focus on the sick and wounded. As soldiers began to return home it became apparent that their needs included more than just emergency assistance. What started as emergency financial assistance, evolved into various avenues of support that also included retraining, education, rehabilitation, employment assistance, childcare arrangements, and pension advocacy. Due to the large number of returning veterans, the SAC set up various branches across the province to provide local assistance.

The Hamilton branch of the SAC was established on January 15, 1917. The aim of the branch was to support veterans through various initiatives such as hospital visits, providing comfort to dying veterans, visiting soldiers and their dependents in their homes, providing for dependent or orphaned children of the servicemen, providing loans and other financial assistance, retraining and re-educating for new employment, helping veterans secure their former employment, and advocating for fair wages and for pensions. Overall, the SAC and all its branches championed the rights of returning veterans with various needs, and worked to ensure that the general public understood that the help received by the returning soldiers was not charity, but entitlement. The veterans had earned this assistance for their service and sacrifices. Although the various branches of the SAC are no longer in existence, the Soldiers’ Aid Commission continued to provide support throughout the Second World War and the Korean War, and continues to help Ontario veterans to the present day.

George Sorbara was a graduate of Westdale Secondary School found in Westdale Village, a suburb of Hamilton. He participated in high school activities such as stage productions and the football team. After graduation, George Sorbara joined the Hamilton Hurricanes, a member of the Canadian Junior Football League. He was part of the Championship winning 1972 team which defeated the defending champs Regina Rams in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Peter Stevens (March 16, 1963 – February 25, 2015), was a freelance photographer, graphic designer, art director and magazine editor. Peter studied Graphic Design at Sheridan College and worked in the design and advertising field for almost 20 years. He served as Art Director with Wordsmith Design and Advertising (Part of the Pier 8 Group). Peter was a founding member of the Hamilton Photo Union and served the organization as a board member from 1982-1986. He was also the Photo Editor for Broadway Magazine (an alternative news source for Hamilton), Style Magazine and The Hammer Magazine. Peter Stevens spent 25 years capturing the essence of the arts scene in Hamilton and had a very large impact on the arts community. His work was exhibited at the Hammer Gallery, the b Contemporary Gallery, Broadway Gallery, Gallery on 4, the Photo Union Gallery and the Transit Gallery.

Peter Stevens (March 16, 1963 – February 25, 2015), was a freelance photographer, graphic designer, art director and magazine editor. Peter studied Graphic Design at Sheridan College and worked in the design and advertising field for almost 20 years. He served as Art Director with Wordsmith Design and Advertising (Part of the Pier 8 Group). Peter was a founding member of the Hamilton Photo Union and served the organization as a board member from 1982-1986. He was also the Photo Editor for Broadway Magazine (an alternative news source for Hamilton), Style Magazine and The Hammer Magazine. Peter Stevens spent 25 years capturing the essence of the arts scene in Hamilton and had a very large impact on the arts community. His work was exhibited at the Hammer Gallery, the b Contemporary Gallery, Broadway Gallery, Gallery on 4, the Photo Union Gallery and the Transit Gallery.

Henry George Gordon Strathy was born in London, Ontario 1846. He was the son of James Brakenridge Strathy. In 1835, James Strathy went into business in Dundas, Ontario owning various flour and paper mills. They moved back to London, where James Strathy became the District Clerk for the County of Middlesex.
Henry Strathy joined the Bank of Montreal in Hamilton in 1864. In 1866, he joined the 13th battalion to fight the Fenian Raids. In 1867 he moved to Montreal, where he married his wife and lived until his death in 1932.

Superior Engravers was founded in Hamilton in 1921. The company's primary function at that time was the production of pre-press acid etchings (a process that involved etching text and images onto metal plates) for use in the printing of posters, and newspaper and magazine advertisements. In the mid 1930s, the owners and four key employees entered into a court battle for control of the company. The employee group won, gaining control of Superior Engravers, and Harold Pitts was named works manager and William Van Sickle became secretary-treasurer. By the 1950s, Jim Pitts, son of Harold, and Jim Van Sickle, son of William, had joined the company, for which projects included the production of shopping catalogues for Eaton’s department stores. Harold Pitts became company president in 1960, and began embracing the technological change of the time, importing a scanner from Germany that could produce colour film separations at a rapid rate. Jim Pitts and Jim Van Sickle gained control of the company in 1971, and continued to embrace technological change, purchasing the first fully-computerized scanner in Canada in 1972. Harold Pitts retired from Superior Engravers in 1976, but remained a director of the company. John Pitts, son of Jim and grandson of Herald, joined the company in 1979, becoming production manager then sales manager in the 1980s. In 1986, John Pitts bought Jim Van Sickles' shares of the company and became president. John's father, Jim Pitts, remained company chairman until his retirement in 1996. In the 1990s, Superior Engravers was renamed Superior Graphics Communications. In 1994, John Pitts eliminated his title as president, and the company became a partnership, known as Superior Interactive Communications. Circa 1998, the company was renamed Brickworks Communications Inc., and Peter Earle, a former Defasco executive, was named CEO. The company continues to provide advertising and marketing support, with an increased focus on corporate and interactive communications. John Pitts is the current owner and president of Brickworks Communications, located at 270 Sherman Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario.

Captain James Sutherland (1805-1857), was born in Hoy, Orkney Islands, Scotland to a sea-faring family. He began his sailing career at the age of seventeen starting as a low-ranking mate and climbing the ladder to captain. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1831 and sailed the steamboat Queenston, owned by John Hamilton. He married Margaret Robinson in 1833 and moved to a house on Hughson Street in Hamilton, Ontario. During his sailing career, Sutherland commanded some of the newest and most prestigious steamers to sail the Great Lakes such as the Traveller and the Niagara. By partnering with wealthy Hamilton investors, Sutherland who was of modest means, was able to co-own and command a fleet of steamships, including his most notable steamboat the Magnet. He retired from sailing in 1853 to work for the Great Western Railway Company. On March 12, 1857, Captain James Sutherland became the most notable Hamiltonian to lose his life in a train wreck on the Desjardins Canal Bridge.

Captain James Sutherland (1805-1857), was born in Hoy, Orkney Islands, Scotland to a sea-faring family. He began his sailing career at the age of seventeen starting as a low-ranking mate and climbing the ladder to captain. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1831 and sailed the steamboat Queenston, owned by John Hamilton. He married Margaret Robinson in 1833 and moved to a house on Hughson Street in Hamilton, Ontario. During his sailing career, Sutherland commanded some of the newest and most prestigious steamers to sail the Great Lakes such as the Traveller and the Niagara. By partnering with wealthy Hamilton investors, Sutherland who was of modest means, was able to co-own and command a fleet of steamships, including his most notable steamboat the Magnet. He retired from sailing in 1853 to work for the Great Western Railway Company. On March 12, 1857, Captain James Sutherland became the most notable Hamiltonian to lose his life in a train wreck on the Desjardins Canal Bridge.

The Canadian Federation of University Women Hamilton is part of a national organization (CFUW) which has local clubs or chapters in different locations across Canada. It is also referred to as the University Women's Club of Hamilton and CFUW Hamilton.

Founded on November 26, 1853, as the Ontario Curling Club of Hamilton (The Hamilton Thistle Club), was the second oldest curling club in Canada besides the Montreal Caledonia Curling Club (1850-1976). It originally began as a men's only curling club whose members played on natural rinks on the Hamilton Harbour. In its first year, the club had 22 members who paid an annual membership fee of $15. In 1878, the club purchased land for $2,000 on the corner of Park and Robinson Streets to build a permanent club house. The red brick building started with four sheets of ice, and by 1886, the club purchased additional land for expansion. By 1890, the club was used for both curling, skating, and hockey. Additional sports were introduced when electricity replaced gaslight, such as squash, tennis and badminton. On October 11, 1927, The Hamilton Thistle Club was officially incorporated, the same year that artificial ice was installed. In 1934, a women's curling section was formed with eight members under the leadership of their first president Mrs. W.D. Southam. The club was further renovated in 1959, 1978 and 1981, and additions included racquetball and squash courts and locker rooms complete with sauna and whirlpools in both the men's and women's sections. The club also had an indoor tennis court and combined there were 11 racquetball courts, six curling sheets, lawn bowling areas, lounges for billiards, and dining and spa facilities. The popularity of racquet sports brought the end of curling, and in 1987 the club closed all the ice sheets. Declining membership and financial problems led the club to close in 2002, one year shy of its 150 birthday. The building was demolished in 2004.

Theatre Terra Nova was founded in 1988 by Brian Morton as an alternative theatre production. The theatre troupe provided offering such as Billy Bishop Goes to War, Cold Comfort, and The Kingpin. In 1990, after securing a loan from the Hamilton City Council, Theatre Terra Nova moved into the Playhouse Theatre. However, due to financial difficulties, the troupe folded in 1992. The Playhouse Theatre is now currently an independent cinema theatre.

Viktor Tinkl was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. He attended Galt Collegiate Institute from 1952 to 1955. Upon graduation, Viktor studied drawing and painting at the Ontario College of Art from 1955-1959 and continued his studies in Munich, Germany. He was the recipient of the West German Government Painting Scholarship and the McLean’s Traveling Scholarship. During 1962 to 1964, Tinkl was an advisor to the print program in Povungituk, Quebec where he met and worked with Inuit art as Joe Talirunili. He is a sculptor and 'amateur architect'. His work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the University of Toronto Art Centre, the Bronfrnan Centre ofMontreal, as well as the Merton and Isaacs galleries of Toronto. Viktor and his wife Judith live in Sunderland, Ontario.

The Tower Poetry Society (TPS) was established in 1951 and is one of the oldest poetry workshop groups in North America. The Society is a non-profit organization that promotes poetry and encourages poets. The Society was founded by English poet Ida Sutherland Groom who lectured in the English Department at McMaster University from 1950 to 1960. Groom aimed for bringing together poets in the Hamilton area for the sole purpose to publish members' poems in the publication the "Tower". In the beginning, members would read their own works during meetings, which then became workshops to encourage and strengthen members writings. The name the "Tower" was inspired from the ivy-clad tower at University Hall located at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Since the mid-1970s, the Society has published the "Tower" twice a year with summer and winter editions. The Society receives submissions from around the world. In 1975, the Society published their first anthology of poems entitled "Pine's the Canadian Tree". During the 1980s, the Society promoted poetry through nine half-hour television segments called “Poetry's Alive" through the Hamilton community television station, Cable 4. The Society is also an advocate for the arts and has participated and supported local community events in the Hamilton and Wentworth region, such as the Dundas Arts Weekend, Book Week in Canada, Hamilton's Arts Council Literary Committee's Blue Pencil Rooms and poetry workshops. In addition, members have given readings under the auspice of the Society to festivities and have conducted poetry workshops.

The United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada, Hamilton Branch was established on September 30, 1931, at the residence of prominent Hamiltonian Stanley Mills, U.E., who was a descendant of Loyalists, and who served as the organization’s first President from 1931 to 1935. This branch replaced an earlier Hamilton one that was known as the Head of the Lake branch, which was established in the early 1900s. The new Hamilton Branch was part of a wider organization of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada, which was created by an Act of Parliament of the Dominion of Canada on May 27, 1914. The objectives of the Hamilton Branch were to unite the descendants of the Loyalists, preserve Loyalist history and traditions, honour the struggles and sacrifices of the Loyalists, collect Loyalist artifacts, records and stories, publish historical and genealogical information on the Loyalists and their families, assist descendants with the completion of their genealogies, construct, repair and preserve monuments and memorials dedicated to the Loyalists and preserve their final resting places, encourage a stronger emphasis on the study of Canadian history in the school system with a focus on the Loyalists, and promote good fellowship and the spirit of Loyalism within Canada.

In the early days of the Hamilton Branch, membership was exclusive to individuals who could prove they were direct descendants of a Loyalist. This entailed that the Loyalist was a resident of the American colonies before the Revolutionary War, joined the Royal Standard prior to the Treaty of Separation in 1783 and pledged allegiance to the British Crown, was persecuted and had their land confiscated forcing them to flee to other British territories, or served in a Loyalist regiment such as Butler’s Rangers and the Queen’s Rangers, or were members of Six Nations Indigenous communities. The bylaws restricting membership to direct descendants continued for a few decades until the 1960s, when a crisis arose amongst members who debated the idea of allowing others into the fold. Some members wanted to expand the membership to allow Americans with Loyalist heritage even if they lived in a republic and did not pledge allegiance to the Crown. Other prominent figures in the organization such as L.L. Merrill, past President of both the U.E.L. Association of Canada and the Hamilton Branch, wanted to maintain the strict criteria for membership. After much debate and years of internal discord amongst various branches and members, and with the realization that Canadian society was moving away from a focus on its British roots and forming its own identity, including its own flag, many felt that keeping the membership exclusive would make it difficult to attract new members. In the 1970s, the bylaws were amended to allow associate and affiliate members without Loyalist heritage. Membership was open to any individuals with a desire and a passion to promote the history of the Loyalists, their sacrifices and struggles in a new land as refugees, their contributions to society, and their willingness to take up arms and fight against the Americans during the War of 1812, protecting what would become Canada. Today the Hamilton Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association promotes public awareness of Loyalist history in the Hamilton area through educational initiatives and outreach in schools, genealogical research, newsletter publications, the preservation of historical records, monuments and memorial plaques, and participation in Loyalist Day activities in Ontario in honour of the contributions made by the Loyalists.