Serie 4 - Freda F. Waldon Mechanics' Institute Research Materials

Series consists of the research materials of Dr. Freda F. Waldon, Chief Librarian of the Hamilton Public Library. Dr. Waldon and members of the library board were interested in researching the history of early libraries in Hamilton, and in particular, the Hamilton and Gore Mechanics’ Institute. They noticed there was a gap in the knowledge of the early libraries that existed before the establishment of the Hamilton Public Library in 1889. The series consists of Dr. Waldon’s correspondence to and from various individuals requesting assistance with her research. Her letter correspondence includes asking certain individuals about their recollections of the Mechanics’ Institute, including a plea to the editor of the Hamilton Spectator, to publish her request in the paper so that members of the community could provide information from their own personal experience, or as descendants of the original members of the Mechanics’ Institute. She was particularly interested in where the Institute was located, the reasons for the demise of the organization and what existed between the end of the Mechanics’ Institute and the establishment of the government-funded public library system. The series also contains Dr. Waldon’s handwritten and typewritten research notes about the history of the Mechanics’ Institute and early libraries. The series also consists of some of her published research including a letter she wrote that was printed in the Ontario Library Review entitled, “From Mechanics’ Institute to Cultural Centre,” dated Febrary, 1949, as well as an address she gave to the Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society, October 11, 1946 entitled, “Early Provision for Libraries in Hamilton.” The speech was later published in the Wentworth Bygones, From the Papers and Records of the Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society, Issue No. 4, 1963.