Farmer, Mary H. (1966). Wesleyan Ladies' College, Hamilton, 1861-1897. Hamilton Public Library, Reference Department.
Dates of accumulation: ca. 1952.
Freda Farrell Waldon was born August 29, 1898 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her family moved to Hamilton, Ontario about a year later, and she remained there for the majority of her life. Waldon attended Central Public School and Hamilton Collegiate Institute. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto (1919), then went on to complete her M.A. in English at Columbia University (1931). Waldon attended the School of Librarianship at the University of London before becoming Chief Librarian of the Hamilton Public Library, a position which she held from 1940 to 1963. Waldon developed an interest in the Wesleyan Ladies' College, located on King Street East in Hamilton, Ontario, due in part to the fact that her mother, Lillie Hardy, was a graduate (1887). In 1952, Waldon sent a letter to the Toronto periodical Saturday Night, with a request to its readers for all available information on the College, including recollections, reminiscences and information from former students and teachers. Waldon also searched among her own papers and brought together a great deal of material on the College, its staff and students.
The Wesleyan Ladies' College was located at the corner of King Street East and John Street South in Hamilton, Ontario, in the building erected as the Anglo-American Hotel (1854), which declared bankruptcy in 1861. This location became the future site of the Waldorf Hotel (ca. 1901-1914) and then The Royal Connaught Hotel (1914-). The Wesleyan Ladies’ College officially opened in September of 1861, drawing students from across Canada and the United States, and housing both boarding and day students. Mary Electa Adams was the first principal (from 1861-1868), succeeded by Rev. S.D. Rice, who was principal until 1878. More than two thousand women were educated at Wesleyan, and the college produced more than two hundred graduates. The first degrees conferred by the college were MLA, Mistress of Liberal Arts, and MEL, Mistress of English Literature. Members of the graduating class of 1888 obtained honours in the first Bachelor of Arts Degrees ever obtained by women in Ontario. The Wesleyan Ladies’ College closed in 1897.
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Final
Fonds consists of textual records including written correspondence, graduation and commencement programs, examination questions and essays, diplomas, course catalogues, periodicals, as well as Alumnae Association records, such as annual reports and Literary Club programs. The fonds also contains two photographs and one medal.
Some fragile items and brittle paper in the collection.
The material in the Wesleyan Ladies' College fonds was collected by Freda F. Waldon from former students and teachers, and has been in the possession of the Local History & Archives Department since the 1950s.
Hamilton Public Library, Local History and Archives's holdings include: Twenty-Ninth Annual Catalogue of the Wesleyan Ladies' College, Session 1890 [376.8 W516 CESH] ; Land transfer to Lot 6 and part of Lot 7 in the George Hamilton Survey, 1863 [971.3521 W516 CESH] ; The Wesleyan Ladies' College Hamilton by Mrs. J.B. Griffith, nee Louise Wright [376.8 W518 CESH] ; a Wesleyan Ladies' College Scrapbook [microfilm # 111]; and the following original photographs: Wesleyan Ladies’ College (377) (638) (s-849) (s-950), Wesleyan Ladies’ College pre-1888 (drawing) (33), Wesleyan Ladies’ College Class of 1881 (352), Wesleyan Ladies’ College Class of 1887 (s-37), Wesleyan Ladies College Class of 1893 (978), Wesleyan Ladies’ College Graduating class (s-38), Wesleyan Ladies’ College Student ca. 1889 (s-36). The University of Toronto, Media Commons' holdings include: Annual catalogue of the Wesleyan Ladies' College, Hamilton, Ontario, for the collegiate year, 1882-1891. Microtexts CIHM no. A02004 [Microform].
Gloves to be worn when viewing the photographs.
WESLEYAN LADIES' COLLEGE, HAMILTON, 1861-1897, Calendar prepared by Mary H. Farmer, Hamilton Public Library, 1966.
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Series consists of documentation pertaining to the history of Wesleyan Ladies' College, including a paper by Louise M. Griffith, whose father, W.P. Wright, taught at Wesleyan, a paper and handwritten notes by Freda F. Waldon, and the act to incorporate the college (1861).
Freda Farrell Waldon was born August 29, 1898 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her family moved to Hamilton, Ontario about a year later, and she remained there for the majority of her life. Waldon attended Central Public School and Hamilton Collegiate Institute. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto (1919), then went on to complete her M.A. in English at Columbia University (1931). Waldon attended the School of Librarianship at the University of London before becoming Chief Librarian of the Hamilton Public Library, a position which she held from 1940 to 1963. Waldon developed an interest in the Wesleyan Ladies' College, located on King Street East in Hamilton, Ontario, due in part to the fact that her mother, Lillie Hardy, was a graduate (1887). In 1952, Waldon sent a letter to the Toronto periodical Saturday Night, with a request to its readers for all available information on the College, including recollections, reminiscences and information from former students and teachers. Waldon also searched among her own papers and brought together a great deal of material on the College, its staff and students.
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Series consists of Freda F. Waldon's correspondence regarding Wesleyan Ladies' College, including a letter published in Saturday Night newspaper requesting information about Wesleyan from graduates and descendant of graduates. Correspondents include : Professor R.C. Archibald, Mount Allison Memorial Library, Sackville, N.B ; Annie E. Barker, Toronto ; Mrs. R.L. Charles, Toronto ; Dr. William Colgate, Toronto ; Mamie L. Cunningham, Toronto ; Mrs. W.S. Dingman, Toronto ; Mrs. L.C. Harvey, Brownsville ; Col. G.W.F. Johnston, Montreal ; Helen E. Nelles, Niagara Falls, Ontario ; Elsie Pomeroy, Toronto ; Mrs. F.G. Purchase, Beamsville ; Rev. F.L. Barber, Victoria University, Toronto ; Professor C.B. Sissons, Victoria University, Toronto ; Mr. Douglas G. Townsend, Hamilton ; Mrs. D.G. Williams, Aurora ; and Mrs. E.N. Wright, Port Arthur. A few newspaper clippings about the college, its students and the Senior Literary Society accompany the correspondence.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Professor R.C. Archibald of Mount Allison Memorial Library, Sackville, New Brunswick, concerning the closing of Wesleyan Ladies' College, the first principal, degrees given, the Alumnae Association, the first woman to receive a bachelor's degree, the music library at Mount Allison, the first graduate, Burlington Ladies' Academy and Woodstock College.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Annie E. Barker, of Toronto, concerning the Act of Incorporation; the time that Annie and her sister, Rose, spent at Wesleyan Ladies’ College and Victoria University; the death of Florence E. Hall; Rose’s medal; Dr. Burns; Wesleyan’s location; the Burlington Academy; and pupils at the Wesleyan Ladies' College. Two newspaper clippings are included with the correspondence.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Mrs. R.L. Charles, of Toronto, regarding Professor J.F. McLaughlin's teaching days at the Wesleyan Ladies' College; C.I.D. Moore and his sister, and the Alumnae Association.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Dr. Colgate, of Toronto, regarding the history of the college. A clipping with an illustration of the Wesleyan Female College from the Canadian Illustrated News (1863) is included.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Mamie L. Cunningham, of Toronto, regarding her grandfather, Dr. Rice, principal of Wesleyan for many years, and Cunnigham's mother, Sarah Elizabeth Starr Rice, who graduated with an M.L.A. degree from Wesleyan in 1864 and was principal of the school from 1868-1873, and regarding Mrs. Griffith and some of the other pupils.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Margaret (Mrs. W.S.) Dingman, of Toronto, regarding pupils at the College.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Lillian M. (Mrs. L.C.) Harvey, of Brownsville, Ontario about her mother, Mrs. T.H. Follick of Hamilton.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Colonel G.W.F. Johnston of Montreal, Quebec about his mother, Jennie M. Beynon.
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File consists of Waldon’s notes from a conversation with Rev. Calvin McQuesten, of Hamilton, on his grandfather, Dr. Calvin McQuesten (1801-1885).
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Helen E. Nelles, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, on the article in Ontario History on Mary Electa Adams by E. Pomeroy, and on Mrs. Griffith.
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File consists of a letter from Elsie Pomeroy to George Laidler of Hamilton, inquiring about material on Mary Electa Adams and Wesleyan, and correspondence between Waldon and Pomeroy.
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File consists of a biographical sketch written by Louise E. Ramsay (Mrs. F. G.) Purchase, of Beamsville, about her mother, Janet T. Coatsworth Ramsay, who received her Mistress of English Literature degree (1875-1879), and correspondence between Waldon and Purchase.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Rev. F. Louis Barber of Victoria University, Toronto, regarding Victoria University’s holdings.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Professor C.B. Sissons of Victoria University, Toronto, comparing old Victoria College with the Wesleyan Ladies' College.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Douglas G. Townsend, of Hamilton, regarding Mary Harriet Townsend. File includes newspaper clipping on the same subject.
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File consists of correspondence between Waldon and Elma F. (Mrs. D.G.) Williams, of Aurora, Ontario about the Meharry family of Summerhill, the degrees granted by Wesleyan, about Mrs. Dingman and the College, and correspondence between Stanley Wickens and Mrs. Williams about their mothers' education at the College, including a letter from Wickens about the prizes and certificates his mother earned. File also includes a letter from Waldon to Wickens about the Wesleyan Ladies' College Alumnae Literary Club.
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File includes a letter from Waldon to Mrs. Wright, of Port Arthur, inquiring as to whether she has any material on Wesleyan Ladies' College.
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Series contains graduation and commencement programs for Wesleyan Ladies College, arranged chronologically into files for closing exercises, graduation exercises and commencement exercises.
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Series consist of documentation pertaining to student fees and payments.
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Series includes materials related to concerts and entertainment at Wesleyan Ladies' College, often in partnership with the Conservatory of Music, such as concert tickets and programs, invitations to conversaziones and at-homes, and announcements for Senior Literary Society meetings.
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Series contains documentation of the lives of sisters Rose Barker (1867-1944) and Annie Barker and of their time at Wesleyan Ladies' College. Rose received her degree in 1893, and Annie received a certificate in music that same year. Series is comprised of the funeral address of Rose Hannah Barker, lesson notes, examination questions and essays, a certificate from the Temperance Society, and accounts, which consists of handwritten records of payment.
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Series contains documentation, primarily correspondence addressed to Miss Hardy, Secretary of the Wesleyan Ladies' College Alumnae, pertaining to courses, essays, and alumnae activities. Much of the correspondence is conducted with Pastor J.H. Willey of University Avenue M.E. Church in Syracuse, N.Y. Correspondence between Hardy and cookbook author and cookery instructor Emma P. (Emma Pike) Ewing concerning home economics courses is accompanied by University programs and journal clippings. Series also contains essays on various subjects.
The series contains a Governor General's Prize medal, an award given annually by the college to the student with the best examination results in English Literature. The medal, made of silver and dated 1888, belonged to student, Ethel Lazier. This medal was donated to Hamilton Public Library, Local History and Archives (previously known as Special Collections) by Ethel Lazier's daughter, Betty Mullin, in 1975. Mullin was an employee of the Hamilton Public Library.
The Alumnae Association of the Wesleyan Ladies' College, established in June 1868, supported the continued intellectual engagement of graduates of Wesleyan Ladies' College. Their motto was "Vita sine literis mors est" (Life without literature is death). The Alumnae Association's Literary Club was primarily composed of Wesleyan alumnae, but accepted some non-alumnae as well as daughters and grand-daughters of original graduate-members, and continued to do so after the college ceased to exist. The Literary Club, sometimes referred to as the Ladies' Literary Club or Hamilton Ladies Literary Club, was also affiliated with the Royal Society of Canada. The club met on a biweekly basis from October to May, and held an annual meeting in June. In the 1957-1958 season, they started to meet once a month. The Literary Club remained active until ca.1966.
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Series contains materials related to the Alumnae Association, including constitution, bylaws, and rules of order (1877) ; annual reports ; lectures and programs ; invitations to at-homes, levees and receptions ; Literary Club materials ; Membership materials ; Mrs. Ewing's cooking school programs ; badges, diplomas and awards (including copies of a diploma awarded to Hester Ann Rogers Horner in 1958, prior to incorporation, as well as original diplomas awarded to Matilda Meharry in 1871 and Lillie Hardy in 1887) ; as well as a manuscript book, which contains lists of music pupils and concert programs.
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Series consists of the records of Edith Ellen (Adams) Bowlby (1864-1931), who attended Wesleyan Ladies' College as both a student and a teacher. Series includes photographs (featuring unidentified students of Wesleyan), studentship cards, and correspondence between Margaret Bowlby, daughter of Edith Ellen, and Freda Waldon, which includes a copy of the entry about Bowlby from the National Encyclopedia of Canadian Biography (1937).
Margaret Bowlby, daughter of Edith Ellen, donated the contents of this series to Hamilton Public Library in 1953.
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Series consists of annual catalogues for Wesleyan Ladies' College, which contain lists of courses offered, faculty members, graduates and current students, as well as information about fees, student and alumnae associations, etc.
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Series consists of issues of The Portfolio, the periodical of Wesleyan Ladies' College. The Portfolio was produced by Wesleyan students in the Senior and Junior Literary Societies, with contributions from alumnae. Series includes a bound edition of The Portfolio, which contains issues 1:1 to 2:9, as well as single issues ranging from 1:6 to 15:6, with exceptions.
Inventory List linked to archival description for Series 11 - Periodicals.
The Alumnae Association of the Wesleyan Ladies' College, established in June 1868, supported the continued intellectual engagement of graduates of Wesleyan Ladies' College. Their motto was "Vita sine literis mors est" (Life without literature is death). The Alumnae Association's Literary Club was primarily composed of Wesleyan alumnae, but accepted some non-alumnae as well as daughters and grand-daughters of original graduate-members, and continued to do so after the college ceased to exist. The Literary Club, sometimes referred to as the Ladies' Literary Club or Hamilton Ladies Literary Club, was also affiliated with the Royal Society of Canada. The club met on a biweekly basis from October to May, and held an annual meeting in June. In the 1957-1958 season, they started to meet once a month. The Literary Club remained active until ca.1966.
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Series consists of pamphlets containing program schedules for the Literary Club in connection with the Wesleyan Ladies' College.