By Graham Crawford

“The real value of our civic museums is in the stories they evoke in the people who visit them.”

Ian Kerr-Wilson, Manager of Museums and Heritage Presentation, Culture Division, City of Hamilton, who among other things manages Hamilton’s 7 civic museums, wouldn’t want it any other way. “I think our primary job is to help Hamiltonians tell our own stories. That’s why none of the people who work in our civic museums see their primary role as talking to people about facts, but rather as engaging people so they share their own stories.”

Whether at Dundurn Castle, Whitehern, Battlefield House, the Museum of Steam and Technology, the Children’s Museum, the Military Museum, or Fieldcote, (Griffin House is operate by the Culture Division, but owned by the Conservation Authority), those stories take many different forms. Whether a painting, a teacup, a War medal, a piece of furniture, a piece of fabric, a kitchen implement, or a whole museum, each is capable of triggering a personal memory. As a result, people aren’t simply observing a static house, or room, or artifact, but instead are engaged in linking their own lives to what the museum represents to them.

That’s a refreshing approach. What’s also refreshing to learn is that Hamilton has more civic museums per-capita than any other municipality in Canada. In Toronto for example, there are only two civic museums open to the public. So, in spite of some of the mistakes we’ve made in not respecting our heritage(and we’ve made plenty) our ability over the past century to recognize, acquire, restore and open to the public a collection of some of the finest museums of their kind in the country is worthy of praise. Four of them, in fact, have earned National Historic Site status from the Federal government : Dundurn, Whitehern, Steam and Technology, and Battlefield House. Such is there significance in the history of Canada. Here’s a short description of each of the museums.

Battlefield House, the first civic museum in the collection, opened in 1898 in Stoney Creek. It was also quite possibly the first historic house museum in Ontario that was restored as a house versus as a building that too often displayed an unrelated collection of things historical. Originally the Gage Homestead, it was built in 1796 and captures the way of life during the early 19th century. During the War of 1812, the Gage family fled to the cellar as the Battle of Stoney Creek between the British and the Americans raged outside.

Dundurn Castle was the City of Hamilton’s first civic museum when it opened in 1899, almost 70 years after being built by Sir Allan MacNab. It was of the “interesting” collection style of museum, not at all the restored home of one of Canada’s earliest premiers that it is today. By way of example, if you’re over 50 you’ll remember the stuffed, two-headed calf that was part of the Dundurn collection. MacNab, the politician, may have spoken out of both sides of his mouth, but he did it using a single head. The two-headed calf was simply a grotesque sideshow addition that had nothing to do with the history of the “castle”. All that is gone, and the home is once again tasteful. So tasteful, and historic, that Charles and Camilla added it to their list of places to visit when in the area a short while ago.

Whitehern, the stone mansion of the McQuesten family, was acquired by the City of Hamilton in 1968 through a deal with the City made with the family who had lived in the house for over 115 years. In lieu of paying property taxes for the latter part of their lives, the McQuesten’s agreed to transfer ownership of the house, its grounds, and all of its contents to the City of Hamilton. It opened as a museum in 1971. One of its most remarkable features is that everything in the house, from carpets to cutlery to soft and hard furniture, is original and not re-assembled after having been sold at auction decades before, as is so often the case. Want to know how the wealthy, and their staff, lived at the turn of the last century? Whitehern is a jewel in the very centre of Hamilton, located just behind City Hall.

The Museum of Steam and Technology is housed in a 19th century water pumping station built in 1859. It’s a remarkable example of a preserved “working building”. Inside are two, Canadian-made, 45-foot high steam engines that pumped clean water to the City of Hamilton over 140 years ago. It’s the only surviving facility of its type from the Victorian period in North America. The museum also features displays highlighting the history of industrial development in Hamilton.

The Hamilton Military Museum, located on the grounds of Dundurn Castle, presents Canadian military history including the War of 1812, the Rebellion of 1837–38, the Boer War and World War I. There is also a reconstructed World War I trench, a medals display and an exhibit gallery.

The Hamilton’s Children’s Museum, located at the south end of Gage Park, focuses less on being a museum, and more on creating experiential and educational programs and events for kids that take place inside and outside of the house. It’s very popular! So, if you have kids who want to participate in some interesting programming check out the website.

Fieldcote Memorial Park and Museum was a gift from Mrs. Doris H. Farmer to the citizens of Ancaster in 1983. TodayFieldcote is “a cultural heritage centre with an emphasis on the collection, preservation and exhibition of local history, the promotion of fine arts, and the celebration of natural heritage through beautiful landscaped gardens and walking trails.”

Griffin House is situated on a hilltop in Ancaster overlooking Dundas and was built circa 1827. It’s operated by the City of Hamilton Cutlure Division, but owned by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority. The house takes its name from Enerals Griffin, the African-American who purchased the house and 50 acres with his wife Priscilla in 1834. For over 150 years, their descendants lived and worked on the farm.

So, what do our civic museums tell us about us? “Our museums are rich and diverse enough to reflect the diversity of Hamilton. This diversity of experience fosters great stories that people enjoy sharing,” says Kerr-Wilson.

Whether lord or lady of the manor, neighbour, butler, gardener, merchant, or just observer, individual stories do, at some point, intertwine. And when those individual stories do intertwine, together they help to tell the stories of a city and its citizens – of their achievements and of their challenges. From premiers (Dundurn Castle), to the financially -challenged gentry (Whitehern), to engineers who figured out how to pump clean water to Hamiltonians (Steam & Technology), to African-Americans (Griffin House) who came to Canada for a better life, to pioneering families (Battlefield House) who helped to shape a whole community, our civic museums should really be viewed as an interrelated collection of moments of time in the life of Hamilton and of Hamiltonians.

So, please don’t think of Hamilton’s remarkable civic museums as just old and interesting buildings. Whether you were born here or a half a world away; whether you’re rich or just getting by; whether you’re young or old; think of Hamilton’s civic museums as places where personal stories were written and now are shared. Stories that togetherdefine who we are as a city and who we are as citizens in this city. As Ian Kerr-Wilson puts it, “Our museums should be a celebration of place versus a celebration of things.”

Visit them. Enjoy them. Share them. Treasure them. They’re our museums. If the last time you visited one of them was when you were in Grade 6, perhaps it’s time to see them again, as they say, for the first time. Sure, you’ll be in the same building you were in before, but you won’t be looking at what’s inside through the same eyes. Think of it as your very own new history.