Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Archives of Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Health Sciences Archives at McMaster University has a rich history that informally began in 1973. Initially driven by concerns over the lack of official records documenting the development of the McMaster Medical School and the Health Sciences Centre, an appeal was made for relevant material from individuals and departments connected with the Medical School to be “frozen” and stored. The effort to collect these records was formalized in July 1974 with the launch of the McMaster Health Sciences Archives Project, which aimed to collect, preserve, index, record, and make available essential documents such as minutes, correspondence, and articles.
In October 1974, Joan McAuley was appointed as the first full-time archivist, tasked with collecting and sorting through material. An ad hoc Archives Committee, consisting of notable figures such as Dr. W.B. Spaulding, Dr. V.R. Neufeld, and Head Librarian Mrs. B. Robinow, supported this initiative. By March 1975, the archival collection had a dedicated area in the Technical Services area of the Health Sciences Library (HSL).
By November 1975, the Archives continued to expand, with a clerk-typist hired in January 1976 to assist with typing and cataloguing the collection, followed by a cataloguer and indexer in February 1976. The cataloguing of 105 running feet of paper was completed by April 1978, but financial constraints led to the termination of the full-time archivist position. From 1978 to 1984, archival work was maintained sporadically by a reference assistant and temporary staff, with issues of space becoming an increasing concern as material from the School of Medicine and School of Nursing continued to be transferred.
Prior to her retirement in 1982, Head Librarian Beatrix Robinow prepared a report highlighting the need for a defined mandate, qualified staff, and proper funding for the Archives. Barbara Craig, an expert consultant from the Archives of Ontario was brought on to conduct an external review and concurred with these recommendations. In December 1983, the Faculty of Health Sciences formally recognized the then ad hoc Archives Committee as a duly constituted body and endorsed a properly funded and staffed archives.
In the spring of 1984, the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences agreed to jointly fund an archivist position to collect and manage the records of both bodies. In January 1985, Carl Spadoni was appointed as archivist. Spadoni would implement a program to restore the provenance of records and manage record transfers. He would then oversee the move of records from the Technical Services area to the newly constructed archives storage area and adjoining office June of 1985. Spadoni would serve as archivist until the end of 1986. In 1987, Marian Bonkoff was hired as temporary archivist, and a formal agreement was signed by the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences, giving the archives a mandate and financially committing to the archives program. A great number of records from the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals would be deposited at this time.
Anne McKeage would succeed Marian Bonkoff in July of 1988 as the new Archivist and History of Medicine Librarian, until her retirement in Feb of 2017. Anne McKeage would be instrumental in creating an initial database program where the archives inventory could be searched, microfilming records for preservation in case of environment disasters, and utilizing student help and volunteers to index collections and identify individuals in photo collections. Anne would also develop an access agreement with the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals to allow use of their materials with researchers, as well as helped implement a Records Management Program. Additionally, Anne was involved in early reconciliation efforts with Inuit and their records.
From Feb 2017 to May 2018, Librarian Jack Young would provide reference assistance with the archives and was Acting Archivist/History of Medicine Librarian.
Melissa Caza would be hired as the new Health Sciences Library Archivist in July of 2018.
In 2023 Jackson Charbonneau would be hired in the new full-time position of Archives Technician to expand the work being done in the Health Sciences Archives. During this same year, Joseph Iyengar would be hired as a Project Archivist to process the Hamilton Academy of Medicine collection.