An Act to authorise the stock held by private parties in the Welland Canal to be purchased on behalf of the Province [Welland Canal Stock Bill], 1841

The bill is a proposal by the government to purchase Welland Canal stock held in private hands. The bill was read for the first time on Wednesday 4 August, 1841, and received second reading on 10th August, 1841. One hundred and fifty copies were printed of the bill. This example was addressed to Samuel Street at the Falls of Niagara, by William Hamilton Merritt, September 1841.

Bishop Fuller’s Charge, n.d.

Thomas Brock Fuller was born in 1810 in Kingston, Ont. and died in 1884 in Hamilton, Ont. At the age of seven he was adopted by his aunt Margaret and her husband Rev. William Leeming, a Church of England missionary in Niagara. Fuller would go on to become a minister himself, serving in Montreal, Lachine, Chatham, Thorold and Toronto. In 1875 he became the first bishop of the new diocese of Niagara. Thomas Brock Fuller was married to Cynthia Street, daughter of well-known merchant Samuel Street. Together they raised a family of six sons and three daughters. The poem may have been written by Thomas Brock Fuller himself.

Copies of two dispatches upon the subject of the Welland Canal, 1827-1828

The material is a printed record of two dispatches sent by Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada to secretary of state for the colonies, the first in 1827 to Earl Bathurst, the second in 1828 to Right Hon. W. Huskisson. The dispatches concern funding for the canal as well as an introduction of William Hamilton Merritt as managing agent of the Welland Canal Company. It was the intention of the Welland Canal Company to send Mr. Merritt to England to gain further assistance from the government and private investors.

Gilbert McMicken document, n.d.

Gilbert McMicken emigrated to Upper Canada in 1832 and settled in Chippawa. In 1835 he was married to Ann Theresa Duff. In 1837 the family moved to Queenston where he was directly involved in the Kingston-Queenston trade endeavours begun by Robert Hamilton. He had a variety of interests, including a partnership with James Hamilton, son of Robert Hamilton. He was also a collector of customs in Queenston and operated the Niagara Suspension Bridge Bank for a time. He entered politics and represented Niagara as well as becoming mayor of Clifton, now part of Niagara Falls, Ont., in 1856. McMicken went on to have an illustrious career, serving as land agent and leader of Canada’s first undercover agency. McMicken moved to Manitoba and was active in business and politics. He died in Winnipeg in 1891. Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography – Gilbert McMicken website (March 22, 2010)

Horton Family collection, 1912, 1919, 1924, n.d.

Dr. William Hamilton Merritt, Jr. was born in 1865 and died in 1924. He was the son of Jedidiah Prendergast Merritt and Emily Prescott, grandson of William Hamilton Merritt. In 1892 he was married to Maud Claudman Hudson of Memphis, Tennessee and had a daughter and a son. During World War I he commanded the 14th battery at Flanders and after becoming ill served as part of the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance, 3rd Canadian Division, serving at a military hospital in Orpington, Kent, England and in 1917 at a military hospital in France. Dr. Merritt served as alderman and mayor for the city of St. Catharines, Ont. He was also a vice-president of the Imperial Bank of Canada, and served on the board of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. A memorial service was held in St. Thomas Church, St. Catharines, Ont. on April 24, 1924.

Conflicting ideologies in early childhood education : an exploration of Reggio-inspired practice

Within the field of early childhood education, the ideologies of child development and its parent discipline, developmental psychology, dominate both theory and practice. In recent years, educators have attempted to reconceptualise early childhood education by adopting more progressive approaches to teaching and learning. The aim of this present research study was to critically examine the experiences of early childhood educators who have adopted a Reggioinspired approach to educating young children. To explore their experiences, an institutional ethnography was employed involving seven educators from a large child care organization in Hamilton, Ontario. In line with the intent ofthis study, qualitative data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant-observations and textual analyses to explore the presence of developmental-psychological ideologies within early childhood education and Reggio-inspired practice. The present study also examined the challenges faced by educators who have adopted a Reggio-inspired approach. The results of this study indicate that ideologies associated with the developmental-psychological paradigm dominate the practice of early childhood educators and that the conflicting ideologies that surround Reggio educators may play a role in some of the challenges educators experience. The findings of this study thus demonstrate a need to adopt alternative approaches toward understanding both children and childhood, in both early childhood educational theory and practice.

Margaret Glassford fonds, 1941, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1973-1975, 1977-1984, 1986-2000, 2002, 2005, n.d.

Margaret was an only child who grew up on a farm just east of Cayuga, Ontario. After high school, Margaret attended Hamilton Teacher’s College and took a position with Grantham Public School Board and taught at Power Glen school. Margaret was married in 1962 and had 2 children, a daughter and a son in 1963 and 1964, respectively. Margaret left her teaching job to raise her children. Margaret was very creative and artistic and during this time, focused on these talents, which included painting, graphic arts and sewing. Margaret was also an accomplished pianist. In her 40’s, Margaret enrolled at Brock University and in 1989 obtained a Honors Bachelor of Arts degree with First-Class Honors in Sociology. In partial fulfillment of her Honors B.A. she completed her thesis that is entitled ; The State and Liberal Feminism: The Ontario Government’s “Business Ownership For Women Program”. While living in St. Catharines, Margaret attended York University and graduated with a Master of Arts in Sociology in 1992 where her studies focused on women’s issues. Margaret received a scholarship from York University and was a teaching assistant. Margaret stayed on at York University and completed her academic requirements for a Doctorate degree in Sociology. Her dissertation was on self employed women in St. Catharines at the beginning of WWII -- not the” Rosie the Riveters” who took over jobs formerly held by men who had to go off to fight World War II, but women who ran their own businesses when that was still unusual. Margaret completed the research for her thesis but did not complete her written thesis as she made a difficult decision to put her academic work on hold in the mid-1990’s and she returned to her love for the arts, although she always remained a voracious reader and interested in women’s issues. In the last decade of her life, she took up quilting with a passion, which she referred to as fabric arts. Margaret loved colour and being non-traditional. Margaret had been a quilting instructor at the Flemington College for Fine Arts in Haliburton. In 1997, Margaret founded Project Smile in the St. Catharines region, a non-profit group who make quilts for children with cancer. Margaret was also the President of the Niagara Heritage Quilters’ Guild in 2006-2007 and was very involved with the Local Council of Women.

Niagara Editorial Bureau/Ontario Editorial Bureau Administrative Records

Fonds contains materials related to the St. Catharines, Hamilton and Toronto Offices of the Ontario Editorial Bureau, from the early 1940s to 2008. All invoices and personal documents (life insurance plans, T4 slips, vacation pay, doctor's notes etc.) have been removed from this collection. Resumes have been removed and, if appropriate, placed in the biographical file. Duplicates have been removed.

Ontario Tender Fruit Grower’s Marketing Board Fonds, 1960, 1967, 1969-1977, 1980-1981, 1987

The Ontario Tender Fruit Marketing Board operates under the Farm Producers Marketing Act. It covers all tender fruit farmers who produce either fresh or canned products. Today the board has over 500 grower-members. Tender fruit in the Niagara region includes: peaches, pears, plums, grapes and cherries. The fruits are used in a number of different ways, from jams and jellies to desserts, sauces and wine. Peaches were first harvested along the Niagara river in 1779. Peter Secord (Laura Secord’s uncle) is thought to be the first farmer to plant fruit trees when he took a land grant near Niagara in the mid 1780s. Since the beginnings of Secord’s farm, peaches, pears and plums have been grown in the Niagara region ever since. However, none of the original varities of peach trees remain today. Peaches were often used for more than eating by early settlers. The leaves and bark of the tree was used to make teas for conditions such as chronic bronchitis, coughs and gastritis. Cherries have been known to have anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties. Like peaches and cherries, pears had many uses for the early pioneers. The wood was used to make furniture. The juice made excellent ciders and the leaves provided yellow dyes. Plums have been around for centuries, not only in the Niagara region, but throughout the world. They have appeared in pre-historic writings and were present for the first Thanksgiving in 1621. The grape industry in Ontario has also been around for centuries. It began in 1798 when land was granted to Major David Secord (brother-in-law to Laura Secord) slightly east of St. David’s, on what is Highway No. 8 today. Major Secord’s son James was given a part of the land in 1818 and in 1857 passed it onto Porter Adams. Adams is known to be the first person to plant grapes in Ontario1. Tender fruits are best grown in warm temperate climates. The Niagara fruit belt, stretching 65km from Hamilton to Niagara on the Lake, provides the climate necessary for this fruit production. This belt produces 90% of Ontario’s annual tender fruit crop. It is one of the largest fruit producing regions in all of Canada.

Walker Brothers Quarries Limited fonds, 1975, 1980-1981, 1984, 1987-1989

Serving the Niagara and surrounding areas for over 120 years, Walker Industries has made its impact not only commercially, but also culturally. Beginning in 1875 with the erection of a stone sawing mill on a property John Walker purchased from the Welland Canal Loan Company. One of the first projects Walker cut stone for was the Merritton Town Hall. In 1882 the business expanded to include Walkers children, changing the name to Walker & Sons. Eventually in 1887 the two eldest sons took control of the business operation and their partnership changed the company’s name to Walker Brothers, the same year the company began operating its first quarry. The quarry was conveniently located alongside the 3rd Welland canal, offering easy access to Toronto and Hamilton. It was also close to the railway system which allowed immediate access to Thorold and Niagara Falls and later access to parts of Ontario and Quebec. The quarry supplied stone to build numerous halls and armouries across Ontario. A use was also found for the ‘waste products’ of cutting the limestone. Leftover stone chips were sent to paper mills, where stone was needed as part of the sulphite pulp process for making paper. Beginning to supply the Ontario Paper Company with stone in 1913, meant not only long, hard, work, but also more profit for the company. Before mechanization, most of the loading and unloading of the stone was done by hand, taking 19 man-hours to load an 18 yard railway car. Mechanization followed in 1947 when the plant became fully mechanized making the work easier and increasing production rates. In 1957 the company moved from its original location and opened the St. Catharines Crushed Stone Plant.

City of St. Catharines fonds, 1951-1964, 1970-1973, 1978-1982, n.d.

The fonds contains materials relating to the City of St. Catharines from the 1950s to 1980s. The materials included are correspondence, clippings, media releases, and some photographs. Folders are arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each series. The series are arranged alphabetically.

Lini Richarda Grol Fonds, 1946-2007

Lini Richarda Grol was originally born in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1913 and immigrated to Canada in 1954 after working as a nurse in South America for three years from 1951 to 1954. She was granted her first Canadian passport in 1961 and worked full-time as nurse at the Welland County Hospital. While nursing she would enroll in writing courses at McMaster University and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, now Ryerson University. Eventually she decided to dedicate herself to her writing and artwork and began to only work as a nurse part-time and then later opened the Fonthill Studio to devote herself to her writing and artwork full-time. Her status as an immigrant and career as a nurse provided inspiration for much of her writing and she frequently tackles the experience of the female immigrant in her works. Her first publication was in 1938 in a small literary and women’s magazines in Holland and Belgium and her first work of poetry was entitled Stive Gedachten. None of these publications exist in this archive. Her most well-known publication, Liberation, centers around her experiences leading up to and after the liberation of Holland during World War II. Grol was, and continues to be a prolific writer in the Niagara Region and has been published in the Welland Tribune, Pelham Herald, Thorold News, Parent Magazine, Dunville Chronicle, and various Christian publications and literary newsletters and journals. Grol also started her own poetry magazine entitled Canadian Poets Pen Club to help aspiring writers get published. Perhaps her most recognized achievement was the inclusion of one of her poems and the recognition of her novel Liberation into the Thank You Canada Day celebration in May 1970. Grol participated in many local writers’ groups such as the Welland Writer’s Club, and the Canadian Author’s Association. Grol was membership secretary for the Canadian Author’s Association in 1984. She also founded a writer’s club in 1995 in her retirement home, Holland Christian Homes where members meet to talk about their poems and short stories either in English or Dutch. Participating in and creating a writers’ community is integral to Grol’s identity as an author and can be related to the feelings of isolation she felt as an immigrant to Canada. Grol also hosted her own television shows entitled Discovery with Lini Grol which featured guests, usually local artists and writers, and Holland en Hollanders a cultural program for Dutch immigrants. Grol’s most recent activities include the publication of a one act play entitled Peppermint Problems [1996] and a short story entitled “When our War started in Rotterdam” [2004]. In 1994, she moved to Brampton, Ontario into a Christian retirement center called Holland Christian Homes. For further biographical information about Grol see two books contained within this collection Women of Action [1976] and Something About the Author [1976].

Office of the City Clerk, St. Catharines Records, 1928-1974, n.d.

The site of present-day St. Catharines was settled by 3000 United Empire Loyalists at the end of the 18th century. From 1790, the settlement (then known as "The Twelve") grew as an agricultural community. St. Catharines was once referred to Shipman's Corners after Paul Shipman, owner of a tavern that was an important stagecoach transfer point. In 1815, leading businessman William Hamilton Merritt abandoned his wharf at Queenston and set up another at Shipman's Corners. He became involved in the construction and operation of several lumber and gristmills along Twelve Mile Creek. Shipman's Corners soon became the principal milling site of the eastern Niagara Peninsula. At about the same time, Merritt began to develop the salt springs that were discovered along the river which subsequently gave the village a reputation as a health resort. By this time St. Catharines was the official name of the village; the origin of the name remains obscure, but is thought to be named after Catharine Askin Robertson Hamilton, wife of the Hon. Robert Hamilton, a prominent businessman. Merritt devised a canal scheme from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario that would provide a more reliable water supply for the mills while at the same time function as a canal. He formed the Welland Canal Company, and construction took place from 1824 to 1829. The canal and the mills made St. Catharines the most important industrial centre in Niagara. By 1845, St. Catharines was incorporated as a town, with the town limits extending in 1854. Administrative and political functions were added to St. Catharines in 1862 when it became the county seat of Lincoln. In 1871, construction began on the third Welland Canal, which attracted additional population to the town. As a consequence of continual growth, the town limits were again extended. St. Catharines attained city status in 1876 with its larger population and area. Manufacturing became increasingly important in St. Catharines in the early 1900s with the abundance of hydro-electric power, and its location on important land and water routes. The large increase in population after the 1900s was mainly due to the continued industrialization and urbanization of the northern part of the city and the related expansion of business activity. The fourth Welland Canal was opened in 1932 as the third canal could no longer accommodate the larger ships. The post war years and the automobile brought great change to the urban form of St. Catharines. St. Catharines began to spread its boundaries in all directions with land being added five times during the 1950s. The Town of Merritton, Village of Port Dalhousie and Grantham Township were all incorporated as part of St. Catharines in 1961. In 1970 the Province of Ontario implemented a regional approach to deal with such issues as planning, pollution, transportation and services. As a result, Louth Township on the west side of the city was amalgamated, extending the city's boundary to Fifteen Mile Creek. With its current population of 131,989, St. Catharines has become the dominant centre of the Niagara region. Source: City of St. Catharines website http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/governin/HistoryOfTheCity.asp (January 27, 2011)

Phelps Family Papers [photocopy]

Oliver Phelps, son of Noah and Sarah (Adams) Phelps, was born in 1779 in Connecticut. In 1800 he married Abigail St. John, daughter of Lt. Samuel St. John and his wife Lois Hamilton. They had 9 daughters and 7 sons. Oliver Phelps came to Canada as a contractor on the first Welland Canal. In addition, he became a land owner and mill owner in partnership with William Hamilton Merritt. Oliver Phelps died in 1851 in Cayuga, Ontario along the Grand River. Some correspondence originates from a place called “Deep Cut”, an earlier name for the village of Allanburg, Thorold Township, Welland County.

Smart girls : a deconstructive discourse analysis of smartness

This project is a deconstructive discourse analysis of smart girlhood. From a feminist post structural framework, with a focus on discourse and performative identity, I scrutinize three dominant discourses of smartness that are prevalent and academic and popular press. These constructions frame smart girls as being either Losers, Have-It-All Girls, or Imposters. By conducting semi-structured group interviews with six self-identified smart girls, I explore the question of how smart girls perform their smart girl identities in their current sociocultural context. After analyzing the data from the group interviews, I outline five themes that seem to be prevalent in the stories told by the smart girls in this thesis. Finally, I discuss how the performative identities of the smart girls in my thesis appear to be much more complex, multiple and rhizomatic than the discourses under review allow.