Farmers’ Journal, Welland Canal Intelligencer, St. Catharines, December 10, 1828

Farmers’ Journal, Welland Canal Intelligencer, St. Catharines, the names Gore Gasette and E.W. Banting are written on the front page, December 10, 1828.

The St. Catharines Journal, February 16, 1844

The St. Catharines Journal. The name P. Bradt is written in ink on the front page, February 16, 1844.

The Evening Journal, St. Catharines, Ontario, May 8, 1883

The Evening Journal, St. Catharines, Ontario, May 8, 1883.

The Evening Journal, St. Catharines, Ontario, August 16, 1900

The Evening Journal, St. Catharines, Ontario, August 6, 1900.

The St. Catharines Standard supplement, November 28, 1974

The St. Catharines Standard supplement featuring a Tribute to the Father of Transportation, the Honorable William Hamilton Merritt, November 28, 1974.

The Prince’s Visit to St. Catharines Broadside, 1860

Broadside advertising the appearance of the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, who was Queen Victoria’s eldest son. He was to become Edward VII. The visit took place on Tuesday, the 18th of September in 1860. The broadside measures 20 cm. x 17.5 cm. The Royal Coat of Arms is featured on the top. Different typefaces are used throughout the broadside. The Broadside reads: "The Prince's Visit to St. Catharines. His Royal Highness will be at St. Catharines on Tuesday, the 18th Sept. 1860. The Committee of Management express the earnest hope that the Inhabitants of the Counties of Lincoln & Welland Generally, will manifest their Loyalty by joining in an enthusiastic demonstration to the Prince. Come Early to get Seats! As the accommodation in the Amphitheatre will be limited. A Grand Procession Of Firemen and other Public Bodies will be formed, accompanied by Bands of Music. A Royal Salute Will be fired by the St. Catharines Volunteer Artillery Company; and British Cheers will be given by the assembled assembled thousands. A General Illumination in the Evening! God Save The Queen! C.P. Camp, Sec'y to Committee. St. Catharines, September 15, 1860."

Studying Your Own Country. Social Scientific Knowledge For Our Times and Places; Presidential Address to the Canadian Political Science Association, St Catharines, May 28, 2014

Political science is both a generalizing and an anchored, nationally defined, discipline. Too often, the first perspective tends to crowd out the latter, because it appears more prestigious, objective, or scientific. Behind the international/national dichotomy, there are indeed rival conceptions of social science, and important ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. This article discusses these assumptions and stresses the critical contribution of idiographic, single-outcome studies, the importance of producing relevant, usable knowledge, and the distinctive implications of studying one’s own country, where a scholar is also a citizen, involved in more encompassing national conversations. The aim is not to reject the generalizing, international perspective, or even the comparative approach, but rather to reaffirm the importance of maintaining as well, and in fact celebrating, the production of social scientific knowledge directly relevant for our own times and places.

A study of the household use of electricity in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Cover title.

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.

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta fonds, 1948-1983 (non-inclusive)

In 1903, the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen had their request granted to make the Old Welland Canal at Port Dalhousie the permanent site of the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. That same year organized rowing was established in St. Catharines when the St. Catharines Rowing and Canoe Club was formed. The Henley course was completed in July of 1903 after rowing was well underway. Although the Henley course served as an athletic and social event, rowing itself was slow to grow in the St. Catharines area. In 1915 the Regatta was cancelled for the duration of WWI and reinstated in 1919 when an increased public interest in the sport began to grow. Two years later, the Henley Aquatic Association was formed in order to control, maintain and improve the rowing facilities. This association was responsible for building a new clubhouse at Ann Street in 1921 and in 1931 completing the grandstands. Also in the 1930s the association had the Federal Government approve their appeal to have the Henley waters dredged for the first time. The St. Catharines Rowing Club re-located its headquarters to the Lakeport Road site. The 1940s brought more support from local groups and with that more events. In 1945, the St. Catharines Junior Chamber of Commerce began helping to organize and promote rowing locally. One of the new events at the Henley course was the "Schoolboy Championships". The growth of both rowing and the Henley continued growing through the 1950s. The Henley Aquatic Association acquired Reid's Island, now Henley Island, mainly through the efforts of Ted Nelson. In the 1960s, rowing really took off in St. Catharines. Women began to become recognized in the sport when Brock University created a women's rowing team. The second dredging was completed in 1964, leading to the creation of a world class rowing course. The facilities were upgraded to international standards and the Henley rowing course became Canada's first Class A FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron or International Federation of Rowing Associations) rowing course. The first North American Rowing Championship was held at the Henley course in 1967 and again in 1970 for the third championship. The Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation formed in 1972, along with the St. Catharines, Parks and Recreation Department created the first rowing school for youth. Since 1960, St. Catharines has been at a competitive level with other International rowing courses. The city continues to produce Olympic level athletes today.

F. R. Lalor and Wm. Jaques Papers, 1910

F.R. [Francis Ramsey] Lalor (1856-1929) was born in St. Catharines, Ont. but lived most of his life in Dunnville, Haldimand County, Ont. He was a merchant and manufacturer. In 1903 he and a few partners founded the Monarch Knitting Co. Lalor was also an exporter of hardwood ashes used for agricultural purposes as fertilizer. Lalor was active in politics, he was a Conservative and the member of parliament for Haldimand, having been elected in the 1904, 1908, 1911 and 1917 elections. William Jaques lived in Simcoe, Norfolk County, Ontario. He was a junk dealer by profession.

W.W. Tyrrill receipt, June 1888

A receipt from W.W. Tyrrill, of St. Catharines, Ontario dated June 2, 1888, for a ladies Swiss watch priced at $11.00. The receipt is a rental agreement which specifies the terms of a fee payment schedule. Information on the receipt indicates Mr. Tyrrill sold watches, jewelry, silver plated goods, albums and Bibles. He is also listed as an agent for pianos, organs and Singer sewing machines. This receipt was in the possession of Iris Sloman Bell, of St. Catharines. Relatives of the Sloman Bell families include former Black slaves from the United States who settled in southern Ontario.There are various spellings of the Tyrrill name within the Bell family archive. Other forms of the name include Tyrell, Tyrrell, and Terrell.

Bell Family Bible, Miscellaneous, 1895 - 1918

A page from the Bell Family Bible entitled "Miscellaneous" recording the dates and places of birth of the children of Charles and Mary Bell. The birth dates for the eight children listed range from 1895 to 1918. There is also a single entry under the heading "Age of Children of Delbert Bell". This Bible was in the possession of the Rick Bell of St. Catharines. The Bell family is descended from former Black slaves from the United States who settled in Canada.The handwritten entries appear to be as follows: "Ages of the children of Charles and Mary Bell are Wilbert Otto Bell born November 7th 1895 Erie Pa. Edna Beatrice Bell born May 25th 1897 Erie Pa. Lewis Terrell Bell born April 8th 1899 St. Catharines Ont. Gertrude Bell born November 26th 1902 St. Catharines Ont. Charles Henry Bell born June 6th 1906 St. Catharines Ont. Richard Wilson Bell born March 19th 1911 William Willoughby Bell born May 2nd 1912 both in St. Catharines Ontario Age of Children of Delbert Bell March 12th 1918 Delbert Charlie Bell"

Postcard - Photograph postcard showing two young males and one female (all unidentified)

A postcard with a photo image of two young males and a female (all unidentified). Postcard image is stamped on rear side "C.H. Arthur, 85 St. Paul St., St. Catharines, Ont."

Roberta "Bobbie" Styran fonds, 1707-2013, n.d.

Roberta “Bobbie” Styran was born and rasied in Fredericton, N.B. She graduated from McMaster University with a B.A. (1962) and M.A. (1964), before furthering her studies at the University of Toronto, where she received a Ph. D in History. From 1967 to 1978, she taught Medieval History at Brock University, where she developed an interest in the Welland Canal. She began a collaboration with Prof. Robert R. Taylor of the History Department at this time, researching the history of the Welland Canals. She later moved to Toronto and worked for the Ministry of Education, but returned to St. Catharines in 1988 to facilitate her work with Prof. Taylor. The two have co-authored several books, including The Welland Canals: the Growth of Mr. Merritt’s Ditch; Mr. Merritt’s Ditch: A Welland Canals Album; The Great “Swivel Link”: Canada’s Welland Canal and This Great National Object: Building the Nineteenth-Century Welland Canals. Bobbie travelled extensively, visiting many canal and industrial revolution sites in Great Britain and the United States. She was active in many canal associations, including the Canadian Canal Society (where she served as president and editor of the Society’s newsletter), the American Canal Society, and the Council of Inland Waterways International. She also helped to found the Welland Canals Preservation Association and organized and chaired the 2004 World Canals Conference at Brock University. In 2009, she received the W. Gordon Plewes Award from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, an award that recognized her services to Canadian engineering history.