A Journey into the Archives - CFMU Staff Picks
Archives aren’t exactly secrets; most of us are vaguely aware that they exist, and that they store old documents from bygone eras. Yet it’s pretty rare to step into one unless you’re an archivist or researcher. Of course, this is what archives are usually used for – research. But this is not why I am recommending the archives to you. I’m recommending them because there are few better places to find preserved truly cool, weird, and fascinating items and stories.
Research is what originally brought me to the archives - the William Ready Division of Archives in Mills Library’s basement and the local history archives at the central branch of Hamilton’s Public Library system. I spent weeks in both, because I found just so much cool stuff to look through.
For example, in 1981 a group of students tried to start a campus-wide game of “Assassin,” where participants would receive a picture of another student along with a toy gun and a rubber-tip dart. They had to “assassinate” them while trying to avoid the assassin out to get them. You need to understand that this was a campus-wide game. You could be in a class in Hamilton Hall, getting lunch in the cafeteria, or just headed back to your dorm at Brandon, and bam! Suddenly, you’re assassinated. Of course, the game itself was clearly inappropriate, and Mac administration and professors did not take well to the idea of students shooting each other (even with toy guns) across campus. Nonetheless, the story painted a vivid picture of both how different, and just how similar life at university was then to now.
From the 1996 copy of The Marmor, found in the Local History and Archives section of Hamilton Public Library's central branch.
In my first year, I played a game of campus-wide hide and seek, turning campus into a playground just like these students had four decades ago. This is obviously a very different game to the one they played, but the echoes of the fun they had on campus carry through into my university experience. Its these echoes that make a trip to the archives more than just interesting, that turn that visit into a moment of connection with those that were here before us.
Photos have even more impact. I found an issue of the Marmor (the old McMaster year books) from 1996, not that long ago really, but still showing the lives of those that were here over two decades before me. It was filled with photos of students at welcome week, living in their dorms, studying on campus, hanging out in Hamilton, and even getting some posters at the still-ongoing yearly poster sale. How is your life like theirs? Did they go through the same personal trials and tribulations as you? Did they enjoy the same parts of campus as you? Did they spend late nights in Hamilton Hall classrooms mucking about with the blackboard? Did they get woken up by 4AM Brandon Hall fire alarms? At the archives, you get a glimpse into these lives. You get to see yourself through and against the past.
From the 1996 copy of The Marmor, found in the Local History and Archives section of Hamilton Public Library's central branch.
That is why I recommend that you go to the archives. It is both cool and incredibly enlightening. Of course, they may seem daunting to visit at first, but I’m happy to tell you that doing so is incredibly easy! If you want to drop by McMaster’s own William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, which has extensive collections not only on McMaster’s history, but politics and radicalism, Canadian music, and so much more, you just need to fill out a material request form, and then pop down into the [CCOC1] basement of Mills for your appointment! You can look on their website to explore which boxes you want to check out.
If you’re going to the public archives at the Hamilton Public Library systems’ central library (located next to Jackson Square), visiting is even easier! You can simply drop by and check out the extensive scrapbooks that have been made by collecting various archival (mostly news) material on topics ranging from McMaster campus life, to Hamilton’s sports teams, to CFMU, and more! Now, if you’re looking for a specific archival item that you’d like to request, you can check out their website, where you can find the email for the archives department.
Photo of McMaster campus in the 1950s, from the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections.
I also want to note that none of this is possible without the incredible work archivists do. At the archives, history is preserved on hand for us to simply browse through it. I don’t really have any way of further emphasizing how incredible that is. So, when you do go to the archives, be sure to be respectful, both of those who work there and the materials that are stored there. Listen to the archivists and treat what you look at with care, and you can get a chance to glimpse into a different world.