The Health Sciences Archives (HSA) collects, preserves and makes available records documenting the history, life, and people of McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences as well as Hamilton Health Sciences and its predecessor institutions.
The Archives contains a rich collection of textual records, photographs, oral histories, artifacts, architectural drawings and audio-visual material documenting the history of health and medicine, and health sciences education in Hamilton from the late 1800s to the present. Our collection contains information on a diverse range of topics including: the history of public health and medicine in Canada, the evolution of medical education and Problem Based Learning (PBL), the birth of evidence-based medicine at McMaster, hospital architecture, the development of midwifery and nursing education, healthcare during wartime, the treatment of disease, the history of occupational therapy and, developments in women’s and children’s healthcare.
Please connect with a member of our Archives Team if you have any research questions regarding our collections and services.
Research appointments can be made Monday-Friday between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Please contact us to make an appointment.
The Archives accepts donations of unpublished original material from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton Health Sciences, as well as from individuals connected to these institutions. In addition, we accept donations of material from community members and organizations relating to health and medicine in Hamilton. We collect material in all formats and from all eras up to the present day. Please contact the HSL Archivist if you have material you would like us to consider for donation.
The HSA regularly launches dynamic new exhibitions that explore various topics related to the history of healthcare and McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences. Included are stories, documents, photographs, and artifacts found within its collection.