Literacy and Oral History in the Made-in-Hamilton Project

Mary Breen, Executive Director,
Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre

In 1996, Ed Thomas, a member of CUPE Local Five and a longstanding member of the Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (OWAHC) board, made a proposal for an exhibit. He wanted to focus on machinery and products made in Hamilton since the 19th century, which he also enjoyed collecting at yard sales. Now a few short years later, the multi-partner, multi-faceted "Made-in-Hamilton" Heritage Project is about to launch the Millennium Industrial Trail, a citywide bus/car/bike/walking tour anchored by exhibits at OWAHC and the Hamilton Museum of Steam And Technology. The trail marks 80 sites of historical, industrial and architectural significance in Hamilton.

Because of OWAHC's leadership role in the project, we wanted to take every opportunity to tell the story of the workers who spent huge chunks of their lives inside these buildings.

Production at the Studebaker car factory

Supported by the "Reading The Museum" program, we were able to include workers enrolled in a Workers Education Centre literacy class. In a perfect turn of events, these workers are members of CUPE Local Five, outside municipal workers like Ed Thomas, who in the meantime had taken part in a workplace literacy class and gone on to write a history of his union local and to publish "A Worker's Guide To Doing Local Union History." The workers' contributions to the "Made-In-Hamilton" project is a collection of oral histories gathered from their co-workers, neighbors and family members. This testimony will go into a book about the industrial heritage to complement and expand on the information provided on the industrial trail. There is also room in this large publication to include the kind of anecdotes and personal recollections that bring history to life for a wide audience.

The class instructor, Sandy Shaw, also incorporated lessons about Hamilton's labour history and industrial roots into her literacy curriculum. She developed learning activities based on short labour history videos and written materials in OWAHUs resource centre. The workers also had a walking tour of Hamilton's North End. As well, Sandy brought Ed Thomas and project historian Bob Kristofferson into the class to talk about labour's role in the shaping of Hamilton.

The Studebaker Corporation of Canada

The workers initially approached the recording equipment, and their tasks, with some hesitation. But fifteen minutes after trying out the microphones and buttons; they were interviewing each other about their work experiences and about Hamilton landmarks of particular significance to them. By the end of the session, they were ready and enthusiastic about conducting interviews. The sidebar contains an excerpt from an oral history that will go into the industrial heritage publication.

Given the material collected, the project was a unique experience for both participants and interviewees. They were all able to share work stories, struggles and laughs and in so doing contributed to telling the history of industrial Hamilton.