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Westinghouse began operations in Hamilton, Ont. in February 1897 as a branch plant of the American company. It was incorporated as a Canadian company in 1903. It established plants across Canada, and its products have included air brakes, household appliances, and steam and gas turbines. In 1995, the parent company, Westinghouse Electric, bought CBS broadcasting company, changed its name to CBS Corporation and focussed its attention on the media. In 1998 the Power Generation Unit, including the plants on Sanford Avenue and Beach Road in Hamilton, were sold to Siemens AG of Germany. They were renamed Siemens Westinghouse and subsequently became divisions of Siemens Canada Ltd.

McMaster University was founded in 1887 in Toronto, Ont. and named after Senator William McMaster who had bequeathed sufficient funding to endow an Christian institution of higher learning. It opened in Toronto in 1890. Inadequate facilities and the gift of land in Hamilton prompted the institution to relocate in 1930. Until 1957 the Governors of the University were elected by the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. In that year, the University became a non-denominational institution.

The head of McMaster University was given the title of Chancellor until 1950 when George P. Gilmour was given the title of President and Vice-Chancellor and a new Chancellor, E. Carey Fox was chosen. Gilmour had been Chancellor of McMaster University since 1941. Since 1950 seven presidents have headed McMaster University: George P. Gilmour, 1950-1961; Henry G. Thode, 1961-1972; Arthur N. Bourns, 1972-1980; Alvin A. Lee, 1980-1990; Geraldine A. Kenney-Wallace, 1990-1995; Peter J. George, 1995-2010; Patrick Deane, 2010-present.

The head of McMaster University was given the title of Chancellor until 1950 when George P. Gilmour was given the title of President and Vice-Chancellor and a new Chancellor, E. Carey Fox was chosen. Gilmour had been Chancellor of McMaster University since 1941.

Since 1950 seven presidents have headed McMaster University: George P. Gilmour, 1950-1961; Henry G. Thode, 1961-1972; Arthur N. Bourns, 1972-1980; Alvin A. Lee, 1980-1990; Geraldine A. Kenney-Wallace, 1990-1995; Peter J. George, 1995-2010; Patrick Deane, 2010-present.

Friends of McMaster was incorporated in New York state on March 4, 1953, and formally organized into an incorporation on November 19, 1955. The object of the organization was: “To solicit and collect funds and contributions and to receive by gift, deed, legacy, bequest or devise, and otherwise to acquire money an property of every kind and description, and to administer the same, both as to principal and income exclusively towards the charitable, scientific, educational, literary and/or religious activities carried on by McMaster University, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the specific provision of scholarships to enable students from the United States of America to enter McMaster University, and to enable Canadian students to undertake post-graduate studies in the United States, and to expend, use, or otherwise dispose of such principal and income for the furtherance of the above-mentioned charitable, scientific, educational, literary and/or religious activities of McMaster University in such fashion as that body may prescribe and determine.”
The organization was originally headed by Dr. Wallace P. Cohoe of the Bank of Nova Scotia, New York. Directors were elected by and from among the New York district of McMaster Alumni. Other presidents include W. Alec Jordan and Gordon W. McKinley. Dr. Harry Lyman Hooker was a prominent benefactor to the Friends of McMaster. The organization mainly held their accounts at C.I.B.C. and Chemical Bank, both in New York.

Tools for Perace was formed to provide humanitarian aid to Nicaragua. It grew out a visit of a group of fishermen from British Columbia to Nicaragua in 1981. On their return to Canada they began to gather supplies to help a Nicaraguan fishing village. By 1983 Tools for Peace had been formally organized with a head office in Vancouver and branches across Canada. In the spring of 1984 members of the El Salvadorean Committee in Hamilton, Ont. decided to became active in collecting goods for Nicaragua and joined Tools for Peace. The Hamilton group concentrated on collecting school supplies as well as donating cash. They also sponsored speakers from Nicaragua. Although the Hamilton group was still active as late as 1995, the Vancouver head office had been closed sometime before that. A longer history of the organization, written by Jessie Kaye, is available in hard copy.

Key Porter Books of Toronto, Ontario, was established by Anna Porter and Richard de Pencier in 1979. In addition to being one of the largest independent trade publishers in Canada, the company maintained an international reputation as a producer of quality books in an extensive range of categories. Key Porter published between 75 and 100 new titles annually in the areas of photography, art, business, finance, Canadian history and biography, memoirs, natural science, politics and current issues. Under the Key Porter Kids (KPK) imprint, the list included non-fiction, young adult fiction and picture books by authors such as Margaret Atwood, Tom King, László Gál, Carol Matas, Henry Kim and Tim Wynne Jones. Key Porter also published fiction using three imprints: Key Porter fiction, Patrick Crean Editions, and Lester and Orpen Dennys Limited. The list included Canadian and international writers such as Joan Barfoot, George Bowering, Sylvia Fraser, Thomas Keneally, Susan Swan, William Trevor and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Among Key Porter’s non-fiction authors were Jack Batten, Stevie Cameron, Jean Chrétien, Robert Fulford, Basil Johnston, Farley Mowat and Eric Wright. Anna Porter sold Key Porter Books in July 2004 to H.F. Fenn. In September 2009 the company relocated to Bolton, Ontario and incurred a reduction in staff. Key Porter Books went out of business in early January 2011.

Writing magazine was begun by the poets David McFadden (1940-) and Fred Wah (1939-), at the David Thompson University Centre in Nelson, British Columbia, in 1980. Though it began as part of the creative writing programme there, it is not a student magazine. It has published the work of Canadian writers such as Margaret Atwood, Susan Musgrave, and George Bowering, among others.

The National Committee for Independent Canadian Unions, based in Toronto, was formed in 1973 and operated until 1976. One of the donors of the fonds, Terence W. Barker, wrote of the organization: "it operated ... as a fellow traveller of the Canadian Liberation Movement (Marxist/Leninist/Maoist). Not surprisingly, perhaps, it was dissention-ridden from start to finish." Barker believes he was the last official spokesperson for the National Committee at the founding congress in Ottawa in October 1976 of the Canadian Voice for Independence, one of the successor organizations to the National Committee for Independent Canadian Unions. Barker also included some records of other associations either affiliated with the National Committee or of which Barker was a member, including the North York High School Teachers' Association, 1976-1982 and the Metropolitan Association of Supply Teachers, 1971-1975.

The Canadian poet John W. Curry (jw curry) created the Curvd H&z Press in Toronto in 1979. Curvd H&z Press continues the tradition of such 1960s Canadian poetry presses as Gronk, Ganglia and Blewointment. It is particularly interested in offbeat, experimental, concrete and sound poetry. The writers include such well-known poets as bp nichol and Steve McCaffery, and lesser known ones like Peggy Lefler, William Maki and John Curry himself.

The Copp Clark Company is best known as a Canadian educational publisher, with forays into board games and greeting cards. The history of Copp Clark Company can be traced back to 1841, when Hugh Scobie, a Scotsman opened a book and stationery store on King Street East in Toronto. In 1847 he produced the first edition of the Canadian Almanac and Directory, published annually thereafter. After Scobie’s death, the firm changed hands and names several times until 1869 when two employees, William Copp and Henry Clark, gained control, eventually giving the company the name of The Copp Clark Company Limited.

By the early 1900s, Copp Clark had evolved into a major educational publisher of textbooks, primarily in language arts and mathematics. As well as producing books and stationery items, the company established its own typesetting, printing and binding operations, branching out into games and greeting card manufacturing. In 1900 the company moved to a new office and warehouse on Front Street in Toronto, but the building was destroyed by fire in 1904. Copp Clark acted as agents for many American and British publishers and published works by such notable authors as Sir Winston Churchill, G.K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling and Edith Wharton.

In 1965 the business was bought by Pitman Publishing, and the name was changed to Copp Clark Pitman. Copp Clark Pitman was affiliated with Longman (owned by Pearson P.L.C.), which purchased the press in 1985. Copp Clark Pitman celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1991. In June 1998, Copp Clark Professional, the only remaining division of Copp Clark, closed its office on Front St. in Toronto. Copp Clark Professional is currently located in Mississauga, Ont., and is a leading publisher of financial calendars.

Local 5 members are employees of the City of Hamilton, the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, Royal Botanical Gardens, Flamborough, Glanbrook, Mount Hope Airport, and Third Sector Recycling.

City of Hamilton workers were first organized in 1918 as part of the American Federation of Labour. In April 1933 the organization moved to the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada as the Civic Maintenance Association, number 33. It joined the Canadian Congress of Labour on 25 April 1943, as the Hamilton Civic Employees Union, without a local number. It received its local designation 5 when it joined the National Organization of Civic Utilities and Electrical Workers on 1 January 1945. Local 5 joined with the National Union of Public Service Employees (NUPSE) on 11 September 1953 which in turn joined with the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) to form the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) on 24 September 1963. In 2000 Local 5 joined with Local 167 to form Local 5167.

For a more extensive history, see Ed Thomas, The Crest of the Mountain: The Rise of CUPE Local Five in Hamilton (1995). The book has been catalogued for Research Collections; a second copy can be found in the fonds.

Local 5167 consists of seven units, from DARTS, Macassa and Wentworth Lodges, Royal Botanical Gardens, Good Shepherd Centres, Hamilton International Airport and the City of Hamilton with both outside and inside working groups. This Local came about from the merger of the working groups from Town of Dundas, Town of Stoney Creek, Town of Flamborough, Town of Glanbrook, City of Hamilton, Hamilton International Airport and the organizing of Good Shepherd Centres –Women’s Services in early 2000. Union members of this local previously belonged to either Local 5 or Local 167.

Peace Brigades International was founded in Canada on 4 September 1981. Peace workers from Europe, Canada, United States and India met at Grindstone Island and issued a founding statement which read in part "[We] will undertake nonpartisan missions which may include peacemaking initiatives, peacekeeping under a discipline of nonviolence, and humanitarian service."

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was formed in 1963 by a merger of the National Union of Public Employees and the National Union of Public Service Employees.

The workers at Artistic Woodwork Co. staged a four month strike in Toronto in 1973. Strike issues included the rights of immigrant workers to organize, the use of undercover strike breakers, and the role of the police. There were 108 arrests during the strike, including strike supporters such as a United Church minister. An agreement was eventually reached but within three years a decertification vote was held. In 1992 the CTCU joined the Canadian Auto Workers as Local 40.

Local 205 received its charter on 27 June 1900 from the Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators of America. Meetings to organize the local began in August 1899, after the failure of Local 27. Members of Local 205 work for a variety of different contractors. This history of Local 205 has been written in two-coil bound, mimeographed books. The first on is located with the fonds and was written by George McMenemy. The second book has been catalogued for Archives and Research Collections. The International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades officially changed its name to International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, in August 1999, to better reflect its membership of men and women.

Local 205 received its charter on 27 June 1900 from the Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators of America. Meetings to organize the local began in August 1899, after the failure of Local 27. Members of Local 205 work for a variety of different contractors. This history of Local 205 has been written in two-coil bound, mimeographed books. The first one is located with the fonds and was written by George McMenemy. The second book has been catalogued for Archives and Research Collections. The International Brotherhood of Painter and Allied Trades officially changed its name to International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, in August, 1999, to better reflect its membership of men and women.

Local 1795 received its charter from the International Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers on 8 December 1954. Members of this local are glaziers. The International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades officially changed its name to International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, in August 1999, to better reflect its membership of men and women.

Local 1795 received its charter from the International Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers on 8 December 1954. Members of this local are glaziers. International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades officially changed its name to International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, in August 1999, to better reflect its membership of men and women.

The International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades was chartered on 29 June 1956 for all the union painters, glaziers and allied trades in the area of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario. It officially changed its name to International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, in August 1999, to better reflect its membership of men and women.