Welcome to the Archives Section of the HAALSA website

Founded as The Hamilton Scientific Association, the Hamilton Association is one of Canada’s oldest non-profit cultural organizations. It has endeavoured to enhance community knowledge with free public lectures since 1857.

The Hamilton Public Library, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton Camera Club, Art Gallery of Hamilton, and McMaster University all began as sections of, or drew early support from, the Association.

From this page you can access a variety of documents, images and other resources that illustrate the nature and range of the Association's activities since its founding in 1857. The coverage varies greatly, as we have many records from years in the last two decades, some records from a few years in the the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and nothing or almost nothing from other years.

This section of our site is very much a continuing (albeit slow!) work in progress. Visit to your heart's content today. Then return in a year or two, to see what we may have added.

If you possess any historical materials pertaining to the Association, such as old minute books, annual lecture brochures, posters, letters, photographs, or newspaper articles, we would be delighted to see them. Contact the Association President or our Corresponding Secretary by email or speak with any member of the Executive Council at one of our public lectures. Click here for more contact details.