Founded in 1996 on the initiative of the late Dr. T. M. Bailey, a noted Hamilton historian, the HMHS aspires to assist the community on the Mountain to know and appreciate its heritage.
Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society
"The Mountain" in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
"Mountain Memories" is Back in Print
A limited edition reprint of the highly successful book Mountain Memories is now available. The cost is $35.00.To reserve a copy send an e-mail to bernhardt.r@gmail.com. with the subject line "Mountain Memories".
While Mountain Memories is a pictorial history it is much more than just pictures. It tells the story of the original settlement and growth of the Mountain community. It will help those who live on the Mountain today appreciate more fully the character of the community of which they are a part.
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 16th.
For over 100 years Concession Street has been a vital part of life on our Mountain. Jerry Johansen will tell us the story.
"Fiery, Fearless and Feminine"
Nora-Frances Henderson
(1896-1949)
Nora-Frances Henderson
(1896-1949)
Excerpted from "Hamilton's Famous and Fascinating"
by T. M. Bailey and C.A. Carter (1972)
"I'll run if you won't!" said spunky, diminutive Nora Henderson. Run she did! She became our first woman to win an aldermanic seat; first female controller in Canada; a "City Father," substituting for the mayor.
Sixteen-year-old Nora invented a rotating oven on her father's Winona farm. "It is impractical," a stove manufacturer wrote to her, "But, you write so clearly and logically that you must become a writer." Urged on by her mother she invaded the totally male Hamilton Herald. It was a den of iniquity, she remembered, blue with smoke. Reporters played cards with their feet on the desk. She got the job! By 1932 she rose to Women's Editor. Readers chuckled over the pungent and subtle humour of her column, "Mrs. Pepys' Diary." She later wrote a book, "The Citizens of Tomorrow." Her "Pageant of Motherhood" was performed at the Savoy Theatre.
Nora believed that people appreciated frankness. Sometimes this backfired. At the start of her career it often irritated old ladies, policemen and clergymen. She could outface many a person twice her size, like the crowd that sang, "We'll hang Nora Henderson to a sour apple tree." Then, there was the woman who pulled her hair and the man who kicked her in the seat. During the tense steel strike she defiantly crossed the picket lines.
Generosity was a sister to her braveness. Often she handed out civic relief deficiencies from her own pocket. When she retired from city politics she became director of the Ontario Children's Aid Society. Her work there initiated child protection laws now in force in Canada, England and the United States. A scholarship perpetuates her name. Hamilton's Nora-Frances Henderson Hospital is her finest memorial.
Unfortunately, the memorial referred to in the last line of this bio sketch has now been sold to someone else!
HMHS Newsletter Now Available Online To read or download the latest edition of the "Bailey Bulletin", the HMHS newsletter, simply click on Newsletter.
Questions about our community?
Often people have questions about their neighbourhood or their local family roots and don't know where to find the answers. Well, we will be the first to admit that we at the HMHS don't have all the answers. However, we are certainly interested in helping people find the answers to their questions. We are proposing to post the questions that people submit to us so that those within our group and others in our community who are knowledgeable about our community's history can perhaps lend a hand. Visit the "You Were Asking" page to learn how to share your questions or to help with finding answers.