This year marks the 140-year anniversary of the founding of Woman’s Medical College (precursor to Women’s College Hospital). In celebration of this anniversary, the Miss Margaret Robins Archives of Women’s College Hospital (WCH) was invited to install a display about our medical college and its rich history at Queen’s Park as part of the Legislative Assembly’s Community Exhibits Program. This program allows museums, archives, art galleries and historical societies across Ontario to exhibit historical and cultural material within the walls of the Legislative Building. Queen’s Park welcomes thousands of visitors, students and dignitaries each year.
The WCH Archives’ historical display was curated by Gabrielle Crowley, a recent Master of Information (MI) graduate of the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. It features photographs, medical artifacts and reproductions of textual records from the collection of the WCH Archives. Titled From Woman’s Medical College to Women’s College Hospital, the display examines WCH’s origins as a medical college to provide women with access to formal medical education in Canada. The display also explores the medical college’s evolution into Canada’s first women’s general hospital operated by female physicians, surgeons and medical specialists.
The historical display was installed in the West Wing of the Legislative Building by Crowley, WCH Archivist, Heather Gardiner and WCH Archives’ volunteer, Charlotte Broome. The display can be viewed until December 2023 as part of the tour program at Queen’s Park. Tours are free to all visitors and reservations can be made at: Find your tour or webinar | Legislative Assembly of Ontario (ola.org)