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SSP:Local Hamilton Recommended Reading List

I thought it'd be a good to have a thread where we list books or documents we think are relevant to the our discussions on this forum. Urban studies, history, anything local, and anything else that might be relevant.

Forgive me if this has been done already. If it has, could someone point me in right direction?

The document: Hamilton's Heritage Volume 5 - Reasons for Designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act
available at: http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...ageVolume5.pdf

What else should be on the list?

Here are the books we have listed so far:

Footsteps in Time Volume 1 Bill Manson
Footsteps in Time Volume 2 (North End) Bill Manson
Hamilton. an Illustrated History John C. Weaver
Housing the North American City Michael J. Doucet & John C Weaver
Their Town: The Mafia, the Media and the Party Machine Marsha Hewitt (Editor), Bill Freeman (Editor)
County of Wentworth 1853-1973 Olive Newcombe and Frank Woods
Around and About Hamilton 1785-1985 Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society
Up and Down Locke St. South Bill Manson
People, Space and Time: Landscape Change in Hamilton's Durand Neighbourhood, 1946-1994 Walter G. Peace
From Mountain to Lake: The Red Hill Creek Valley Walter G. Peace
The Grand Old Buildings of Hamilton Brian Henley
Steel City: Hamilton and Region Dear, Drake and Reeds
Hamilton Canada, its history, commerce, industries, resources Herbert Lister
The Story of Hamilton Mabel Burkholder
Heritage Treasures Susan Evans Shaw
A Heritage of Stone Nina Chapple
Victorian Architecture in Hamilton Alexander Gordon McKay
Vanished Hamilton Volumes 1-3 Edited by Margaret Houghton
The Hamiltonians Edited by Margaret Houghton
Hamilton Street Names Edited by Margaret Houghton
Pardon My Lunch Bucket David Proulx / City of Hamilton
Dictionary of Hamilton Biography v 1-4 T. M. Bailey (Editor)
Hamilton Book of Everything Kim Arnott, Marvin Ross and Cheryl MacDonald.
Mountain and a City: the Story of Hamilton Marjorie Freeman Campbell
Downtown Hamilton: The Heart of it All Foreword by John C. Weaver, chapters by Margaret Houghton, Dennis Missett, Walter Peace, Carolyn Gray, David Cuming.
By Design: The Role of the Engineer in the History of the Hamilton-Burlington Area By Jerry Disher, P.Eng., and Ted Smith, Ph.D.
The Dundas Valley: Visions of Beauty By Richard and Eleanor Kosydar (Tiercereon Press)
Greater Hamilton: From The Heart By Mark Zelinski(From The Heart Publishing)
The Niagara Escarpment: A Photographic Journey from Niagara Falls to Tobermory by Sandy Bell , Vic MacBournie and John MacRae (Lorimer)
Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Area By Robert Curry (Hamilton Naturalists' Club)
Hamilton's Hockey Tigers By David Wesley & Sam Wesley; Foreword by Don Cherry (Lorimer)
Torso By Marjorie Freeman Campbell (Macmillan, 1974)
King of the Mob: Rocco Perri and the Women Who Ran His Rackets By James Dubro with Robin F. Rowland (Penguin 1987)
Mob Mistress By James Dubro (Macmillan 1988)
The Enforcer: Johnny Pops Papalia, A Life and Death in the Mafia By Adrian Humphreys (Harper Collins, 1999)
Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada's Most Notorious Bootlegger By Antonio Nicaso (John Wiley & Sons, 2004)
Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels By Jerry Langton (John Wiley & Sons, 2006)
Craft Capitalism - Craftworkers and Early Industrialization in Hamilton, Ontario 1840-1872 by Robert Kristofferson
Nobody's Baby: A Survival Guide to Politics By Sheila Copps (Deneau & Greenberg, 1985)
Worth Fighting For By Sheila Copps (McClelland & Stewart, 2004)
Go to School, You're a Little Black Boy By The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander (Dundurn Press, 2006)

Less directly related:
Growing Up Absurd Paul Goodman
The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs
The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life Richard Florida
Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life Richard Florida
The Danger Tree by David MacFarlane
The Life: The Seductive Call of Politics By Steve Paikin (Viking Canada, 2001)
The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life By Steve Paikin (Viking Canada, 2003)
Above the Law By Paul Palango (McClelland & Stewart, 1994)
The Last Guardians: The Crisis In The RCMP - And Canada By Paul Palango (McClelland & Stewart, 1998)
Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP By Paul Palango (Key Porter, 2008)

Fiction:
So Few are Awesome Mike Long
A Golden Knife in My Back Mike Long
Life in the 20th Century Mike Long

Their Town

Housing the North American City, also by John Weaver

That's just off the top of my head. Will get back to you with more.

I have a copy of "County of Wentworth 1853-1973" By Olive Newcombe and Frank Woods
http://www.russellbooks.com/si/036009.html

I'm into waterfalls so I also have a copy of "Waterfalls The Niagara Escarpment" by Jerry Lawton

And I have a copy of "Around and About Hamilton 1785-1985"
http://ohip.hpl.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?s...nu=search&ri=1

And I have "Hamilton an Illustrated History" By John C. Weaver
http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=105346769&aid=frg

Quote:

Originally Posted by highwater (Post 4142060)

Their Town

Mixed Media is getting more of these in stock soon!

There are literally hundreds of academic articles and books about Hamilton, mostly social history in the areas of industrialization, labour, class and ethnicity.

I've read a whole bunch of books on Hamilton. Here are a few (in addition to the good recommendations already) that I can think of at the moment that might be of interest to forumers here:

Bill Manson
Up and Down Locke St. South

Walter George Peace
People, space and time : landscape change in Hamilton's Durand Neighbourhood, 1946-1994

Brian Henley
The grand old buildings of Hamilton

Dear, Drake and Reeds
Steel City: Hamilton and Region

Herbert Lister
Hamilton Canada, its history, commerce, industries, resources

Mabel Burkholder
The story of Hamilton

Susan Evans Shaw
Heritage Treasures

Nina Chapple
A heritage of Stone

Alexander Gordon McKay
Victorian architecture in Hamilton

Susan Evans Shaw
Heritage Treasures

Nina Chapple
A heritage of Stone

I think I have these 2 as well somewhere.

theres a few listed ones that I really love, notably: Around and About Hamilton, Housing the North American City,

some more from my collection:

From Mountain to Lake: The Red Hill Creek Valley
Walter G. Peace

Footsteps in Time Volume 2 (North End)
Bill Manson

Vanished Hamilton 1-3
Edited by Margaret Houghton

The Hamiltonians
Edited by Margaret Houghton

Hamilton Street Names
Edited by Margaret Houghton

Pardon My Lunch Bucket
David Proulx / City of Hamilton

I think my father had Pardon my Lunch Bucket but I have no idea where that one went.

Dictionary of Hamilton Biography v 1-4
T. M. Bailey, ed.

Richard Florida and Jane Jacob books? I actually haven't read them, but they are ones I've been meaning to check out. Anyone have any comments on these?

Death and Life is essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in cities. It's where it all began.

When I was in Hamilton last, Dave at Mixed Media recommended a great little book which helped me pass the time on the flight back to London:

Hamilton Book of Everything
Kim Arnott, Marvin Ross and Cheryl MacDonald.

An easy and informative read.

Mountain and a City: the Story of Hamilton
Marjorie Freeman Campbell

Downtown Hamilton: The Heart of it All
Seldon Printing Ltd./The Fountain Foundation
Foreword by John C. Weaver, chapters by Margaret Houghton, Dennis Missett, Walter Peace, Carolyn Gray, David Cuming. Contains fire insurance floorplans of the commercial core and Market Square (dating from 1911, 1947 and 1964).

I know this might be a little be tedious for the topic starter, but perhaps if you have a moment Astroblaster - could you collate the book list into the first posting?

Also, does anyone know if any of these are in the Hamilton library? I would quite like to read some of these books :)

There are a lot in the Hamilton Library, some can't be taken out of the library but you can look at them in the local history and archives room. McMaster's Library (Mills) has some that the public library doesn't have, and also a bunch more that can't be taken out of the library. Actually if you search for subject: Hamilton at the McMaster Library, about 1600 items come up, so you have to narrow it down. But any information you could possibly want is out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thistleclub (Post 4142810)

i need this one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by omro (Post 4142829)

I was planning on doing this.. I'll get around to it shortly.

also, you can check the library catalog online: http://ohip.hpl.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=web

Quote:

Originally Posted by flar (Post 4142834)

I went to the Mac library at some point late last year and saw some very cool and useful stuff. I've got to go back there soon. Especially this very cool, detailed study of St. Clair Boulevard.

Possibly related: Paul Goodman’s Growing Up Absurd, which was inspired by a conversation on Van Wagner's Beach some 50 years ago.

i've copied what we've listed so far into the first post. let me know if i missed anything

also, I know I have some more at home.. hopefully tonight I'll have a chance to go through them and add to the list

A lot of good books on our city. :)

the full text of Growing Up Absurd is online:

http://www.archive.org/stream/growin...08mbp_djvu.txt

Here's the relavant quote:

Quote:

I often ask, "What do you want to work at? If you have the chance. When you get out of school, college, the service, etc."

Some answer right off and tell their definite plans and projects, highly approved by Papa. I'm pleased for them* but it's a bit boring, because they are such squares.

Quite a few will, with prompting, come out with astounding stereotyped, conceited fantasies, such as becoming a movie actor when they are "discovered" "like Marlon Brando, but in my own way."

Very rarely somebody will, maybe defiantly and defensively, maybe diffidently but proudly, make you know that he knows very well what he is going to do; it is something great; and he is indeed already doing it, which is the real test.

The usual answer, perhaps the normal answer, is "I don't know," meaning, "I'm looking; I haven't found the right thing; it's discouraging but not hopeless."

But the terrible answer is, "Nothing." The young man doesn't want to do anything.

I remember talking to half a dozen young fellows at Van Wagner's Beach outside of Hamilton, Ontario; and all of them had this one thing to say: "Nothing." They didn't believe that what to work at was the kind of thing one wanted. They rather expected that two or three of them would work for the electric company in town, but they couldn't care less, I turned away from the conversation abruptly because of the uncontrollable burning tears in my eyes and constriction in my chest. Not feeling sorry for them, but tears of frank dismay for the waste of our humanity (they were nice kids). And it is out of that incident that many years later I am writing this book.

Not a flattering springboard, true, but at least the author's experience of the city was the catalyst for the book.

By Design: The Role of the Engineer in the History of the Hamilton-Burlington Area
By Jerry Disher, P.Eng., and Ted Smith, Ph.D. // Published by the Hamilton Engineering Institute.
A hardcover, heavy duty look at 220 years of the city’s technology and engineering history. Loaded with photos and maps, both historical and contemporary.

Some photo books...

The Dundas Valley: Visions of Beauty
By Richard and Eleanor Kosydar (Tiercereon Press)

Greater Hamilton: From The Heart
By Mark Zelinski (From The Heart Publishing)

The Niagara Escarpment: A Photographic Journey from Niagara Falls to Tobermory
by Sandy Bell , Vic MacBournie and John MacRae (Lorimer)

A little nature...

Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Area
By Robert Curry (Hamilton Naturalists' Club)

Some sports...

Hamilton's Hockey Tigers
By David Wesley & Sam Wesley; Foreword by Don Cherry (Lorimer)

And some true crime...

Torso
By Marjorie Freeman Campbell (Macmillan, 1974)

King of the Mob: Rocco Perri and the Women Who Ran His Rackets
By James Dubro with Robin F. Rowland (Penguin 1987)

Mob Mistress
By James Dubro (Macmillan 1988)

The Enforcer: Johnny Pops Papalia, A Life and Death in the Mafia
By Adrian Humphreys (Harper Collins, 1999)

Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada's Most Notorious Bootlegger
By Antonio Nicaso (John Wiley & Sons, 2004)

Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels
By Jerry Langton (John Wiley & Sons, 2006)

Good stuff..Check out Craft Capitalism-Craftworkers and Early Industrialization in Hamilton, Ontario 1840-1872 by Robert Kristofferson to discover the fascinating history of our now shrinking industrial base. Also, David Macfarlane's(former Globe and Mail Arts Columnist) the Danger Tree, while focused primarily on Newfoundland, has some good parts about growing up in southwest Hamilton with interesting passages on Locke St. in the 60's...

I have a signed copy of this book.

Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Area
By Robert Curry (Hamilton Naturalists' Club)

And I have the newer book of Torso by Brian Valee

History + Heritage has a bunch of great local books to buy and browse.

Also - Mixed Media has more copies of Pardon my Lunchbucket (softcover) for sale again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hmagazine (Post 4145797)

Also - Mixed Media has more copies of Pardon my Lunchbucket (softcover) for sale again.

I bought my copy from you :)

I should also mention these three:

So Few are Awesome
A Golden Knife in My Back
Life in the 20th Century

All written and hand-bound by Hamilton Renaissance Man Mike Long

Some more great non-fiction for political junkies:

The Life: The Seductive Call of Politics
By Steve Paikin (Viking Canada, 2001)

The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life
By Steve Paikin (Viking Canada, 2003)

Above the Law
By Paul Palango (McClelland & Stewart, 1994)

The Last Guardians: The Crisis In The RCMP - And Canada
By Paul Palango (McClelland & Stewart, 1998)

Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP
By Paul Palango (Key Porter, 2008)

Nobody's Baby: A Survival Guide to Politics
By Sheila Copps (Deneau & Greenberg, 1985)

Worth Fighting For
By Sheila Copps (McClelland & Stewart, 2004)

Go to School, You're a Little Black Boy
By The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander (Dundurn Press, 2006)

On the artier end of things...

The Point of the Graver
By Wesley W. Bates (Porcupine's Quill, 1994)

Chewing On Tinfoil
By Joe Ollmann (Insomniac Press, 2002)

Hamilton Sketchbooks
By David Collier (Drawn & Quarterly, 2002)

Falling Into Place
By John Terpstra (Gaspereau Press, 2002)

Chedoke: More Than a Sanatorium
By Ralph Wilson (Little Brick House/Hamilton Health Sciences, 2006)

how about novels that are set in Hamilton? I've never read one.

I think there were a few referenced in Hamilton: An Illustrated History.

also for the list:

If Ponies Rode Men: The Journeys of Robert Land 1777-1791 James Elliott

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroblaster (Post 4146791)

how about novels that are set in Hamilton? I've never read one.

Novels/short stories set in Hamilton...

The Rouge Murders (Jasper Press, 1996)
Sap (Insomniac Press, 2004)
By John Swan

Fresh Meat (Rush Hour Revisions, 1997)
By Matthew Firth

Catalogue Raisonne
By Mike Barnes (Biblioasis, 2005)

To Be Continued... Volume 1 (ECW, 2005)
To Be Continued... Volume 2 (ECW, 2006)
To Be Continued... Volume 3 (ECW, 2007)
By Gordon j.h. Leenders

Another bunch of local-based novels I'm looking for is Peter Lloyd's Avatars trilogy (The Fugue/Ahriman/The Mind's Eye).

I just got a copy of Pardon My Lunch Bucket (a family member spotted one in a thrift store and thought they'd pick it up :shrug:)

I've only briefly leafed through it thus far. It's quite the mix.. history, pictures... and the future vision of life "in the year 2000!" ... like the faraway burbs we'd all jet out on our skybuses and monorails to before coming into the city for our three-day workweek ;)

Pardon Lunch Bucket reflects precisely where postwar urban planning went horribly awry in the author's breathless description of what is now the Jackson Square miasma:

Quote:

[Hamilton is] cutting away the rot of the Victorian age [with] the 26-story Stelco Tower, rising 330 feet, a four-storey banking pavilion, an enclosed shopping concourse, a two-acre landscaped plaza, two movie theatres with a total of 1,200 seats and underground parking for more than 250 cars... followed by ... a major shopping centre, an addition to the shopping concourse, a 24-storey office tower, a 400-500-room hotel, a department store extension, five apartment towers with 800 units, more underground parking and an enlarged plaza.

Added to that will be the city's $10,000,000 theatre-auditorium ... a trade-convention centre, new art gallery, new main library and new farmers' market. Pedestrians will cross over major streets on elevated walkways, high above the noise and fumes of traffic while most of the projects will be interconnected by underground and concourse level walkways. [emphasis added] (David Proulx, Pardon My Lunch Bucket, Corporation of the City of Hamilton, 1971)

Quote:

Originally Posted by emge (Post 4196049)

I just got a copy of Pardon My Lunch Bucket (a family member spotted one in a thrift store and thought they'd pick it up :shrug:)

I saw it in the bookworm store in Westdale today, almost bought it. Bought Vanished Hamilton and a few others instead.