A purple pinstripe suit and more of Hamilton's music legacy displayed
McMaster University archivists mined their collections for significant items to display downtown
A startingly purple pinstripe suit worn by Ian Thomas and a whack of tickets, backstage passes, posters and other memorabilia from several notable Hamilton musicians are on display in time for the Juno Awards.
Four display cases in the entrance to the Hamilton Public Library's central branch, and two cases in the Juno HQ at Lister Block, are replete with items from the collections of Boris Brott, Jackie Washington, Bruce Cockburn and Ian Thomas.
McMaster University houses the collections of the four musicians, some of whom have received honorary degrees from the university. Archivists mined the collections to find interesting pieces to display in time for the Juno Awards this weekend.
"It's about teaching Hamilton," said archivist Renu Barrett, who installed the collection. "It has been a very big music city. It's to teach the younger generation that Hamilton connection, to teach the future generation about the legacy of the Hamilton music scene."
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Barrett showed a few highlights to CBC Hamilton on Monday. She said it was difficult to choose which of the eye-catching items to include.
In the end, she narrowed it to three characteristics: "Significant events, highlights of their career... and, of course, fitting in the case."
Blues musician and DJ Jackie Washington's case includes a detailed drawing of a train and a worn charcoal-coloured cap.
A programme from a Mass composed by Leonard Bernstein that Boris Brott conducted at the Vatican stands near a clipping of the conductor wearing a sousaphone.
Cockburn, an Ottawa native, received an honorary doctorate in 2009 from McMaster. He donated 32 notebooks to the university, stretching from 1969 to 2002.
"He says he always carried a notebook from a young age," Barrett said.
Over at Juno HQ in the Lister Block, Ian Thomas's purple pinstripe suit steals the show in a hallway display. The closest date the archives team could pin to the suit was 1969, when he's wearing it in a photograph. The suit doesn't have any tailor tag or any markings on it, so its origins proved a bit of a mystery as Barrett put the collection together.
You can search an index of the items contained in each collection, as well as other collections, on McMaster Library's website.