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Tours

We request at least 1 weeks notice for booking for all tours.

Group tours of 10 people or more: $3.00 per person.

Educational tours: $3.00 per person (chaperones/teachers/bus drivers no charge)

Please call 905-522-3003 x 25, email ian@wahc-museum.ca to book a tour, or fax 905-522-5424.

Information on Educational Programs from WAHC:

Teachers looking for a unique and unforgettable learning opportunity for their students should check out the offerings of The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre. Located in the Custom House, a national historic site in the heart of Hamilton, WAHC is dedicated to celebrating the history and culture of Canada’s working people through education.

Punching the Clock: Working in Canadian Factories, 1840s to 1980s (at WAHC)

This exhibit based program targets students studying history, geography and economics in grades eight through twelve. To prepare their students for this fascinating, interactive exhibit, teachers are encouraged to borrow at no additional cost, an educational kit containing pre and post-visit activities, videos, and a CD- ROM that explore issues such as child labour and health and safety, all while detailing the lives and experiences of the Canadian men and women, past and present, who work in factories. The on-site program includes games, a slide show, a factory job sheet wherein students answer questions while touring the exhibit, and ghost stories! The program runs for approximately two hours.
Best suited to Elementary Level 8; Secondary Levels 10-12; many ages can also benefit. All We Worked For: Exploring the Workers’ City (at WAHC & Travelling)

An exhibit-based program, enabling students to explore the past lives and experiences, struggles and achievements, of Canadian workers. The program combines an interactive tour of the exhibit with the screening of the video, All We Worked For, and participation in the “Bread and Roses” board game, wherein students role-play a wife and mother struggling to get by in the “hard times” of the Great Depression. Weather permitting, the day also involves a walking tour of the historic working-class neighbourhood the Centre calls home. The program runs for approximately two hours. If you would like this exhibition in your community, please contact us.
Best suited to Elementary Level 8; Secondary Levels 10-12; many ages can also benefit.
Heigh-Ho! Heigh Ho! Its Off to Work We Go: Exploring Work and the Community (Off-site; based from WAHC)

An exciting new program, Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! Its Off to Work We Go: Exploring Work and the Community. Aimed at students in kindergarten through grade three, this classroom-based program will combine dress-up, games, songs, stories, and other activities to help children discover the important role played by the different types of workers in their community. The 2 hour (approx.), in-class program will be facilitated by an interpreter from the Centre, with the teacher keeping the resource trunk containing all of the supplies for the week following the visit.
Best suited to Elementary Levels K-3.

Life… Or a Living: A History of Occupational Health & Safety in Canada (Travelling)

Exploring the development of health and safety regulations, rights, and responsibilities of workers as they have been developed over years of struggle by working people to make all workplaces more safe. This educational program, that accompanies the exhibition to every location it travels to, discusses the changing nature of occupational injuries and disease, the role of new technologies, the difference that gender makes, and strategies of working people today. To prepare students for this one-of-a-kind travelling exhibition, teachers are encouraged to borrow, at no additional cost, an educational kit containing pre- and post-visit activities. The program lasts about 2 hours. If you would like this exhibition in your community, please contact us.
Best suited to Secondary Levels 10-12; many ages can also benefit.

“…and still I rise”: A History of African Canadian Workers in Ontario, 1900 to Present (Travelling)

The fascinating yet little told story of the lives and experiences of African Canadians is the basis of this travelling exhibit. The exhibit’s educational program will help grade eight and ten history students learn more about the culture, struggles, and achievements of Ontario’s Black community. As well as engaging in an interactive tour of the exhibit, in whatever location the exhibition is on display, complete with role-playing activity and screening of the film “Journey to Justice,” teachers are invited to borrow a resource kit, at no additional charge, containing pre- and post-visit activities, videos, books, lesson plans, and activity sheets. The on-site program lasts about 2 hours. If you would like this exhibition in your community, please contact us.
Best suited to Elementary Level 8; Secondary Level 10; many ages can also benefit.

For more information or to book a tour contact Ian Walker, Labour Heritage Coordinator
Workers Arts and Heritage Centre
51 Stuart Street,
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
L8L 1B5.
Telephone (905) 522.3003 ext. 25
Fax (905) 522-5424.
E-mail: ian@wahc-museum.ca

Main Gallery:
Scouring City, Brushing Sky Red Tree and C3 Collective
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Entrance:
Custom House History & The Hall of Hamilton Labour
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In our West Gallery:
Punching the Clock: Working in Canadian Factories from the 1840s to the 1980s
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In our East Gallery:
Gateway to the Workers City & Made in Hamilton Industrial Trail
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In our Second Floor Gallery:
Nine to Five: A History of Office Work
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In our Community Gallery:
...And Still I Rise
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