Research catalog of the fonds and collections of the Center d'histoire de Saint-Hyacinthe
You are on the home page of the database of the Center d'histoire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CHSH), which lists the organization's archival holdings and collections.
The CHSH keeps more than 700 archival fonds in which we find nearly 1.5 km of textual documents, more than a million iconographic documents, nearly 4,000 geographical maps, approximately 1,800 hours of moving images and approximately 5,000 hours of sound recording.
More than 300 years are covered by our archives, the oldest piece of which dates from 1695. The majority of the archives kept at the CHSH, however, date from the 19th and especially the 20th centuries.
Because of its origins, the entire CHSH collection is strongly colored by the presence of the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe. In addition to the collection of the Seminary – which alone occupies more than 150 linear meters – the History Center has many collections of priests and former students of the Seminary, in addition to those of organizations that have gravitated around the institution. In addition to the archival collections associated with the Seminar, there are many collections related to various themes:
- Culture with funds from the Société philharmonique de Saint-Hyacinthe and tenor Paul Dufault.
- The local economy with the fund of the Chambre de commerce de la MRC des Maskoutains and that of Consolidated Textiles – Consoltex.
- Religion with the funds of the Sœurs Adoratrices du Précieux-Sang and that of the Action catholique du diocèse de Saint-Hyacinthe.
- Leisure with the Association des scouts du district de Saint-Hyacinthe and the Club de chasse et pêche Maska fund.
- Notable characters with the Laframboise Family collection and that of Télesphore-Damien Bouchard.
The CHSH is also fortunate to maintain several collections of photographers who have worked in the Saint-Hyacinthe region, the most notable of which are Studio B.J. Hébert, photographer, Studio Lumière, Studio Candide Charpentier, Studio Brodeur & Poitras, photographer Raymond Bélanger (Studio Belwatt), photographer François Larivière and photographer Robert Gosselin. These last three photographers are associated with the newspaper Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe. We also keep the daily fund in our warehouses.