Fonds KGH 5999-1002 - Margaret Sharp Angus fonds

Margaret Sharp Angus (1908-) is well known both in the Kingston area and nationally as an author, historian and expert on historical preservation. Born in Chinook, Montana, Margaret Angus graduated in 1930 with an honours degree in history from Montana State University. In 1929 she married William Angus and came to Kingston with him in 1937 when he joined the Faculty of Queen’s University. While Angus has had a long association with Queen’s University, her affiliation with Kingston General Hospital was forged in 1967, Canada’s centennial. Margaret Angus was contracted by the Hospital to gather historical materials to be used in a commemorative display. Her archival exhibit titled ‘A hospital’s life story: Kingston General Hospital, 1832-1967’ opened in November, 1967. The exhibition proved to be so popular with both hospital staff and the general public that, in 1971, the Board of Governors established the Archives and Museum Committee dedicated to preserving the historical papers of KGH. Also in 1971, the Hospital asked Angus to research and write a history of the Hospital. Her 1973 publication, Kingston General Hospital: a social and institutional history, documents the history of the Hospital from its origins in 1832 to the early 1970s. Her second volume, Kingston General Hospital: a Social and Institutional History, Volume II: 1965-1992, continues the story of KGH using a thematic rather than chronological approach. Margaret Angus was instrumental in collecting and organizing the historically significant hospital records and artwork in the form of portraits and photographs. As she conducted her research, she also catalogued much of these primary materials creating the first Kingston General Hospital Archive, then housed in the Louise D. Acton Building. Dr. Angus was a founding member of the Archives and Museum Committee in 1971 and served as a member until 1996. Since 1972, Angus has served as a Hospital Governor; her work for the Hospital was recognized by the Museum of Healthcare at Kingston in 1997 when they established a research fellowship in her name.

Kingston General Hospital has been designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board to be of national historic significance as one of the longest continuously operating hospitals in Canada. The collection documents the transition of the hospital from a charitable institution to an active treatment hospital to a tertiary care institution in the Southeastern Ontario Health Sciences Centre. Kingston General Hospital is also historically significant for it's role as a temporary Parliament Building for the capital of the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada from 1841-1843.