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December 7th, 2010 — April 24th, 2011

St. Catherine Street Makes the Headlines!

© Archives de la Ville de Montréal

St. Catherine Street Makes the Headlines! is a must-see exhibition for anyone interested in this historic artery so symbolic of Montréal’s downtown, and the way it has witnessed so many events that have shaped the city.

Visitors will see newspaper articles, souvenir items, photographs and films, all of them telling the story of Sainte-Catherine Street’s different roles and the stories behind its growth.

The exhibition revolves around signal events in the city’s past, divided up into six thematic zones. It features over 250 intriguing objects from private and public collections, ranging from the costumes created by Alfred Pellan for the La Nuit des rois at Place des Arts in 1968 to the mask worn by Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante in 1963 and a superb dress from Morgan’s department store in 1900.

Over 250 years of history

The exhibition examines a number of milestones, as covered by the newspapers of the day: the terrible fire that ravaged the city in July 1852, the opening of Morgan’s department store in 1891, the reopening of the Ouimetoscope movie theatre in 1907, Lili St. Cyr’s controversial shows at the Gayety theatre in 1944 and, more recently, the construction of Complexe Desjardins in 1976 and the huge ovation for “Rocket” Richard in 1996, the year the Forum closed. These different events, artifacts, films and archival images remind visitors of how Sainte-Catherine has changed over the years.

©Claude Robillard
McGill College corner
©Caroline Bergeron

Presented from December 7, 2010 to April 24, 2011, St. Catherine Street Makes the Headlines! was produced by Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History. The Museum wishes to thank its partners: Sun Life Financial, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Centre Eaton de Montréal, Complexe Les Ailes, Place Montréal Trust, BUSAC Immobilier, Archambault, La Presse and The Gazette.

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