For over 100 years, the Ontario Reformatory/Guelph Correctional Centre was embedded in the lives of the people of Guelph. The Reformatory was a place of duality: from reform intentions which aimed to improve the lives of those who were incarcerated, to being one of Canada’s most notorious prisons. Yet some inmates and staff held hope, creativity, and a vision for life beyond the cell walls.

Discover stories from within the Reformatory at the opening of  Darkness and Light: Inside the Ontario Reformatory. Join guest curator P. Brian Skerrett in conversation with Connie Shaw (retired Chaplin, Guelph Correctional Centre) and two former Guelph inmates, Freddy Taylor and Cliff Summers. Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation) is a survivor of the Mohawk Institute, and Summers (Oneida Nation of the Thames) was a Native Inmate Liaison Officer. Both were members of the Native Sons, a group of Indigenous inmates who self-organized to advocate for and practice their cultural traditions.

Visitors are encouraged to explore the exhibition before and after the event. Register in advance

Darkness and Light: Inside the Ontario Reformatory is on view at the Civic Museum until April 30, 2025.

Spiritual guidance provided by Jane Burning. Refreshments by Pow Wow Café.

Image credit-Left to right (details): Soldiers in the Billiards Room at Speedwell Military Convalescent Hospital, circa 1919 (Guelph Museums 1978.6.4); Painting created in 1985 by John J. Anishinabe, a member of the Native Sons (Courtesy: Janny Nieuwland); Inmates riot in protest of the living conditions at the Ontario Reformatory, 1952 (Guelph Museums 2014.1.1); “Hope” banner created by Reformatory inmates (Courtesy: Connie Shaw); Watching brook trout in a stream at the Ontario Reformatory (stonework by inmate labour), 1925 (Archives Ontario AO # B117492)