Larry Cohen (Niagara Falls, Ont.)

Scope and Content: Accession consists of two scanned photographs of work scene in front of the Myer Salit Scrap Metal yard, Niagara Falls.

Custodial History: The records were transferred to the OJA as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative.

Administrative History: The donor, Larry Cohen, was born 1931. His grandfather, Myer Salit, was born in Brest Litovski, Poland. At the age of twenty-three he booked passage to America on the S.S. Norge. On June 28, 1904 the ship struck a reef off the coast of Scotland and sank. Mr. Salit survived, along with approximately 160 other passengers, and made his way to New York and then St. Catharines, where his brother-in-law, Harry Rubin, was a scrap metal dealer. In 1905 he moved to Niagara Falls and set up his own scrap metal business. He was the first Jewish resident of that community.; Over time, the business prospered and grew. After the Second World War, his son-in-law Irvin Feldman and grandson Larry Cohen joined the business. The company began to diversify, selling new and used steel products to local industry. Myer Salit passed away in 1958 and left the business in the hands of Irvin and Larry. By the 1960s, the company branched out and became a reinforcing steel (rebar) fabricator and changed its name to Salit Steel.; During the 1980s the family sold off the scrap metal division of the company. Mr. Feldman retired and the responsibility for managing the firm was shared by Larry Cohen and Steven Cohen, Myer's great-grandson. The company has continued to expand and diversify and currently serves the needs of Southern Ontario.

Use Conditions: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Descriptive Notes: Related Material Note: See AC 302 for an oral history for Larry Cohen.