Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

United Jewish People's Order file

Level

Item

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

18

Item

3

Material Format

textual record

Date

[between 1940 and 1959]

Physical Description

1 statement

Scope and Content

Item is a five-page document that includes the following headings: the United Jewish Peoples Order, Jewish Culture, the Jewish Community, the State of Israel, and Social Action.

Notes

Availability of other formats: Item has been digitized.

Name Access

United Jewish People's Order

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

United Jewish People's Order file

Level

Item

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

18

Item

4

Material Format

textual record

Date

[between 1940 and 1959]

Physical Description

1 report

Scope and Content

Item is a five-page report delivered to United Jewish People's Order delegates by the secretary of the same. The report concerns "the tragic events in the Soviet Union," specifically, "the crimes and injustices against Jewish life and Jewish culture." The organization's relationship to the Labor Progressive Party is discsussed in the report, as is the stance of the organization towards Israel.

Notes

Availability of other formats: Item has been digitized.

Name Access

Labor-Progressive Party

United Jewish People's Order

Subjects

Jews--Soviet Union

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

United Jewish People's Order file

Level

Item

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

18

Item

5

Material Format

textual record

Date

[1946?]

Physical Description

1 report

Scope and Content

Item is an invitation to a dinner meeting of canvassers and campign workers scheduled for Wednesday, 6 November [1946?] at the Chez Paree Restaurant at 220 Bloor St. W. The dinner meeting was scheduled to coincide with the United Jewish People's Order's financial campaign that was about to start.

Notes

Availability of other formats: Item has been digitized.

Name Access

United Jewish People's Order

Subjects

Dinners and dining

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Bloor Street West (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

92

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1914-1993

Physical Description

1.2 m of textual records (2 v.) and other material

Admin History/Bio

Joseph Baruch Salsberg (1902-1998) was a labour leader, political activist, politician, insurance salesman, and journalist. He was also active in various Jewish organizations, including the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, and the New Fraternal Jewish Association. He is well-remembered by contemporaries, such as Sam Lipshitz, as a “champion of the people," committed to social justice, the plight of the working class, and the preservation of Jewish culture.

J. B. was born in Lagow, Poland on November 5, 1902 to Abraham and Sarah-Gittel Salsberg. Abraham immigrated to Toronto in 1910 and J. B. followed with his mother and two younger sisters in 1913. They settled at 73 Cecil Street. Abraham and Sarah-Gittel had additional children in Canada: Nathan (b. 1915), Reuven (Bob or Robert, b. 1917), Betty, and Thelma. Abraham worked as a peddler in Toronto.

J. B. briefly attended Landsdowne Public School, but dropped out around 1916, against his parents' wishes, and took a job in a leather goods factory to contribute to his family’s income. J. B.’s parents had hoped he would become a rabbi and, despite his full-time employment, J.B. continued to study Torah with scholars at the synagogue on Centre Avenue.

In 1917, J. B. decided to pursue the ideas of Zionism and socialism and, abandoning his plans to become a rabbi, became involved in establishing the Young Poale Zion organization, a Labour Zionist youth group dedicated to secular aims. Around 1922, J. B. was made secretary general of the Young Poale Zion of America in New York, where he worked for one year. Shortly after returning to Toronto, he became the organizer for the Hat, Cap, and Millinery Workers Union of North America in Chicago. J. B. married Dora Wilensky in 1927.

In 1926, J. B. joined the Communist Party of Canada (CPC). He was an active member of the CPC for 30 years, serving as the head of its Trade Union Department for two decades. In 1929 he was suspended from the party for one year as a dissenter. In 1932, he became the Southern Ontario District union organizer for the Communist Workers' Unity League.

It was as a member of the CPC that J. B. entered electoral politics. After a series of failed bids in municipal and provincial elections between 1935 and 1937, J. B. was elected alderman of Ward 4 in Toronto in 1938. He only held the position for one year. He was re-elected to this position in 1943, beating out Nathan Phillips, before being elected to the Ontario Legislature as the representative for the St. Andrew riding. J. B. sat as member of provincial parliament for the Labor-Progressive Party (the provincial wing of the CPC) for 12 years. For several years, he was the only elected Communist in North America. As MPP, he helped create legislation banning discrimination in public places and introduced a bill that would ensure fair employment practices in the province. He lost his seat to Allan Grossman in 1955 and unsuccessfully ran in the federal election later that year. Remembered by journalist Gordon Sinclair as “one of the best debaters in the house," J. B. was well-respected by members of all political parties. Out of admiration for J. B., Conservative Premier Leslie Frost named Salsberg Township in Northern Ontario in his honour.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, J. B. had grown increasingly concerned about reports of Soviet antisemitism and privately urged party leaders to pursue the issue. In 1956, when Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev exposed the transgressions of Stalin’s regime, J. B. went to Moscow as part of a CPC delegation. After meeting with Khrushchev himself, it became clear to J. B. that antisemitism was indeed a problem in the USSR and that his efforts to probe the situation were being stonewalled.

J. B. publicly expressed his concerns about Soviet antisemitism in a series of articles published in the Vochenblatt from October 25, 1956 to December 13, 1956. He finally left the Communist Party in 1957. However, he remained a member of the United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO), a Communist Jewish fraternal organization.

Entering the business world, J. B. established the Model Insurance Agency Limited in 1957, where he served as president for several years. In 1959 J. B.’s wife, Dora, passed away. Around this time J. B. also resigned from the UJPO, along with other members who felt the organization needed to be more critical of the Soviet Union. They founded an alternative, non-Communist, left-wing Jewish organization, the New Fraternal Jewish Association, where J. B. served as president for several terms and edited its publication, Fraternally Yours.

In his later life, J. B. was active as an executive member of organizations, such as the CJC and the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. He was the first chairman for the CJC Ontario Region’s Soviet Jewry Committee and the Committee for Yiddish. He also began writing an award-winning weekly column for the Canadian Jewish News. J. B. was awarded the CJC’s Samuel Bronfman Medal for distinguished service, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto’s Ben Sadowski Award of Merit. A strong supporter of Israel, he was involved in the creation of two Israeli medical centres that are named in his honour. He also helped establish the J. B. and Dora Salsberg Fund and the J. B. Salsberg Fund for Yiddish at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto. J. B. passed away in 1998.

Custodial History

The records were donated to the OJA in a series of accessions. Material from accessions 1991-5-4 and 1992-9-4 were donated by J. B. Salsberg. The remaining material was donated by his estate after his death.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting J. B. Salsberg's personal, professional and Jewish communal activities. The bulk of the records are textual and relate to his membership in the CPC (later LPP), election campaigns, and Jewish communal work. Included is correspondence; photographs; reports; political writings; certificates; agendas; pamphlets; brochures; booklets; flyers; campaign literature; campaign notes; posters; newspaper clippings; press releases; articles; transcripts; speeches; telegrams; political platforms, briefs and submissions; statements; constitutions; resolutions; newspapers; meeting minutes; bulletins; periodicals; notebooks; notes; course guides and outlines; medallions; pins; plaques; donation receipts; event invitations and programmes; lists; blank employment applications; a school test; a study; a coin; a drawing; a sketch; an audio cassette; and a delegate card.

Records are arranged into the following five series: 1. Personal ; 2. Labour Zionism and union activities ; 3. Political career ; and, 4. Jewish community involvement. There are also four files and one item attached directly to the fonds.

Notes

Physical Description Note: Includes 53 photographs, 7 medallions, 11 pins, 4 posters, 2 plaques, 1 sketch, 1 drawing, 1 audio cassette, 1 desk name plate, and 1 coin.

Physical Extent Note: Fonds was reduced from approximately 7 metres to 1.5 metres. The culled material consisted primarily of published books, periodicals and pamphlets that had been collected by J. B. Salsberg. For further details about what was culled please view the accession records.

Associated Material Note: Queen's University Archive also has a J. B. Salsberg fonds, 14 hours of interview tapes with J. B. Salsberg and records of the UJPO are held by the Multicultural Historical Society of Ontario (MHSO).

Name Access

Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998

Subjects

Labor leaders

Politicians

Related Material

For additional records in OJA's holdings, see: Ben Kayfetz fonds 62, series 8, file 2 ; accession 2008-11-2 ; accession 2004-1-4 ; and oral histories AC 71 and AC 226.

Creator

Salsberg, Joseph Baruch, 1902-1998

Accession Number

1991-5-4

1992-9-4

1998-2-2

1998-12-5

2004-5-28

2010-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Level

File

Fonds

92

File

2

Material Format

textual record

Date

1939-1992, predominant 1981-1987

Physical Description

3 cm of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of J. B. Salsberg's personal and professional correspondence.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Level

File

Fonds

92

File

3

Material Format

textual record

object

Date

1935-1973

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

2 medals : silver, ribbons attached ; 8 cm in length or smaller

1 pin : crown shape ; 1 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of certificates, medals and pins documenting J. B. Salsberg and Dora Wilensky's involvement in celebrations of His Royal Highness King George VI and Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II's coronations. Also included is an invitation and programme book for a royal luncheon in Toronto.

Notes

Artifact numbers 146, 147, 156.

Name Access

Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-

George VI, King of Great Britain, 1895-1952

Subjects

Heads of state

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Personal series

Level

Series

Fonds

92

Series

1

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Date

1924-1991

Physical Description

28 cm of textual records and other material

Scope and Content

Series consists of graphic and textual records related to J. B. Salsberg's personal life. Of note are records documenting the activities and passing of Salsberg's wife, Dora Wilensky. Included are photographs, portraits, stories, certificates, event invitations and programmes, correspondence, a graduation book, a newsletter, sympathy cards, a drawing, a sketch, and notes.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 19 photographs, 1 sketch, and 1 drawing.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Personal series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

1

File

1

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Date

1924-1954

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

6 photographs : b&w ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller

Admin History/Bio

Dora Wilensky Salsberg was one of Toronto’s earliest professionally trained Jewish social workers and a leader in the Canadian social work field. She was born in Russia on 28 July 1902 to Hyman and Mary Wilensky. She had three younger sisters: Bertha (b. 1903) Jenny (b. 1905), and Fagel (b.1910). In 1907, the family immigrated to Toronto where Hyman worked at a cap factory.

Dora had the highest marks in the province of Ontario upon graduating from high school and graduated as a gold medalist in modern history from McMaster University in Toronto. She initially pursued a career in teaching but had difficulty securing a job due to discrimination. When her only job offer from Oshawa was given on the condition that she change her last name, Dora decided become a social worker.

After studying at the New York School for Social Work and working briefly in Chicago, Dora returned to Toronto and took up the position as executive director of the Jewish Family Welfare Bureau in 1931. When the JF&CS was formed in 1943 she served as its first executive director. Under her leadership, JF&CS gained a reputation as being one of the most advanced and progressive agencies in Toronto. She was among the first to hire a psychiatric social worker and to introduce play therapy as part of treatment; she remained on top of advances being made in the field in other countries and encouraged her staff to regularly engage in professional development activities.

Dora was also actively involved in various professional organizations. She was a member of the National Board of the Canadian Association of Social Workers, served on the board of governors and various committees of the Canadian Welfare Council, and was active on the Social Planning Council (formerly the Welfare Council of Toronto). In addition, she was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Toronto’s post-graduate course in social work. For her service to the field, she earned both the King George V and Coronation Medals.

Around 1925, Dora married J.B. Salsberg. Although she legally adopted his name, she always used her maiden name professionally. They did not have any children. On 20 March 1959, Dora passed away from cancer at the age of fifty-six.

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting the life and activities of J.B. Salsberg's wife, Dora Wilensky. Included is a graduation portrait of Dora, a photograph of Dora likely standing outside of McMaster Hall on graduation day, a photograph of Dora standing near a lake (ca. 1940), professional portraits of Dora, an I.L. Peretz School graduation book, correspondence regarding the death of Dora's mother, and a newsletter of the Canadian Welfare Council of Ontario.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Personal series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

1

File

9

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1928]-[ca. 1965]

Physical Description

8 photographs : b&w ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller

1 drawing (copy) : sketch ; 36 x 22 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of portraits of J. B. Salsberg. Included are photographs and one sketch.

Repro Restriction

Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

• 
• 

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Personal series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

1

File

11

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1945], 24 Aug. 1972

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w and col. ; 14 x 20 cm or smaller

Scope and Content

File consists of photographs of J. B. Salsberg at family events. Included is one photograph of Salsberg with his wife, Dora Wilensky, and relatives at an unknown event, and one photograph of Salsberg delivering a speech at Karen Faith (née Salsberg)'s wedding. Karn, the daughter of Molly and Sam Salsberg, was one of four children along with Barry, Stan, and Gerry.

Notes

Related groups of records external to the unit being described: Other records relating to Barry, Stan, Gerry, and Karen Salsberg can be found in Accession 2017-11-17.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Labour Zionism and union activities series

Level

Series

Fonds

92

Series

2

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

object

Date

1918-1981

Physical Description

5 cm of textual records (1 v.) and other material

Scope and Content

Series consists of records related to J. B. Salsberg's labour Zionism and union activities. Of note are records documenting Salsberg's early Poale Zion activities in New York. Included are photographs, correspondence, a medallion, pins, bulletins, newsletters, booklets, a book, and a pamphlet.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 11 b&w photographs (3 negatives), 3 pins, and 1 medallion.

Subjects

Labor Zionism

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Labour Zionism and union activities series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

2

File

2

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Date

1923-1981

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

2 photographs : b&w ; 11 x 7 cm

Admin History/Bio

Poale Zion (Workers of Zion) was a Marxist Zionist Jewish workers movement that originated in the Russian Empire around 1900. This movement spread around the world and in late 1905 the Socialist Jewish Labour Party (Poale Zion) was formed in Canada.

In 1919, the Poale Zion Zionist labour movement split into two factions: Left Poale Zion (later Achdut Avodah Poale Zion) and Achdut Avodah (later Mapai). J. B. Salsberg affiliated with the Left Poale Zion, which was founded on the principals established by Ber Borochov and became known as the Borochov Movement. In Canada, the Borochov Movement consisted of various political, cultural and educational organizations. The political branch was the Achdut Avodah Poale Zion. It promoted Zionism and socialism both in Canada and Israel.

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting J. B. Salsberg's involvement in the Achdut Avodah Poale Zion movement. Included is correspondence with the Jewish Socialist Labor Party Poale-Zion of America, Undzer Veg bulletins, Hashomer Hatzair newsletters, and a Yiddish booklet by Chaim Zhitlovsky entitled "From Assimilation to Labour Zionism" (published in New York, 1919). Also included are two photographs of J. B. Salsberg that were taken in Boston, likely at the second annual convention of the Poale-Zion of America (1923).

Repro Restriction

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.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political career series

Level

Series

Fonds

92

Series

3

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

object

Date

1930-1969

Physical Description

30 cm of textual records and other material

Scope and Content

Series consists of records documenting J. B. Salsberg's political career. The bulk of the records are textual and cover such topics as: Salsberg's membership, suspension and resignation from the Communist Party of Canada (later the Labor Progressive Party); Salsberg's election campaigns; and, Salsberg's activities as MPP for the riding of St. Andrew. Included is: correspondence; photographs; reports; political writings; agendas; pamphlets; booklets; flyers; campaign literature; campaign notes; campaign posters; newspaper clippings; press releases; speeches; telegrams; political platforms, briefs and submissions; statements; constitutions; resolutions; newspapers; bulletins; periodicals; notebooks; notes; course guides and outlines; donation receipts; event invitations; blank employment applications; and a delegate card.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 7 b&w photographs, 3 pins, and 3 posters.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

6

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1938]-[ca. 1943]

Physical Description

3 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm or smaller

Scope and Content

File consists of photographs of J.B. Salsberg during unidentified election campaigns. Included is a photograph of Salsberg delivering a speech and a photograph of Salsberg sitting with his wife, Dora Wilensky, and an unidentified man at a campaign stop (one matte duplicate of this photo is included, identifying the location as Camp Naivelt and the year as 1943).

Repro Restriction

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.

Source

Archival Descriptions

• 

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

7

Material Format

textual record

Date

1940-1950

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of pamphlets written by J.B. Salsberg and published by Labour Progressive Party. Included are pamphlets Salsberg wrote as Member of Provincial Parliament.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

8

Material Format

textual record

Date

[ca. 1940] - 1957

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting school courses operated by the Labour Progressive Party. Included are course guides and outlines, and bulletins of the International Society for Socialist Studies.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

9

Material Format

textual record

Date

1942-[1945?]

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of Labor Progressive Party publications, the bulk of which were written by Tim Buck.

Name Access

Buck, Tim, 1891-1973

Labor-Progressive Party

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

10

Material Format

textual record

Date

1946-1948

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of Labor Progressive Party publications, the bulk of which were written by Tim Buck.

Name Access

Buck, Tim, 1891-1973

Labor-Progressive Party

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

12

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Date

1943

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

3 posters (1 copy) : 28 x 36 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of campaign material documenting J.B. Salsberg's bid in the St. Andrew riding during the 1943 provincial election. Included are campaign posters and copy of the Progressive Conservative Party's platform.

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

• 

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

13

Material Format

textual record

Date

1943

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of one booklet published by the Workers' Educational Association entitled "The Permanent War or Homo the Sap". The booklet contains marginalia by J.B. Salsberg.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

14

Material Format

textual record

Date

1944-1951

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of speeches delivered by J.B. Salsberg in the Legislative Assembly.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

16

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1945]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 14 x 10 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of a photograph of J.B. Salsberg delivering a speech.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

17

Material Format

textual record

Date

[1945?] - 1956

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of a brief by Controller Stewart Smith on municipal assessments and the Labour Progressive Party's submission to the Gordon Commission on Canada's economic prospects.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

18

Material Format

textual record

Date

1948-1957

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting J. B. Salsberg's involvement in the United Jewish People's Order (UJPO). Included is correspondence, reports, statements, and a national convention agenda. Also included is a twenty-fifth anniversary booklet of Toronto's Morris Winchevsky Schools, which contains a message from Salsberg.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

19

Material Format

textual record

Date

1948-1955

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting J.B. Salsberg's efforts to pass legislation on Fair Employment Practices. Included are news clippings, correspondence, copies of a bill and speech presented by Salsberg in the Legislature, a transcript of remarks by G. T. Gordon in the Legislature, a report of the Joint Labour Committee for Human Rights, blank employment applications, and a case file regarding the discriminatory hiring practices at a Dominion Bank branch in Toronto.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

20

Material Format

textual record

Date

1949-[1954?]

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of constitutions and a draft resolution of the Labour Progressive Party.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

43

Material Format

textual record

Date

1934-1949

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of booklets published by the National Executive Committee of the Canadian Labor Defense League.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Jewish community involvement series

Level

Series

Fonds

92

Series

4

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

object

Date

1914-1993

Physical Description

11 cm of textual records (1 v.) and other material

Scope and Content

Series consists of records documenting J.B. Salsberg's involvement with various Jewish organizations, including: the I.L. Peretz School, the Canadian Jewish Congress, UJA Federation, the New Fraternal Jewish Association, the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and the Canadian Zionist Federation. Included are medallions, pins, a coin, a poster, certificates, photographs, meeting minutes, a test, booklets, event programmes, a transcript, bulletins, notes, newspaper clippings, articles, reports, newsletters, a brochure, and a flyer.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 17 photographs, 4 pins, 4 medallions, 1 coin, 1 poster, and 1 certificate.

Related Material

For other records documenting the CJC's Committee for Soviet Jewry see also fonds 17, series 3.

For other NFJA records see MG 2B-1P and MG9 ("Fraternally Yours" publications).

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Political Career series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

3

File

15

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1945-1951

Physical Description

3 photographs : b&w ; 28 x 36 cm or smaller

Scope and Content

File consists of two composite photographs of members of the Parliament of Ontario and one photograph of members seated inside the Legislative Assembly in Toronto.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Jewish community involvement series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

4

File

1

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Date

1914-1975

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records (1 v.)

2 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 9 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of records documenting J.B. Salsberg's involvement with the I.L. Peretz school in Toronto. Included is a minute book of the National Radical School Pupil's Council (the Peretz School's predecessor) from 1914-1916, a test, an anniversary book that is either for the school's 25th or 50th anniversary, a program for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Jewish People's Schools and Peretz Schools, and two copies of a photograph of Salsberg delivering a speech at the school's 60th anniversary celebration.

Physical Condition

Minute book is in fragile condition, with a weak spine and loose pages.

Anniversary souvenir book is also in fragile condition with loose pages.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Jewish community involvement series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

4

File

2

Material Format

textual record

Date

[ca. 1937], Jan. 1967

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of a transcript detailing the history of Holy Blossom Synagogue up to 1937and one Holy Blossom Temple bulletin (Jan. 1967).

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Jewish community involvement series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

4

File

3

Material Format

textual record

Date

1947

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File consists of one booklet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Council of Jewish Women, Toronto Section.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Joseph Baruch Salsberg fonds

Jewish community involvement series

Level

File

Fonds

92

Series

4

File

23

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1938]-1976

Physical Description

3 photographs : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller

Scope and Content

File consists of photographs of J.B. Salsberg delivering a speech and children practicing for a bowlathon likely for the Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah. Also included is a photograph of Salsberg participating in a presentation to young adults with images of Stalin, factories and workers in the background.

Repro Restriction

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.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

Series

Fonds

64

Series

5

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

architectural drawing

Date

1859-1980

Physical Description

35 cm of textual records

10 photographs

41 architectural drawings

Scope and Content

Series contains reference materials created by and written about the synagogues. Primary records include commemorative booklets, a small number of newsletters, brochures, and programs from special events. There are also newspaper clippings and copied articles providing histories of synagogues. There is a small number of photograph prints and negatives, but many of the files also include photographs from books, magazines or photocopies. The series is arranged in alphabetical order by city, then by synagogue. Not every synagogue the project team researched has a reference file, and there may be reference files for shuls for which no photographs survive.

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

64

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1859-1980, predominant 1977-1979

Physical Description

ca. 5178 photographs and other material

Admin History/Bio

The “Shuls Project” was the work of three University of Toronto architecture students, who in 1977 wrote a research paper on the eight Toronto synagogues built before World War II. Concerned at the lack of resources on these synagogues, Sidney Tenenbaum, Lynn Milstone and Sheldon Levitt foresaw the loss of communities’ recorded history as membership dwindled and elders passed on. The students conceived a project that would photograph and document every synagogue in Canada, gathering visual evidence, memorabilia, plaques and stories before they disappeared and history was lost. The students’ goal was to document synagogues’ architecture, art, and historical development through research, interviews and site visits.

The students secured a large portion of the required funding for the project from the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation in Montreal, funding which was matched by the Canadian Jewish Congress. This financial support enabled Levitt, Milstone and Tenenbaum to begin their study, named “Shuls… A Study of Canadian Synagogue Architecture.” They began in the summer of 1977, traveling through the Western provinces. The next summer, they visited eight Maritime cities, Montreal and other Quebec communities. Financial support in the project’s second year was again provided by the Bronfman Family Foundation, along with the Canadian government and donations in kind from businesses, including Benjamin Photo Finishers in Toronto, and Polaroid. The summer of 1979 was spent in Ontario, with an added grant from Wintario. In total, the Shuls project team traveled over 24,000 kilometres, taking thousands of photographs and conducting several hundred interviews. Photographs were taken by Tenenbaum, with Levitt and Milstone assuming primary responsibility for researching synagogues’ history and gathering historic records. Interviews were conducted by all three researchers, in both English and Yiddish.

With no handy index of every shul in Canada, the researchers located small shuls by word of mouth. They spread word of their project and solicited assistance using press releases, letters to known communities, and slideshow presentations as they traveled. They would first examine a building to get an idea of a community’s character and heritage, then conduct interviews with designers, architects, rabbis and other prominent community members.

With the research and photographs created, the team compiled three catalogues of the Western, Eastern/Quebec, and Ontario phases of the project. These catalogues have entries on each synagogue that include historical summaries highlighting the founding, growth, mergers and decline of Jewish communities, their changing needs, changing architectural expressions and trends, and the evolving uses of synagogues over the course of the twentieth century. There are also building descriptions, some with critical comments by the authors, and lists of the photographs and slides produced.

The compilation of materials and preparation of these catalogues took place at the Project’s offices at 26 Ava Road in Toronto, and continued through the summer of 1980 when the Ontario catalogue was completed. In 1985, Tenenbaum, Milstone and Levitt published a book highlighting their work, called Treasures of a People: The Synagogues of Canada.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of the records created and collected by the team of students conducting the Shuls study from 1977 to 1980. The majority of the fonds is made up of graphic material, in the form of 35mm colour slides and black-and-white Polaroid prints and (print-size) negatives. There are approximately 5110 photographs in the fonds. Fonds also consists of notes and inventory forms of buildings' architectural features. There are no interview transcripts, but the fonds does include three audio cassettes with recorded interviews and shul tours. Reference materials used in researching the history of the shuls include dedication and anniversary commemorative books and programmes, newsletters, articles and newspaper clippings. In addition the fonds contains 47 blueprints, the majority from Montreal synagogues. The fonds is arranged in the following series: 1. Quebec synagogues; 2. Ontario synagogues; 3. Western Canada synagogues; 4. Eastern Canada synagogues; 5. Reference.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 92 cm of textual records, 42 architectural drawings, 3 audio cassettes, and 1 drawing.

Physical extent note: many of the slides were culled because they were felt to be reproductions. Some of the synagogue images in the research book may therefore not be included in the fonds.

Name Access

Shuls Project

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Creator

Levitt, Sheldon

Milstone, Lynn

Tenenbaum, Sidney T.

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

12

Material Format

textual record

Date

1949

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains photocopied pages from the synagogue's 1949 Dedication program.

Name Access

Beth Isaiah Congregation (Guelph, Ont.)

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Guelph (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

23

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Date

[ca. 1910]-1978

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

4 photographs : b&w prints (2 negatives) ; 12 x cm

Scope and Content

File contains notes, lists, clippings, copied pages from directories and 4 unidentified photographs (2 negatives).

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

33

Material Format

architectural drawing

Date

1947

Physical Description

7 architectural drawings

Scope and Content

File contains 7 blueprints for the 1947 extension and alterations to the shul.

Name Access

Congregation Ahavath Shalom

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

41

Material Format

textual record

architectural drawing

Date

1859-1978

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

4 architectural drawings

Scope and Content

File contains photocopied articles, a newspaper clipping, photocopied photographs, a greeting card with photograph on cover, copies of the 1859 contract commissioning the erection of the synagogue as well as a list of specifications for the masons, and blueprints for the 1967 extension.

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

45

Material Format

textual record

Date

1932-[ca. 1965]

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains dedication book for new building (1960), copied articles, assorted pamphlets and programmes.

Name Access

Temple Emanu-El (Montréal, Quebec)

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

48

Material Format

textual record

architectural drawing

Date

1949, 1978

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

1 architectural drawing

Scope and Content

File contains a form letter from the congregation regarding High Holiday services (17 July 1978), and a blueprint for the auditorium building (1949).

Name Access

Young Israel of Montreal

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

49

Material Format

textual record

Date

1925, 1945

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains one copied newspaper article and several other transcribed newspaper articles.

Name Access

House of Israel

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Moose Jaw (Sask.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

54

Material Format

textual record

Date

1944, [1975?]

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains two short historical overviews.

Name Access

Temple Israel

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Ottawa (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

66

Material Format

textual record

architectural drawing

Date

1920-1977

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

1 architectural drawing

Scope and Content

File contains a copied photograph from The Jewish Post, the congregation's constitution adopted in 1920, and a blueprint from 1955.

Name Access

Agudas Israel

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Saskatoon (Sask.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

75

Material Format

textual record

Date

1935-1979

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains a 1979 newsletter, "Voice of Radom," and copies from the 10th and 30th anniversary booklets.

Name Access

Beth Radom Congregation (Toronto, Ont.)

Subjects

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

The Shuls Project fonds

Reference series

Level

File

Fonds

64

Series

5

File

96

Material Format

textual record

Date

1930-1978

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content

File contains the shul's dedication programme from 1930, the 25th (1954) and 49th anniversary programmes (1978).

Name Access

Congregation Shaar Hashomayim

Subjects

Anniversaries

Synagogues

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Places

Windsor (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions