Accession Number

1993-1-9

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1938-[ca.1980]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting Goel Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto. Included are a script of a sisterhood play; copies of the religious-school newsletter Keren Ami; a program for Beth Tzedec's First Congregational (1955); a certificate for charter members of the North Toronto YMHA awarded to the law firm of Singer and Kert; a Young Judaea publication The Leader (1938), which includes a prize-winning address by Shelton Kert; and a menu from Old Ed's, one of Ed Mirvish's restaurants.

Administrative History

The Singer and Kert law partnership lasted from 1920-1965. Joseph Singer was a gold metalist at Osgoode Hall in 1911. He was the first Jewish Controller in Toronto, and legal adviser to the Primrose Club. At the time of his death in 1967 he had practiced law for 56 years.

Lawrence Kert helped organize the Associated Hebrew Schools and the Oakdale Golf and Country Club. He was on the board of Goel Tzedec Synagogue. When he passed away in 1976 he had been a lawyer for 56 years.

Name Access

Kert, Sheldon

Kert, Lawrence

Singer, Joseph

Goel Tzedec Synagogue

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2013-2-3

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

20 cm of textual records

ca. 100 photographs

Date

[190-]-2012

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records related to three generations of the Ladovsky family and their restaurant, the United Bakers Dairy Restaurant. Also included is a small amount of material related to Jewish organizations in Toronto, such as the Kieltzer Society and B'nai Brith, as well as the Bakery and Confectionary Union. Records include family and business photographs, correspondence, newsclippings, UB menus and other ephemera, and records related to family simchas and celebrations.

Custodial History

The records were created and accumulated by Aaron Ladovsky, Herman Ladovsky and Ruthie Ladovsky.

Administrative History

Aaron Ladovsky was born in 1888 in Kielce, Poland. He immigrated with his wife Sarah to Toronto in 1906 at the age of 18. Soon after arriving, Aaron Ladovsky worked to help form a Jewish bakers’ union to advocate for collective rights among Jewish Bakers. In 1912 he opened the United Bakers Dairy Restaurant at Dundas and Bay Streets (known then as Agnes and Terauley Streets respectively) in the heart of the Ward. That same year, the couple had twin sons Herman and Samuel, who were born on September 23, 1912.

Only a short time later, in 1920, Aaron moved the location of his restaurant to 338 Spadina Avenue, just north of Dundas. He and his family lived in an apartment upstairs. Herman and Samuel attended Hester How Elementary School until 1919, Lord Lansdowne Public School once the family moved to Spadina, and later Central Commerce. The twins worked in the family business in the 1920s delivering fresh breads and buns by horse cart.

Aaron Ladovsky was involved in a number of community organizations. He was instrumental in founding the Kieltzer Society of Toronto in 1913; a community based immigrant-aid association extending aid to Kielcers in Poland and around the world. Ladovsky remained an active member of the organization until his death on April 5, 1960 . His restaurant provided a welcome gathering place for the Jewish community, serving traditional dishes and maintaining a friendly open-door policy. Aaron Ladovsky was known for his generosity and claimed that no one, whether they had money or not, left his restaurant hungry. The United Bakers' menu was mainly based on Sarah’s original recipes, and continues to be so to this day.

During the Second World War, Herman served overseas as an electrician in the Canadian army show with comics Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. After returning from the war, he married Dora Macklin in 1947, a registered nurse from Regina. He also began to take over management of the family business. Later, his son Philip and daughter Ruth would follow in his footsteps, helping to run the restaurant with him and later taking over managment. United Bakers remained on Spadina Avenue for 66 years – until 1986 when it moved to its current location at 506 Lawrence Avenue West, off of Bathurst Street. Herman was an active fixture in restaurant until his death on January 6, 2002. He also supported and was involved in the work of the Ontario Jewish Archives over the years. Today, Philip and Ruth carry on the family tradition of running United Bakers Dairy Restaurant.

Descriptive Notes

To be integrated into the Ladovsky family fonds 83.

Subjects

Families

Restaurants

Name Access

Ladovsky, Herman

Ladovsky, Aaron

United Bakers Dairy Restaurant (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Level

Item

Item

1511

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[between 1930 and 1935]

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Item is a photo of the Kieltzer Sick Benifit Society. Pictured in the back row from left to right are: Gordon Mendly (1902-1998); [unknown]; Avrum Urman (?-1967) (president of Bakers' Union); Nathan (?) Rotfoge (?- 1964); Avromele Stancer (bakery on College St.); Getzel Tannenbaum (recording secretary); [?] Sugar (Sugar Bros. Tailors, College St.).

Seated left to right: Dovid Levy (worked at Eaton's); Aaron Ladovsky (United Bakers, called "Tate Fun Keltzer"); Noson Yasne (president); [?] Bader (vice-president); [unknown].

Notes

Photo by Famous Studios.

Name Access

Bader

Eaton's

Kieltzer Sick Benefit Society

Ladovsky, Aaron

Levy, Dovid

Mendly, Gordon, 1904-1998

Rotfogel

Stancer, Avromele

Sugar Bros. Tailors

Tannenbaum, Getzel

Urman, Avrum

United Bakers

Yasne, Noson

Subjects

Societies

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.

Places

College Street (Toronto, Ont.)

Accession Number

1978-3-6

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2444

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1937

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Photo is a group shot of campers and staff at Camp Yungvelt with posters which read: "War is murder, the promoters - murderers" and "We want our fathers with us and not in war."

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Camp Yungvelt

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Demonstrations

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.

Places

Pickering (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

1184

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1935

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Item is a photograph of the Workmen's Circle mandolin orchestra.

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Mandolin orchestras

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.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1977-1-3

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

1185

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1936

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Individuals in the photograph include Sam Shopsowitz (with accordian), Mannie Farber, Percy Lipshitz, Muni Frumhartz, [Mr. Gluskin?], and Al Rosenberg.

Name Access

Shopsowitz, Sam

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Mandolin orchestras

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.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1977-1-3

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3961

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1936

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w

Notes

Photo by Simon.

For identification see accession record.

Name Access

I.L. Peretz

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Education

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.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3963

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1938

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w

Notes

Photo by Schlochter.

Name Access

I.L. Peretz

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Education

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.

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3962

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1937

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w

Notes

For identification see accession record.

Photo by Simon.

Name Access

I.L. Peretz

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Education

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.

Accession Number

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Ladovsky family fonds

Photographs file

Level

Item

Fonds

83

File

9

Item

21

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1933]

Physical Description

4 photographs : b&w (2 negatives) ; 21 x 26 cm

Admin History/Bio

The Toronto Kielcer Maccabees Football and Sports Club was established following the First World War by Kielce landsmen in Toronto.

Scope and Content

Item is a photograph of the Toronto Kielcer Maccabees taken by photographer Gordon Mendly. Aaron Ladovsky is in the second row, fourth from right. Fishel Bimko is also in the second row, third from left.

Notes

Photo by Famous Studios, Toronto.

The photograph was published in the Canadian Jewish News on September 23, 1987.

Originally cited as photo # 4503 (original) and photo # 6224 ( reference copy).

Name Access

Ladowksy, Aaron

Ladovsky, Aaron

Bimko, Fischel

Toronto Kielcer Maccabees Football and Sports Club

Subjects

Sports teams

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.

Accession Number

1988-4-12

1999-11-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Isaac Matenko fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

89

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Date

1911-1971, predominant 1911-1935

Physical Description

6 cm of textual records

17 photographs

Admin History/Bio

Isaac Matenko (1874–1960) was a founder, teacher, and principal of the I. L. Peretz School. He worked tirelessly to preserve and promote secular Jewish culture and the Yiddish language in Toronto. He was also a prominent member of local Jewish organizations, such as the Socialist-Territorialist Club and the Yiddish Kultur Gesellshaft.

Isaac was born on 1 February 1874 in the town of Makariv, located in the Kyiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. He married Elke Yelia Moshkevitch (1878–19 November 1953) on 4 August 1900 in Yekaterinoslav (today Dnipro). They immigrated from czarist Russia to Toronto in 1906, passing first through New York with their two children, Percy (30 June 1901–May 1987) and Theodore (1903–1906, died of measles at Ellis Island), and Yelia’s three sisters, Dvora, Bracha, and Celia, and Isaac’s younger half-brother, Paul Frumhartz. They had two more children after arriving: Abraham (14 August 1908–October 24, 1989) and Shoshana (Sue) (1911–2001). Although he had been a teacher in Russia, Isaac worked as an operator in a cloak factory in Toronto, where he was instrumental in forming the union (likely the Cloakmakers’ Union of Toronto, which later affiliated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union).

As a child, Isaac received a traditional Jewish education. This, combined with his self-taught secular education and the teachings of Yiddish nationalist Dr. Chaim Zhitlovski, informed his future career and philosophies. He was described as an idealist by his friends, whose dedication to Yiddish culture and language motivated him to bring this knowledge to a younger generation.

On 11 July 1911, Isaac and his fellow Socialist-Territorialist members established the Toronto Yiddish National-Radical School. By 1916, it had been taken over by the Workmen’s Circle and renamed the I. L. Peretz School, after the well-known Yiddish author and playwright. The school began in a rented room at the Zionist Institute on Simcoe Street, moving to larger locations on Richmond Street West, then Beverley Street as it grew. Eventually, several more branches opened, such as the Maria Street school that Isaac was affiliated with. He taught at the school for free in the evenings after working during the day in a shop. His brother Paul was also a founding teacher at the school.

Isaac was described by family, friends, and community members as a passionate teacher with an iron will. He was well-versed in Jewish knowledge, with a desire to pass it on to a younger generation and his fellow union members. He remained involved in the school and in teaching, even after retirement. He died on 2 June 1960 at the age of eighty-six.

Custodial History

These records were donated to the OJA by Sue Levy, daughter of Isaac Matenko.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting Isaac Matenko's involvement with the Workmen's Circle and other Jewish organizations. Included are photographs, programmes, certificates, I. L. Peretz School jubilee books, a songbook, a yearbook, articles, and newsclippings.

Fonds has been arranged into one series for the Workmen's Circle. There are also two files attached to the fonds-level. The records are described at the series and file-level, with some item-level descriptions.

Name Access

Arbeiter Ring

Arbeiter Ring Schools

Arbeter Ring

Camp Yungvelt

Frumhartz, Paul

I.L. Peretz

Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960

Matenko, Percy

National Radical School

Peretz Shule

Workman's Circle

Workmen's Circle

Subjects

Schools

Teachers

Yiddish language

Related Material

For additional Workmen's Circle records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1980-2-2, 1983-6-3, 1984-10-1, 1986-4-1, 1992-1-2, 1997-2-1, 1998-3-32, 2004-5-41, 2004-5-105, and fonds 30.

For additional Camp Yungvelt records, see: accessions 1979-4-4, 1986-4-1, 1991-12-4, 1993-6-6, 1999-5-1, 2004-5-37, 2005-6-4, 2006-12-3, photographs # 2964, # 4014, # 6021, MG2N1K, Benjamin Brown fonds 49, and Dorothy Dworkin Fonds 10 (item 14).

Creator

Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960

Accession Number

1987-11-4

1991-4-2

2007-5-3

2007-6-28

Source

Archival Descriptions