Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
National politics series
Phil Givens with Brian Mulroney (Breakfast event) file
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 51; Series 7; File 12
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
National politics series
Phil Givens with Brian Mulroney (Breakfast event) file
Level
Item
Fonds
51
Series
7
File
12
Material Format
graphic material
Date
1985
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 20 x 25 cm
Scope and Content
Item is a photograph of Phil Givens meeting with Brian Mulroney at a breakfast event. Identified in the photograph are (foreground, left to right): Brian Mulroney, Paul Godfrey, and Phil Givens.
Notes
Photograph is by Mike Peake (The Toronto Sun)
Name Access
Canada. Prime Minister (1984-1993 : Mulroney)
Subjects
Prime ministers--Canada
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
Philip Givens fonds
Legal career series
Canadian Awards Dinner file
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 51; Series 8; File 6
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Legal career series
Canadian Awards Dinner file
Level
Item
Fonds
51
Series
8
File
6
Material Format
graphic material
Date
28 Nov.1985
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 20 x 25 cm
Scope and Content
Item is a photograph of Phil Givens talking with the Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander, lieutenant governor of Ontario; Mrs. Mary C. Jackman; and Mr. Steven A. Stavro.
Notes
Photograph is by Boris Spremo
Name Access
Alexander, Lincoln M. (Lincoln MacCauley), 1922-
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
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Canadian Zionist Federation sub-series
Canadian Zionist Federation - Tribute album file
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 51; Series 9-2; File 1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Canadian Zionist Federation sub-series
Canadian Zionist Federation - Tribute album file
Level
Item
Fonds
51
Series
9-2
File
1
Material Format
graphic material
Date
1968
Physical Description
1 photograph: b&w ; 21 x 25 cm
Admin History/Bio
William Dennison was Toronto's fifty-fifth mayor. He was in office from 1 January 1967 to 31 December 1972.
Scope and Content
Item is a photograph of Phil Givens (left) conversing with Prime Minister Trudeau (centre) and Mayor Dennison during a visit to Toronto's New City Hall during the 1968 federal election.
Name Access
Canada. Prime Minister (1968-1979 : Trudeau)
Subjects
Mayors
Prime ministers--Canada
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
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Publicity sub-series
Metro Police Commissioner Promo Pictures file
Level
Item
Fonds
51
Series
5-2
File
1
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[197-]-[198-]
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 20 x 26 cm
Scope and Content
Item is a promotional photograph of Phil Givens in his role as chair of the Metro Toronto Police Commission.
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
Philip Givens fonds
Personal series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 1; File 9
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Personal series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
1
File
9
Material Format
graphic material
Date
1947-1988
Physical Description
25 photographs : b&w ; 36 x 26 cm or smaller
5 photographs : b&w and col. ; mounted on board 33 x 36 cm or smaller
Scope and Content
File consists of photographs of Phil, Min, and family. Included are photographs of Phil and Min at parties or family celebrations, such as a costume New Year's Eve party, Passover dinner, and a bar mitzvah, Phil with his daughter and grandson at work as a judge, portraits of Min around their home and out at the theatre, and family portraits of Phil, Min and their children, Eleanor, and Michael. Some photographs were used for Givens's 1957 federal election campaign.
Subjects
Families
Repro Restriction
Photography studios and photographers are identified on most of the photographs.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 5-3; File 7
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
7
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Date
13 May 1980
Physical Description
I folder of textual records
2 photographs : b&w. ; 20 x 25 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one letter from J. Douglas Creighton (publisher of the Toronto Sun) along with two photographs of Phil Givens attending a police event. Identified in the one of the photographs (left to right) is Chief Ackroyd, Chief Adamson, [?], J. Douglas Creighton and Philip Givens. Identified in the other photograph is (left to right) Dennis Flynn, Chief Adamson, and Phi Givens.
Notes
Photographs are by Jac Holland (Toronto Sun)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 51
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
51
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[192-]-1990
Physical Description
1.35 metres of textual records (20 vols.) and other material
Admin History/Bio
Philip (Phil) Gerald Givens, QC, (1922–1995) was a Canadian politician, judge, police commissioner, and active Jewish communal leader. He is is largely remembered as the fifty-fourth mayor of Toronto.
Phil Givens was born in Toronto, the only son of Hyman and Mary Gevertz (Gewercz). As a youth, he attended Harbord Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in political science and economics in 1945. In 1947, he married the former Minnie “Min” Rubin. They had two children together: Eleanor and Michael.
Givens graduated as a lawyer from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1949; however, shortly thereafter, he decided to enter politics, running as a municipal school board trustee in 1950. In 1951, he was elected as alderman for Ward 5, serving in this capacity until 1960, when he was subsequently elected as a controller.
Givens was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1962.
Following the sudden death of Mayor David Summerville in 1963, Givens was appointed by City Council as the mayor of Toronto and was officially elected to the position in 1964, winning a close race against Allan Lamport. As mayor, Givens was automatically a member of the Metropolitan Toronto Executive and Council, the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission, the Consumer’s Gas Company Executive, the Toronto Hydro Commission and the governing boards of Toronto’s major hospitals.
Givens was publicly seen as an affable and populist mayor, but his tenure was not without controversy. His support for the construction of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and his decision to acquire Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture The Archer for the new Nathan Phillips Square were both highly controversial during his term in office. In particular, the Moore sculpture sparked intense controversy and public debate amongst council members and citizens alike, because traditional and representational public art pieces were the norm in Toronto at the time and The Archer sculpture was considered expensive, bold, and unrelatable. The controversy surrounding the statue’s purchase was still partly to blame for Givens’ 1966 election defeat to William Dennison. Ultimately, the sculpture was purchased with privately solicited donations and has become one of Toronto’s beloved and recognized landmarks.
Givens ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 and 1958 federal elections but was defeated in his bid to become member of Parliament for Spadina. In 1967, Givens entered national politics for the second time, winning a seat as a Liberal in Toronto’s York West riding. In 1971, he stepped down before the end of his term to campaign for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Again, running under the Liberal banner, Givens won his seat in York-Forest Hill. In the 1975 provincial election, he was re-elected as a member of Provincial Parliament in the Armourdale constituency.
In 1977, Givens retired from politics and was appointed as a provincial court judge and chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission, serving in both capacities until 1985, when he left the Commission but continued in the judiciary as a civil trial judge until officially retired from public life in 1988.
In addition to his political career, Givens also worked briefly as a current affairs commentator for local radio broadcaster CHUM 1050 AM.
Givens was an ardent Zionist and a prominent leader of several Jewish communal organizations. He was the founder and first president of the Upper Canada Lodge of B’nai Brith and sat on the executives of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the United Jewish Welfare Fund, the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim, the Zionist Organization of Canada, the Toronto Zionist Council, Jewish National Fund, State of Israel Bonds, and the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. He was chair of the United Israel Appeal-Israel Emergency Fund in 1967 and the United Jewish Appeal-Israel Special Fund in 1968. From 1973 to 1985, he was the national president of the Canadian Zionist Federation. In the 1990s, he served as the national chairman of the Committee for Yiddish of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
Givens was the honouree of the Jewish National Fund’s Negev Dinner in 1968. He received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews in 1969 and the Award of Honour from the Toronto Regional Council of B’nai Brith in 1972.
Givens was also known to be a passionate sailor and was a member of both the Royal Canadian and the Island Yacht Clubs in Toronto.
Custodial History
The records were in the possession of Phil Givens until they were donated to the Archives in September 1990 by his wife.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records documenting the personal, professional and communal activities of Phil Givens. The bulk of the material is graphic and most of the photographs relate to his tenure as Mayor of Toronto and to his Jewish communal work. The records also include general correspondence, speeches, campaign material, scrapbooks, cartoons, certificates and awards, biographical writings, audio and visual materials and artifacts. The records have been arranged into nine series representing Givens’ various roles and activities and have been described to the file level and item level when necessary. These series are: 1. Personal life; 2. City of Toronto Alderman; 3. City of Toronto Controller; 4. City of Toronto Mayor; 5. Metropolitan Toronto Police Commissioner; 6. Provincial politics; 7. National politics; 8. Legal career; 9. Jewish communal service.
Notes
Physical Description Note: Includes ca. 915 photographs, 14 drawings, 1 print, 1 presentation piece, 27 objects, 4 DVD’s, 4 videocassettes and 1 audiocassette.
Physical Extent Note: Fonds was reduced from 5.5 m of records to 2.6 m of records. Please see accession record for further details regarding the records that were culled.
General Note: Previously cited as MG6 B
Associated material note: City of Toronto Archives: “Philip Givens fonds” (fonds 1301) and Series 363, Sub-series 2 “Mayor' Office journals” (fonds 200). Library and Archives Canada: “Correspondence and subjects” series (R4942-1-1-E) in the Stuart E. Rosenberg fonds (R4942-0-X-E); Henry S. Rosenberg fonds (R3946-0-9-E); Jewish National Fund of Canada fonds (R4347-0-1-E), “Subject series: Givens, Judge Philip G. – Toronto” (R4347-7-4-E); “Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports” series (MG31-H67), Zdzislaw Przygoda fonds (R6257-0-0-E) [Sir Casimir Gzowski monument committee records –chaired by Phil Givens]; B'nai Brith Canada fonds (R6348-0-9-E); Canadian Zionist Federation fonds (R9377-0-6-E).
Name Access
Givens, Phillip, 1922-1995
Givens (nee Rubin), Min
Subjects
Law
Politicians
Related Material
See Fonds 2: Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
See Fonds 18: Gordon Mendly fonds
See Fonds 28: Zionist Organization of Canada fonds
See Fonds 37: Gilbert Studios fonds (Negev dinners series, Zionist Building series, Portraits series).
Creator
Givens, Philip, 1922-1995
Accession Number
1990-9-7
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 5-3; File 14
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
14
Material Format
graphic material
Date
May 1984
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 13 x 10 cm
Admin History/Bio
The Primrose Club was founded in Toronto in 1907 as the Cosmopolitan Club, an elite Jewish men's social club. In 1959, the club's building at 41 Willcocks Street was expropriated by the University of Toronto (and currently houses the university's Faculty Club), and the club subsequently moved to a new building at Russell Road & St. Clair, designed by Kaplan & Sprachman. It has since been demolished and a condominium has been put up in its place by Ken Rotenberg, a Toronto developer.
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens meeting with a group of Police Chiefs. Identified in the photograph are (left to right): James Mackie, Harold Adamson, Jack Ackroyd, Jack Marks, Phil Givens.
Name Access
Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Police
Places
Russell Hill Road (Toronto, Ont.)
Saint Clair Avenue West (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Other Jewish organizations sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 9-8; File 18
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Other Jewish organizations sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
9-8
File
18
Material Format
graphic material
Date
4 Dec. 1988
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 10 x 15 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens attending a Shaarei Shomayim Brotherhood event. Identified in the photograph are Phil Givens, Ben Stark, and Sam Sable.
Notes
Photograph is by L.E. Kernerman (Toronto)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 5-3; File 19
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
19
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[198-]
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w. ; 20 x 26 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens visiting the Metropolitan Toronto Police Handgun Team's gun range.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 5-3; File 22
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
22
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[198-]
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w. ; 20 x 25 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens visiting with the Summer Youth Employment Group.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Other Jewish organizations sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 9-8; File 17
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Jewish communal series
Other Jewish organizations sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
9-8
File
17
Material Format
graphic material
Date
1984
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 15 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens conversing with President Navon at an event held at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue.
Name Access
Beth Tzedec Congregation (Toronto, Ont.)
Israel. President (1978-1983 : Navon)
Subjects
Presidents--Israel
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
Philip Givens fonds
Legal career series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 8; File 5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Legal career series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
8
File
5
Material Format
graphic material
Date
Sept. 1981
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 25 x 20 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens meeting with Deputy Solicitor General John Hilton.
Notes
Photograph is by the Ontario Provincial Police
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Remembrance Day at Jewish War Vets Memorial file
Level
Item
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
15
Material Format
graphic material
Date
11 Nov. 1984
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 10 x 15 cm
Scope and Content
Item is a photograph of Phil Givens standing in front of the Jewish war veterans monument during the Remembrance Day ceremony held by the General Wingate Branch 256 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Also identified in the photograph is J. Sacks.
Name Access
Royal Canadian Legion. General Wingate Branch 256
Subjects
Remembrance Day (Canada)
Repro Restriction
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Related Material
See Fonds No.74 (OJA): Wingate Branch 256, Royal Canadian Legion.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 51; Series 5-3; File 13
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission series
Official engagements sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
51
Series
5-3
File
13
Material Format
graphic material
Date
Oct. 1983
Physical Description
2 photographs : col. ; 13 x 18 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of two photographs of Phil Givens meeting with David Hen, Assistant Commander of Jerusalem Police Intelligence. Also identified in one of the photographs is David Hen's wife.
Source
Archival Descriptions