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

Level

Item

Item

3966

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1928

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm

Admin History/Bio

Founded in the 1920s, Camp Yungvelt was originally situated on Lake Wilcox. It later moved to Pickering, where it operated until it closed in the 1950s. It was established by the Workmen's Circle, as a Yiddish summer camp for Jewish children. Camp Yungvelt was known for accepting the children of poor immigrants for a small fraction of the regular fee.

Scope and Content

This item is an original postcard that features an image of the children's bungalow at Camp Yungvelt in Pickering, Ontario. The image depicts a few children standing on the front porch. There is Yiddish type on the postcard that reads: a bungalow for small children in the Arbeiter Ring Camp Yungvelt.

Name Access

Camp Yungvelt

Subjects

Camps

Postcards

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

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3967

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1929

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm

Admin History/Bio

Founded in the 1920s, Camp Yungvelt was originally situated on Lake Wilcox. It later moved to Pickering, where it operated until it closed in the 1950s. It was established by the Workmen's Circle, as a Yiddish summer camp for Jewish children. Camp Yungvelt was known for accepting the children of poor immigrants for a small fraction of the regular fee.

Scope and Content

This item is an original postcard that features an image of the swimming area in Duffins Creek at Camp Yungvelt in Pickering, Ontario. The image depicts a large group gathered on the shore of the creek as well as several swimmers in the water and standing on the docks. There is Yiddish type on the postcard which reads: the swimming pool in the Arbeiter Ring Camp Yungvelt where the children bathe.

Name Access

Camp Yungvelt

Subjects

Camps

Postcards

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

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3965

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1927

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm

Admin History/Bio

Founded in the 1920s, Camp Yungvelt was originally situated on Lake Wilcox. It later moved to Pickering, where it operated until it closed in the 1950s. It was established by the Workmen's Circle, as a Yiddish summer camp for Jewish children. Camp Yungvelt was known for accepting the children of poor immigrants for a small fraction of the regular fee.

Scope and Content

This item is an original postcard that features an image of a clean-up day at Camp Yungvelt in Pickering, Ontario. The image depicts a row of tents being inspected by two young girls. There is Yiddish type on the postcard which reads: the cleaning committee controlling the cleanliness of the sleeping quarters and beds in Arbeiter Ring Camp Yungvelt.

Name Access

Camp Yungvelt

Subjects

Camps

Postcards

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

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Dorothy Dworkin fonds

Level

Item

Fonds

10

Item

14

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1915]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm

Scope and Content

Identified is: second row (left to right): -- , -- , -- , -- , ? Rigelhaupt, Joseph? Daniluk, -- , --.

Bottom row (left to right) : -- , -- , Boris Litman, Morris Langbord, -- , Paul Frumartz, -- , ? Riba.

Rigelhaupt (or Rigelhoff), was the choirmaster.

Notes

Inscription of title in Yiddish, recto, bottom.

Inscription, recto, lower left: BY SIMON.

Name Access

Arbeiter Ring

Camp Yungvelt

Daniluk, Joseph

Frumartz, Paul

Langbord, Morris

Litman, Boris

Riba

Rigelhaupt

Rigelhoff

Subjects

Camps

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

2005-4-5

Source

Archival Descriptions