Accession Number

2002-10-3

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

30 cm of textual records

Scope and Content

Accession consists of the records of the Amalgamated Dawes Road Trustees, responsible for the maintenance and operations of the Dawes Road Cemetery. The Trustees reported to the Canadian Jewish Congress Central Region.

Subjects

Cemeteries

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Amalgamated Dawes Road Trustees (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

1982-7-1

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1939-1947

Scope and Content

Accession consists of Canadian Jewish Congress records related to a study carried out by Saul Hayes and Jacob Finkelman on discriminatory employment practices in Ontario. The title of the resulting report is "Evidence of Unequal Opportunity in Employment and a Suggested Fair Employment Practices Legislation". Included are reports, memorandi, correspondence, sample applications from different employers, and a booklet by Gurston Allen entitled "Jewish Occupational Difficulties" (1939).

Subjects

Antisemitism

Name Access

Hayes, Saul

Finkelman, Jacob

Allen, Gurston

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

1977-4-3

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1926-1965

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material relating to the Associated Hebrew Schools, including correspondence and a certificate awarded to the school choir. In addition there is a Canadian Jewish Congress Central Region timeline of the history of the Toronto Jewish Community (1954), a CJC abstract of the proceedings of the Sixth Regional Conference on Jewish Education (1957), as well as editions of the Jewish Herald, the Jewish Standard, and the Canadian Jewish News. In addition, there is material documenting the activities of the Kehillah of Toronto, a religious organization of synagogues and organizations, such as mutual benefit societies. Included are correspondence, a ballot page listing congregations and organizations, a financial report, and a legal document in the form of an agreement between the Kehilla of Toronto and shochtim regarding the ritual slaughter of beef.

Administrative History

Samuel Kurtz was the executive vice president of the Associated Hebrew Schools.

MG_RG

MG3A5

Name Access

Kurtz, Samuel A.

Associated Hebrew Schools

Kehilla of Toronto

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

1976-5-1

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1943-1944

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records relating to the work of the JPRC Summer Resorts Sub-Committee, which Hart D. Wintrob chaired. Material includes advice offered to Jews on appropriate behaviour at resorts frequented by non-Jews and efforts to have "Gentiles only" signs removed from resorts and other businesses. Also included is a list of JPRC members from which the members of the subcommitte were chosen and an agenda for a meeting of this group.

Subjects

Antisemitism

Resorts

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Ontario

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2004-6-12

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

3.3 m of textual records

Date

[ca. 1970]-[ca. 1990]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of the records created or accumulated by the Committee for Yiddish, which operated under the auspices of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region and later, the Toronto Jewish Congress (UJA Federation of Greater Toronto).

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Name Access

Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)

Toronto Jewish Congress

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

1988-10-1

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1.2 m of textual records

Date

1986-1987

Scope and Content

Accession consists of the Executive Director files of the CJC, Central Region. The files were created and accumulated by E. Y. Lipsitz.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

1990-5-3

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

12 m of textual records

Date

[197-]-[199-]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting various activities of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region, including the small communities, regional committees, eduction and culture. The records appear to have originated with E. Y. Lipsitz.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2005-2-2

Material Format

textual record

sound recording

Physical Description

ca. 92 m of textual records and sound recordings

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records created by the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region. The records cover a variety of topics but primarily consist of general office files from E. Y. Lipsitz.

Also included are audio recordings, including one of Golda Meir's visit to Toronto in 1970, and a community meeting following the Allen Gardens open-air speech by William John Beattie in 1965.

Audio cassette recordings (4) of Saul Hayes attending National Executive Officers Meeting, 19 Jun. 1971 & 20 Jun. 1971.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2005-7-3

Material Format

graphic material

Physical Description

ca. 300 slides : col. ; 35 mm

Date

1977-1978

Scope and Content

Accession consists of photographs taken during visits by CJC Central Region officers to Ontario Jewish communities, and at Canadian Jewish Congress events and meetings in various communities. Accession also includes photos of Jewish interest in Italy.

Subjects

Communities

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Friedman, Morris

Markish, Esther

Eisenberg, Joe

Wexler, Boris

Acker, Abe

Brownstone, Sam

Klafter, Gershon

Rosen, Marty

Fackenheim, Emil

Rosensweig, Philip

Saiger, Norman

Sadowski, David

Gryfe, Mark

Hillel (Kingston, Ont.)

Frey, Marcus

Horowitz, Shlomo

Katz, Stan

Pliscow, Morris

Places

Cambridge (Ont.)

Chatham (Ont.)

Sudbury (Ont.)

Kirkland Lake (Ont.)

Thunder Bay (Ont.)

Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.)

North Bay (Ont.)

Oshawa (Ont.)

Belleville (Ont.)

Windsor (Ont.)

Pembroke (Ont.)

Peterborough (Ont.)

Guelph (Ont.)

Hamilton (Ont.)

London (Ont.)

Kitchener (Ont.)

Owen Sound (Ont.)

Toronto (Ont.)

Barrie (Ont.)

Orillia (Ont.)

Kingston (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2005-11-9

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1934-1956

Scope and Content

Accession consists of historical material collected by the CJC Central Region Centenary Committee or Historical Committee (both committee names appear in the file). These materials include several CJC Ontario Division documents dating from 1934. The bulk of the accession consists of reports of interviews conducted in 1956 with members of Holy Blossom as part of a Holy Blossom Centennial research project.

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Holy Blossom Temple (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2009-5-5

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

3.3 m of textual records

Date

2001-2003

Scope and Content

This accession consists of the files of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Regions' Community Relations Committee. Included are meeting minutes and agendas, correspondence, incidence reports and complaints, interventions, newsclippings and a small amount of other reference material.

Custodial History

The records were created and used by Len Rudner, former director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region Community Relations Committee. They were donated to the Archives by the CJC's executive assistant, Cindy Osheroff on 4 May, 2009.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2009-6-4

Material Format

object

graphic material

textual record

Physical Description

M6 artifacts

1 postcard

1 textual record

Date

[193-?]-[195-?]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a Tip Top Tailors wall clock and five tzedakah boxes from Israel. Also included is a postcard of the Mossington Park resort on Lake Simcoe featuring a Gentiles Only sign, several copies from the mid-1940s of the CJC Committee on Social and Economic Studies Information and Comment bulletins, as well as a programme for the twenty-seventh anniversary celebrations for the Soviet Union, held at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1944. The program included a message from the prime minister, W. L. MacKenzie King, and a broadcast from Paul Robeson. The master of ceremonies was Lorne Greene. The content of the CJC studies include: research projects of the CJC (1946), racial discrimination and public policy (1946), the use of the terms "racial origin" and "religion" in the Canadian census (1946), opinion polls and social control (1946), intermarriage and children of intermarriages (1946), prejudice and Canadian unity (1946), comparative occupational distribution (1947), community action versus racial prejudice (1947), audience reaction analysis to the film "Don't Be a Sucker" (1947), Fair Employment Practices Laws for Canada (1947), age distribution of Jewish population in Ontario (1949), Immigration of Jews to Canada (1948), Saskatchewan Bill of Rights Act (1949), Jews in the professions in Canada (1949), answering the bigot: a summary of the Incident control project (1949), Canadian public opinion on racial restrictive covenants (1949), anti-minority discrimination and the law: a Canadian progress report (1950), immigration to Canada 1945 to 1949: official figures, refugee industries in Canada: latest available statistics (1947), and from juvenile immigrant to Canadian citizen (1950). Authors of CJC reports include Dr. A. F. Citron, Dr. J. Harding, Dr. Louis Rosenberg, Dr. Manfred Saalheimer, Professor F. R. Scott and Dr. Morris C. Shumiatcher.

Custodial History

The items were bought by Morris Norman, a collector of Judaica, and donated to the archives on 3 June 2009.

Subjects

Human rights

Discrimination in employment

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Tip Top Tailors

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2012-7-7

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

9.3 m of textual records

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records related to the Canadian Jewish Congress, in particular, their committees dealing with Israel affairs and Jews in Arab lands.

Custodial History

There is no acquisition information for this material. The accession number has been assigned by the archivist.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2012-7-10

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

37.8 m of textual records

Date

1958-[199-]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of general office files of the CJC as well as records related to the Education and Culture Committee, the Toronto Jewish Cultural Committee, Planning and Priorities/Assimilation, the Youth Committee, CJC plenaries, small communities, Chaplaincy, Orthodox Division, Political Liaison Committee, community services, the Audit Committee, Joint Community Relations Committee, Camp Massad and Moess Chitton.

Custodial History

There is no acquisition information for this material. The accession number has been assigned by the archivist.

Use Conditions

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2013-12-4

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

moving images

Physical Description

11.1 m of textual records and other material

Date

[ca. 2000]-[ca. 2010]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records related to the operations of the CJC Ontario Region. Included are records related to the activities of the Community Relations Committee, reports, correspondence, political affairs records, communications, meeting minutes and agendas, photographs, and moving images of various events.

Descriptive Notes

Physical description note: Includes graphic material and audio-visual records

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2014-6-7

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1956-1962

Scope and Content

Accession consists CJC correspondence and conference notes, Ottawa JCC building campaign materials, a Beth David congregation of Brantford report and the Mizrachi Women's Work report.

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Beth David Congregation (Brantford, Ont.)

Ottawa Jewish Community Centre

Mizrachi Women (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Brantford, Ont

Ottawa, Ont

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-6-7

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

30 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1964-2003

Scope and Content

Accession consists of Canadian Jewish Congress Joint Community Relations Committee files pertaining to incidents of antisemitism in Canada. Files include examples of material distributed by neo-Nazi groups, clippings documenting hate crimes trials and antisemitism in scholarship, and JCRC correspondence.

Use Conditions

Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.

Subjects

Antisemitism

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-4

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1973-1977

Scope and Content

Accession consists of the Rules and Conditions for the Morris Black Memorial Essay Contest, essays submitted, correspondence from the Board of Jewish Education and the vote casting process for the 1976 contest.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Administrative History

The Morris Black Memorial Essay Contest was established by the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region's Department of Education and Culture. The rules and conditions stated in a booklet dated 1973 was that the 'prize or prizes for the best essay or essays or oral address or addresses on men famous in Jewish history...'. The Contest was open to 'All Jewish children in the Province of Ontario outside of Metropolitan Toronto and Ottawa.' The essays submitted in 1973 appeared to follow the Rules and Conditions. However, in the 1976 contest, now sponsored by The Board of Jewish Education, there were no restrictions on where the Jewish children lived or on the gender of the person in Jewish history being written about.

Subjects

Education

Children

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Board of Jewish Education (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-6

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1950-1972

Scope and Content

Accession consists of letters to and from Dr. Joseph Klinghofer, the Educational Director of Canadian Jewish Congress. The correspondence relates to the search for ritual and educational leaders for placement in Jewish communities outside of Toronto such as St. Catharines, Timmins, Belleville, Peterborough, Kirkland Lake, Guelph, Hamilton, Bramalea, North Bay, Windsor, Maritimes, Manitoba and the USA.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Subjects

Education

Religion

Communities

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Klinghofer, Joseph

Places

St. Catharines (Ont.)

Timmins (Ont.)

Belleville (Ont.)

Peterborough (Ont.)

Kirkland Lake (Ont.)

Guelph (Ont.)

Hamilton (Ont.)

Bramalea (Brampton, Ont.)

North Bay (Ont.)

Windsor (Ont.)

Manitoba

United States

Maritime Provinces

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-8

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1950-1953

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a letter from Rabbi Slonim convening a meeting and minutes of meetings of the Rabbinical Welfare Committee over the period.

Custodial History

There is no information on the aquisition of the documents. However, the first letter in the textual records is from Rabbi Reuben Slonim and his name is included on all of the documents in the textual record.

Administrative History

The purpose of the Rabbinical Welfate Committee was (quoting from a document dated March 22, 1950) 'to consider matters that are strictly religious in nature. In matters of a community or public relations nature, the Committee will work closely with Congress.'

Subjects

Committees

Meetings

Religion

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-12

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual material

Date

1973-1974

Scope and Content

Accession file consists of letters, posters, press releases, minutes of meeting and policy statements regarding Israeli prisoners of war in Syria. The documents are from many organizations such as the Labor Zionist Alliance, National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, Toronto Jewish Youth Council, and the Canada-Israel Committee.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Subjects

Demonstrations

Israel--Armed Forces

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-24

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

[195-?]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of an undated document 'Rules and Regulations Concerning the Organization of the Hebrew Schools in Ontario'.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material

Subjects

Education

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-25

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1945-1968

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a bound document on Religious Instruction in Public Schools of Ontario, presented by Rabbi Abraham Feinberg to the Royal Commission on Education and a fact and discussion sheet of similarities and contrasts between Canadian and US Jewries and Judaism.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Subjects

Education

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-28

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1973

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a Kashruth Directory of kosher products and services issued by the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Subjects

Religion

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-31

Material Format

sound recording

Physical Description

2 audiotapes

Date

1969

Scope and Content

Accession cosists of two audiotapes of a Regional Executive Meeting of January 1969 and a Community Town Hall Meeting of February 1969. The second tape may be of speeches at a plenary session.

Custodial History

There is no information on the acquisition of this material.

Subjects

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region (Toronto, Ont.)

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Level

Item

Item

262

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1919]

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 21 x 26 cm and 12 x 10 cm

Scope and Content

This item is a copy photograph and corresponding negative of the Workmen's Circle Peretz Shule in Montreal. The photo features the students and teachers on the front steps of the school.

Notes

Acquired May 1974.

Name Access

Peretz Shule

Workmen's Circle

I.L. Peretz

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Students

Teachers

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

Montréal (Québec)

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

2443

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1960]

Physical Description

2 photographs : (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Director: Mrs. Diamond.

2nd row, rear: Norman Nelson.

Name Access

Nelson, Norman

Diamond, Mrs.

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Choirs (Music)

Jews--Music

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

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

2445

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1965

Physical Description

2 photographs : (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Teacher is Mrs. Reinhartz.

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

I.L. Peretz

Subjects

Students

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2446

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1960

Physical Description

2 photographs : (1 negative)

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

I.L. Peretz

Subjects

Children's costumes

Children's theater

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2447

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1960

Physical Description

2 photographs : (1 negative)

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

I.L. Peretz

Subjects

School boards

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

2448

Material Format

graphic material

Date

2 Dec. 1965

Physical Description

2 photographs : (1 negative)

Scope and Content

Head table from left to right: Mrs. M. Rosenberg; Mrs. Atkin; Joe Silver; I. Matenko; Wargan; Norman Nelson (chairman); Dr. J. Diamond (director, Bureau of Jewish Education); Mrs. Reinhartz (principal, Peretz Shul); Mrs. Dworkin; I. Immergluck; Mrs. B. Nelson.

Name Access

Arbeiter Ring

Arbeter Ring

Atkin, Mrs.

Diamond, Dr. J.

Dworkin, Mrs.

I. L. Peretz

Immergluck, I.

Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960

Nelson, Mrs. B.

Nelson, Norman

Reinhartz, Mrs.

Rosenberg, Mrs. M.

Silver, Joe

Wargan

Workmen's Circle

Subjects

Students

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Accession Number

1979-4-4

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3054

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1943

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

This is a composite photograph.

Name Access

Workmen's Circle

Arbeiter Ring

Arbeter Ring

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

1979-4-5

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3664

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1910]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w

Scope and Content

Left to right: Abraham Rhinewine; Mrs. Rhinewine; Max Helfand; [unknown]; [unknown]; [unknown]; [unknown]; Sheiner; Paul Frumhartz.

Name Access

Arbeiter Ring

Arbeter Ring

Workmen's Circle

Rhinewine, Abraham

Rhinewine, Mrs.

Helfand, Max

Sheiner

Frumhartz, Paul

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

1984-10-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

3693

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1920]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w

Scope and Content

Identified in this photograph in the second row, third from right: Abe Magerman.

Name Access

Magerman, Abe

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Workmen's Circle

Subjects

Youth

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

1983-6-3

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

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

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

4231

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1915

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

For identification, see accession record.

Name Access

National Radical School

Workmen's Circle

I.L. Peretz

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

Subjects

Education

Picnics

Children

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

High Park (Toronto, Ont.)

Accession Number

1986-4-1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Level

Item

Item

4233

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1929

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)

Scope and Content

For identification, see accession record.

Name Access

Ladies' Auxiliary

Workmen's Circle

Arbeter Ring

Arbeiter Ring

I.L. Peretz

Subjects

Education

Women

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

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