- Accession Number
- 1986-3-6
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1986-3-6
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- [ca. 1950]–1958
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of Chana Wilder's school documents including graduation certificates (in Yiddish) from Borochov Schools Kindergarten and High Schools and an invitation to the Borochov Schools and Kindergarten graduation. In addition, there is correspondence in Hebrew from the Israel Boy Scouts listing several names and a Jewish National Fund of Canada certificate.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1987-7-3
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1987-7-3
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 30 cm of textual records
- Date
- 1929-1985
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting Hillcrest Progressive School. Included are minutes, financial statements, letters, and other documents.
- Descriptive Notes
- Central Jewish Institute.
- MG_RG
- MG2 G1w
- Subjects
- Schools
- Name Access
- Hillcrest Progressive School (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1977-11-1
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1977-11-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records (1 vol.)
- Date
- 1953-1956
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of one bound register documenting the students of the Toronto Hebrew Free School (Brunswick Talmud Torah) in Toronto from 1953 to 1956.
- MG_RG
- MG2G1E
- Subjects
- Schools
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Brunswick Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1979-4-4
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1979-4-4
- Material Format
- graphic material
- moving images
- Physical Description
- 18 photographs : b&w (9 negatives)
- 1 film reel
- Date
- 1959-1965
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of photographs documenting the Workmen's Circle (Arbeiter Ring) Peretz School and Camp Yungvelt. Also included is a film reel of activities at Camp Yungvelt from 1959.
- Subjects
- Camps
- Schools
- Name Access
- Camp Yungvelt
- Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
- Workmen's Circle (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Ontario
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1979-9-16
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1979-9-16
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1975
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of textual records relating to a "Teach-In on Israel" held at the university on 22 January 1975. There is also an announcement of a meeting of the Revolutionary Marxist Group at York.
- MG_RG
- MG2 P1d
- Subjects
- Education
- Children
- Politics and government
- Name Access
- Jewish Student Federation (York University)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2007-6-25
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2007-6-25
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 12 photographs : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller
- Date
- [194-?]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of photographs of students, parents, teachers, the principal, and the building of the Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah on D'Arcy Street.
- Descriptive Notes
- Availability of other formats: Digitized material.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Name Access
- Eitz Chaim Schools (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 30
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1919-1921
- Physical Description
- 4 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
- Admin History/Bio
- The Workmen's Circle / Arbeiter Ring was founded in 1900. It was originally created to protect the rights of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who were trying to enter the North American labour force. The Workmen's Circle's main purpose was to protect the labour movement and ensure economic justice for its members
- Still strong today, the organization promotes Jewish and Yiddish culture through educational and cultural programs, and as well, is a leader against injustice in the Middle East. They also organize protests for a variety of causes, including unethical labour practices, abortion rights, and gun violence prevention
- Some of their programs include adult lecture series, secular Jewish children's schools, summer camps, and dramatic and choral organizations
- Workmen's Circle / Arbeiter Ring's call to action is "for all to create a more beautiful and better world"
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs depicting the Peretz Shule's students and staff members.
- Name Access
- Arbeòter-ring Y.L. Perets-Shuln
- Workmen's Circle (Toronto, Ont.)
- Subjects
- Schools
- Creator
- Workmen's Circle
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Name
- Rivka Hurwich and Sam Hurwich
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Interview Date
- 2 Jul. 1974
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Rivka Hurwich and Sam Hurwich
- Number
- OH 22
- Subject
- Antisemitism
- Hospitals
- Rabbis
- Schools
- Teachers
- Interview Date
- 2 Jul. 1974
- Quantity
- 1
- Interviewer
- Stephen Speisman
- Total Running Time
- Side One - 43 minutes
- Side Two - 3 minutes
- Conservation
- Copied August 2003.
- Digitized in 2014.
- Use Restrictions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Biography
- Dr. Sam Hurwich was involved in a number of organizations, including the Canadian Jewish Congress, Jewish Immigrant Aid Services, and several Labour Zionist groups.
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Name Access
- Hospital for Sick Children
- Hurwich, Rivka
- Hurwich, Sam
- Geographic Access
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Original Format
- Audio cassette
- Copy Format
- Audio cassette
- Digital file
- Transcript
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 22 - Hurwich\OH22_001_Log.docx
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 22 - Hurwich\OH22_002_Log.docx
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Mary Soskin
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Interview Date
- 15 Nov. 1974
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Name
- Mary Soskin
- Number
- OH 1
- Subject
- Neighborhoods
- Schools
- Synagogues
- Interview Date
- 15 Nov. 1974
- Interviewer
- Sophie Milgram
- Total Running Time
- 001: 30.41 minutes 002: 20.58 minutes
- Conservation
- Copied August 2003
- Use Restrictions
- Conditional access. Researchers must receive permission from the interviewee or their heir prior to accessing the interview. Please contact the OJA for more information.
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Biography
- Mary Soskin (née Levine), the eldest child of Moses Levine and Sarah Levine (née Cass), was born in 1896 in Midland, Ontario. Her father, Moses Joseph Levine (1864–1919), immigrated to Toronto from Minsk in 1887. Moses first worked as a peddler and later became a grocer. Mary’s mother, Sara Levine (b. 1876), emigrated from Russia to Toronto around 1892 and worked as a seamstress. Mary had six siblings: Fanny (1898–1923), Anne Thuna (1899–1964), Abraham (“Abe”) (b. 1901–1984), Harry (b. 1903), Rita (1905–1975), and Dorothy Bliss (1909–1992).
- Mary’s parents, Moses Levine and Sarah Cass, met in Toronto. Following their marriage in 1895, they moved to Midland, Ontario, where they opened a store. After several years in Midland, they returned to Toronto. The family lived in several locations in Toronto including Chestnut Street, Centre Avenue, Spadina Avenue, near Dundas, and 224 Beverley Street, near College. The Levine family belonged to the Goel Tzedec Synagogue, which was located in a former church on University Avenue at Elm Street.
- Mary attended both the McCaul Street School and Phoebe Street School, one of the oldest schools in Toronto. She completed her studies at the Shaw School of Business. Mary first worked as a bookkeeper for several years before joining her father in his wholesale grocery business, located at 25 Jarvis Street. Tragically, Moses died in 1919 at the age of fifty-four after accidentally falling down an elevator shaft. The family closed the business shortly thereafter and continued to live on Beverley Street.
- Mary Levine married Saul Soskin (d. 1953) around 1920. They lived in Toronto and later moved to Los Angeles. They had three children: Estelle (1922–2010), Morton (“Bud”) (d. 2001), and Fred (1929–2000). In 1945, during a family visit to Toronto, Estelle met Irving Liss, the son of Morris Liss, Mary’s long-time friend. Estelle and Irving were married at the Beth Am Synagogue in Los Angeles in 1946 and settled in Toronto.
- Mary Soskin returned to Toronto in 1964 and passed away in 1990.
- Material Format
- sound recording
- Language
- English
- Name Access
- Goel Tzedec Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
- Levine, Moses
- Levine, Sarah
- Soskin, Mary
- Geographic Access
- Los Angeles (Calif.)
- Midland (Ont.)
- St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)
- Original Format
- Audio cassette
- Copy Format
- Audio cassette
- Digital file
- Transcript
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 1 - Soskin\OH1_001_Log.docx
- G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 1 - Soskin\OH1_002_Log.docx
- Source
- Oral Histories
- Level
- Item
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [194-]
- 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 print and corresponding negative of a group of students standing in front of the Jewish community center and Hebrew school in Sudbury, Ontario.
- Front row, from left to right: Mitchell Speigel, Debbie Steinberg, Wally Greenspoon.
- Second row, from left to right: Ethel Helpert, Claudia Greenspoon, Judy Leve, Brenda Rubin, Susan Stickles, Mort Grimmson, Rabbi Bereson.
- Third row, from left to right: Steven Silverman, [identified], Billy Braverman, Jackie Greenspoon, Charles Schwartz.
- Back row, from left to right: Douglas Stickles, Donnie Richmond, Frances Goodman, Miriam Rubin, [identified], Mrs. Stickles, Ester Nudleman, Bill Greenspoon, [identified].
- Subjects
- Community centers
- Schools
- Students
- 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
- Sudbury (Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1982-6-10
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2011-11-7
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2011-11-7
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 13 May 1967
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of one annual concert programme booklet for the Workmen's Circle Peretz School and Camp Yungvelt.
- Descriptive Notes
- Language note: Yiddish and English langauge programme.
- Subjects
- Concerts
- Camps
- Schools
- Name Access
- Workmen's Circle (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2012-5-3
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2012-5-3
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1933
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of an issue of what is likely the school yearbook for Parkdale Collegiate, called the Parkdalian. Autographs can be found on page 102.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Name Access
- Parkdale Collegiate Institute
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2015-9-23
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2015-9-23
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- [194-]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of a bound document entitled 'This Is Our Faith'. The subtitle is 'The Religion of the Jews' and it appears to have been presented at a seminar of religions, under the auspices of Community Programs Branch, Department of Education, Province of Ontario.
- Custodial History
- There is no information on the acquisition of this material.
- Subjects
- Religion
- Politics and government
- Name Access
- Cohen, Julius
- Places
- Toronto, Ont.
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-6-12
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2016-6-12
- Material Format
- graphic material
- textual record
- Physical Description
- ca. 60 cm of textual records
- 11 photographs (3 negatives) : b&w ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller
- Date
- 1976-[ca. 1990]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of textual and graphic records that trace Natan Sharansky's history as a prisoner of political conscience; the broader Refusenik issue; and the community advocacy efforts of Debby and Stan Solomon from 1976 and into the late 1980s at the local, national and international scales. Included are memos and newsletters from the Committee for Soviet Jewry (Ontario Region and national-level); background information as well as petition templates, speeches and planning documentation produced by the Committee to Release Anatoly Sharansky and the Beth Tikvah Synagogue in conjunction with community organizations, including the CJC and its Soviet Jewry social action committees, to support on-going advocacy efforts; correspondence with Canadian and American political representatives at the provincial/state and national levels; white papers/grey literature from non-governmental organizations about the persecution of the Soviet Jewry; planning documentation from the First Annual Sharansky Lectureship on Human Rights in 1980; correspondence, articles and ephemera associated with the granting of Sharansky's honourary law doctorate from York University in 1982; 1985 Freedom Rally/Weekend in Ottawa planning documentation and correspondence; 1987 National Conference on the Soviet Jewry and Mobilization for Freedom planning documentation; 1987 Community Rally at Massey Hall promotional materials; and promotional materials from Sharansky's autobiographical "Fear No Evil" 1988 book launch. Graphic material includes photographs of Sharansky's release during the February 11, 1986 American-Soviet prisoner exchange on the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin.
- Identified in the photographs are: Debby Solomon; Stan Solomon; Natan Sharansky; Avital Sharansky; U.S. Ambassador Richard Burt;
- Custodial History
- Material was collected and/or created by Debby Solomon, Natan Sharansky's cousin. Debby donated it to the OJA.
- Administrative History
- Debby Solomon is the cousin of Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky, the Soviet born Israeli politician, human activist and author who spent nine years in Soviet prisons. Debby's father Boris Landis (born 1900) and Sharansky's father were first cousins.Their grandfathers were brothers. Debby's father immigrated 1929 to Toronto from Russia as his older brothers were already in Toronto. Debby and her husband Stan Solomon got involved in the community's activism efforts to free Sharansky and other Refuseniks.They were worked for many years on these efforts by planning programs through their synagogue Beth Tikvah and with Sam Filer, a lawyer and volunteer at the CJC who was also a member of Beth Tikvah.
- Subjects
- Antisemitism
- Politics and government
- Human rights
- Demonstrations
- Synagogues
- Committees
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-2-12
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-2-12
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Physical Description
- 45 cm of textual records and other material
- 230 photographs : sepia and b&w ; 23 x 30 cm and smaller
- 8 sound recordings (50 wav files; 1 microcassette)
- 1 artifact
- Date
- 1937-2004
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of textual records, photographs and audio recordings documenting the lives of Dick Steele, his wife Esther, and friend Bill Walsh. The materials are mostly correspondences between Dick and Esther during his internment at the Don Jail and Ontario Reformatory in Guelph, and from Dick and Bill's military service overseas during the Second World War. They also include correspondences between Esther and Bill, Bill and Anne Walsh, "Jack" and Esther, and other family and friends. Some of the letters show evidence of being censored. There are news clippings in English and Yiddish about the family from various newspapers including the Canadian Tribune (a Communist Party paper). There is a letter Esther wrote to campaign for Dick's release from internment, part of women's activism in this period. There is also a photocopy of a memoir written by Moses Kosowatsky and Moses Wolofsky "From the Land of Despair to the Land of Promise" ca. 1930s.
- The photographs include Dick and Bill in the army during the Second World War, a signed picture of Tim Buck addressed to Esther and the twins and a photo of Dick delivering a speech related to the Steel Workers. Also included is a recording of edited sound clips of Bill and Esther talking about Dick, Esther speaking about the letters, (how she received letters and flowers from Dick after he had already been killed), Bill reading a letter Dick wrote to Esther that he left with friends in England to send her in the case that he was killed (which he was), recordings of "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2 compiled by Leib Wolofsky's (Bill's nephew), and 5 audio recordings by Adrianna Steele-Card with her grandparents Bill and Esther. There is also a microcassette labelled "Joe Levitt."
- The accession also includes the stripe of a German corporal that Bill captured as a prisoner, peace stamps and an early copy of Cy Gonick's A Very Red Life: The Story of Bill Walsh, edited by Bill.
- Administrative History
- Richard "Dick" Kennilworth Steele is the name adopted by Moses Kosowatsky. He was born in 1909 in Montreal to Samuel Kosowatsky and Fanny Held. He lived in a laneway off Clark Street, below Sherbrooke, where his father collected and recycled bottles. He grew up with his siblings, Joseph, Mortimer, Matthew, Gertrude, and Edward.
- Bill Walsh (birth name Moishe Wolofsky) was born in 1910, to Sarah and Herschel Wolofsky, the editor of the Keneder Adler (Montreal's prominent Yiddish newspaper). He attended Baron Byng and then Commercial High School, where he met Dick Steele. Bill recalled that Dick denounced militarism in the school when a teacher tried to recruit students to be cadets.
- Bill moved to New York City in 1927. His brother, who was living there, helped him get a job as a messenger on Wall Street. He also worked in the drug department at Macy's while attending courses at Columbia University in the evening. Dick worked on a ship for a year and then joined Bill in New York City in 1928. Dick worked at a chemical plant called Linde Air Products while also studying in the evenings at Columbia University.
- In 1931, Dick and Bill boarded a ship together in New York bound for Copenhagen. Together, they travelled across Europe, witnessed a Nazi demonstration in Breslau, Germany, and found work in Minsk and Moscow, Russia. This trip inspired them to become Communists. In 1933, Bill's father was on a Canadian trade mission to Poland, which he left to "rescue" his son from the Bolsheviks. Bill agreed to return to Canada after being advised to do so by the Comintern. He then changed his name to Bill Walsh to protect his family.
- In 1934, Bill moved to Toronto. He worked as the educational director for the Industrial Union of Needle Trade Workers and the Communist Party, where he met Esther Slominsky/Silver, the organization's office manager. Dick joined Bill in Toronto soon after. Bill introduced Dick and Esther, who then married. In 1940, Esther gave birth to twin sons, Michael and John Steele. Esther was born in Toronto in 1914 to Joseph Slominsky and Fanny (Blackersany?). Her siblings were Bella, Eileen, Morris, and step-sister Eva. Her father, Joseph, was a cloak maker and Esther also worked in the garment industry. Her mother Fanny passed away in 1920 at the age of twenty-six from tuberculosis.
- Dick was a metal worker and became a union organizer in the east end of Toronto. He was the head organizer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of Canada (SWOC) until 1940, when he was dismissed for being a Communist. Bill helped organize Kitchener's rubber workers into an industrial union and was also an organizer for the United Auto Workers of Windsor, Ontario.
- Jack Steele, an alias for Dick's brother Mortimer, fought with the Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Jack Steele was recalled to Canada in October 1937 to rally support for the efforts in Spain, returned to the front in June 1938, and was killed in action in August. Some of Dick's letters to his wife, Esther, are signed "Salud, Jack" and were likely written in 1940 when the Communist Party (CP) was banned by the Canadian government under the War Measures Act.
- In November 1941, after Mackenzie King's call for enlistment, Dick wrote to the Department of Justice to ask permission to join the army. He never received a reply. On 1 April 1942, Dick's home was raided and he was interned at the Don Jail until September 1942, when he was moved to the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph. Esther wrote a letter to the minister of justice, Louis St. Laurent, to appeal on his behalf.
- Major public campaigning by Communists and the wartime alliance with the USSR after 1941 shifted public opinion toward the CP, and the Canadian government slowly began releasing internees in January 1942. Dick was released in October 1942 and enlisted at the end of the month. Dick died on 17 August 1944 in Normandy, France. He was a tank driver in the Canadian Army.
- Bill was similarly arrested in 1941, spending time in jail and then an internment camp with other members of the CP. He joined the Canadian Army in 1943 and fought in Holland and Belgium. Bill was first married to Anne Weir who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1943, just before he enlisted. The family believes this may have been due to drinking unpasteurized milk. Encouraged by Dick Steele to take care of his family should he pass in the war, Bill married Esther Steele in 1946. They had a daughter named Sheri and were members of the United Jewish People's Order. For twenty years, Walsh worked for the Hamilton region of the United Electrical Workers (UE). Bill remained a member of the CP until 1967, when we was expelled for criticizing another union leader. He died in 2004. Esther passed away in 2010 at age ninety-six.
- Use Conditions
- Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
- Descriptive Notes
- RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: Library and Archives Canada has the William Walsh fonds and MG 28, ser. I 268, USWA, vol.4, SWOC Correspondence, has various letters from Dick Steele ca. 1938. Museum of Jewish Montreal has an oral history with Leila Mustachi (daughter of Max Wolofsky, Bill's brother) where she speaks about Bill, Dick and Esther. USE CONDITION NOTES: For "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2, some contributors stipulate that recordings are restricted to personal use only and must not be used for any commercial purpose.
- Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945
- Politics and government
- Labour and unions
- Name Access
- Steele, Michael
- Steele, Dick
- Walsh, Bill
- Walsh, Esther Steele
- Places
- England
- Fort William (Ont.)
- Germany
- Guelph (Ont.)
- Hamilton (Ont.)
- Montréal (Québec)
- Netherlands
- Oshawa (Ont.)
- Ottawa (Ont.)
- Thunder Bay (Ont.)
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-6-22
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-6-22
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1947, 1972-1992
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of materials assembled by Stanley Emerson and donated to the Ontario Jewish Archives. Included are: one hardbound book commemorating the Toronto Hebrew Free School's liquidation of its capital debt on May 8, 1947; one spiral-bound book assembled on the occassion of Shomrai Shaboth Congregation's twentieth anniversary testimonial dinner honouring Rabbi Gedalia Felder to be held on Sunday, June 18, 1972; one Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto programme for its annual dinner to be held on Thursday, June 22, 1978; one programme for a Machanaim Testimonial Dinner honouring Dr. Isadore Cass on Wednesday, May 2, 1979; one Associated Hebrew Schools graduation programme for Wednesday, June 27, 1979; one newspaper clipping from the Thursday, June 6, 1985 edition of the Canadian Jewish News relating to Rabbi Gedalia Felder, former spiritual leader of Shomrai Shaboth-Chevra Mishnayoth Congregation; one newspaper clipping from the Thursday, June 13, 1985 edition of the Canadian Jewish News relating to Harold Dessen, former president of Associated Hebrew Schools; and one paperbound book assembled on the occassion of a Sol Edell tribute dinner commoemorating the fiftieth yahrzeit (death anniversary) of HaRav Yosef Weinreb and the establishment of the Saol Edell Family Endowment Fund to be held on Saturday, October 31, 1992.
- Subjects
- Anniversaries
- Schools
- Synagogues
- Name Access
- Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto
- Cass, Isadore M., 1916-1996
- Dessen, Harold
- Felder, Gedalia, 1922-
- Shomrai Shabbos Chevrah Mishnayos (Toronto, Ont.)
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Address
- 42 St George Street
- Source
- Landmarks
In 1919, Mr. Mendel Granatstein commissioned Benjamin Brown and Robert McConnell to design a three storey Classical Georgian style house located at 42 St. George Street. The house contained a unique feature -- a retractable roof used on Sukkoth. In 1947, the house was acquired by the University of Toronto and was used for a variety of purposes until it was demolished in 1999. The Bahen Centre for Information Technology now stands in its place.
- Address
- 42 St George Street
- Time Period
- 1919-1999
- Scope Note
- In 1919, Mr. Mendel Granatstein commissioned Benjamin Brown and Robert McConnell to design a three storey Classical Georgian style house located at 42 St. George Street. The house contained a unique feature -- a retractable roof used on Sukkoth. In 1947, the house was acquired by the University of Toronto and was used for a variety of purposes until it was demolished in 1999. The Bahen Centre for Information Technology now stands in its place.
- History
- Mr. Mendel Granatstein was a member of one of the early Jewish families of Toronto. In 1895, he founded M. Granatstein and Sons, Ltd., a junk dealing company, and by the early 20th century, he had become one of the most prosperous Jews in Toronto. Mr. Granatstein was also a community leader, having a hand in the foundation of Beth Jacob Synagogue.
- Category
- Architecture
- Residences
- Source
- Landmarks
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 5027
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 5027
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 30 Dec. 1962
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of Joe Berman and Harold Green examining a building model for Temple Sinai's new school building.
- Notes
- Graphic Artists.
- Name Access
- Berman, Joe
- Green, Harold
- Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- Synagogues
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1990-1-5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 5028
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 5028
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 30 Dec. 1962
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of the Temple Sinai building model for the new school.
- Notes
- Photo by Graphic Artists.
- Name Access
- Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- Synagogues
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1990-1-5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 5029
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 5029
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 30 Dec. 1962
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of several men and one woman standing behind a model of the proposed Temple Sinai School.Second from left: Harry Pollock. Third from right: Harold Green.
- Notes
- Photo by Graphic Artists.
- Name Access
- Green, Harold
- Pollock, Harry
- Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- Synagogues
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1990-1-5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 948
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 948
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [195-]
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of Shaarei Shomayim School students and the teacher, Mr. Novak.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Repro Restriction
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Accession Number
- 1975-12-1
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 6130
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 6130
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [1912?]
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of students and teachers of the Jewish National Radical School in Toronto at City Hall.
- Subjects
- Portraits, Group
- Schools
- Students
- 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
- 1995-1-5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 4285
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4285
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 5 Dec. 1921
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
- Notes
- Photo by Modern Studio, 452 Queen St. W.
- Name Access
- Winchevsky, Morris, 1856-1932
- Subjects
- Children
- Schools
- 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
- 1985-3-6
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 4230
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4230
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1911
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
- Notes
- For identification see accession record.
- Name Access
- National Radical School (Toronto, Ont.)
- Subjects
- Schools
- 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
- ID
- Item 4416
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4416
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- December 1985
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph
- Scope and Content
- Rabbi Danny Gottlieb of Temple Har Zion placing mezuzah.
- Students, left to right: Jodi Wolfe; Ariela Guttman; Ezra Title.
- Dr. David Cohen (director of Leo Baeck) on left and Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld of Temple Emanuel also present.
- Notes
- Photo by Graphic Artists.
- Subjects
- Mezuzah
- Schools
- 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.
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1986-12-3
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 1212
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 1212
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1917
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 13 x 18 cm and 11 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of students standing on the front steps of the McCaul Street School in Toronto.
- Name Access
- McCaul Street School
- Subjects
- Portraits, Group
- Schools
- Students
- 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
- 1977-1-5
- 1983-10-1
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 4018
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4018
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1953
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph
- Scope and Content
- Left to right: Marilyn Kirshenblatt; Helen Alspector; Renee Hackman.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Places
- Lippincott Street (Toronto, Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1986-3-6
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 2894
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 2894
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1933
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
- Scope and Content
- This photograph depicts from left to right: Chaver Zerubauel; Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Menachovsky, standing in front of Borochov Shul.
- Name Access
- Borochov School
- Menachovsky, Moshe
- Zerubauel, Chaver
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- 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
- Major Street (Toronto, Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1981-4-6
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 4019
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4019
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [1955 or 1956]
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph
- Notes
- General: "Mitl shule" is a Yiddish term that refers to a type of Jewish elementary school that was commonly found in eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- General: For identification see back of photo.
- Subjects
- Schools
- Students
- Teachers
- Places
- Lippincott Street (Toronto, Ont.)
- Accession Number
- 1986-3-6
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 703
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 703
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- Nov. 1975
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : (1 negative)
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of the exterior of the Ulpanot Orot Girls' School.
- Name Access
- Ulpanot Orot Girls' School
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- 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.
- Places
- Vaughan (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 704
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 704
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- Nov. 1975
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : (1 negative)
- Scope and Content
- Item is a photograph of the exterior of the Ulpanot Orot Girls' School.
- Name Access
- Ulpanot Orot Girls' School
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- 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.
- Places
- Vaughan (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 1016
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 1016
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- Sep. 1976
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : (1 negative)
- Name Access
- Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- Places
- Neptune Drive (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 1018
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 1018
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- Sep. 1976
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : (1 negative)
- Name Access
- Associated Hebrew Day Schools
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- Places
- Neptune Drive (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
- Community Relations Committee series
- Anti-Semitism cases sub-series
- Level
- File
- ID
- Fonds 17; Series 5-3; File 149
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
- Community Relations Committee series
- Anti-Semitism cases sub-series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 17
- Series
- 5-3
- File
- 149
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1986, 1991
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of correspondence and one report regarding the teaching of the Merchant of Venice in Ontario schools.
- Notes
- Previously processed and cited as part of MG8 S.
- Name Access
- Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice
- Subjects
- Drama
- Schools
- 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
- Part Of
- Ethel Mehr fonds
- Level
- Item
- Fonds
- 68
- Item
- 31
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1919
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 7 x 9 cm
- Scope and Content
- This item is a photograph of the exterior of Bishop Strachan School. There are several people pictured standing in a field covered with snow.
- Name Access
- Bishop Strachan School
- Subjects
- Architecture
- Schools
- 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
- 1988-12-3
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Item 4083
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Item
- 4083
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- [193-]
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 18 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- This item is a photograph of a Jewish school in Poland. The photograph depicts the students and teachers of the school assembled in front of it. The photograph was sent to Sarah Low of Peterborough, Ontario.
- Subjects
- Portraits, Group
- Schools
- Students
- 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
- Poland
- Accession Number
- 1978-7-12
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- ID
- Fonds 37; Series 7; Item 5
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Item
- Fonds
- 37
- Series
- 7
- Item
- 5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- November 1970
- Physical Description
- 1 negative : b&w ; 11 x 13 cm
- Admin History/Bio
- Eitz Chaim school was founded by a group of boys who were concerned about the education of the Jewish youth. Some of the founding members included: Itsheh Meyer, Sam Korolnek; and Samuel and Louis Cooper. Together, with a few other boys, they started a small gathering in the Bes Medrash Shul on Elm Street in 1914. The official founding date for the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim School was in 1915, with the move to temporary quarters on Chestnut Street, and eventually moving to the newly rennovated building on D'Arcy Street in 1917.
- Scope and Content
- Photograph is of a dedication ceremony at the Eitz Chaim School in Toronto.
- In attendance were: Phil Givens (far left), Rabbi Itche Meyer Korolnek & Mrs. Korolnek (2nd & 3rd from left), and Joe Tanenbaum (standing behind the Korolnek's).
- Name Access
- Eitz Chaim School
- Givens, Philip, 1922-1995
- Korolnek, Rabbi Itche Meyer
- Tanenbaum, Joe
- Subjects
- Dedication services
- Portraits, Group
- Schools
- 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