Schwartz and Solway Family Portrait

Part Of: Sylvia Schwartz fonds; Family series; Recreation sub-series; Family Gathering at the Cottage in Bobcaygeon file

Part Of: Sylvia Schwartz fonds; Family series; Recreation sub-series; Family Gathering at the Cottage in Bobcaygeon file

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 13 x 18 cm and 13 x 9 cm

Admin History/Bio: Joseph and Gertrude Schwartz were respectively born in the United States and Austria. They had four daughers, Sylvia, Helen, Fanny and Ruth. Joseph was a furier who eventually set up his own business, J. Schwartz & Co. Ltd., a fur manufacturing company on Madison Avenue. He later became a partner in the Park Plaza Hotel on Avenue Road. Helen married Dr. Isaac Shleser, a doctor of internal medicine, and had two daughters, Gillian and Jan. Fanny married Alex Solway and had two children, Herbert and Carol. Ruth was a respected book seller in Toronto. Unlike her siblings, Sylvia was a dwarf, who led a successful life despite her physical limitations. She became a prominent portrait photographer in Toronto and owned a studio on Grenville Road. In 1976 Sylvia set up a special children's book award to honour her late sister Ruth. In 2004, six years after Sylvia's death, her family changed the name of the award to the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards.

Scope and Content: Item is a portrait of (Back row, left to right) Helen (née Schwartz) Shleser, Ruth Schwartz, Fanny (née Schwartz) Solway, (Middle row, left to right) Joseph Schwartz, Gertrude Schwartz, (Front row, left to right) Carol Solway, Sylvia Schwartz and Herbert Solway.

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.

Related Material: See Fonds 80, Series 5 for portraits of Schwartz Family members.