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At the turn of the twentieth-century, the Jewish population of Toronto grew with large numbers of Eastern European families fleeing hardship back home. Soon, a variety of clubs began forming, providing a place for Jewish boys and girls to participate in athletic and social programming. In 1919, several of the athletic and social groups decided to amalgamate and formed an umbrella organization known as the Hebrew Association of Young Men’s and Young Women’s Clubs. By 1930, they were known as the YM-YWHA (Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. Through the 1920s and 30s, they occupied a number of facilities in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area.
Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association, 1937-1953
- Address
- 15 Brunswick Avenue
- Source
- Landmarks
At the turn of the twentieth-century, the Jewish population of Toronto grew with large numbers of Eastern European families fleeing hardship back home. Soon, a variety of clubs began forming, providing a place for Jewish boys and girls to participate in athletic and social programming. In 1919, several of the athletic and social groups decided to amalgamate and formed an umbrella organization known as the Hebrew Association of Young Men’s and Young Women’s Clubs. By 1930, they were known as the YM-YWHA (Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. Through the 1920s and 30s, they occupied a number of facilities in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area.
- Address
- 15 Brunswick Avenue
- Time Period
- 1937
- Scope Note
- At the turn of the twentieth-century, the Jewish population of Toronto grew with large numbers of Eastern European families fleeing hardship back home. Soon, a variety of clubs began forming, providing a place for Jewish boys and girls to participate in athletic and social programming. In 1919, several of the athletic and social groups decided to amalgamate and formed an umbrella organization known as the Hebrew Association of Young Men’s and Young Women’s Clubs. By 1930, they were known as the YM-YWHA (Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. Through the 1920s and 30s, they occupied a number of facilities in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area.
- History
- As a result of the overcrowding and de-centralized facilities, in 1937, the YM-YWHA constructed its own athletic building at 15 Brunswick Avenue, next door to the Talmud Torah, to ease the overcrowding. Similar to the JCCs of today, the early YM-YWHA provided a sense of Jewish identity and camaraderie through physical, educational, cultural and community based programming.
- Category
- Arts
- Education
- Private Clubs
- Source
- Landmarks
![Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. front desk, Brunswick Avenue, [ca. 1950]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, fonds 61, series 6, item 29.|](/media/Digital Assets/61-JCC/F61_s6_i029.jpg?maxheight=1000&maxwidth=1000&watermark=wmk)
![Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. theatre group, [ca. 1950]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, fonds 61, series 6, item 17.|](/media/Digital Assets/61-JCC/F61_s6_i017.jpg?maxheight=1000&maxwidth=1000&watermark=wmk)
![Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. exercise room, Brunswick Avenue, [ca. 1950]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, fonds 61, series 6, item 15.|This item is a glass slide of a group of young men lifting weights in the exercise room of the Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. on Brunswick Avenue. The room is visibly overcrowded.](/media/Digital Assets/61-JCC/F61_s6_i015.jpg?maxheight=1000&maxwidth=1000&watermark=wmk)
![Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. boys' club, Brunswick Avenue, [ca. 1950]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, fonds 61, series 6, item 25.|This item is a glass slide of a group of members of a Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. boys' club having a discussion while sitting around a table. There is Hebrew writing on the chalkboard behind them.](/media/Digital Assets/61-JCC/F61_s6_i025.jpg?maxheight=1000&maxwidth=1000&watermark=wmk)
