Name

Dr. Sydney Wise

Number

OH 278

Subject

Business

Immigrants--Canada

Physicians

Interview Date

29 Sep. 2003

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Ellen Scheinberg

Total Running Time

Side 1: 46 min.

Side 2: 30 min.

Conservation

Digital copy made April 11, 2011.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography

Dr. Sydney Wise was a Toronto physician and a long-time volunteer at the Ontario Jewish Archives. Sydney was married to Mimi Wise, who had been an active member of Hadassah-WIZO for most of her life. Sydney's father, Anshel Wise, opened a cigar store on Dundas Street, which later turned into a steamship agency called A. Wise Travel Bureau. The latter helped bring immigrants over from Europe.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Wise, Anshel

Wise, Sydney

Scheinberg, Ellen

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Digital file

Source

Oral Histories

In this portion of the interview, Syd describes his father Anshel Wise’s cigar store and travel business, which opened in the Ward in 1918. Anshel was one of the first steamship agents in Toronto.

In this portion of the interview, Sydney describes his entry into medical school at the University of Toronto. He outlines some of the challenges encountered by Jewish medical students in their search for internship positions.

Name

Dr. Coleman Solursh

Number

OH 40

OH 41

Subject

Physicians

Societies

Occupations

Medical care

Interview Date

3 Jan. 1985

Quantity

2

Interviewer

Morris Silbert

Total Running Time

040A: 34 minutes 040B: 31 minutes 041A: 11 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography

Coleman Solursh was born in Toronto in 1906. He graduated as a physician in 1932. He worked as a lodge doctor. He was involved in the Toronto Jewish Lodge Doctors Association. He worked in the field of family medicine and was appointed chief of the Department of Family Practice at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was appointed associate chief of medicine at Baycrest, Jewish Home for the Aged. He married Zelda Singer, a third-generation Canadian. Zelda's maternal grandfather was appointed colonization chairman in 1897 for Baron de Hirsch settlement for Jewish immigrants. Zelda's father, Manny Singer, was the first Jewish pharmacist in Toronto. Zelda's uncle, Fred Singer, was the first Jewish member of parliament for Ontario.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

English

Name Access

Solursh, Coleman

Silbert, Morris

Mount Sinai Hospital

Singer, Zelda

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care

Geographic Access

Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 40, OH 41 - Solursh\OH40_001_Log.pdf

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 40, OH 41 - Solursh\OH40_002_Log.pdf

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 40, OH 41 - Solursh\OH41_001_Log.pdf

Source

Oral Histories

In this clip, Dr. Coleman Solursh describes a meeting between executives from the Toronto Jewish Lodge Doctors' Association and representatives from various Jewish Lodges. The meeting resulted in significant changes to the way medical services and payment were provided to the physicians.

In this clip, Dr. Coleman Solursh describes his role as Chief of the Department of Family Practice in the new Mount Sinai Hospital in 1953. He explains how this department pioneered the model for family practice within a hospital setting across Canada.

Name

Dr. Minnie Cohen

Number

OH 143

Subject

Cantors (Judaism)

Discrimination in higher education

Women physicians

Interview Date

October/November 1976

Quantity

2 cassettes (1 copy)

Interviewer

Doris Newman

Total Running Time

1:25 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Digitied

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please conact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography

Minnie Cohen was born in Russia in 1900. She immigrated to Toronto around 1910. After graduating as the first Jewish woman from the University of Toronto's medical school, she interned and joined the staff of Women's College Hospital. Dr. Cohen specialized in pediatrics. worked as a clinician in the 1920s for Toronto's first well baby clinic, and was on the staff of Mount Sinai's pediatric clinic. Her husband, Dr. Benjamin Cohen, was the first Jewish specialist in obstetrics and gynecology to practice in Toronto, and he was chief at the old Mount Sinai Hospital on Yorkville Avenue.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Cohen, Ben

Cohen, Minnie

Wladowsky, Bernard, 1870-1963

Geographic Access

Berlin (Germany)

Boston (Mass.)

Chicago (Ill.)

Dublin (Ireland)

Moscow (Russia)

New York (N.Y.).

Paris (France)

Romania

Saint Petersburg (Russia)

Toronto (Ont.)

Turkey

Ukraine

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

Personal Family History 0-14.20-25.35: Minnie born in Russia in 1900 tells the story of her family’s move from Russia to Turkey and subsequently to Romania, where they remained from 1907–1909. Minnie talks about her father, Bernard, a renowned cantor, and about her life in Romania as an accomplished child pianist. In 1909, the family moved to New York and then Chicago, where Bernard Wladowsky continued his cantorial career. Education 29.00-32.00: Minnie graduated high school from Jarvis Collegiate and went on to study medicine at the University of Toronto’s medical school between 1919 and 1922. Life in Toronto 32.04-38.38: In 1912, the family moved to Toronto, where Bernard Wladowsky began a five-year contract as cantor of the Goel Tzedec Synagogue. Bernard Wladowsky and Goel Tzedec went into arbitration, with Wladowsky subsequently leaving Goel Tzedec prior to the end of his contract. In 1915, Wladowsky become the cantor of the Londoner Shul, and for the following thirty-four years Wladowsky remained cantor of the McCaul Street Synagogue Side 2: University of Toronto Medical School 0.18-8.04: Minnie discusses the discrimination she experienced as the first and only Jewish woman enrolled in the University of Toronto’s medical school. Minnie discusses her internship and personal experiences at Women’s College Hospital and talks about her medial school colleagues David Eisen, Joe Trachman, Ivan Vale, and Aaron Volpe Medical Career 8:09-8:57: Minnie tells about her job offer with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York. Rather than leave her husband, Minnie gave her job offer to her classmate Dr. Glenna Garrett, one of the leading psychiatrists in the United States. 8:58-9:59: Minnie talks about her husband, Dr. Ben Cohen, and his medical education and service overseas during the First World War. 10:00-11:37: Minnie discusses Ben's medical career at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, and his close relationhip with Robert Briscoe, the then mayor of Dublin. 11:38- 14:06: Minnie talks about Ben's return to Toronto in 1920 and their marriage in 1922. 14:07-15:11 Minnie talks about her first office at 62 Brunswick Avenue and Ben's first office on Dundas Street. Minnie limited her practice to pediatrics and as a fill in for other doctors. 15:12:- 15:45: Minnie talks about her husband's practice, which he shared with Dr. Abe Roby and Dr. Soloway 15:46-16:36: Minnie talks about how they found their first apartment. 16:37-17:32: Minnie recounts how her husband was the first surgeon who operated at Mt. Sinai Hospital. In 1928, he was the first doctor in the world to make his patients get out of bed and walk after surgery. 17:33-18:16: Minnie discusses how the idea of the first Mt. Sinai Hospital came to be in 1923 and the physicians who were instrumental in the formation of the original Mt. Sinai Hospital in 1923. Mentioned are Drs. Ben Cohen, Abraham Wilinsky, M. A. Pollack, Louis Breslin, and Simon Fine. 18:17- 19:37: Minnie explains the Ezras Noshim Women’s Auxillary, which, together with Dorothy Dworkin, worked to fundraise for Mt. Sinai Hospital. 19:38:- 20:23: Minnie describes some the Mt. Sinai fundraising campaigns. 20:24:-20:31: Minnie talks about Ben's role with the hospital's planning committee and his passing before the hospital's completion. 20:32:-21:23: Minnie talks about going with Ben to Boston to investigate the obstetric and gynecology services of the Beth Israel Hospital. 21:24:-22:44: Minnie talks about becoming part of the Mt. Sinai staff following the passing of her husband and working in the outpatient department doing free pediatric clinics. 21:45:-25:28: Minnie discusses the billing of patients for their medical care. 25:29-25:56: Minnie talks about working as a clinician in the 1920s at Toronto’s first “Well Baby Free Clinic,” which was located at Euclid and College. 25:57:-27:06: Minnie talks about working for the government for free as a restaurant inspector. 27:07-28:08: Minnie talks about working on the staff of the Mt. Sinai Hospital's pediatric clinic. 28:09-29:00: Minnie recalls Dr. Lowry, with whom she brought soup to miners and their families living in northern Ontario during the Depression. 29:01:-30:32: Minnie talks Toronto's first social service on McCaul Street and bringing soup to women frequenting the service. 30:33:-31:12: Minnie talks about her work as she travelled to locations outside of Toronto. 31:13:-32:55: Minnie recalls Ben's invitation in to perform a surgical operation in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) in 1932. 32:56:-34:49: Minnie recalls the honour bestowed on Ben for the surgery he performed. 34:50:-36:07: Minnie recalls their experiences traveling by train through Communist Russia. 36:08:-36:56: Minnie recalls relatives they visited in the Ukraine. 36:57:-38:37: Minnie recalls her first plane ride from Leningrad to Paris. 38:38:-39:13 Minnie recalls refueling in Berlin during the time when there was already Hitler talk. 39:14:-40:10: Minnie describes the quality of life in Leningrad during the late 1930s. 40:11:-41:10: Minnie recalls their experiences dealing with customs while aboard a ship. 41:11:-42:54: Minnie recalls their hotel, the Metropol, in Moscow. 42:53-45:00: Minnie recalls overhearing a conversation with a relative who spoke out against the Communist government. 45:01-46:15 Minnie recalls the tense atmosphere in Berlin during the late 1930s.

Source

Oral Histories