After three years in the planning, Oakwood Collegiate Institute’s (OCI) 100th anniversary celebration was a resounding success. From April 30 to May 4 (2008), hundreds of former and current OCI students came out to celebrate, with some alumni travelling great distances to meet and mingle with friends and former classmates, some of whom they had…
Tag: toronto
Miss Mary Minty, Toronto’s first policewoman (1913)
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Toronto’s Policewoman Has Faith in Her Sex Miss Mary Minty is Eager to Engage in Preventive Work — Seems Well-Fitted for Her New Position From the Toronto Star, May 15, 1913 “I have received no official intimation of the appointment, and did not know I had been chosen until I saw the announcement in the…
Minnie Cohen, Toronto’s first Jewish woman doctor
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Not only is Minnie Cohen Toronto’s first Jewish woman doctor, but she was also known within the city’s Jewish community as “Chazzan Bernard Wladowsky’s daughter” because she was the daughter of the well-known cantor. As reported in The Canadian Jewish News of March 2, 1962, Dr. Cohen specialized in paediatrics and also in an specialty…
Obit: Movie pioneer Arthur Cohen (1880-1975)
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Arthur Cohen, the Canadian movie industry pioneer, was a leader of Toronto’s Jewish community and a philanthropist. He died of a heart attack at the age of 94, the Canadian Jewish News reported on March 7, 1975. Cohen was the son of Magistrate Jacob Cohen and Lena Jacobs Cohen. He attended Jarvis Collegiate, from which…
Obits: Alfred D. Benjamin (1848-1900); Frank Benjamin (1866-1937)
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A. D. Benjamin is Dead Well-Known Business Man and Citizen Passes Away Suddenly To-day LEADER IN THE SYNAGOGUE One of Toronto’s Most Wealthy and Generous Hebrews — A Popular Employer From the Toronto Daily Star, January 8, 1900 The business portion of the city was surprised this morning to learn of the sudden death of…
Harry Winberg, mayoral candidate in 1915
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The following collection of articles relates to Harry Winberg (also spelled Wineberg), the self-made, Donald-Trump-like Toronto real estate mogul who owned and published the Hebrew Journal, and who was likely the city’s first Jewish candidate for Mayor in 1915; there are also articles related to his wife and in-laws, the well-known Bachrach family. These articles…
Centenarian says she is ‘young at heart’
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Sadie Shapiro’s sparkling blue eyes are an expression of the positive outlook on life she has had for 100 years. Interviewed at her residence at Cummer Lodge, Shapiro spoke of her eventful life and her philosophy that has kept her cheerful and optimistic despite many adversities. Shapiro was born in Toronto on June 14, 1908.…
J.B. Salsberg remembered 10 years later
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The life of Joseph (J.B.) Salsberg, humanist, labour leader, political activist, politician, newspaper columnist and a man who dedicated his life to Yiddishkeit and the advancement of social justice, was remembered and honoured recently on his 10th yahrzeit (anniversary of his death). More than 300 people gathered October 28 (2008) at Bialik Hebrew Day School,…
Phil Givens in conversation, 1984
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Former Toronto Mayor Phil Givens grew up on Augusta Avenue and later Euclid Avenue, attended school at Parkdale and Harbord Collegiate, and got his education at the old Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim on D’Arcy Street, the Canadian Jewish News reported in a story by Gary Cohen on March 15, 1984. Then finishing a 10-year term…
Pioneers of Toronto’s Jewish Community
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From The Jewish Times, 1912 (as reprinted in The Jewish Standard, 1934) by S. J. Birnbaum The Jewish Standard’s introduction: The following article is part of a thesis written by Mr. Birnbaum, now an attorney in Toronto, when he attended the University of Toronto. It is to our knowledge the most authoritative history of Toronto’s…
