Text includes (translated from Yiddish): Mass Meeting and Concert / Tuesday May 1 1934 8:00PM / Carmen Silva Hall / Poalei Zion Youth Association / Paolei Zion / Borochov Association / Dr. N. Sirkin Assocation / Pioneer Women's Organization / National Workers Faband / Local 209 Amalgamated Clothing Worker's Union of America / Ginger Ale Driver's Union
The fonds consists primarily of material related to the Bund's Third World Conference and the Jewish Labour Committee Montreal Division.
Materials include:
File 001: Clippings
File 002: Pre-Conference Correspondence and Delegate List, 1955
File 003: Post-Conference Correspondence, 1955
File 004: P…
The fonds consists primarily of material related to the Bund's Third World Conference and the Jewish Labour Committee Montreal Division.
Materials include:
File 001: Clippings
File 002: Pre-Conference Correspondence and Delegate List, 1955
File 003: Post-Conference Correspondence, 1955
File 004: Post-Conference Correspondence, 1955
File 005: Post-Conference Correspondence, 1955
File 006: Membership List
File 007: Executive de l'association des socialists juifs "Bund" 1967
File 008: Meetings 1964-1965
File 009: Bund Papers, 1963
File 010: Varia
Date
1949-1967
Fonds No.
1194
Storage Location
JPL
History Biographical
The Jewish Labour Bund, formed in 1897, was an influential political organization and labour union throughout the 20th century. It played a role in the formation of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and was influential in interwar Poland. The Bundist movement travelled with Jewish immigrants, influencing social movements around the world.
In 1955 the The Jewish Labour Bund held the Third World Conference in Montreal.
https://yivo.org/cimages/bund_120_post-pub_final.pdf
The Fonds contains material reflecting Lea Roback's activity in politics, union organization and activism in addition to personal records that document her relationship with family. Records from her political and activist work include radio addresses, correspondence, fliers, reports, and periodical…
The Fonds contains material reflecting Lea Roback's activity in politics, union organization and activism in addition to personal records that document her relationship with family. Records from her political and activist work include radio addresses, correspondence, fliers, reports, and periodicals. Personal records include correspondence wit her family members, the narrative of the Roback family written in prose, and various pieces of memorabilia belonging to Roback. The majority of the photographs in the collection are of Lea and her family from their time in Montreal, Beauport (QC) as well as Lea's travels in Europe. The series included within the Lea Roback Fonds are the following:
Series 1 -- Professional activity
Series 2 -- Biographical and personal material
Series 3 -- Correspondence
Series 4 -- Bibliographic reference publications
Series 5 -- Videos
Series 6 -- Photographs
Series 7 -- Graphic material
Date
1901-1998 ; predominant 1930-1998
Fonds No.
1243
Storage Location
JPL
History Biographical
Activist and organizer, Lea Roback was born on November 3rd, 1903 in Montreal. She was the second of nine children of Fanny (1885-1973) and Moses (1870-1935) Roback, both of whom immigrated from Poland. She spent her childhood in Beauport, Quebec where her parents ran a general store.
The Robacks spoke Yiddish at home; outside it was French or English. Léa was able to switch freely between languages, a skill that became useful in work with labour organizations. When Léa was fourteen the family returned to Montreal where, two years later, she began working in the city's factories. It was at this point that she became accutely aware of the inequality between Montreal's affluent English-speaking families and the mostly French and Jewish working class.
In the mid-1920s, Léa spent a two years at the University of Grenoble in France, supporting herself by privately teaching English to students. In 1928, Léa joined her older brother Harry in Berlin where he was studying medicine. She enrolled at the University of Berlin studying Sociology and German. Léa became involved with leftwing student groups and eventually joined the Communist Party.
In 1932 Lea returned to Montreal, finding work as a youth group director at the Young Women’s Hebrew Association, where her mentor was Saidye Bronfman, wife of Sam Bronfman. In 1935 she managed the Modern Bookshop on Bleury Street, the first Marxist bookstore in Quebec, which became a gathering place for local radicals. That same year Lea coordinated Fred Rose's bid for election. Eight years following this campaign, Rose became the first communist elected to the House of Commons.
In 1936 she was recruited by Thérèse Casgrain, legendary women’s suffrage leader, to assist in her work to obtain the vote for women in Quebec. Léa also became involved with the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) during their attempts to improve conditions in the garment industry. In 1937, Léa was a leader – along with organizers such as Rose Pesotta and Bernard Shane – in organizing over 5,000 women who walked off the job from the garment industry factories of Montreal.
During the war years, Lea began working for the Radio Corporation of America (R.C.A.) and became an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, where she was a business agent for the 3,000 R.C.A. workers in Montreal.
Lea was an active advocate for social justice and human rights for the majority of her life. She was affliated with numerous organizations in Montreal including the Québec Aid to the Partially Sighted, the Voice of Women, as well as anti-nuclear and anti-war groups. Lea was a continual presence within the ranks passing out leaflets, demonstrationing, providing support and lending her respected voice to so many causes.
Language
English
French
Yiddish
Spanish
Acquisition Source
Lea Roback
Custodial History
This material was donated to the Jewish Public Library Archives by Lea Roback in 1998. The material of the Fonds was in the possession of Ms. Roback until the date of the transfer.
Arrangement
The arrangement of the Lea Roback fonds maintained the order in which it was donated to the archives with the exception of Series 3. In the correspondence series, letters were grouped by sender and when without date or an identifiable author, were grouped together. In 2015, as a result of entering unprocessed material into the database, the intellectual arrangement of this fonds was also updated. To consult the original finding aid please contact the JPL-A directly.
Notes
In addition to textual and photographic material, the Lea Roback Fonds contains sound recordings (10 audio cassettes) and graphic material (2 prints, 7 posters)
Access Restriction
Some privacy restrictions apply to material within the Léa Roback Fonds. Please contact the JPL-A directly for further information.
Reproduction Restrictions
Some Copyright restrictions may apply
Finding Aid
Detailed finding aid available; file level control.
1 electronic record : digital ; 468 MB + transcription
Fonds No.
1287; OH_00004
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with feminist and retired militant syndicalist Lea Roback by Archivist Emeritus Eiran Harris, August 4, 1996. This interview was made as part of the Jewish Public Library Archives commitment to documenting the history of Jewish Montreal. Major themes discussed are: he…
1 electronic record : digital ; 468 MB + transcription
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with feminist and retired militant syndicalist Lea Roback by Archivist Emeritus Eiran Harris, August 4, 1996. This interview was made as part of the Jewish Public Library Archives commitment to documenting the history of Jewish Montreal. Major themes discussed are: her student years at the university in Berlin, Germany in the 1930s. Her militantism and involvement at the start of the syndicalist movement in Montreal. She collaborated with Dr Bethune. Saidye Bronfman contibution in the community.