5 records – page 1 of 1.

Dan Daniels Fonds

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn45264
Collection
Dan Daniels Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
1.26m of textual records
Fonds No.
1285
Scope and Content
Consists of typescripts of Daniels' works, including essays, short stories, plays and scripts.
Collection
Dan Daniels Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
1.26m of textual records
Scope and Content
Consists of typescripts of Daniels' works, including essays, short stories, plays and scripts.
Fonds No.
1285
Storage Location
JPL
Creator
Dan Daniels
History / Biographical
Born in Montreal, ca1921, Dan Daniels began writing at thirteen and became a social activist at seventeen. Daniels also developed a career as a storyteller beginning in 1972. In 1938 Daniels joined the Communist party and remained an active member until 1955. Under the party Daniels worked as a trade union organizer with warehouse workers, in the textile industry, aircraft industry, glass workers and with seamen. Daniels worked on Canadian merchant ships and was later an organizer for the group. According to his biography in "Paranoia and Dirty Feet", published by White Dwarf Editions in 1995, during his work with the merchant seamen he was, "thrown off one freighter after being accused of mutiny (of which he admits he was technically guilty: he refused to obey an officer's order) and was arrested eleven times during the seamen's strikes of 1946, 1948, and 1949. Daniels left the Communist Party in 1955, at which point many Canadian members also did, because he felt the Soviet regime was oppressive and no longer serving the working class. When the Canadian Labour Party did not split from Soviet influence, Daniels left the party. In addition to his trade union work, Daniels was instrumental in numerous other organizations and social movements, including: Fair Play for Cuba Committee in Montreal (which helped to found), resistance efforts against the Vietnam war, the non-Communist peace movement, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He was also one of the leaders of Operation St-Jean-Baptiste, a group devoted to removing the nuclear missiles held in La Macaza, Quebec. Daniels had stories, essays and articles published in periodicals and journals in Canada, the United States, England, Australia and Mexico. He had plays produced for the stage in Canada and the United States and had works broadcast on radio and television. Daniels created his persona, "Dan the Storyman" to bring storytelling to elementary school classrooms in primary schools for both the Protestant and Catholic schools boards of Montreal. He was a founding member of both the Playwrights' Workshop of Montreal and the Playwrights Circle of Montreal. Daniels wrote three novels; one written at thirteen, which was destroyed by the author, a second novel was confiscated by the Quebec Provincial Police during the Padlock Law days and a third entitled, "Waiting to be Buried". None of the novels were published. During the 1960s, Daniels worked as an educator in Tanguay women's prison under the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. He also received a master's degree in Environmental Studies from York University and later taught at College Marie-Victorin.
Language
English
Custodial History
Transferred to JPL-A by Daniels' wife.
Subjects
Plays
Playwriting
Writing - Fiction
Writing.
Writers.
Communist Party of Canada
Labour and labouring classes
Labour
Labour leaders
Labour movement
Trade unions
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Jewish Public Library Archives
Less detail

Jewish Labour Committee Fonds

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn68993
Collection
Jewish Labour Committee Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
0.9 m of textual records
Fonds No.
1023
Scope and Content
This fond consists mainly of working documents such as correspondence and financial papers, predominantly from the late 1940s to the 1970s. The documents deals with the advocacy activities of the JLC such as bringing refugees over to Montreal and later raising money to aid Pakistani refugees. Hig…
Collection
Jewish Labour Committee Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
0.9 m of textual records
Scope and Content
This fond consists mainly of working documents such as correspondence and financial papers, predominantly from the late 1940s to the 1970s. The documents deals with the advocacy activities of the JLC such as bringing refugees over to Montreal and later raising money to aid Pakistani refugees. Highlights of the fonds include correspondence between David Lewis, then secretary of the CCF, his father Moishe Lewis, and Kalman Kaplansky, both labour leaders in Montreal’s Workmen’s Circle and JLC.
Fonds No.
1023
Storage Location
JPL
History / Biographical
In 1934, leaders in the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the Workmen’s Circle, the Jewish Daily Forward Association, the Jewish Socialist Verband and others gathered in New York’s lower east side to form the Jewish Labor Committee. The formation of the JLC was in response to the ever-growing threat of fascism in Europe. The group publicly campaigned to raise awareness of the plight of European Jewry, raised funds for partisan fighters, brought over thousands of political and cultural leaders – both Jews and non-Jews, and immediately after the war assisted in relief efforts and provided support in bringing over refugees. Jewish Labour Committees both in the United States and Canada extended their wartime work in the 1950s by campaigning against discrimination among workers as well as human rights activism on a global scale. In Montreal, the Jewish Labour Committee actively participated in pressuring the government to adopt human rights legislation at the provincial level. In 1947, the Canadian government selected two members of the JLC, Bernard Shane and Maurice Silcoff, to travel to Europe to select skilled immigrants as refugees. Both men were temporarily named colonels of the Canadian army so that they could travel more easily across war ravaged Europe. The task of bringing over skilled garment workers to Canada was no mean feat but the efforts had far reaching implications since workers were then able to bring over family members. The Jewish Labor Committee of Canada Bulletin for 1975, on reporting the death of Bernard Shane, placed the number of families brought to Canada through the work of the JLC at over 2,000.
Language
English
Yiddish
French
Access Restrictions
Some material restricted due to privacy.
Related Material
Workmen's Circle Fonds
CCF Fonds (Small Collections)
Lea Roback Fonds
Accession No.
00-078
Subjects
Labour
Labour and labouring classes
Labour leaders
Labour movement
Displaced persons
Refugee camps.
Tailors
Jewish Labour Committee (Montreal, Quebec)
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Jewish Public Library Archives
Less detail

Sholem Krishtalka Collection

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn42443
Collection
Sholem Krishtalka Collection
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
3.76 linear metres of multiple media
Fonds No.
1099
Date
1929-1978
Scope and Content
Consists of personal documents from the Krishtalka family, correspondence and ephemeral and organizational material from international and Jewish Montreal organizations such as UJPO, YKUF and the Jewish Public Library. Also contains numerous posters and flyers for theatre, arts and musical present…
Collection
Sholem Krishtalka Collection
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
3.76 linear metres of multiple media
Scope and Content
Consists of personal documents from the Krishtalka family, correspondence and ephemeral and organizational material from international and Jewish Montreal organizations such as UJPO, YKUF and the Jewish Public Library. Also contains numerous posters and flyers for theatre, arts and musical presentations in Jewish Montreal.
Date
1929-1978
Fonds No.
1099
Storage Location
JPL
History / Biographical
Cultural activitist, Sholem Krishtalka was born in Ludmir, Poland on February 4, 1905. He received his education at Hebrew Tarbut School where he studied Talmud, Kabalah and mysticism. Krishtalka's academic interests though also ran towards Yiddish literature, music, folklore, social sciences and history. Krishtalka arrived in Montreal in 1933 and immediately became active in IKUF (Yidisher Kultur Farband) as well as the United Jewish People's Order, the Jewish Public Library, and various book committees that supported the publications of Yiddish authors and poets. For the JPL he was a major part of the building campaign that saw the construction of the Library's "new" building on the corner of Mont-Royal and Esplanade. His passion for the culture and politics of the Jewish community extended to collecting the ephemera, posters, and articles produced by its citizens and organizations. Sholem Krishtalka's son, Aaron Krishtalka, remembers his father removing posters and flyers from walls specifically to preserve the event and information for future generations. His interests influenced his collecting habits and as a result his archival collection consists of a wide variety of social ephemeral from political movements, labour rights efforts, philanthropic endeavours, theatre, music, literature and so on. He collected various ephemeral materials also with the help of his wife, Shifra, who was a writer, teacher, and sister to fellow Yiddish writers and teachers, Jacob Zipper, and Sholem, Yehiel, and Israel Shtern. After World War II ended Mr. Krishtalka became involved in actively helping victims of the Holocaust. Sholem Krishtalka passed away on August 16, 1977.
Language
English
Yiddish
Subjects
Krishtalka, Sholem
Krishtalka, Shifra
Theatrical Productions.
Theatre
Yiddish theatre
Labour movement
Labour and labouring classes
Refugees - Canada
World War, 1939-1945
United Jewish People's Order (UJPO)
Yidisher Kultur Farband (YKUF)
Monument-National Theatre [Montreal].
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Jewish Public Library Archives
Less detail

Sylvia Gerson Fonds

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn17184
Collection
Sylvia Gerson Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
1 file multiple media
Fonds No.
1114
Date
1928-1951
Scope and Content
Consists of newspaper clippings regarding Canadian Air Force (1942), Montreal Joint Board as well as Montreal Dress Cutters Union membership book (1934), New Year's cards (ca1928) and various snapshots (undated, unidentified).
Collection
Sylvia Gerson Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
1 file multiple media
Scope and Content
Consists of newspaper clippings regarding Canadian Air Force (1942), Montreal Joint Board as well as Montreal Dress Cutters Union membership book (1934), New Year's cards (ca1928) and various snapshots (undated, unidentified).
Date
1928-1951
Fonds No.
1114
Storage Location
7-5C, SC1
Language
English; Yiddish
Subjects
Royal Canadian Air Force
Gerson, Louis
Gerson, Sylvia
Montreal Dress Cutters Union
Trade unions
Labour and labouring classes
New Year's cards
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Jewish Public Library Archives
Less detail

Workmen's Circle of Montreal Fonds

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn18200
Collection
Workmen's Circle of Montreal Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
4 m of textual records and other material
Date
1908-current
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 10 series containing the operating records of the Workmen's Circle, its committees, branches, choir and school program. Series I – Committees Series II – Branches Series III – His tory and Organizational Papers Series IV – Publications Series V – Abra…
Collection
Workmen's Circle of Montreal Fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Material Type
multiple media
Physical Description
4 m of textual records and other material
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of 10 series containing the operating records of the Workmen's Circle, its committees, branches, choir and school program. Series I – Committees Series II – Branches Series III – His tory and Organizational Papers Series IV – Publications Series V – Abraham Reisen Schools Series VI – Workmen’s Circle Loan Syndicate Series VII – Workmen’s Circle Choir Series VIII – Workmen’s Circle, New York Series IX – Correspondence Series X – Scrapbooks and Artefacts
Date
1908-current
Storage Location
Bay 6
Creator
Workmen's Circle
Physical Condition
Excellent.
History / Biographical
The Workmen’s Circle (Arbeter Ring) of Montreal (now Worker’s Circle) celebrated its 100th Anniversary in the city in 2007. The organization, which was originally founded in New York in 1892 by mainly Russian Jewish immigrants fleeing Czarist pogroms, conducted itself as an “irretrievable part of the radical labour movement.” An advocate for change, the Workmen’s Circle also provided education, enlightenment, health benefits, open forums, a library, clubs and cemetery plots for its members. The work of the group extended to emergencies such as operating a soup kitchen during the Depression or organizing the Action Committee for Soviet Jewry in the late-1980s and early 1990s to aid immigration. Their involvement in politics saw support for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and candidates such as A.M. Klein, David Lewis and Kalman Kaplansky. In 1940, two Workmen’s Circle members from Branch 151 were elected to the Montreal municipal council, Michael Rubenstein and Albert Eaton. The first Workmen’s Circle building was completed in 1936 after several years of planning and a hold due to the Depression. The building was located at 4848 St. Laurent and served the Workmen’s Circle’s business and social activities as well as one of the schools. Like most other Jewish organizations, the Workmen’s Circle moved from the once-traditionally Jewish Main area and re-located to Isabella closer to the Jewish community campus. The Worker’s Circle is still housed there although the organization is shrinking and serves an aging population.
Language
Yiddish, English, Russian
Acquisition Source
Workmen's Circle of Montreal
Custodial History
Transferred directly from the Workmen's Circle, first date of transfer unknown, accural of new materials in November 2007.
Arrangement
Current arrangement based on an older system of description used by the JPL-A during the 1970s and 1980s. The finding aid was up-dated to RAD standards in March 2008.
Related Material
Jewish Labour Committee Fonds
Name Access
Workmen's Circle, Montreal
Subjects
Workmen's Circle Schools (Montreal, Quebec)
Labour and labouring classes
Workmen's Circle - Eugene Debs Branch no. 204
Workmen's Circle - Meyer London Branch no. 151
Workmen's Circle - Moishe Lewis Branch
Workmen's Circle, New York
Workmen's Circle - Vladeck Branch
Workmen's Loan Syndicate (Montreal)
Labour movement
Labour unions
Women in the labour movement - Canada
Workmen's Circle - Ladies' Vladeck Branch
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Jewish Public Library Archives
Less detail