From The Toronto Star, February 6, 1909 CONFIRMED MAN HATER THREW AWAY MONEY Because It Had King’s Head on It—Strange Life Story London — The strange life story, not without its pathetic features, of an eccentric old lady who was so confirmed a man hater that she would not use money or stamps that bore…
In the early years of the twentieth century, Jewish immigrants from Ostrowiec, Poland, began establishing a new community in Toronto. Most had come from modest circumstances, leaving behind familiar surroundings, established family relationships, and the religious and cultural life of their hometown. Many were young craftsmen and workers who had emigrated to escape poverty, economic…
Morley Lorne Torgov, the Toronto lawyer and twice Leacock-winning author whose warm, wry fiction drew heavily on his Jewish childhood in Sault Ste. Marie, died July 19, 2026, at the age of 98. Torgov sustained two substantial careers over much of his long life. He practised law in Toronto for roughly 70 years while also…
There have been several moments in the history of American-Canadian relations when significant numbers of Americans have fled northward to Canada. The most notable example, of course, is the United Empire Loyalists, who came in large numbers to what is now Canada after the American Revolution because they wished to remain loyal to the British…
It has been about twenty years since I had my first “Eureka!” moment as a genealogist. Several smaller discoveries led up to this great moment. First, I discovered that my great-grandfather, Harris Glickstein, had been born in the town of Konin, Poland; second, that his father’s name had been Rafael; third, that our family name…
The Multicultural History Society of Ontario has now partnered with Internet Archive Canada to keep its historic newspaper collection freely available online – welcome news for genealogists, historians, and community researchers. The collection’s future became uncertain after Simon Fraser University Library, which had hosted it for many years, announced in March 2024 that it…
Toronto, January 1928 Mourned by Thousands of Hebrews Whom He Helped and Encouraged — Instituted Labor Lyceum and Gave Freely to Charity What manner of man was this, that mourners, estimated to number from ten to fifteen thousand, thronged about the place where the funeral service was held on a Sunday afternoon? What had there…
From the Toronto Daily Star, May 10, 1920 Thirty-Five Thousand Held a Parade, Followed by Meeting in Massey Hall Thirty-five thousand of the Hebrews of Toronto formed in procession Sunday afternoon as part of the demonstration that was to testify to their loyalty to the British Empire and their thankfulness to Britain for accepting the…
by Mordecai Hirshenson from the “Canadian Panorama,” Canadian Jewish News, August 12, 1960 NEW SYNAGOGUE MERGER Another synagogue merger is taking place in Toronto — the city’s second in a period of only months. The Shaw Street — or more formally the B’nai Israel — is fusing its identity and membership with an uptown congregation,…
Genealogists sometimes encounter a maddening problem when a relative seems to vanish under the name you know. Sometimes it’s because the surname has been legally changed, or an alias used for employment, business, military service or just convenience. In many cases the person who changes their name still keeps at least a few anchors: an…
