I Have a Story to Tell You
I Have a Story to Tell You is about Eastern European Jewish immigrants living in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg in the early twentieth century. The stories encompass their travels and travails on leaving home and their struggles in the sweatshops and factories of the garment industry in Canada. Basing her work on extensive interviews, Seemah Berson recreates these immigrants’ stories about their lives in the Old Country and the hardship of finding work in Canada, and she tells how many of these newcomers ended up in the needle trades. Revealing a fervent sense of socialist ideology acquired in the crucible of the Russian Revolution, the stories tell of the influence of Jewish culture and traditions, of personal–and organized–fights against exploitation, and of struggles to establish unions for better working conditions.

This book is a wonderful resource for teachers of Canadian, Jewish, and social history, as well as auto/biography and cultural studies. The simplicity of the language, transcribed from oral reports, makes this work accessible to anyone who enjoys a good story.

1100386107
I Have a Story to Tell You
I Have a Story to Tell You is about Eastern European Jewish immigrants living in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg in the early twentieth century. The stories encompass their travels and travails on leaving home and their struggles in the sweatshops and factories of the garment industry in Canada. Basing her work on extensive interviews, Seemah Berson recreates these immigrants’ stories about their lives in the Old Country and the hardship of finding work in Canada, and she tells how many of these newcomers ended up in the needle trades. Revealing a fervent sense of socialist ideology acquired in the crucible of the Russian Revolution, the stories tell of the influence of Jewish culture and traditions, of personal–and organized–fights against exploitation, and of struggles to establish unions for better working conditions.

This book is a wonderful resource for teachers of Canadian, Jewish, and social history, as well as auto/biography and cultural studies. The simplicity of the language, transcribed from oral reports, makes this work accessible to anyone who enjoys a good story.

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I Have a Story to Tell You

I Have a Story to Tell You

by Seemah C. Berson (Editor)
I Have a Story to Tell You

I Have a Story to Tell You

by Seemah C. Berson (Editor)

Paperback

$29.99 
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Overview

I Have a Story to Tell You is about Eastern European Jewish immigrants living in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg in the early twentieth century. The stories encompass their travels and travails on leaving home and their struggles in the sweatshops and factories of the garment industry in Canada. Basing her work on extensive interviews, Seemah Berson recreates these immigrants’ stories about their lives in the Old Country and the hardship of finding work in Canada, and she tells how many of these newcomers ended up in the needle trades. Revealing a fervent sense of socialist ideology acquired in the crucible of the Russian Revolution, the stories tell of the influence of Jewish culture and traditions, of personal–and organized–fights against exploitation, and of struggles to establish unions for better working conditions.

This book is a wonderful resource for teachers of Canadian, Jewish, and social history, as well as auto/biography and cultural studies. The simplicity of the language, transcribed from oral reports, makes this work accessible to anyone who enjoys a good story.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781554582198
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date: 08/04/2010
Series: Life Writing
Pages: 324
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Seemah C. Berson was born and raised in Calcutta, India. After travelling extensively, she arrived in Vancouver, B.C., in 1954. She received her B.A. (1975) and M.A. (1980) from the University of British Columbia. She is co-editor with Henry M. Rosenthal of The Canadian Jewish Outlook Anthology (1988), and was a contributor to and long-time member of Outlook magazine’s collective. She is a published children’s author and a sometime artist in soapstone, stick-making, and painting.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction xvii

Rose Kaplan Barkusky 1

Rose Gordon 8

Haskell (Harry) Ullman 15

Muriel Grad 23

Fanny (Baba) Osipov 28

Abe Smith 35

David Shaya Kirman 39

Rose Smith 50

Nina Dolgoy Ullman 54

Sidney Sarkin 58

Mr. Shano 73

Sam Greenberg 76

Pauline Chudnovsky 80

Bluma Kogan 86

Norman Massey 94

Albert Abramowitz 99

Lil Abramowitz 113

Max Dolgoy 125

James (Jimmy) Blugerman 133

Samuel Nemetz 147

Sylvia Grafstein Klein 157

Molly Klein Goldsman 163

Rose Esterson 165

Joshua (Joe) Gershman 169

Jennie Zelda Litvak 180

Hyman Leibovitch 193

Ena Ship 206

Masha Goldkind 212

Mary Kevalko 215

Max Povitz 220

Art Browner 225

Bertha Dolgoy Guberman 233

Max Yellen 247

Dave Ship 251

Ben Abrams 257

Abraham Taylor 260

Simon Harris 264

Conclusion 273

Notes 277

Glossary 281

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