| _BIOG_EN_L |
Dorothea Goldstick was a prominent Jewish Canadian nurse, businesswoman and philanthropist. In 2009, she was made a Person of National Historic Significance. She was involved in planning Toronto’s first Jewish hospital where prospective Jewish doctors could work and study.
Dorothy Dworkin was born to Wolf and Sara Goldstick in Windau, Latvia. She had six sisters and four
brothers. In 1904, she immigrated with her family to Canada. In 1907, she chose to become a maternity nurse.
She spent a year working under Dr. Kaufman and various of his colleagues until Dr. Kaufman suggested that
she go to train at Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland, where she would train as a midwife. Prior to leaving
Toronto, she helped establish a free Jewish Dispensary located at Elizabeth Street near Agnes, which is now
Dundas Street, with Ida Siegel and her brother Abe Lewis. She was the dispensary's first nurse. In 1909,
she received a diploma from the Medical State Board of Ohio.
In 1910, Dworkin helped form a Women’s Auxiliary in Toronto with a group of missionaries, and became its
first president. The auxiliary would eventually grow into an orphanage.
In 1911, she married Henry Dworkin, a Ukrainian businessman who dealt motor accessories and was the
founder of the Toronto Labour Lyceum. In 1917, Henry opened a small variety store with his brother
Edward named E&H. Dworkin Steamship and Bankers. The store eventually became a tobacco and shipping
agency and was renamed Dworkin Travel. It was located at 525 Dundas Street West. Through the
company the Dworkins enabled hundreds of Eastern European Jews to immigrate to Canada prior to World
War II,[6] specifically from Poland, Romania, and Latvia.[5] After The Holocaust, they aided survivors in
Canada and internationally.
She ran the free Jewish Dispensary in Toronto, and provided health and social services to many immigrant
Jews. In 1922, Dworkin helped establish the Toronto Jewish Convalescent and Maternity Hospital after the
Toronto General Hospital refused to provide kosher meals and provide for the language needs of its Jewish
patients. This institution was later renamed Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto.
In 1928, her husband died by being fatally struck down by an automobile. It was estimated that as many as
20,000 people attended his funeral.[3] She took control of his business enterprises and became a leader in
Toronto's Jewish community. She served as the secretary of the Jewish Labor Committee in the mid-1930s and
was active in the Canadian Jewish Congress, ORT and Pioneer Women. She also sat on a number of boards
for Jewish organizations.
Over the years, she also became the honorary president of the Sinais, a member of the Mount Sinai Hospital
Board, president of the Continental Steamship Ticket Agents Association, a trustee of the Federation of Jewish
Philanthropies, and director of the Labour Lyceum. [2] |
1889 - 1976 (87 Jahre)
[1] 