Not Just Numbers

Case 4: Conclusion: Dorothy Dworkin

Fifteen Minutes

Review the details of your Case Study’s life together. Did the class find anything surprising? Did they make any assumptions that were later challenged? Is there anything specific about their Case Study that they want to know?

Details

Dorothy Dworkin’s maiden name has Goldstick and her family emigrated to Canada in 1907

She attended medical school in the United States and formed a women’s organization that would eventually grow into an orphanage

Her husband, Henry Dworkin, was a successful Ukrainian businessman who helped found the Toronto Labour Lyceum, a centre of labour activism

She established the Toronto Jewish Convalescent and Maternity Hospital in 1922, after the Toronto General Hospital refused to provide kosher meals or attend to the language needs of its Jewish patients. This organization would become Mount Sinai Hospital

She took control of her husband’s business empire after his death in 1928

She was active with the Jewish Committee and the Canadian Jewish Congress

She helped organize relief efforts for persecuted Jews during the Holocaust in Europe

She died in 1976 and has since been designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada