TORONTO — The Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) has established a bursary in memory of Stephen Speisman, its founding director, to assist graduate students and other researchers whose work requires the use of its archival records.
Speisman founded the archives in 1973 and served as director through 1999 before leaving to become executive director of Toronto Hebrew Memorial Park/Pardes Shalom Cemetery.
He retired from Pardes Shalom in May 2008, following a prolonged medical leave of absence after undergoing surgery for cancer. He died last October of a heart attack.
The new bursary will provide an annual grant of up to $500 to assist one or more researchers with some of the costs of research at the OJA, including travel and photocopying. It’s funded by Pardes Shalom, which has made a 10-year commitment to the project, as well as by the Ontario Association of Cemetery and Funeral Professionals.
The bursary will be awarded for the first time this October, to coincide with Speisman’s first yahrzeit. The application deadline is Aug. 31.
Archives director Ellen Scheinberg suggested at an OJA board meeting that a bursary would be a fitting tribute, because Speisman’s “commitment to scholarship and research was of primary importance to him,” she told The CJN.
The archives has never provided a bursary before.
“Not that many institutions in the archival community have bursaries,” Scheinberg said. “It’s very rare. Across the country, there are probably just a handful that are named for someone.”
Bill Draimin, president of Pardes Shalom, told The CJN, “We wanted to play a material role in honouring his memory,” explaining why the initiative appealed when the OJA approached his organization. “Stephen’s contribution to the community throughout his life warranted special recognition.”
On a personal note, he added that Speisman had interviewed his grandmother, Bertha Draimin, who was in her 90s at the time, for his book, The Jews of Toronto: A History to 1937. The book was a winner of the 1980 City of Toronto Book Award.
Leila Speisman, a CJN staff member, recalls that her late husband travelled to Boston and Ottawa to research his PhD thesis – the basis for his book – in the early 1970s.
“He was certainly conscious that he was lucky [in having received grants to fund his research], and he was conscious, too, that awards like that have been cut back.”
Recently, the OJA created a Stephen Speisman fonds, a collection of his personal research materials, presentations and photographs.
Scheinberg said the archives usually serves one or two researchers a week, “primarily historians and graduate students.”
If they are doing in-depth research, they need to visit the archives personally, she added, explaining why they may need to travel.
“We can send scanned images of photos, and even small numbers of documents, but if they’re delving into collections, they really need to be on site.”
While current funding will ensure the bursary is viable for the next 11 years, Scheinberg – who recalls Speisman as “a fountain of information” and “very helpful” – said that community members should “consider making a donation so we can keep the bursary running 20 to 25 years or longer, because that would be a most fitting tribute for Steve. He was the director for close to 30 years.”
Further information about the bursary is available at http://www.ontariojewisharchives.org/speismanbursary.htm.