Family photographs. - Archives Database

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Family photographs.

Level of description

File

Repository

University of Waterloo. Special Collections & Archives

Reference code

SCA173-GA480-1-2

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

[19--] (Photography)

Photographer

Panabaker, Mary J. (Mrs. Reuben)
1933 (Photography)

Photographer

Denton, Ernest
[19--] (Photography)

Photographer

Ashley & Crippen
[189-]-[1950?] (Photography)

Physical description area

Physical description

17 photographs : b&w, some sepia toned ; 24 x 33 cm or smaller

Archival description area

Name of creator

Kaufman, A. R. (Alvin Ratz)

(1885-1979)

Biographical history

Alvin ("A.R.") Kaufman was an industrialist and philanthropist. He was born to Jacob Kaufman and Mary Eidt Ratz in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario on February 11, 1885. He was raised alongside his three siblings; Emma Ratz Kaufman, Milton Ratz Kaufman, and ... »

In 1907, Alvin Ratz and his father Jacob Kaufman formed the Kaufman Rubber Company Limited, which continued as the Kaufman Footwear division of William H. Kaufman Incorporated until 2000 when the company declared bankruptcy.

Following the example set by his parents, Jacob and Mary Kaufman, Alvin Ratz supported, both personally and financially, many community organizations in the Kitchener area as well as endeavours to which he was philosophically committed, such as birth control.

He was Chairman of the Kitchener Planning Board for 36 years, served on the Kitchener Parks Board for more than 40 years, was a member of the Kitchener Hospital Board, was president of the YMCA for 13 years, was a member of the founding Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo, and served in various capacities for Zion Church in Kitchener.

Alvin Ratz Kaufman founded the Parents' Information Bureau in 1935 to distribute birth control information. One of the field-workers he hired, Dorothea Palmer, was arrested in 1936 in Ottawa under the obscenity provisions of the Criminal Code. She was acquitted in a landmark verdict that declared her work to be 'for the public good." In 1976, Alvin Ratz was honoured by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Ontario for his work in birth control and family planning.

Alvin Ratz married Jane Helen "Jean" Hutton on August 12, 1911 and together they had four children; Helen Mary Kaufman, William Hutton Kaufman, Edward Kaufman (deceased in infancy) and Sally Jean. Kaufman was remarried in 1972, following Jean's death, to C. Elspath "Beth" Hall, who died shortly after their nuptials. He was married for a third time to Ruth Samson.

Alvin Ratz died in his sleep at his Waterloo home on February 1, 1979 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

Scope and content

Photographs of the Kaufman family with the preeminence of A. R. Kaufman, his childhood, youth, and early marriage years. Includes photographs of A. R. Kaufman and members of his family in different attitudes and locations, including studio portraits, family photographs, and A. R.'s participation in different clubs and societies.
Photographs are identified or identifiable as:

Image of children visiting the police department (ca. late 1800s),
Two studio photographs of A. R. Kaufman in his youth (ca. early 1900s),
Studio photograph of an unidentified bride (possibly Jean Kaufman) (ca. 1910s),
Studio photograph of Jacob's and Mary Eidt Ratz Kaufman's family, including their four children (September 1912),
Photograph of possibly Mary Eidt Ratz Kaufman, taken by Panabaker Home Portraits (early 1900s),
Photograph of A. R. and Jean Kaufman with two of their children and one of the grandmothers (early 1900s),
Reproduction of the wedding picture from Edna Louise Kaufman and Albert William Augustine (1918),
Reproduction of photograph of the King Edward School class of 1933, taken by Denton Studio (1933),
Two photographs of young women identified as Geneva and Mary Hayward, but who are possibly Helen Mary and Sally Jean Kaufman (early 1900s),
Photograph of Jean Kaufman with Mrs. Taye Shidachi Kiachi, Mrs. Jsuji (?), Miss Cruikshank, and Mac Livett (?) (May 1930),
Studio photograph of the Kaufman family showing Mary Eidt Ratz Kaufman, Emma Kaufman, A. R. Kaufman and his family, and Milton Kaufman and his family (first half of 20th Century),
Studio photograph of an unidentified woman (possibly Jean Kaufman) (first half of 20th Century),
Studio photograph of an unidentified woman (possibly Edna Louise Augustine) (first half of 20th Century),
Studio photograph of A. R. Kaufman, taken by Ashley & Crippen Photographs (first half of 20th Century),
Coloured drawing of "Beechome," A. R. Kaufman's summer cottage built on the banks of the Grand River (ca. 1916),
Photograph of Beechome (Christmas 1950).

Notes area

Immediate source of acquisition

Donated in 2017.

Language of material

English

Access points

Name access points

Panabaker, Mary J. (Mrs. Reuben) (Photographer)
Denton, Ernest (Photographer)
Ashley & Crippen (Photographer)
Kaufman, Jean Helen (Subject)
Kaufman, Mary Eidt (Subject)
Kaufman, Jacob (Subject)
Kaufman, Emma Ratz (Subject)
Kaufman, Milton Ratz (Subject)
Augustine, Edna Louise (Subject)
Augustine, Albert William (Subject)
Koetsier, Jean (Subject)
Kaufman, William Hutton (Subject)
Sandwell, Helen Mary (Subject)

Genre access points

Images

Control area

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Described by CGD in 2022.

Language of description

English

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