The Switzer-Cooperstock Prize in Western Canadian Jewish History

The Switzer-Cooperstock Prize in Western Canadian Jewish History was established by the Switzer family to honour their parents and grandparents, Established in 2008, past winners include Prof. Theodore Friedgut, University of Jerusalem for an essay on the Lipton farm colony (2008); Prof. Lynne Marks, University of Victoria, for an essay on religion and identity in British Columbia (2010); Chana Thau, independent scholar, for an essay on growing up in small towns in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (2012); Prof. David Koffman, York University, for an essay on Jewish participation in the collecting and selling of Indigenous artifacts before the First World War (2014); Prof. Esyllt Jones, University of Manitoba, for an essay on Mindel Cherniack Sheps and the Founding of Medicare in Canada (2016); Prof. Richard Menkis (UBC) for an essay on Rabbis J.H. Hertz and Yeshaya Horowitz and their observations of the Canadian West,  Sharon Graham for her essay on Pearl Finkelstein (2020),  Jordan Stanger-Ross and Lynn Marks for their paper on Holocaust remembrance in Victoria, B.C., and Celia Rabinovitch (2024) , who wrote about the life and work of photographer Nick Yudell. This year’s winner is John Lehr, for his essay, Location, land, and tenure: Factors in the success and failure of three Jewish agricultural settlements in Manitoba, Canada. 

A student prize was awarded  in 2021 and 2023. Please scroll down to view all the essays.