When the Yiddish-speaking immigrant Jews came to America, they found overcrowded tenements and hazardous sweatshops. With poverty inevitably came disease. They founded the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring in New York City in 1900 as a refuge from oppression. They established schools and camps for children and adults, published books, operated a famous Medical Department for their members’ care and sanitariums for the infirm, ran credit unions for their members, and bought tracts of land for cemeteries. And they founded the great garment workers’ unions that agitated for better conditions, in short for a shenere un besere velt — a more beautiful and better world. They fulfilled the promise of America. All over America and Canada, branches of the Workmen’s Circle sprang up to support Jews in their struggle to organize a decent, productive life for themselves and their children. The Karl Liebknecht Branch was the first in Los Angeles, established on January 21, 1908. The organization has enjoyed a continuous presence in the city, and elsewhere in California, ever since. January 1999 marked the completion of our 90th Anniversary Year. Early in our history, it was Workmen’s Circle members who established the City of Hope, originally for the care of tuberculosis patients, now a world-famous medical center whose philosophy still calls for free medical treatment. Over the years, Workmen’s Circle has expanded into the support of the Jewish Home for the Aging and many other charitable causes. Ours were among the earliest voices to speak up against Nazism in the 1930s, and against Stalinism in the USSR. We have advocated consistently for civil rights legislation, health care reform, affordable housing, pro-labor legislation and fair employment practices, full and equal rights for women, gays and lesbians, and expanded social security. We were particularly active in the earliest Chicano electoral campaigns of the 1940s and 50s and in the farm workers’ struggles. In keeping with our goal of preserving the unique beauty of Jewish culture, and as the preeminent advocate of Yiddish cultural activity in particular, we offer a rich program of holiday observances and celebrations, concerts, theatre, lectures, forums, debates and discussions. To this day our Yiddish classes are the most sought after in Southern California. Our Mit Gezang Yiddish Chorus, directed by Michelle Green Willner, performs regularly at public events throughout the year. A Shenere Velt Gallery, housed in our building on S. Robertson Blvd., was inaugurated in February 1996, and shows both Jewish and non-Jewish artists whose work reflects a commitment to humanitarian values. Our San Fernando Valley Sholom Branch also sponsors regular programs of Jewish and general interest. To honor our 90th Anniversary, we created on our building a magnificent 70’ x 18’ Yidishkayt mural (approximately 1,260 square feet) featuring highlights of our Jewish and American history and idealism. Designed and painted by Philippine-American artist Eliseo Art Silva, who won an internationally advertised competition, the mural serves as an "outdoor classroom" for residents and visitors of all ages for years to come. One of the most prominent aspects of our work in recent years has been our collaboration with other groups in co-sponsoring events and programs. If in years past we worked closely with unions, the Forverts newspaper, the Bund, Yiddish Culture Club, Jewish Labor Committee and other organizations, today we have added work with (among others) the Sholem Community, Society for Humanistic Judaism, Labor Zionist Alliance, American Friends of MERETZ, a Sephardic cultural group (Ivri-NASAWI), Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Sunset Hall, the Consulate of Israel in Los Angeles, Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, temples and Jewish Community Centers. As we look forward to the next 90 years, we build on the prodigious efforts made by thousands of Workmen’s Circle members in Southern California over the years. We go on, confident in knowing that we offer to new generations a full, many-faceted Jewish communal life that both preserves tradition and expands upon it.
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