Campus Lecture 2019-11-13 | Jewish Radicals in New South Cities

Josh Parshall: “Jewish Radicals in New South Cities: The Southern District of the Workmen’s Circle”

From 1908 until after World War II, small groups of East European Jewish immigrants operated branches of the Workmen’s Circle (Arbeter Ring) in more than fifteen southern cities. These local branches of the national fraternal organization promoted secular Yiddish culture, participated in mutual aid, contributed to left-wing politics and local labor movements, and organized themselves on a regional basis. This presentation, cosponsored by the Jewish Federation of Oxford, will examine these activities in relation to the New South settings in which they took place and explore the meanings and legacies of the Workmen’s Circle in the South.