| | Abstract: | The Workmen's Circle (Arbeter Ring) is a fraternal organization designed to perpetuate Yiddish language and culture, seek social reform, and provide support and protection for immigrants. The first Cleveland, Ohio, branch, No. 79, was organized in 1904. The Cleveland branch provides insurance, operates a cemetery, teaches Yiddish classes, and has supported such issues as unionizing the Cleveland garment industry, child labor laws, social security, civil rights, and fighting Soviet anti-semitism. In 1975, there were six branches in Cleveland, with a school, the Workmen's Circle Educational Center, located on South Green Road. The collection consists of minutes, notes and related material of the Great Lakes Regional Board, minutes of the National Executive Board, correspondence, reports of the Ohio District Conference, 1978, and the national convention, 1980, receipt book, newsletters of Cleveland branches and the Great Lakes Region, programs, invitations, branch leader manuals, photocopies of scrapbooks, newspaper clippings and miscellany. | |
