YIVO Receives $224,000 Save America’s Treasures Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded a grant of $224,007 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through Save America’s Treasures Grants. Save America’s Treasures Grants are awarded to help preserve and conserve nationally significant collections that help tell a more complete story of America and its people.

This grant will enable YIVO to process and digitize two important collections from its Jewish Labor and Political Archives (JLPA) which documents Jewish political, labor, and social movements in the United States and Europe from 1870 to 1992. These collections include:

1) Workmen’s Circle Collection, 1893-1972

Known in Yiddish as Der Arbeter Ring, the Workmen’s Circle (renamed the Worker’s Circle in 2019) was founded in New York in 1892 by a group of progressive-minded Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. At its peak in 1925, the Workmen’s Circle had 87,000 members and hundreds of branches across the United States. Established as a social and cultural Jewish labor fraternal order, its purpose was to assist members by providing mutual aid, medical assistance, life insurance, unemployment assistance, homes for the elderly, and death benefits. The Workmen’s Circle was also dedicated to the promotion of progressive Yiddish culture in America and established cultural activities for Yiddish speaking immigrants including adult education classes, singing and drama clubs, sports teams, schools, and summer camps.

Closely associated with the American labor movement, members of the Workmen’s Circle joined other major American unions in the fight against exploitative labor and living conditions in New York and other major cities across the country.

This collection includes minutes, ledgers, membership records, correspondence, circulars, and publicity materials of the National Executive Committee, Cemetery Department, Education Department, Workmen's Circle School Committee, and other committees as well as materials documenting the Circle’s labor activities to promote safer working conditions, better wages, and the abolition of child labor practices.

2) JLPA Photograph Collection, 15,000 photos

The JLPA Photograph Collection provides a visual representation of the activities of major US political and labor organizations whose membership was largely comprised of Jewish immigrants. These photos depict events and meetings of some of the most influential US Jewish labor organizations including the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the United Hebrew Trades, the Jewish Labor Committee, and the Workmen’s Circle.

These two collections are part of a new eight-year, $8 million project to conserve, process, and digitize YIVO’s Jewish Labor and Political Archives (JLPA). The project will make these materials available online free-of-charge. The largest archival digitization project in YIVO’s history, the JLPA consists of approximately 3.5 million pages.

The JLPA collections illustrate how the transnational activities of the Jewish working class were instrumental in the international labor movement.. These collections provide valuable insights on the role and impact of the Jewish immigrant community in American trade unions, labor organizations, political groups, and on American culture. They serve as a bridge to understanding the evolution and diversity of the American Jewish experience.

Over the last six months, YIVO has received four government grants totaling $732,948 to support YIVO’s Jewish Labor and Political Archives project.

For any media inquiries please contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

The Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story