Souvenir from the Fourth “Workmen’s Circle” Convention

The Arbeter Ring (Yiddish: Der arbeter ring; the Workmen’s Circle) was founded in New York on September 4, 1900. Founded by socialists and committed to fighting social injustice and the exploitation of workers, the Arbeter Ring focused on providing Jewish working-class immigrants with insurance, health care, social benefits, recreational activities, and adult education. After the 1905 Russian Revolution, a number of displaced Bundists joined the organization, infusing it both with a more Marxist bent and with a more serious commitment to the cultivation of the new secular Yiddish culture burgeoning in Eastern Europe. In 1915, the Arbeter Ring created the Yiddish Folksbine Theater Troupe and came to actively support Yiddish publishing and the development of Yiddish literature and art. Starting in 1923, the Arbeter Ring organized Camp Kinderland—a Yiddish-language summer camp for children and teenagers in upstate New York. The organization opened autonomous branches around the world and spread its influence. The Arbeter Ring’s political orientation shifted toward liberalism during the New Deal era; in the 1940s it advocated for American engagement in World War II and adopted Zionist sympathies. In the 1960s, its membership began to decline significantly. Today the Arbeter Ring/Workers Circle organizes educational programs, including Yiddish language instruction, and promotes equal rights, democratic values, and fair labor practices.