The Workmen’s Circle Labor Lyceum, Madison, 1953

The Workmen’s Circle Labor Lyceum provided a community center for the immigrant Eastern European Jewish community in Madison. The Arbeiter Ring, as it was called in Yiddish (a language which combines Hebrew and German words), is a national organization that provided its members with mutual aid services, as well as Yiddish educational activities, all in a secular Jewish socialist political context. The local Madison branch (# 479) was founded in 1915. In 1932 the lyceum building was constructed at 41 N. Mills Street. The building was used for social gatherings, public lectures, political meetings, and as a school for teaching young students Yiddish language and cultural activities.