Yiddish in the Land of Sunshine: Jewish Radicalism, Labor, & Culture in LA

Schedule

Wed Oct 22 2025 at 12:00 pm to 01:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, Patton Hall (RLP) 2.402 | Austin, TX

Advertisement
"Yiddish in the Land of Sunshine: Jewish Radicalism, Labor, and Culture in Los Angeles" by Caroline Luce
About this Event

This talk traces the journeys of a cohort of young Jewish radicals as they moved from the borderlands of the Russian empire to the borderlands of the American southwest, offering an account of Eastern European Jewish immigration and Yiddish public culture in Southern California. It especially focuses on Boyle Heights—a residential neighborhood east of the L.A. River that was once home to the highest concentration of Jews west of Chicago as well as dozens of other diasporic communities—showing how the neighborhood’s particular ethno-racial diversity shaped Jewish labor and left-wing activism as well as Yiddish literary culture. Drawing upon previously untranslated Yiddish sources, it exploresthe variety of organizing practices through which Jewish radicals recreated Yiddish public culture in the neighborhood as well as the new affinities and tensions that emerged as they worked to forge coalitions with their multiethnic neighbors. Boyle Heights is both a site of convergence, where dozens of diasporic communities cultivated their own modes of belonging in overlapping ways, as well as of divergence, where residents’ experiences were differentiated by both international and domestic political-economic developments. Jewish radicals’ Jewishness was invoked, disavowed, and debated, both within the Jewish community and without, revealing an oft-overlooked element in the history of antisemitism in Southern California.

Caroline Luce is a historian whose work sits at the intersection of labor history, Jewish studies, and digital humanities. Currently a Project Director with the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, she served for a decade as the Chief Curator of Mapping Jewish LA, a project of the UCLA Leve Center for Jewish Studies. She is also the chair of the Communications Committee of UC-AFT. Her research specialty is immigration, labor and working-class culture in the American west and her forthcoming book, Yiddish in the Land of Sunshine: Jewish Radicalism, Labor and Culture in Los Angeles, will be released by NYU Press in 2026.

This talk is a part of the Gale Collaborative on Jewish Life in the Americas Lecture Series.

Lunch provided for those who RSVP by Monday, October 20.

Sponsored by: Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, Department of American Studies, Department of History


Advertisement

Where is it happening?

Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, Patton Hall (RLP) 2.402, 305 E. 23rd Street, Austin, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00

Icon
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies

Host or Publisher Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies

Ask AI if this event suits you:

Discover More Events in Austin

OWASP LASCON 2025
Thu, 23 Oct at 08:00 am OWASP LASCON 2025

Norris Conference Centers - Austin

BUSINESS CONFERENCES
2025 Indigent Defense Workshop
Thu, 23 Oct at 08:15 am 2025 Indigent Defense Workshop

Texas Association of Counties, 4th floor

WORKSHOPS BUSINESS
MBA Coffee Chat - Austin
Thu, 23 Oct at 09:00 am MBA Coffee Chat - Austin

Flightpath Coffeehouse

MEETUPS
BXN Power Networking Day
Thu, 23 Oct at 11:00 am BXN Power Networking Day

Casa do Brasil

BUSINESS
Discover Radiant Skin with LaseMD
Thu, 23 Oct at 11:30 am Discover Radiant Skin with LaseMD

1600 W 38th Street Suite 300, Austin, TX, United States, Texas 78731

ART CRAFTS
Travis Heights Art Trail 2025
Thu, 23 Oct Travis Heights Art Trail 2025

2002 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX, USA

ART TRIPS-ADVENTURES
Space Entrepreneurship Mastermind Workshop
Thu, 23 Oct at 12:00 pm Space Entrepreneurship Mastermind Workshop

AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

WORKSHOPS BUSINESS
Startups Fund Raising Program
Fri, 18 Sep at 12:00 pm Startups Fund Raising Program

Austin

BUSINESS CONFERENCES
Austin Commercial Property Exchange
Tue, 24 Jan at 11:30 am Austin Commercial Property Exchange

Austin Title Company

ART
Launch Your Own Successful AI App | AI Startup | Workshop 2025
Tue, 30 Apr at 01:00 pm Launch Your Own Successful AI App | AI Startup | Workshop 2025

Regus Office

BUSINESS WORKSHOPS
Capital Factory 2025 Growth Mindset Blueprint for Entrepreneurs
Thu, 06 Feb at 05:00 pm Capital Factory 2025 Growth Mindset Blueprint for Entrepreneurs

Capital Factory

BUSINESS WORKSHOPS
Austin Tourism Insider (ATI) Training Program 2025
Mon, 10 Feb at 09:00 am Austin Tourism Insider (ATI) Training Program 2025

Visit Austin

WORKSHOPS JOB-FAIRS
Central Texas NIA: Exclusive Networking Mastermind - Shoal Creek
Tue, 11 Feb at 03:00 pm Central Texas NIA: Exclusive Networking Mastermind - Shoal Creek

Water 2 Wine

PERFORMANCES ENTERTAINMENT
NIA Trades Together - Elite Networking for the Trades
Wed, 12 Mar at 11:30 am NIA Trades Together - Elite Networking for the Trades

Casa Chapala Mexican Cuisine & Tequila Bar

Holistic Leadership in Practice One Day Session in Austin, TX
Tue, 27 May at 09:00 am Holistic Leadership in Practice One Day Session in Austin, TX

Regus

WORKSHOPS HEALTH-WELLNESS
Capital Connectors: Deal Makers & Private Capital Networking
Thu, 26 Jun at 05:00 pm Capital Connectors: Deal Makers & Private Capital Networking

The RSRV

BUSINESS
512 Networking Monthly Meeting
Fri, 11 Jul at 08:30 am 512 Networking Monthly Meeting

Aloft Austin South

MEETUPS CALENDAR
WOAMTEC Austin
Wed, 13 Aug at 11:30 am WOAMTEC Austin

10515 N Mopac Expy

What's Happening Next in Austin?

Discover Austin Events