The Labor Lyceum

Local branches of the international Jewish fraternal organization the Workmen’s Circle dedicated the Labor Lyceum in 1917 as a home for Jewish labor activity in the Hill District. The three-story building had offices, a lecture hall, a public library, and community spaces. It was a meeting place for at least 15 Jewish labor, fraternal, political, cultural, and philanthropic organizations. The Labor Lyceum also had a dramatic club, a choir, and a Yiddish secular school. It closed in 1930, but the building remained an important meeting space for African American groups.