Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
The National Radical Folkshule/Jewish National Folk Shule was a pair of related Yiddish secular schools in Pittsburgh associated with various organizations in the local Labor Zionist movement.
The local chapter of Poale Zion started the National Radical Folkshule in 1912 at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House at 1835 Centre Ave. in the Hill District with some 50 students. The school closed sometime after 1913, apparently due to lack of funding.
The Jewish National Folk Shule was founded in August 1932 by a coalition of groups including the Poale Zion, the Jewish National Workers Alliance (also known as the Farband), and the Pioneer Women’s Organization (later known as Na’amat). The school was located at 2223 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill.
The school taught “Yiddish and Hebrew reading, writing, and literature, Jewish history from the earliest period to the present time, Jewish nursery rhymes, songs, and folklore,” as well as Jewish holiday celebrations and discussions of Jewish current events. The school regularly held community celebrations for Chanukah, Tu B’shvat, Purim, and Passover. An associated Mother’s Club arranged these fundraisers and social events.
The Jewish National Folk Shule closed after 1937, according to newspaper notices.
Bibliography
Rauh Jewish Archives
- Fuss, Samuel. “Labor Zionism in Pittsburgh,” from “The Pittsburgh Tri-State Pinkas, Jewish National Fund of America—Pittsburgh Council and Tri-State Region, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1949 (online).
- “By myself, I’m a book! An oral history of the immigrant Jewish experience in Pittsburgh, by the Pittsburgh Section, National Council of Jewish Women,” Waltham, Mass., American Jewish Historical Society, 1972 (catalog record).
- Freidenreich, Fradle Pomerantz. “Passionate Pioneers: the Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960,” Teaneck, NJ, Holmes & Meier Publishers, 2010 (catalog record).
Exhibit history
- Author: Eric Lidji
- Original: April 4, 2024
- Current: April 4, 2024