Labour Zionist Council of Ottawa fonds

The Labour Zionist Council of Ottawa was founded in 1949 to coordinate the activities of all Labour Zionist groups in Ottawa, including the Ottawa Histadrut Campaigns, Israeli Forum of Ottawa, the Histadrut League of Ottawa and the pioneer Women’s Organizations of Ottawa. Responsibility for the Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory and Dror-Habonim were added later. Organized Labour Zionism in Ottawa began in 1924 with a Poale-Zion group, a Yiddish speaking group concerned with education and social activities. Poale-Zion evolved into the League of Labour Palestine and around 1935 became the Histadrut League of Ottawa. Histadrut, the Hebrew word for the General Federation of Labour in Israel, is dedicated to organizing political support in Israel and contributing to health, education, and social welfare programs in Israel. Fund raising for these programs started in 1925 as the annual Ottawa Chalutzim Campaign, and in 1944 became the Histadrut Campaign of Ottawa. In Ottawa, members also organized Holocaust Remembrance day meetings, adult education programs, the study of Yiddish and performance of Yiddish theatre groups. Labour Zionist members first met in members’ homes then rented facilities. The first Histadrut Centre was established at 78 Rideau Street which is now part of the Rideau Centre. In 1949, the council purchased a building at 292 Laurier Avenue East in Sandy Hill. The gradual shift of the membership to the west end of Ottawa influenced the sale of the Histadrut Centre in 1978 and temporary move to rented quarters at 1547 Chatelain Street. Finding aid available.