The Hebrew Actors' Union (HAU) was a

craft union Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the sa ...

for

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

s in

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; na ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(primarily in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

), and was the first actors' union in the United States. The union was affiliated with the

Associated Actors and Artistes of America The Associated Actors and Artistes of America (4As), established in 1919, is the federation of trade unions for performing artists in the United States. Gary M. Fink, ed. ''Labor unions'' (Greenwood, 1977) pp. 3-4. The union was established b ...

of the AFL.

History

The Hebrew Actors' Union was officially founded in 1899 by

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish labor leader Joseph Barondess, who had been sent by the

United Hebrew Trades The United Hebrew Trades (Yiddish: ''Fareynikte Yidishe Geverkshaftn'') was an association of Jewish labor unions in New York formed in the late 1880s. The organization was inspired by and modeled upon the United German Trades (German: ''Deutsche ...

to aid striking actors at the People's Theatre. The Union was closely associated from its beginning with the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL) and with the general and Jewish labor movement. A 1925 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described the union as having, at that time, "over three hundred" members, and notes that it has, "not only placed all of its members in good positions, but

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

it has also granted many privileges to non-members..." It also notes that, "A great many members of the union are American-born and all of them are thoroughly Americanized." The union represented "performers (except musicians) who are engaged in the field of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

Language Theater." Yiddish theater was at the height of its popularity in the 1920s and even into the 1930s, when Yiddish theater attendance had already started to decrease, the Union claimed a robust membership and there was enough of an audience to maintain quite a few Yiddish theaters throughout the country. A variety of factors, including the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the continued acculturation of the American Jewish population and the movement of Jewish audiences towards Broadway and motion pictures and the lack of new audiences that accompanied the end of immigration combined to erode the audience for the Yiddish theater. Theaters began to close, theatrical seasons were cut short and several of the biggest stars of the Yiddish theater left for the non-Yiddish stage or Hollywood. By the middle of the 1930 theatrical season, the managers of the remaining nine New York theaters threatened to close if there was not a dramatic percent cut in Hebrew Actors' Union personnel salaries, which were significantly higher than non-Union members. The Union threatened to strike but the theater managers kept to their promise and, starting on December 8, 1930, the theaters closed for two weeks. The Union was forced to cut its salary scale and to waive its power to set a quota for actors for every theater for the duration of the season, but it was not enough. Tensions between the Union and the theater managers continued to increase at the same time that the Yiddish theater audience continued to wane. More theaters closed, fewer productions were staged and Yiddish-language actors struggled to find enough work to support themselves. After the death of long-time president Reuben Guskin in 1951, the Union was led by elected volunteer presidents, many of whom were active in the Yiddish theater. These included Herman Yablokoff, composer of the hit song '' Papirosn'' (Cigarettes), the Broadway and Yiddish stage actor Bernard Sauer (1986 until his death in 1991) and singer and performer Seymour Rexite, who was the last president of the Union from 1991 until his death at age 91 in 2002. After Rexite's death, the Union's leadership passed to one-time Yiddish performer Ruth Ellen, who served as acting head until October 2005, when it was declared defunct by its parent union, the

. As of February 15, 2008, it was still listed in the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

's online list of affiliates. The union filed a terminal report with the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

, dated fiscal year 2013.

Legacy

In 2006, a cache of material including programs, photographs, plays, costumes, music manuscripts, props and other memorabilia, which ''The New York Times'' described as "moldering" in the Hebrew Actors Union building, was deposited at the

YIVO YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Estab ...

Institute for Jewish Research, housed in Manhattan's

Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City, namely the American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva Univ ...

. The weekly Jewish newspaper '' Forward'' reported in October 2006 and again in October 2007 about controversies surrounding the disposition of the union's building at 31 East 7th Street in the

Yiddish Theater District The Yiddish Theatre District, also called the Jewish Rialto and the Yiddish Realto, was the center of New York City's Yiddish theatre scene in the early 20th century. It was located primarily on Second Avenue, though it extended to Avenue B, ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, which is still owned by the Hebrew Actors Union.

Notes

External links

"Guide to the Records of the Hebrew Actors' Union"
at the YIVO Institute, New York, NY {{Authority control Actors' trade unions Jews and Judaism in New York City Yiddish culture in New York (state) Yiddish theatre in the United States AFL-CIO affiliates Trade unions established in 1899 1899 establishments in New York City Trade unions disestablished in 2005 2005 disestablishments in New York (state) American Federation of Labor affiliates