Esperanto League for North America
Encyclopedia
The Esperanto League for North America, Inc. d/b/a Esperanto-USA, or E-USA, is the main organization of speakers and supporters of the international language Esperanto
in the United States
. It was founded in 1952 in Sacramento, California
. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Esperanto-USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is the US section of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio
. The current president of E-USA is Orlando Raola. Phil Dorcas is the vice-president.
Esperanto-USA administers the largest Esperanto-language book service in the Americas. It publishes a bimonthly bulletin Usona Esperantisto. It also publishes reference works about Esperanto. The organization's leadership consists of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and nine directors; it also has many commissioners responsible for Esperanto-USA's activity in various connections (e.g. audio-visual service; cooperation with libraries; relations with local Esperanto clubs; etc.) Membership is about 650.
The youth section of E-USA is USEJ (Usona Esperantista Junularo).
, EANA's president, George Alan Connor, a fierce anti-Communist, had begun his own McCarthyite
attacks against leaders of the Esperanto movement in Europe
and Asia
.
The Universala Esperanto-Asocio began debate into whether to expel Connor, who also held a position in UEA's leadership, and also to break off relations with EANA, which was UEA's US national association. In protest against EANA, American esperantists founded the Esperanto League for North America. Three years later, UEA recognized ELNA as its American section, and subsequently severed ties with EANA. By then, most EANA members had gone over to ELNA. EANA was quickly rendered insignificant, and had disappeared by the 1970s.
In 2007, the members of the organization voted to adopt the name Esperanto-USA as an alias, while retaining the formal, official name Esperanto League for North America (Esperanto-Ligo por Norda Ameriko in Esperanto). Among other reasons, the change was made because the organization's scope is limited to the US, despite the "North America
" in its original name. E-USA still uses its original acronym, ELNA, but only occasionally.
E-USA has held an annual convention (called a "congress" in accordance with Esperanto movement usage) every year since 1953, usually in the United States but occasionally in Canada or Mexico (meeting jointly with the Canadian Esperanto Association
or the Mexican Esperanto Federation, respectively). The 2010 conference of E-USA took place in Bethesda, Maryland
. The 2011 conference was in Emeryville, California
.
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded in 1952 in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Esperanto-USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is the US section of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio
World Esperanto Association
The World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
. The current president of E-USA is Orlando Raola. Phil Dorcas is the vice-president.
Esperanto-USA administers the largest Esperanto-language book service in the Americas. It publishes a bimonthly bulletin Usona Esperantisto. It also publishes reference works about Esperanto. The organization's leadership consists of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and nine directors; it also has many commissioners responsible for Esperanto-USA's activity in various connections (e.g. audio-visual service; cooperation with libraries; relations with local Esperanto clubs; etc.) Membership is about 650.
The youth section of E-USA is USEJ (Usona Esperantista Junularo).
History
During the first half of the 20th century, the chief Esperanto organization for the US was the Esperanto Association of North America (EANA). In the early 1950s, the early days of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, EANA's president, George Alan Connor, a fierce anti-Communist, had begun his own McCarthyite
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
attacks against leaders of the Esperanto movement in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
The Universala Esperanto-Asocio began debate into whether to expel Connor, who also held a position in UEA's leadership, and also to break off relations with EANA, which was UEA's US national association. In protest against EANA, American esperantists founded the Esperanto League for North America. Three years later, UEA recognized ELNA as its American section, and subsequently severed ties with EANA. By then, most EANA members had gone over to ELNA. EANA was quickly rendered insignificant, and had disappeared by the 1970s.
In 2007, the members of the organization voted to adopt the name Esperanto-USA as an alias, while retaining the formal, official name Esperanto League for North America (Esperanto-Ligo por Norda Ameriko in Esperanto). Among other reasons, the change was made because the organization's scope is limited to the US, despite the "North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
" in its original name. E-USA still uses its original acronym, ELNA, but only occasionally.
E-USA has held an annual convention (called a "congress" in accordance with Esperanto movement usage) every year since 1953, usually in the United States but occasionally in Canada or Mexico (meeting jointly with the Canadian Esperanto Association
Canadian Esperanto Association
The Canadian Esperanto Association is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance the education of the Canadian public in the international language Esperanto....
or the Mexican Esperanto Federation, respectively). The 2010 conference of E-USA took place in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
. The 2011 conference was in Emeryville, California
Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
.