Boyle Heights: Jewish ambiance in a multicultural neighborhood (California)

Contrary to the popular image of Boyle Heights as a Jewish community, Los Angeles's eastside neighborhood developed from a multi-cultural beginning and continued to remain ethnically diverse throughout the first hundred years of its existence. Eastside residents and land speculators, many of whom held instrumental positions on Los Angeles City boards, initiated infrastructure construction which spurred the growth and expansion of Boyle Heights simultaneous with the population “booms.” Initial plans for the community to become an affluent residential area deteriorated after the first few years of subdivisions and property promotions, resulting in a neighborhood which welcomed a host of migrants from all forty-eight states and the territory of Hawaii as well as immigrants from forty-three nations across the globe.; As early as 1868 the neighborhood reflected a diverse population as many of the wealthier land owners employed household and agricultural laborers—most of whom came from China, Europe, and Mexico—who were forced to reside within the neighborhood because of its isolation. This seclusion developed because of its location east of downtown and the Los Angeles River in addition to a lack of transportation facilities or bridges to connect Boyle Heights with other areas of the city. These circumstances caused laborers and the city's elite to live side-by-side and prompted the multi-cultural neighborhood which developed.; During the early decades of the twentieth century, thousands of Russians—mostly Jews fleeing persecution in Europe—flocked into Boyle Heights. These immigrants developed a high-profile commercial and religious ambiance with numerous synagogues, orthodox dress, and hundreds of small Jewish business enterprises scattered along the major access streets. Many of the neighborhood's Jews joined unions and became leaders of labor organizations which also contributed to the perception of Boyle Heights as a Jewish enclave. Yet, the neighborhood retained its multi-cultural nature. Although Jews formed the largest minority group, they lived among, worked with, attended school with, and socialized with their neighbors. A review of federal census records for 1880 through 1920 and school yearbooks for 1923–1939 provides an overview of this ethnically mixed community, showing conclusively that every block, street, and school contained a culturally diverse blend. Oral histories of former residents—of several different cultural backgrounds—illuminate the comradery they experienced. Even fifty or more years after they moved from Boyle Heights, offspring of the immigrants recalled their formative years with appreciation and positive reflections on their culturally diverse experiences.