Series Two: Dictionaries, Vocabularies, Grammar Books, Bibliographies, and Book Catalogs, 1900-1988; undated

The J. Tilman Williams, Oazo de Esperanto, and Esperanto Club of Los Angeles Collection (1900-June 2019, bulk 1927-1960) documents the Esperanto language, as well as localized and personalized views of members within the community living in Los Angeles and throughout the world. It consists of 25.75 linear feet of letters, photographs, posters, publications, yearbooks, instructional material, directories, realia, ephemera, and other material related to the constructed language, Esperanto and the Esperanto speaking community. The collection is comprised of mostly material donated to the Esperanto Club of Los Angeles, later the Esperanto Association of Los Angeles, and includes material from Joseph Scherer, William West Glenny, Charles Chomette, Brian Neil Burg, and other Esperantists who contributed to the Esperanto movement in the United States. A large portion of the personal material are letters that discuss the Esperanto movement, answer Esperanto related questions, and talk about the family and everyday life of members of the community. Charles Chomette had regular pen-pals from Japan, Poland, and China who would send letters and photographs of their family and Esperanto clubs.

The personal material also includes ephemera from Joseph Scherer. Scherer was a world traveler, lecturer, and worked in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s on movies that used Esperanto. Within the collection, there are large posters from his world lectures, photographs from his travels, and documents and letters discussing his lectures. There are also photographs and documents from different Hollywood films he worked on such as,Idiot's Delight and Road to Singapore.

Besides the personal material, the collection includes periodicals, publications, and instructional material. The periodicals and publications are dedicated to the Esperanto community throughout the United States, China, Korea, and other countries. The publications include American Esperantists, Esperanto Oficiala Organo de Universala Esperanto, Usona Esperantisto, La Revuo Internacia Monata Literatura Gazeto, Vocoj el Oriento, and Heroldo de Esperanto. The instructional material includes dictionaries, grammar books, and instructional books and documents for adults and children on how to speak Esperanto. This material is in a variety of different languages, including French, Spanish, Polish, Hungarian, and English so that Esperanto could be learned regardless of what the user’s native language.

Separated from the archival collection are over 400 works of literature in Esperanto, including novels, short-story collections, translations of literary works from other languages into Esperanto, poetry books, and various other works in Esperanto, both fiction and non-fiction.

Topics related to this collection include the Esperanto community, the Esperanto community in Los Angeles, studies and teaching, Esperantists, and Esperanto organizations.