The J. Tilman Williams, Oazo de Esperanto, and Esperanto Club of Los Angeles Collection

Esperanto is a constructed language that was created by L.L. (Ludwig Lazar) Zamenhof in the late 1800s. Zamenhof was born in 1859 to a Jewish family and was the oldest out of four brothers and three sisters. His family lived in Bialystok, a city in Poland that had a history of being part of Prussian and Russian territory. Several different communities resided within Bialystok, including Jewish, German, Russian, and Polish, which created a linguistic and cultural divide. This divide was one of Zamenhof's influences in the construction of the universal language, Esperanto.

Zamenhof had his first banquet to initiate the new language in 1878, though his first book titled, Unua Libro (First Book) was not published until 1887. The Unua Libro was written in Russian, Polish, German, and French and mainly discussed the language and the idea behind it. The second book titled, Dua Libro was released a year later in Esperanto. The first and second book, along with Zamenhof's promotion increased the awareness of the language. In 1888 small Esperanto groups began to form.

In the 1900s Esperanto became more widespread internationally with international congresses being held in Barcelona in 1909 and Antwerp in 1911. Several organizations, like the Universal Esperanto Association, began to form and create periodicals and world offices to promote Esperanto. The language continued to flourish until the start of World War One, where priorities shifted away from the promotion of the language.

After World War One, Esperanto had a resurgence. Esperanto was proposed to the League of Nations for use as the language for international relations. Although the proposal was accepted by most, it was not passed due to one vote. It was later recommended that all members of the League of Nations include Esperanto in educational material. This promotion of the language did not last long because some countries banned or discouraged the use of the language during World War Two and the Cold War.

Although Esperanto faced many challenges, it continues as a language spoken today by approximately two million people. Congresses and meetups occur in different countries to promote the use of Esperanto and to connect people with interests in Esperanto.

Some of the material within the collection is from members of the Esperanto Club of Los Angeles which was later known as the Esperanto Association of Los Angeles. The club was founded by Joseph Scherer, William Braff, and Mr. Branson in 1927. The meetings were initially held at the Central Public Library but moved to the Boos Brothers Cafeteria and private homes so they could sing and play music. In the early 1930s, the club grew and included Charles Chomette, Donald Evans Parrish, John F. Clewe and their families. Later members of the club included William West Glenny, Brian Neil Burg, and J. Tilman Williams.

Esperanto Club of Los Angeles Members

Joseph R. Scherer (1901-1967)

Joseph R. Scherer (1901-1967) was born in Switzerland and later moved to the United States. He toured the world giving lectures on Esperanto and customs about other countries. Scherer also briefly worked in Hollywood consulting for movies that used Esperanto.

Charles Chomette

Charles Chomette came to the United States from France in 1919. He met his wife Germaine in 1928 and had two daughters Lilio and Dianto, who like their mother and father spoke Esperanto. Chomette was active in the Esperanto community and was apart of the Esperanto Club of Los Angeles in the 1930s. He died in April 1969.

William West Glenny

William West Glenny was a member in the 1940s or 1950s and was later president of the Esperanto Club of Los Angeles. He worked professionally as a patent attorney and was an advocate for Esperanto.

Brian Neil Burg

[Biography written by Brian Neil Burg in 2019.]

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and I have lived in Fullerton since 1978; got my B.A. in Psychology at the University of Southern California (1970); my J.D. degree from Western State University College of Law (1983); and obtained a California Secondary Teaching Credential in Mathematics through California State University Fullerton (2003). I have worn several career hats: software engineer (1974-1985); attorney-at-law (1984-2019—officially retired in January—with concentrations in family law, estate planning, and immigration in the early years, and doing exclusively estate planning for the last decade or so); part-time middle and high school math teacher (2003-2008); part-time adjunct faculty for the North Orange County Community College District (2005-current), working with the elderly and infirm, where I basically teach a memory-stimulating class interspersed with live entertainment from me, as I sing songs mostly from the first half of the 20th century. I am also a poet and… an incorrigible punster.

I was introduced to Esperanto in the 10th grade while taking French, as described above, and the basic idea resonated well with my personality and world view. However, I couldn't interest any of my high-school or university friends in learning it with me, so I was pretty much a dilettante through the next five years. I graduated USC in January 1970 and decided I would get a good grammar book and dictionary and try to master the language on my own. I now had my own car and could get around town, and I started attending meetings and other functions of EKLA. In 1971, I printed up a flyer for the 2nd Earth Day celebration, when 10,000 people were expected to March down Wilshire Avenue from La Brea to MacArthur Park, touting Esperanto as a great ecological contribution to the environment because of all the trees it would save from unnecessary translations between languages. ...That flyer also had a tear-off section on the back for anybody interested in a class. We got about 10 responses (out of 1,000 flyers handed out), and two of my friends and mentors convinced me to teach the class (with their help). That is when I feel I became truly fluent.

In 1965, while still a dilettante, I actually composed my first song in Esperanto, and since the 1970s, I composed (music and lyrics) several more, and I have performed my songs many times over the years at various Esperanto meetings and gatherings. In the 1970s and 1980s, I was nicknamed "La Esperanto-Trubaduro" (The Esperanto Troubadour) by Cathy Schultze, a prominent Esperantist who, with her husband Bill, headed the Esperanto Information Center then in Hillsboro, CA. One of my current planned projects is to set up a youtube channel for my "kantaro" (song collection), insofar as there is no permanent or physical evidence of any of my performances, since I never made any actual records (although a few songs were recorded on audiotape over the years, but it is unknown if any are still viable).