The Classical Period: 1930s-1960s
The development of Beverly-Fairfax as Los Angeles's prime Jewish neighborhood was nothing if not a gradual process. Beverly-Fairfax neighborhood became a residential destination for Jews during the 1930s and gradually emerged as the city’s prime Jewish area during the 1940s and 1950s. With its newly constructed houses, duplexes, and apartments, Fairfax attracted Jews from Boyle Heights who sought to relocate west of downtown. Here, Jews built an identifiable ethnic community—for the religious and secular, the Yiddish and English speaking, the middle class and the lower middle class, and the foreign and native born—commonly referred to as Los Angeles’ “Borscht Belt” and “kosher canyon.” Describing this area, sociologist Fred Massarik in 1959 noted, “American urban values, a cosmopolitan orientation, and Jewish tradition give rise to a new form of social and economic neighborhood organization that is complex but novel non-ghetto blend.”
Explore the links below to learn more about the institutions, organizations, and general demographic conditions that helped to define life in the Fairfax neighborhood during the Classical Period:
