Whatever Happened to EANA?
According to Wikipedia and other sources, the original US Esperanto org was the Esperanto Association of North America (EANA), which was cast out of UEA in about 1957 for alleged McCarthyism. (I believe there was weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth involved.)
But what happened to EANA afterwards? How long did it persist? Are there any successor groups? Are there any former EANA members still using Esperanto while hanging on to the alleged heretical viewpoints of EANA?
Or is ELNA a great, half-biomechanical entity that hunted down former EANA members, crying 'Resistance is futile' or perhaps using the Dalek battle cry 'exterminate!'
I hope so, that would make ELNA way cooler.
by aliplanedulo
![[NASK]](http://www.esperanto-usa.org/files/xemblemo.jpg.pagespeed.ic.WMqnJDD4g0.jpg)
Comments
EANA History
There's a need for a thorough history of Esperanto in the United States. Bill Harmon wrote a small book A History of the Esperanto League for North America that probably has the most authoritative information about the split and the early history of ELNA, but it doesn't have much info about EANA and what happened after. You can get it for $5 or $6 from the libroservo.
My impression is that ELNA captured the mindshare of the US Esperanto community rather quickly and, although EANA formally existed for years afterwards (George Alan Connor lived until 1973), it contributed relatively little in terms of the mainstream Esperanto movement.
When George Alan Connor died, his wife contributed his library and materials to the University of Oregon Special Collections Library. There is a catalog of the 3500 books, magazines, etc. which you can download (and almost read) from ERIC. Probably among the materials would be the complete set of the American Esperanto Magazine, which would be the best source of info, if you wanted to hear the "other side of the story".
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Steven BREWER
January 5, 2007 by limako, 6 years 19 weeks ago
EANA vs. ELNA
Circa 1976 I found Mr. Conner's book in my local library and naturally wrote to the address given in the back under "For more information."
I received a very politely written note from (IIRC) Mrs. Conner saying that EANA had "disbanded" (or some such verbiage) after the death of Mr. Conner. Nary a peep about ELNA, or even the possibility that another organization MIGHT be in existence. Imagine my....consternation....8 years later when I found an address for ELNA, and later still when I had discovered that ELNA was in existence in 1976.....and the icing on that particularly bitter cake when I found out that NASK had been going on every summer throughout the entire time. When I think of the 3 or 4 summers I could have attended but for the (intentional?) silence concerning ELNA's existence.........
Sigh.
Demetrio
Iowa City, IA
January 5, 2009 by orthohawk, 4 years 19 weeks ago
Met a former EANA member
Just a few years ago, I met a guy who was a member of EANA at that time. He had (when I met him) just discovered ELNA.
I think there may have been a lot of people like him in the late 1950s and early 1960s--people who were very concerned about communism as a threat and who didn't think that neutrality was an important enough reason for an organization to welcome "enemies" as members. I don't doubt that others dropped out of the movement during that period. I hope most of them have found their way back by now.
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Philip BREWER
January 5, 2007 by pbrewer, 6 years 19 weeks ago