Esperanto League for North America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Esperanto League for North America (Esperanto-Ligo por Norda Ameriko in Esperanto or ELNA) is the main organization of speakers and supporters of the international language Esperanto in the United States. The organization is considering changing its name to Esperanto-USA, among other reasons because, despite the "North America" in ELNA's name, ELNA is a national, not a continental organization. ELNA was founded in 1952 in Sacramento, California, in protest of the perceived McCarthyite behavior of some leaders of the older Esperanto Association of North America (EANA); most EANA members soon went over to ELNA, and EANA quickly passed from the scene.
ELNA administers the largest Esperanto-language book service in the Americas. It publishes a bimonthly bulletin Esperanto USA. It also occasionally publishes books about Esperanto. The organization's leadership consists of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and nine directors; it also has many commissioners responsible for Esperanto-USA's activity in various connections (e.g. audio-visual service; cooperation with libraries; relations with local Esperanto clubs; etc.) Membership is about 650.
ELNA has held an annual convention (called a "congress" in accordance with Esperanto-movement usage) every year since 1953, usually in the United States but occasionally in Canada or Mexico (meeting jointly with the Canadian Esperanto Association or the Mexican Esperanto Federation, respectively).
ELNA's headquarters is located in Emeryville, California.
The youth section of ELNA is USEJ (Usona Esperantista Junularo).
ELNA is the US section of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio.
