Progress: Growing Diversity
Multicultural Organizations
Palm Beach County offers a wide range of events and activities rooted in the diverse culture and heritage of its residents. A taste of many cultures is offered at the annual Kaleidoscope celebration in West Palm Beach. In Delray Beach, the Milagro Center uses the arts to further community collaboration and social change.
African cultures are preserved through the Artists Showcase of the Palm Beaches, Expanding and Preserving Our Cultural Heritage (ECHO), and the Black Historical Preservation Society of Palm Beach County.
The Harold and Sylvia Kaplan Jewish Community Center in West Palm Beach and the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton are part of Jewish Federation campuses, a national organization. The Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collection, the largest Judaica collection in Florida, is housed in the Wimberly Library at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
About 138 countries are represented in the heritage of students in Palm Beach County’s public schools. Some of these ethnic groups have organized groups to help them adjust to American life, as well as to preserve and protect their culture. For those born in India, for example, a chapter of the Association of Indians in America is in Atlantis.
The large Hispanic population of Palm Beach County comes from many parts of Central and South America, many with their own organizations. Lake Worth is home to the annual Hispanic-American Parade and Festival, as well as the Argentina Arts Organization, Centro Cultural Latinoamericano, Asi es Mi Peru, and Asociacion Uruguaya. Others are located in West Palm Beach: Grupo Folklore Latino, Chilean Cultural Organization of Palm Beach County, the Nicaraguan Association, and the Puerto Rican Cultural Society. Jupiter hosts the annual Fiesta Maya.
The Chinese Cultural Association of South Florida in Boca Raton, founded in 1985, helps adopted Chinese children as well as immigrants to transition into American society. Japanese culture is promoted by the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, the Japan America Society of South Florida and Sogetsu Ikebana School.
Residents of European descent are represented by several organizations: the American German Club of the Palm Beaches, which hosts a popular Oktoberfest each year, the American Polish Club, the French Heritage Society, and for the Scots, Palm Beach Pipes and Drums. Italian Americans can choose from the Sons of Italy, the Sicilian American Cultural Association, or Il Circolo, The Italian Cultural Society of the Palm Beaches, which has supported a program in Italian Studies at Florida Atlantic University since 1986. The large Finnish population in Lake Worth and Lantana formed the American Finnish Community Club, the American Finnish Tourist Club, and the Finlandia Foundation.