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Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Records

Call Number

ALBA.019

Date

1933-2015, inclusive

Creator

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Amery, Alfred, 1909-2004

Extent

39.75 Linear Feet
in 24 records cartons, 17 manuscript boxes, 2 half manuscript boxes, 1 oversize manuscript box, 2 oversize flat boxes, 4 small flat boxes, and 1 oversize folder

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The organization Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) was founded in 1939 to provide aid and support for American veterans and Spanish refugees of the Spanish Civil War, and to advocate for democracy in Spain. Over the years, VALB provided a mechanism for veterans and their families and friends to maintain contact with each other, and also provided a public voice for the veterans and a focal point for political action. Eventually VALB devoted itself more and more to the preservation and dissemination of the veterans' history; the group sponsored publications and public events, cooperated in oral history projects and documentary films, and gathered the letters, photographs, memorabilia and other historical records that became the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive. These records document the lives of individual veterans and the administrative and public activity of VALB from the organization's inception to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Historical Note

The origins of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) can be traced to a meeting that Steve Nelson, David McKelvy White and William Lawrence organized for veterans of the Spanish Civil War in New York City in December 1937. The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was officially formed two years later in December of 1939 when a constitution for VALB was adopted at the third National Convention of veterans. The Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (FALB), which had been the principal U.S. advocate for the American volunteers and Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, was disbanded at this time.

The "objects" of the organization, as stated in VALB's 1939 constitution, were to "keep alive the principles for which the Lincoln Brigade fought in Spain"; to assist in the medical and occupational rehabilitation of its members; to aid and advocate for all International Brigade prisoners still in Spain; to advocate for amnesty for "Republicans in Spain" and aid refugees of the Spanish Civil War; "to cooperate with all organizations and groups interested in promoting peace, democracy and civil liberties"; and finally "to maintain fraternal relations with organizations of veterans of the Spanish Republican Army in other countries."

From the end of World War II through the early 1960s, the leadership of VALB was often prevented from focusing solely on the organization's stated goals by the need to defend the organization from government charges of subversion. Dr. Edward Barsky, leader of the American medical volunteers in Spain during the Civil War and national chairman of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, was subpoenaed in 1946 to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). When he and his board refused to surrender financial records or to turn over the names of contributors and recipients of aid, Barsky was charged with contempt of Congress, convicted, and imprisoned. Veteran Steve Nelson was arrested in 1950 and put on trial for sedition. Nelson, along with Irving Weissman, was also arrested under the anti-Communist Smith Act and charged with subversion. Several veterans arrested under the Smith-McCarran Immigration Act in the 1950s faced deportation. A number of veterans were subpoenaed by HUAC, and ordered to testify as to whether or not they were or had been Communists. In 1953 VALB came under the scrutiny of the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB), and two years later it was ordered to register with the United States Justice Department as a Communist-front organization. VALB refused and took the case to the Supreme Court. The Court decided in VALB's favor in 1968, but the VALB was not removed from the Attorney General's list of subversive organizations until 1971.

Threats from the Subversive Activities Control Board waned by the mid-sixties and thus freed from the costs, in time and money, spent on hearings and trials VALB expanded its reach. Although advocacy for Spanish refugees and political prisoners, and support for democratic reforms in Spain continued to be a primary interest, members of VALB pushed the organization to face other issues as well. The Civil Rights movement, Vietnam War protests, opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and support for the Sandinista rebels of Nicaragua were among the many issues and causes which VALB embraced.

From the 1960s and onward, the preservation and commemoration of the history of the Spanish Civil War became increasingly important to VALB. Members of VALB took part in reunions of the International Brigades in the German Democratic Republic, in Italy, and finally, after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, in Spain. Members of VALB wrote memoirs and histories, gave interviews and recorded their reminiscences, lectured, took part in college symposiums, supported exhibits, and participated in film and television documentaries. The organization kept in touch with its multi-generational constituency through frequent mailings and through its newsletter, published in the early years under the title, The Volunteer for Liberty, and from 1957 as The Volunteer. In 1979 two archives for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were established, a major one held at Brandeis University and administered by archivist, Victor Berch, and a smaller one at the University of California at Berkeley. The Brandeis collections were transferred to the Tamiment Library at New York University in 2001 and have since grown substantially through new donations. For many years VALB maintained an office at 799 Broadway in New York City; its last Secretary was Lincoln Brigade veteran Moe Fishman.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into four series. Materials in Series I-III are arranged alphabetically by name of individual or topic. Series I: Spanish Civil War Materials has been further divided into two suberies; Subseries IA: Volunteers and Participants and Series IB: Subject Files. Series IV: Unprocessed has not been arranged by an archivist.

The series and subseries arrangement of the records is as follows: Series I: Spanish Civil War Era Materials; Sub-series IA: Volunteers and Participants; Sub-series IB: Subject Files; Series II: General Files; Series III: Scrapbooks; Series IV: Unprocessed

Scope and Content Note

The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Records (dated 1933-2015) contain correspondence, writings, organizing files, and ephemera related to the operations of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades (VALB) and activities of individual veterans during and after the Spanish Civil War. Records created during or around the time of the Spanish Civil War include correspondence and writings of nearly 80 volunteers and participants in the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, as well as articles, drafts, and news bulletins publicizing the political struggles in Spain. Many bulletins were created by organizations providing aid to the Spanish people or the Republican government including the American Medical Bureau, North American Committee to Aid Spain, Spanish Refugee Aid, and Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades (FALB). Records created after the Spanish Civil War (1940-2015) include writings, subject files, correspondence, office files, cassette and VHS interviews, clippings and ephemera documenting the lives of individual veterans, VALB events, regional VALB posts, and causes promoted by the VALB. Subject files document anniversary celebrations, commemorations and reunions, anti-Franco protests, political movements in Spain, and VALB's struggles against the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The VALB Chicago Post is the most well documented regional post in the collection, which contains biographical data on Chicago area volunteers as well as organizing files related to Chicago area VALB events between 1995 and 2003. The Bay Area post is also well documented with an additional box of photographs, clippings, articles and ephemera from Bay Area events and volunteers. Additional post-Spanish Civil War materials include two scrapbooks documenting the early years of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, 1939-1952, and the poems and plays written by veteran Alfred Amery.

Access Restrictions

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for more information and to schedule an appointment, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.

Use Restrictions

Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyrights held by original creators of individual items in the collection are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), were transferred to New York University in November 2000 by the ALBA Board of Governors. Permission to publish or reproduce ALBA materials must be secured from the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. For more information, contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Records; ALBA 019; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Records were donated New York University in January 2001 by Brandeis University. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 2007.002 and 1974.014. In 2017 the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades sent an accretion of records from the Chicago post. The accession number associated with this gift is 2017.031. One box of records from the Bay Area post was added to the collection in 2018. The accession number associated with this gift is 2018.018. In December 2018 Marina Garde sent an accretion of records. The accession number associated with this gift is 2019.012. In May 2019, Karen Jackson donated an accretion; the accession number associated with this gift is 2019.077.

Provenance

This collection was created as part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) originally housed at Brandeis University. The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades (VALB) donated their records to ALBA in the early 1990s. ALBA continued to add papers of individual veterans and associated organizations to Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades (VALB) Records after the collection was acquired. New York University acquired the ALBA collections in November 2000, and this collection was transferred to New York University as part of that acquisition.

Separated Material

Photographs from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Records have been transferred to the non-print section of the ALBA collections at the Tamiment Library (ALBA PHOTO #15).

Collection processed by

Alix Ross

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 13:55:54 -0500.
Language: Description is in English.

Processing Information

Processing decisions made prior to 2017 have not been recorded. In 2017 an accretion containing files from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Chicago Post were added to Series II: General Files. Materials from the Chicago Post were described at the box level and incorporated into the arrangement of Series II, but materials within boxes have not been rearranged. At this time descriptive notes at the collection and series levels were also updated. In 2018 one box of photos, clippings, and ephemera from the Bay Area post was added to Series II: General Files as at the box level. In 2019, an accretion was intellectually incorporated into Series IV.

Revisions to this Guide

June 2017: Edited by Heather Mulliner to include incorporation of 2017 accretion and updated descriptive information.
February 2018: Edited by Heather Mulliner to include materials from 2018 accretion
February 2019: Edited by Alexandra Gomer to include materials from December 2018 accretion
June 2019: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect May 2019 accretion
August 2019: Edited by Amy C. Vo to include August 2019 accretion

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from valb records.doc

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012