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Albert Prago Papers

Call Number

ALBA.135

Date

1937-1994, inclusive

Creator

Prago, Albert

Extent

1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Albert Prago (1911-1993) was born in New York City. He was scholar of Latin American history and Marxist economics, a college teacher and a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. After being wounded in Spain, he returned to the United States in 1938, and pursued a career in teaching and research. He published several books and articles on labor history, Latin-American history and the Spanish Civil War, earned a Ph.D. in history in 1976, and co-edited the 1987 anthology Our Fight with fellow Lincoln Brigade veteran Alvah Bessie. Much of the collection is comprised of material selected for inclusion in Our Fight. Another section consists of materials compiled by Prago for a course in American labor history. There are also original documents from the 1930s, mostly programs and handbills advertising events in support of the Loyalist cause. Of interest is a series of folders documenting the controversy among VALB members about Arthur Landis's contribution to the book International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939.

Historical/Biographical Note

Albert Prago was born in New York City in 1911. His parents were Latvian Jewish immigrants to the United States. Although his upbringing was not religious, he explained in an interview that his desire to volunteer to fight fascism had its roots in his Jewish cultural identity, an identity that is reflected in his later research on Jewish involvement in the Spanish Civil War. He joined the Communist Party in 1934. Before his departure for Spain in 1937, he was a charter member of Local 453, American Federation of Teachers, and taught social sciences in the Works Projects Administration adult education project. While a member of the Lincoln Brigade, he served both as Anglo-American editor of the International Brigades' daily newsletter and as the battalion's interpreter. Prago was wounded in the thigh by mortar fire during the second battle of Belchite in March 1938, and complications from osteomyelitis required him to spend over a year in the hospital before his recovery was complete.

After his return to New York in 1938, Prago concentrated his efforts on teaching and research, and remained deeply involved in radical political activity. He eventually earned a Ph.D. in history at the age of 65 from Union Institute and University, and taught at the Jefferson School of Social Science, Hofstra University, Cornell University's N.Y.State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Empire State College, and the New School for Social Research. His publications on the Spanish Civil War and the International Brigades include several articles exploring the roles of Jews and women in the conflict; these are collected in the 1987 anthology Our Fight: Writings by Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Spain 1936-1939 co-edited by Prago and Alvah Bessie.

Prago retired to West Palm Beach, Florida. He continued to publish historical articles and remained actively involved with the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade until his death from cancer in July 1993.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically.

The files are grouped into one series:

Missing Title

  1. I, Subject Files, 1937-1994.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of correspondence, research and reference materials focused on the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War. The bulk of the folders contain material selected for inclusion in Our Fight: Writings by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Spain 1936-1939 (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1987), edited by Alvah Bessie and Albert Prago. Most of the selections consist of photocopies of previously published articles and poems, but a few are original typescripts and/or previously unpublished material. Of interest are several folders containing submissions of the same type and format as the Our Fight materials but not found in the published work.

Notable materials dating from the 1930s and 40s include several programs and handbills advertising anti-fascist events and a memorial handbill and telegram on the death of SCW veteran Gerald (Jerry) Weinberg in World War II. The later part of the collection is perhaps most notable for the detailed correspondence and other documentation of the controversy among VALB members with regard to Arthur Landis's contribution to the book International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939.

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

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. For more information, please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Provenance

This collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University.

Separated Material

Several photographs were separated from the Albert Prago Papers in the course of processing.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

ALBA collections at the Tamiment Library.

Collection processed by

Sarah Graff

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:36:12 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from prago ALBA.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