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Walter Schuetrum Papers

Call Number

ALBA.136

Date

1937-1989, inclusive

Creator

Schuetrum, Walter

Extent

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English, Spanish, German, Swedish, French, and Catalan

Abstract

Walter J. Schuetrum (1911-1986), a native of Wisconsin, served as an ambulance driver in the Spanish Civil War. After serving in the front lines of some of the crucial battles of the War, he retunred to the U.S. and, after service in World War II, settled in San Francisco. He worked as a longshoreman and a merchant seaman and was active in the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, the National Maritime Union, and the Bay Area Post of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. This collection of his papers includes documents, correspondence, ephemera, and artifacts from his time in Spain, as well as correspondence and papers from the 1960s-1980s.

Historical/Biographical Note

Walter J. Schuetrum was born in Superior, Wisconsin on October 18, 1911. The son of a German-American miner turned switchman for the Great Northern Railroad who was an avid trade-unionist, Schuetrum early in his life developed a concern for political and labor issues. In 1937 he volunteered for service with the Loyalist forces in Spain. In Spain he became an ambulance driver, and was present at many of the War's crucial battles. In the aftermath of the Battle of Teruel he was reported deceased, misinformation that was publicized in Wisconsin Newspapers and only corrected after he wrote a letter to his family assuring them of his safety.

After the Spanish Civil War, Schuetrum returned to Wisconsin with his close friend and fellow veteran Randall "Petet" Smith and soon after moved with his wife, Viola Gruenhagen Schuetrum, to San Francisco. On the West Coast, he got a job as a longshoreman and became an active member and organizer for the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. During World War II, Schuetrum joined the U.S. Army, but because of his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, was barred from fighting overseas and instead worked as an instructor on land ships at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania. He was discharged in 1946, and went on to get his seaman's papers and work work on merchant ships in the Pacific, where he organized for the National Maritime Union.

In 1961, Schuetrum, along with other veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the Medical Service, was invited to the German Democratic Republic and spent three months there. In the same year, with other veterans who were on that trip (including nurse Sana Goldblatt and Steve Troxell), Schuetrum helped to establish the Bay Area Post of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). Although he never held an administrative position in VALB, he was nonetheless directly involved in many of its activities and proceedings. He returned to East Germany three times in the 1970s and traveled to Spain with other U.S. veterans in 1982. He died in 1986.

Sources: Fontana, Nancy. "Walter Schuetrum, My Father". The Volunteer Vol. III, 2 (Oct. 1986)

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically within each series.

Missing Title

  1. I. Spanish Civil War Files. 1937-1939
  2. II. General Files, Post-Spanish Civil War, 1946-1987
  3. III. Artifacts and Memorabilia, 1937, undated.

The collection is organized in 3 series. Files are arranged alphabetically within each series.

Scope and Content note

The collection is separated into three series.

Series I. Spanish Civil War Files, 1937-1939 consists of material from 1937-1939, from Schuetrum's time in Spain and immediately following. Included are letters from him to his family and friends, documents pertaining to his membership in the IB and various other Spanish organizations, and ephemera collected during his tour.

Series II. General Files, 1946-1987 consists of all materials that postdate the Spanish Civil War. Included are documents pertaining to Schuetrum's enlistment in the Army, his membership in the I.L.W.U, and correspondence from friends and other veterans. Much of the material dated after 1970 is V.A.L.B. related.

Series III. Artifacts and Memorabilia consists of non-print memorabilia from Spain.

Subjects

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

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 materials in this collection 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; Walter Schuetrum Papers; ALBA 136; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Provenance

The Walter Schuetrum Papers were donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by Nancy Fontana in 1996. 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 Materials

Photographs from the Walter Schuetrum Papers have been transferred to the non-print section of the ALBA collection in the Tamiment Library.

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

ALBA collections at the Tamiment Library.

Collection processed by

Ariel Zambenedetti, 2008, Gail Malmgreen, 2012. Entered into Archivists Toolkit by Kate Dundon

About this Guide

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

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