Mark Straus Papers and Photographs
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Abstract
Mark Straus (1909-1993) was a Jewish doctor and who served with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. After graduating from the University of Alabama he moved to Paris and received his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1936. A radical leftist, Straus went to Spain as part of the American Medical Bureau, Group IV, which arrived there in May 1937. Initially in charge of the Washington Battalion's medical unit, he went on to become chief medical officer for the 15th International Brigade. At the request of the Medical Bureau he returned to the U.S. on the S.S. Aquitania on July 12, 1938. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence and photographs documenting Mark Straus's life before and during the Spanish Civil War. Some additional material relating to his brother and fellow physician Bernard Straus is also included.
Historical/Biographical Note
Mark Straus (1909-1993) was a Jewish doctor and a captain in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. After graduating from the University of Alabama he moved to Paris and received his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1936. A radical leftist, Straus went to Spain as part of the American Medical Bureau, Group IV, which arrived there in May 1937. Initially in charge of the Washington Battalion's medical unit, he went on to became chief medical officer for the 15th International Brigade. At the request of the Medical Bureau he returned to the U.S. on the S.S. Aquitania on July 12, 1938.
After the war, Straus succeeded Dr. Edward Barsky as chairman of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, when Barsky was sent to prison for refusing to cooperate with the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1950. Straus taught at New York Medical College and at Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals and later had a private practice in Brooklyn, NY. He held another medical position as a consultant to the Fur Dressers and Dyers Joint Board, conducting research on the occupational hazards of dyes.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series:
Series I: Spanish Civil War Correspondence, 1937-1938.
Series II: Subject Files, 1928-1938.
Series III: Photographs, 1927-1938.
Folders are arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists chiefly of correspondence and photographs documenting Mark Straus's life before and during the Spanish Civil War. Some additional material relating to his brother and fellow physician Bernard Straus is also included.
Series I: Spanish Civil War Correspondence, 1937-1938 contains letters written by Straus to his family during the war, as well as a letter from his father that Straus sent back to be preserved.
Series II: Subject Files, 1928-1938 mostly chronicles Straus's time in France as a medical student (roughly 1931-1936), with a few earlier and later items. The bulk of the material is correspondence, much of it in French. There is some correspondence relating to Straus's attempt to join the Naval Air Service and United States Army Air Corps partway through his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama.
Series III: Photographs, 1927-1938 consists mostly of photographs of Mark Straus and others before and during the Spanish Civil War. A set of dental x-rays of his brother, Bernard Straus is also included.
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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, New York University.
Provenance
The Mark Straus Papers and Photographs were donated to the Tamiment Library by Mark Straus's grandson Raphael Straus in 2009.
