Scope and Content Note

The Harry Randall: 15th International Brigade Photograph Collection spans the period from August 1937 to September 1938 and contains 1,832 black and white images taken by members of the Photo Unit of the 15th International Brigade during their tour of duty in Spain. The collection is comprised of 1,534 original negatives (ranging in size from 1.1 x 1.5 to 3 x 4.25 inches), and 626 prints (ranging in size from 1.5 x 1 to 8 x 10 inches). Some of the prints came directly from the albums created by the Photo Unit; original numbers and notations are in Randall's hand and the black paper from the photo album still adheres to the back of the prints. The collection also includes 348 copy negatives of which 203 were acquired by ALBA in the 1990s from the International Brigade Archives, housed in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, Moscow. A number of the images are available in more than one format. Consult the collection inventory for details.

The collection documents the activities of the battalions that made up the 15th International Brigade including the American Lincoln and Washington Battalions (commonly known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade); the British Battalion; the Canadian MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion; the Dimitroff Battalion (volunteers from Yugoslavia); and the 24th Spanish Battalion (volunteers from Cuba). The images capture the daily life of the volunteers in combat, in the camps, and in the towns, villages, and across the rugged terrain where the Brigade trained and participated in the fighting. In addition, the collection documents political assemblies, congresses, celebrations and the everyday activities of the Spanish populace. Also included are images of visiting dignitaries, journalists and observers including Earl Browder, American military attache Stephen Fuqua, Robert Minor, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Meyer Levin and Joseph North.

Series A: Miscellaneous, August 1937 - May 1938. The 148 images in this series are among the earliest in the collection. Pictured here are scenes from the battles of Quinto and Belchite. Photographs of the aftermath of aerial bombardment offer evidence of damaged factories, homes and churches. Also documented are artillery units and battalions on the move, and troops under fire at Fuentes de Ebro, and soldiers dug into trenches at the Teruel front.

Series B: Individual Portraits, September 1937 - September 1938. The Unit photographers had hoped to photograph every member the 15th Brigade. Although this formidable task was never realized, the 415 portraits in this series depict prominent members of the Brigade including Political Commissars Joseph Dallet, John Robinson, Saul Wellman, George Watt, Archie Brown, and Chief of the Brigade Commissariat Sandor Voros. Portraits of other Brigade members include Chief of Brigade Staff Robert Merriman, Commander Milton Wolff, Commander 15th Brigade Vladimir Copic, Dr. Mark Straus, Volunteer for Libertyeditor John Tisa, and writers Alvah Bessie and Edwin Rolfe. This series also includes portraits of Photo Unit photographers Ben Katine and Harry Randall.

Series C: Group Portraits, September 1937 - August 1938, consists of 259 images, which range from double portraits of volunteers casually posing to more formal group photos of entire units. Included here are the Lincoln Washington Machine-Gunner Company, officers of British Anti-Tank Unit, the 15th International Brigade Transmiciones (the unit in charge of communication or transmission); the 24th Spanish Battalion Machine-Gunner Company; the motor cyclists of 15th Brigade; the Lincoln-Washington ambulance and medical personnel; Earl Browder and officers of the 15th International Brigade; Greeks in the Lincoln Battalion; an African-American machine-gunner crew; Doctor Edward Barsky and a medical colleague; Captain Leonard Lamb with Lieutenant William Digges; and five New York University students -- volunteers with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Series D: Miscellaneous, September 1937 - June 1938; August 1938. The 249 images in this series include scenes of the Brigade in battlefields and at rest. Notable images include rustic cane shelters built by the Lincoln Battalion in an olive grove in Almuchel; Fascists taken prisoner at Belchite; the troops on a train from Quinto to Ambite and at a railroad station milling with civilians; soldiers in showers, washing and mending clothes, reading and playing football, and picking olives; peasants weaving; an ambulance from the Teachers Union and American Student Union with Murray Nemeroff driving; the funeral of Lieutenant William Digges at Mollerusa; the Dental Wagon with Dr. Jack Klein at work; School for Commissars at the Ebro Front; and the trial of deserters at Senes.

Series E: Miscellaneous, January 1938 - September 1938. Many of the 761 images in this series capture the final battles of the International Brigades. The most arresting shots are those taken at the crossing of the Ebro in July 1938. In an article that appeared in the Volunteer for Libertyin September 1938, Randall described the Photo Unit's activities and the photographic record they created during the Ebro Offensive: