James Neugass Photographs
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Abstract
James Neugass (1905-1949) was a writer who served as an ambulance driver during the Spanish Civil War. The images in this collection were accrued by Neuglass in the course of his work in Spain. The collection contains prints of soldiers at the front, relaxing behind the lines, and engaging in their daily activities. The collection also contains images of Spanish civilians, damaged/shelled buildings, injured soldiers and casualties.
Historical/Biographical Note
James Neugass grew up in a wealthy New Orleans, Louisiana, family of bankers and industrialists. He attended Phillips Exeter, Yale, the University of Michigan, Harvard and Balliol College, Oxford but never attained a degree. Neugass arrived in Spain in November of 1937 and was an ambulance driver and Dr. Edward K. Barsky's chauffeur during the Civil War. He was attached to Section 29 of the International Brigade in Villa Paz and saw action at Teruel, Segura de los Baños, Belchite and the Ebro. He was a member of the Communist Party and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. After returning home, Neugass took a series of factory jobs and published six novels and a series of translations. His novel, Rain of Ashes (Harper & Brothers, 1949) was accepted for publication shortly before his early death. His poem, "Give Us This Day," was published by Story and subsequently issued as a separate pamphlet with an illustration by Luis Quintanilla. His poetry also appears in Cary Nelson's The Wound and the Dream (University of Illinois Press, 2002). The images in this collection were accrued by Neugass in the course of his work in Spain. Neugass also wrote an autobiographical work, War is Beautiful: Journal of an American Ambulance Driver in Spain, 1937-1938; the unpublished manuscript is at the University of Illinois.
Sources:
Nelson, Cary. The Wound and the Dream (University of Illinois Press, 2002)
Arrangement
Folders arranged alphabetically by topic. The photographic prints are identified by four numbers separated by colons. The first number refers to the collection number, the second to the box number, the third to the folder number, and the fourth to the individual print. For example, the first print in this collection is labeled 12:1:1:1.
The files are grouped into one series:
Missing Title
- I, Prints
Scope and Content Note
The Neugass Photograph Collection includes 41 black and white photographs ranging in size from 1 ¾ x 1 1/8 inches to 7 x 5 ¼ inches. The photo sleeves have a basic description [provided by Neugass?] that occasionally list the place the photograph was taken but do not mention the names of individuals appearing in the print.
Series I: Prints. The 41 black and white prints are arranged alphabetically by topic. All were taken in Spain during the Civil War. The collection contains prints of nurses, soldiers at the Jarama front, relaxing behind the lines at Teruel, and engaging in their daily activities. The collection also contains images of Spanish civilians, damaged/shelled buildings in Barcelona and Lerida, medical tents, injured soldiers and casualties of war. Two of the prints are credited to Prensa Extranjera Censurado.
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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
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
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
The James Neugass Photograph Collection was donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by Ben Iceland in 1984. This collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University.
