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Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Photographs

Call Number

ALBA.PHOTO.015

Date

1927-2000, inclusive

Creator

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Extent

9.25 Linear Feet
in 9 record cartons and 1 oversize flat box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The organization Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) was begun informally in 1937 and officially in 1939 by U.S. volunteers returning from the Spanish Civil War. The VALB Photograph Collection contains photographic prints, slides and negatives collected by VALB, donated to the organization over the years, and occasionally used in their New York City offices for publicity purposes, exhibits, etc. The collection is comprised mostly of images of American volunteers in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, including portraits, group shots, and battlefield scenes; it also includes images of demonstrations, support activities, and commemorative events in the United States. There are some photographs of volunteers of other nationalities, of supporters and relatives of the U.S. volunteers, and of prominent individuals such as Paul Robeson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as images documenting the volunteers' activities in more recent years, including Lincoln Brigade veterans' trips to Spain, Nicaragua, the People's Republic of China, and East Germany.

Historical/Biographical Note

U.S. men and women who had volunteered for service in the Spanish Civil War joined together as the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) in December 1937 upon their return from Spain. The organization adopted a constitution and a formal structure in 1939. VALB originally assisted wounded veterans and sought to awaken the U.S. public to the significance of the Spanish Civil War and the Loyalist cause. In later years, VALB campaigned strenuously against the Franco regime in Spain and addressed other political issues, including U.S. policy in World War II and later, in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. In addition to their headquarters in New York City, VALB "posts" developed in various cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. VALB also created a journal/newsletter, The Volunteer for Liberty (later, The Volunteer). For additional information on the history of VALB see the guide to the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Records, ALBA #19.

Arrangement

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 15:1:1:1. (Some prints in the collection were marked with Photograph numbers apparently assigned by VALB: P1, P2, P3, etc. These original numbers are also indicated on the photo sleeves.)

The files are grouped into four series:

Missing Title

  1. I, Photographic Prints, 1930s-1990s.
  2. II, Negatives, Undated.
  3. III, Slides, 1974.
  4. IV, Unprocessed Material

Scope and Content Note

The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Photograph Collection was compiled from photographs, slides, and negatives produced by, gathered by, or donated to VALB over the course of its history. Some of the images were donated by veterans and their families or acquired from individuals engaged in filmmaking, journalism, research or publication projects. For the most part, caption information has been taken from notations on the photographs, with minimal editing.

Series I: Photographic Prints. This series contains ca. 2,000 photographs collected by VALB and used in its New York City offices. The series consists mainly of images of American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, and includes portraits, group shots, combat scenes, and images of demonstrations and support activities in the United States after the Spanish Civil War including protests against the Vietnam War. Dates are provided or estimated when possible. Series I is divided into four subseries, Subseries A: Individuals, is comprised of photographs of portraits and groups in which each individual is identified; Subseries B: Individuals in Groups, includes photographs of larger groups of people in which only one or a few are identified; Subseries C: Subjects, General, includes photographs taken at particular sites as well as images grouped by topic. Subject designations for the most part match those used in the original photo captions; Subseries D: Monuments, Memorials, Celebrations, and Reunion, includes photographs of memorial gatherings, commemorations, reunions and other veterans' events, as well as demonstrations and other political activities in which veterans and their supporters participated. Also included in this series are a few photographs of political notables and other subjects of general political interest.

Series II: Negatives, consist of 204 negative images of U.S. volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (including portraits, group shots, and combat scenes) and of support activities in the United States. All of the negatives have matching prints in the collection; the negative sleeves are marked with the item number of the corresponding print. (Negative numbers are also noted on sleeves or folders of their matching prints.)

Series III: Slides. The 8 slides in this series are images of a 1974 VALB trip to China.

Series IV: Unprocessed Material, consists of a large number of miscellaneous photographs donated to the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, or acquired by them for publications, exhibits, etc. but never integrated into this collection. The exact provenance of most of the photographs is unknown. Many folder titles are general; they include any available donor information.

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

Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyrights held by original creators of individual items in the collection are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. 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 ALBA materials 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, New York University.

Provenance

The VALB Photograph Collection was donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by VALB in the early 1990s. Additional images came to VALB and were passed on to the Archives in later years. The core 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.

Collection processed by

Evan Daniel, 2004-2006; Elizabeth Du Rocher and Mark Berger, 2008; Michael D'Ambrosio, 2011; Nicole Greenhouse 2012

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 13:56:15 -0500.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from ALBA Photo #15.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