Albert Lyonel Harris Photographs
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Abstract
Albert Lyonel "Abe" Harris (1907-c.1973?) was a volunteer with the 4th Artillery Group of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was also associated with the American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy (AMB) and a representative of the Junior Section of the International Workers Order during the Spanish Civil War, making recommendations on problems of child welfare in war-torn Spain. Harris saw action at Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel, Cuenca and Levante. The images in this collection were acquired by Harris in the course of his service as an artilleryman and social worker/observer in Spain. The collection contains combat and non-combat photographs of artillery, bombed/shelled cities, injured soldiers, military vehicles (aircraft and armored personnel carriers), Spanish Civilians (men, women and children), and snapshots of Spanish cities and towns.
Historical/Biographical Note
Albert ("Abe") Harris (1907-c.1973?) was born in Chicago, Illinois and educated at the University of Manitoba, the University of Chicago, and the New School for Social Research. From 1924-1934 he worked as a social worker and as a researcher at New York University. During the Spanish Civil War he was a volunteer with the 4th Artillery Group of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was also associated with the American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy (AMB) and a representative of the Junior Section of the International Workers Order, charged with the task of assessing the situation of orphaned and destitute children in Spain, and making recommendations as to aid. The International Workers Order (IWO) was a Communist-affiliated insurance and fraternal order founded in 1930. Harris saw action at Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel, Cuenca and Levante, and also toured hospitals and civilian areas, observing conditions and presumably reporting back to the U.S. organizations to which he was connected.
In his later life Harris pursued his interest in social work in venues that reflected his traditional Jewish upbringing. He worked in the 1940s and 1950s for the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the Jewish Settlement of the Lower East Side, N.Y., the National Refugee Service and other Jewish organizations.
Arrangement
Folders are 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 49:1:1:1.
Folders are arranged in one series:
Missing Title
- I: Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Series I: Photographs. The collection contains combat and non-combat photographs of artillery, bombed/shelled cities, injured soldiers, military vehicles (aircraft and armored personnel carriers), snapshots of the daily life of Spanish civilians (men, women and children) and Spanish cities and towns. There is one image of Polish volunteers attributed to Film Polski, Warsaw and one image of the International Brigade Anniversary attributed to Syd Harris. Apart from these two images, there is no indication of the origin of the photographs in the collection. Over 80% of the images are quite small (1 1/8 x 5/8 to 1 1/8 x 1 1/8 inches). Except where indicated, all the photographs were taken in Spain.
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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 Albert Harris Photograph Collection was donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by Harris's widow in 1974. 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. The images in the Harris Photograph Collection were separated from the Harris manuscript material at the time of processing.
