Irving Weissman Photographs
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Abstract
Irving Weissman (1913-1998) was a labor activist and a member of the Young Communist League before he went to fight in the Spanish Civil War. In Spain he trained and fought with the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion. Many of the images in this collection were acquired by Weissman in the course of his service with the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion in Spain. The collection contains combat and non-combat photographs, portraits, images of Czechoslovakian volunteers interned at the Gurs Concentration Camp in France, the U.S. veterans' fiftieth anniversary trip to Spain and a veterans memorial meeting.
Historical/Biographical Note
Irving Weissman (1913-1998) grew up in a Polish-Jewish immigrant family in New York City. For further biographical information on Irving Weissman, and to review the scope and contents of his manuscript collection see Guide to the Irving Weissman Papers, ALBA #165.
Weissman departed for Spain on the SS American Importer on May 8, 1937. In Spain, he trained with the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion and went into action with that battalion on the Aragon front and at Fuentes de Ebro in September and October 1937. Weissman fell ill at the end of October and was sent with a delegation of the 15th International Brigade to Barcelona, where he performed guard duties while he recovered. He rejoined the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion in December 1937. Weissman left Spain on December 15, 1938.
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 165:1:1:1. The negatives are numbered in a similar fashion. Prints with matching negatives bear the notation "Have Negative," negatives that match prints have the number of the matching print written on the negative sleeve.
The files are grouped into two series:
Missing Title
- I, Photographs
- II, Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Series I: Photographs. The Irving Weissman Collection contains 289 prints (including seven contact sheets) containing images of Steve Nelson, George Brodsky, Norman Berkowitz, Stanley Postek, George Watt, Abraham Osheroff, Albert Prago, Al Koslow, Moe Fishman, John Koblich, Abe Smorodin, Hy Wallach, Kenneth Graeber, Adolf Ross, George Cullinen, Stephen Zak, Pete Smith, John Tisa, Louis Gordon, Art Shields, John Robinson; Czechoslovakian volunteers at the Gurs Concentration Camp in France, U.S. veterans' Fiftieth Anniversary Trip to Spain and a veterans memorial meeting.
Series II: Negatives. Ten negatives containing images of Peter Frye, Hy Stone, Czechoslovakian volunteers at the Gurs Concentration Camp in France, VALB Fiftieth Anniversary Trip, Florida Veterans, Irish Veterans, a painting of Anthony and Edna Toney, and an unidentified couple. Eight of the ten negatives match prints in the collection.
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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 Irving Weissman Photograph Collection was donated by Mr. Weissman to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, then held at Brandeis University, in 1994. 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 Weissman Photograph Collection were separated from the Weissman manuscript material at the time of processing.
