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Guide to the Spanish Refugee Aid Records
TAM.326
Descriptive Summary
| Creator:
|
Spanish Refugee Aid (Organization). |
| Title: |
Spanish Refugee Aid Records |
| Dates [inclusive]: |
1941-2006, (Bulk 1953-1983) |
| Dates [bulk]: |
Bulk, 1953-1983 |
| Abstract:
|
Spanish Refugee Aid (SRA) was founded in 1953 to assist refugees of the Spanish Civil
War who were then residing in France. Nancy Macdonald (1910-1996) was the leading
figure in the founding of Spanish Refugee Aid and remained at the organization's helm
until her retirement in 1983. SRA maintained an office in New York City and coordinated
aid efforts in France from Paris, Toulouse and Montauban. Between 1953 and 2006 when
SRA, by then a program of the International Rescue Committee, was dissolved, over
5,500 refugees received aid from SRA. The collection includes case files, photographs,
and office records consisting of correspondence, administrative files, financial records
and clippings. The case files of the Spanish refugees are a rich source of demographic
data. Many of the case files also have corresponding photographs. The voluminous correspondence
files for both the New York and Toulouse offices highlight the concern of those working
in SRA for the needs of the individual refugees, and reveal the contacts and working
relationships SRA developed with other aid organizations, political groups and individuals
to assist the refugees. Records documenting aid distribution are also extensive. Although
the needs of the Spanish refugees were always paramount, the correspondence in the
SRA records also reflects the political allegiances of those involved with SRA (as
staff, as contacts and as recipients of aid) and of Nancy Macdonald in particular.
The SRA records, therefore, provide extensive information not only on Spanish refugees
residing in France following the Spanish Civil War, but also on left-wing politics
in the United States and Europe from the World War II era through the 1980s.
|
| Quantity: |
119.5 linear feet (197 boxes) |
| Call Phrase: |
TAM.326 |
