The Abraham Lincoln Brigade
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), almost forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, including 2,800 Americans, traveled to Spain to join the International Brigades to help fight fight fascism. The U.S. volunteers served in various units (medical, combat and transportation) and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting public awareness, research, and discussion about the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the American volunteers who risked their lives to fight fascism in Spain. Using the continually expanding ALB archival collections at New York University's Tamiment Library, ALBA presents exhibitions, publications, performances, and educational programs related to the war and its historical, political, artistic, and biographical significance. With these activities, ALBA preserves the legacy of progressive activism of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as an inspiration for present and future generations.
Featuring...
 |
The ALBA Digital Library featuring four collections from the ALB Archives at NYU |
 |
ALBA's Robeson in Spain comic book by Josh Brown and Peter Carroll (purchasing info here) |
 |
Online lessons plans for middle and high school teachers, written by ALBA Staff |
 |
ALBA Institute for Education, programs for teachers and students |
 |
Links to Spanish Civil War archives around the world |
 |
ALBA's own online exhibits and bookstore |
 |
Recent book reviews and archived issues of our publication, The Volunteer |
 |
Brief histories of the Spanish Civil War and ALBA/VALB |
 |
ALBA's Volunteer Database, featuring entries for Brigade Volunteers |
 |
Archived queries and discussions on the ALBA listserv |
| Click here to learn more about how your support makes ALBA's programs possible |
|
ALBA Video: Matti Mattson, Citizen of Spain
DVD of The Good Fight with every contribution
The Good Fight: The Abraham
Lincoln Brigade and the Spanish Civil War (Noel Buckner, Mary Dore &
Sam Sills, 1984)
With every tax deductible contribution to ALBA of $50 or more, starting July 25th and through the month of August, please accept our gift of the newly released DVD of The Good Fight, with added special features mailed to you. Make your contribution below or call Jeanne at 212 674 5398
To order The Good Fight from ALBA for $25 (including shipping), please email your request to jhouck@alba-valb.org or call 212 674-5398. The classic 90-minute documentary on the Lincoln Brigade that first premiered at the Surf Theater in San Francisco in 1984 and contains moving interviews with beloved local heroes Bill Bailey (ILWU, NMU), Ruth Davidow, Evelyn Hutchins, Abe Osheroff, and Milt Wolff. The film is an intimate portrait of young labor activists and progressives—both in the midst of battle and as they reflect on their past—as well as some of the most significant events of the 1930s.
Robeson in Spain
ALBA's June 09 issue of its magazine, The Volunteer, published a comic titled Robeson in Spain, detailing Robeson's activism and dedication to the Spanish cause. The Robeson in Spain Project includes the Volunteer comic, with additional materials for teachers and students, and new on-line Robeson in Spain Resources. Paul Robeson’s concerns about fascism in the 1930s—military aggression, racial injustice, civilian bombings, and forced population displacement—remain issues of our own times.
Recent publications
War Is Beautiful: An American Ambulance Driver in the Spanish Civil War. By James Neugass (edited by Peter N. Carroll & Peter Glazer)
This nuanced and
deeply poetic chronicle of James Neugass's service as an ambulance driver in the Spanish Civil War combines fast-paced accounts of darting
onto battlefields to pick up the wounded with elegiac renderings of days
spent "on alert" in an ever-changing series of sharply observed Spanish
towns, enduring that most difficult of wartime activities: waiting. Reviewed in The Nation and the London Review of Books. Buy
from Powell's
For more recent publications, visit the ALBA Bookstore at Powell's.
The Volunteer Online
ALBA's quarterly, The Volunteer, is now a full-fledged online
magazine, with longer articles,
a frequently updated blog, videos, slide
shows, and more.
In the June 2010 issue:
- reports on the New York and Bay Area events with Amy Goodman and María Blanco (including video);
- the death of Oliver Law.
In the March 2010 issue:
- an interview with renowned Spanish Civil War historian Helen Graham (including video);
- news on With the Lincoln Brigade, the recently discovered Spanish Civil War documentary by Henri Cartier-Bresson, including a clip.
