The Volunteer

In 1939, the VALB began issuing the Volunteer for Liberty in New York. Appearing every other month, the 4-page publication explained the organization's official positions, disseminated information about Spain and Spanish affairs, and passed on personal information about the vets. One early editor was veteran James Benet, a professional journalist.

In 1941, the Los Angeles Post of the VALB issued a similar publication titled the Western Volunteer, but suspended publication after half a dozen issues. After World War II, the publication appeared more irregularly, and during the 1950s VALB changed the name to The Volunteer. The largest run of the periodical exists in the ALBA collection at New York University's Tamiment Library.

Beginning in March 2010, the Volunteer also appears as an online magazine, at www.albavolunteer.org, featuring the full content of the print version, plus the ALBA blog, videos, podcasts, etc.

1938
1941
1975, 1976
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

In 2007, The Volunteer began publishing a comic titled Robeson in Spain, detailing Paul Robeson's adventures with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in 1938.  Three years later, the vets made him an honorary member of VALB.  The comic is produced by Joshua Brown and Peter Carroll. This project is brought to you in part by a grant from the Puffin Foundation, Ltd.  Created in collaboration with the Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee.

In June 2009, ALBA compiled the series into a special Robeson in Spain issue of The Volunteer.