Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
Volunteers
Alonzo Watson
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Full Database Record
| Last Name | Watson |
| First/Middle Name | Alonzo |
| Ethnicity | |
| Ethnicity Note | |
| Immigration Status | |
| Religion | |
| POW | |
| AKA Last Name 1 | |
| AKA First / Middle 1 | |
| AKA Last Name 2 | |
| AKA First / Middle 2 | |
| DOB | |
| City | |
| State | |
| Foreign Nation | |
| Foreign Nation City | |
| Alt Pob State, City | |
| Family: Name | |
| Family: Relationship | |
| Family: Begin Date | |
| Family: End Date | |
| Family: Comments | |
| Education HS | |
| Education College / Univ 1 | |
| Education College/Univ Notes | |
| Education College/Univ 2 | |
| Graduate or Doctoral Work | |
| Graduate or Doctoral Work Notes | |
| Prior Military Service | |
| Passport # | |
| Passport Series | |
| Passport Reported Lost in Spain | |
| Passport Age | |
| Passport Date | |
| PP or Known Address Street | |
| PP or Known Address City | |
| PP or Known Address State | |
| ALT City | |
| Alt State | |
| Sail Date | |
| Ship | |
| Marital Status | |
| Marital Notes | |
| Vocation 1 | |
| Vocation 2 | |
| Vocation 3 | |
| Party Affiliation | |
| Date Affiliation | |
| ALT Affiliation | |
| ALT date | |
| ALT affiliation 2 | |
| Arrival (in Spain) Date | |
| Units served with | |
| Battle action | |
| Rank | |
| Returned Date | |
| Returned other | |
| WWII Service | |
| DOD | |
| Cause | |
| Place Died City | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Date | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Location | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Battle | |
| Additional Notes |
Biography
Watson was born in 1891. Originally from Chicago, Watson served in World War I with the 365th Illinois Infantry. After the war Watson moved to New York worked as a painter and joined the Harlem branch of the Communist Party. Together with William Edward White, he was one of the two black volunteers among the first group of ninety-six who left New York, on the SS Normandie, on December 26, 1936. Watson served in the Lincoln Battalion. A sniper shot him as he moved across a short stretch of roadway that interrupted the trenches at the Jarama Front. His death on February 25, 1937 made him the first African American volunteer killed in action.