Mosess (Moe) Fishman Papers
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Abstract
Mosess (Moe) Fishman fought in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). This collection consists of organizational records, correspondence, clippings, photographs (analog and born-digital), audiocassettes, and videos from his service and activities with VALB.
Biographical Note
Mosess (Moe) Fishman was born in New York City in 1915. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City and enrolled in City College, but did not finish college for financial reasons. He later worked in a laundry and driving a truck.
Fishman joined the Young Communist League and became involved in anti-fascist activity in the mid-1930s. In 1937 he volunteered to fight in Spain with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, taking part in the Brunete offensive, where he was severely wounded when a sniper's bullet shattered his thigh. He spent the next three years in and out of hospitals in Spain and the U.S. He had recovered sufficiently to serve in the Merchant Marine in World War II. After the War he returned to New York and became active in aiding Spanish refugees. In 1951, he took over as Secretary-Treasurer (later Secretary) of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) when the organization was labeled "subversive" by the Attorney General's office. After a strenuous legal battle, the label was removed in the 1970s. He remained a political activist and kept his post with VALB until his death in 2007.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged in loose chronological order by document type or format.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of paper and born-digital material accumulated by Moe Fishman during his many years as Secretary of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. It includes incoming correspondence from Lincoln Brigade veterans and others, among them representatives of veterans' organizations in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Also included are clippings, pamphlets, memorabilia and photographs (many of them related to gatherings of Spanish Civil War veterans), letters written by Fishman to Howard Lederer during his service in Spain, and some family papers. Also in the collection is a small body of papers and photographs belonging to Lincoln Brigade veteran, Court Bevensee; these were entrusted to Fishman at the time of Bevensee's death. Document types include correspondence, publicity items, organizational records and reports, clippings and photocopies of clippings, popular publications and article reprints, photographs, videos, and audio recordings of interviews, events, and musical performances.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
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
Identification of item, date; Mosess (Moe) Fishman Papers; ALBA 224; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most of these materials were included in Brandeis University Library's transfer of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives to New York University. Some later items came from the creator and Georgia Wever, a member of VALB and friend of Fishman.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Physical materials were housed in archival folders and containers.
Three photo CDs and 5 DVDs were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Forensic Toolkit.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
