Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Audio Collection
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Abstract
The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was formed in 1937 by American men and women who volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War as they began to return from Spain. The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Audio Collection consists of 175 audio cassettes collected by or related to the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). The recordings date from 1964 to 2002 and include interviews with veterans, recordings of live events in Spain, musical recordings, and recordings of VALB events.
Historical Note
The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was formed in 1937 by American men and women who volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War as they began to return from Spain. The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) adopted a constitution and a formal structure in 1939. VALB originally raised money for the Spanish Republic, assisted wounded veterans, helped veterans resettle and find jobs, and attempted to alert the American public to the significance of the Spanish Civil War and the Loyalist cause. In later years, VALB campaigned against Francisco Franco's regime in Spain, assisted refugees, and addressed other political issues, including the United States's foriegn policy in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. In addition to their headquarters in New York City, VALB had posts in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Chicago, Illinois; and informal groups in other cities and regions.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series: Series I: Interviews, Speeches, Discussions, 1964-2002; Series II: Public events, 1970-1999; and Series III: Music, 1976-2002.
Each recording has been assigned a unique item number (e.g. ALBA A 1-001), and the collection is arranged in item number order. For Series I, the item number order roughly follows the alphabetical order of the last name of the narrator, with a few exceptions. Some tapes contain multiple interviewees and are ordered according to how the names were written on the cassette. Recordings in Series II and III are arranged alphabetically by title.
Scope and Content Note
The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Audio Collection consists of 175 audio cassettes collected by or related to the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). The recordings date from 1964 to 2002 and include interviews with veterans, recordings of live events in Spain, musical recordings, and recordings of VALB events. The latter includes events such as the 50th anniversary celebrations in the Bay Area of California and in New York, New York. The interviews with veterans focus on their memories of their time in Spain.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyrights held by original creators of individual items in the collection are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. 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 ALBA materials 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; Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Audio Collection; ALBA AUDIO 001; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most of the audio recordings in the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Audio Collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University. A small amount of interviews and other materials have been added since then. The accession number associated with this collection is 2001.208.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact [Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596] with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2021 are unknown. In May 2021, box numbers were attached at interview level and collection level notes were written for compliance with DACS and ACM Required Elements for Archival Description.
