Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives Films
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Abstract
Collection consists of films, videos, and DVDs on the Spanish Civil War, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and Spanish Republican refugees, including a 1938 documentary short directed by Henri Cartier–Bresson, With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain; footage shot by Harry Randall, member of the Lincoln Brigade itself, in 1937-1938; a 1939 documentary film directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois (aka Jean-Paul Dreyfuss) entitled Refuge, about exiled Spanish Republicans in French refugee camps; and an episode from a 1978 television documentary series on the Spanish Civil War.
Historical Note
The Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) was a conflict between the newly-elected left-leaning government of the Spanish Republic and its supporters and the rebellion against the Republic led by General Francisco Franco and supported by Hitler and Mussolini. Thousands of men and women from around the world volunteered to serve as soldiers and medical and support personnel for the Republic, which organized them into International Brigades (including the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, made up of North Americans). Film was one of the weapons used by international organizations supporting the Republic and the Brigades to document the war and to generate support and raise money; after the war they used moving images to aid the Republic's refugees.
The major works in the collection include With the Lincoln Brigade In Spain, directed by Henri Cartier-Bresson; footage shot by in Spain circa 1937-1938, by Harry Randall, head of the Photographic Unit of the Fifteenth International Brigade (which functioned as the photographic arm of the Lincoln Brigade); and Refuge.
With the Lincoln Brigade In Spain is a short documentary film produced by Herbert Kline, directed by still photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, and shot in 35mm (although distributed in 16 mm) by Cartier-Bresson and movie camera operator Jaques Lemare. It was filmed in 1937 and released in 1938. Shown in union halls, clubs, and other small venues throughout the United States, the documentary was used to raise funds to bring the Brigaders home. Simultaneously, the same production team filmed Return to Life for the American Medical Bureau of the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy in Spain (AMB). Refuge was shot in 1939 to publicize the plight of Spanish Republican refugees in refugee camps in France and show the conditions in these camps. It was produced by Ciné Liberté and the AMB, directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois (also known as Jean-Paul Dreyfuss), and edited by Irving Lerner. It includes footage from (and may be a shortened version of) Un peuple attend, another documentary on the same subject shot earlier that year, and also directed by Le Chanois.
Sources:
• Crusells, Magí."REFUGE, a pro-republican documentary from the Spanish Civil War." International Journal of Iberian Studies 19 (2006): 231-239. Accessed July 3, 2012. doi: 10.1386/ijis.19.3.231_3.
• Faber, Sebastiaan. "Images of Displacement -- The Spanish Civil War and the Birth of the Modern Refugee." The Volunteer 16 (2009): 6-9; 17-18. Accessed July 3, 2012. http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/sfaber/refugee.pdf
• Randall, Harry, interview by Erika Gottfried. April 10, 2002. New York, New York. Harry W. Randall, Jr. Oral History Interview (transcript). Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives Vertical Files: Individuals. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York, New York.
• Rosemont, Franklin. "Spanish Revolution of 1936." In The Encyclopedia of the American Left, Second Edition. Eds. Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 792-793.
• Salas, Juan. "Henri Cartier-Bresson Film Found in ALBA Archive." The Volunteer 17 (2010): 8-9,11. Accessed July 3, 2012. http://www.albavolunteer.org/2010/03/henri-cartier-bresson-footage-%E2%80%A8found-in-alba-archive/
• Sills, Sam. "Abraham Lincoln Brigade." In The Encyclopedia of the American Left, Second Edition. Eds.Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 2-4.
Arrangement
Materials have been arranged in three series.
Series I. Films.
Series II. Videotapes.
Series III. DVDs.
Scope and Contents Note
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives Films consist of 16mm films, videotapes in various formats, and DVDs collected by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives on the subjects of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the Spanish Civil War. They include film footage shot in Spain circa 1937-1938 by Harry Randall for the Photographic Unit of the Fifteenth International Brigade; an 18-minute 1937 documentary entitled With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain, produced by Herbert Kline, directed by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and shot by Cartier-Bresson and Jaques Lemare; Refuge, (1939) a 27-minute documentary film about exiled Spanish Republicans in refugee camps in France that was directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois (aka Jean-Paul Dreyfus), and combines newsreels and original footage (including sequences shot with a hidden camera); and an episode of a 1978 television documentary series Between the Wars: The Spanish Civil War, hosted by journalist Eric Sevareid.
The footage shot by Randall includes soldiers (presumably Abraham Lincoln Brigade members and possibly Spanish soldiers as well) at the front and behind the front lines, marching, training, and relaxing, Spanish peasants planting, and scenes of war-caused destruction. With the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain documents Brigade members in Spain, training near the front, waiting to be mobilized, wounded, and at hospitals. It includes close-ups of Brigade members, the nurses who treated them, and local residents Brigaders met while recovering from their wounds, as well as scenes of Madrid during the fall of 1937, and a soccer game in Benicàssim.
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Access Restrictions
Repository permission is required for access. Please contact NYU Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives Films; ALBA FILM 001; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Custodial History
The materials in this collection were acquired by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)—a non-profit organization devoted to preserving the memory of the volunteers who fought against fascism and to defend the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. ALBA first donated a low-resolution VHS tape of a video transfer of 16mm footage shot by Harry Randall, a member of the Lincoln Brigade, in 1937-1938 (the Library created a screening copy of this VHS); ALBA then donated the balance of the materials to the Tamiment Library in 2009.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
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.
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 NYU Special Collections (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.
Appraisal
In May 2023, 1 VHS tape was deaccessioned due to duplicative content. In July 2025, 1 VHS tape and 1 Digital Betacam tape were deaccessioned due to duplicative content. In October 2025, 1 Digital Betacam tape was deaccessioned due to duplicative content.
Existence and Location of Copies
"With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain Film Collection" (FILM 014) at the Tamiment Library, contains essentially the same film as With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain in this collection; a reference DVD of the same in FILM 014 may be screened for reference purposes. Other films and videos in this collection may also contain parts or versions of With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain, but absent a thorough screening it is not possible to know for certain.
About this Guide
Processing Information
No original order was apparent in the collection upon receipt. Materials were arranged in series and described by archivist. When available, original titles and/or caption information were used in items' descriptions.
