"Saga: Afro-American Soldiers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" Slide Show
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Abstract
The "Saga: Afro-American Soldiers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" Slide Show was created by Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) in 1979 and presented at VALB's 43rd Anniversary Dinner in 1980. It documents one instance of VALB's efforts to celebrate the contributions of Black members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The collection contains the slides, two drafts of the script, and three drafts of the storyboard for the show. It also includes a 1951 edition of the newsletter Volunteer for Liberty which describes a slide show presented during "Negro History Week" to highlight the contributions of Black veterans.
Historical Note
Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) was created by and for Americans who volunteered for service in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. This Brigade was a part of the International Brigades and was racially integrated. The soldiers organized VALB upon their return from Spain, and in 1939, the organization adopted a constitution and a formal structure. VALB headquarters were in New York City, with posts in other cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. VALB also created a newsletter, the Volunteer for Liberty (later, The Volunteer). In addition to assisting wounded veterans and political advocacy, VALB also planned educational and social events for members, such as history lectures and anniversary dinners.
The "Saga: Afro-American Soldiers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" Slide Show was created by VALB in 1979 and presented at the organization's 43rd Anniversary Dinner in 1980.
In the late 1970s, VALB members collected materials about Brigade veterans and in 1978, VALB formally established the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives as a non-profit entity.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The "Saga: Afro-American Soldiers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" Slide Show (1951, 1979), contains the original slides, as well as drafts of scripts and storyboards, of a slide show that was presented at Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade's (VALB) 43rd Anniversary dinner, held in San Francisco in 1980. It also includes a photocopy of a 1951 issue of Volunteer for Liberty.
The draft scripts and storyboards include handwritten edits, and the storyboard aligns each slide with a script section. Each slide is numbered, and the number is referenced on the storyboard. The slideshow begins by showing a history of Black military service, including Crispus Attuck's role in the American Revolution and Black soldiers fighting for the Union during the American Civil War. It goes on to outline the anti-Black racism in the U.S. and explain how the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia under Benito Mussolini mobilized Black Americans to anti-fascist causes.
Reasearchers are advised that the slides include photographs that illustrate racism, including pictures of lynched men on slides 1-14 and 1-49.
The bulk of the slide show identifies and tells the stories of individual Black volunteers, offering biographical information such as where they lived and their occupations, details about their service in the Brigade, and information about their lives after they returned to the U.S. The end of the slideshow explores the experiences of these Black soldiers upon their return to the still-segregated U.S. using quotations from veterans. The slideshow ends with a list of 85 Black veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
This collection also includes a photocopy of the March 7, 1951 issue of Volunteer for Liberty, which recounts what the New York VALB Post did that year to recognize "Negro History Week," including holding a dance to raise funds for the Black monthly publication Freedom and showing a slide show highlighting the contributions of Black Brigade members.
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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. Please contact Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; "Saga: Afro-American Soldiers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade" Slide Show; ALBA.PHOTO.021; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections. The accession number associated with this gift is 2001.092.
Custodial History
This slide show was part of the the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), which were donated to Brandeis University in the early 1990s. New York University acquired the ALBA collections, including this one, in early 2001.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of processing, materials were placed in new acid-free folders. Slides were removed from original boxes and placed in protective sleeves.
This collection contains outdated terms for identifying Black people. These terms have been retained in the titles of works or are when part of a direct quotation.
