Robert Steck Photographs
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Abstract
Robert Steck (1912-), actor and social activist, sailed to Europe to volunteer for service in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in January 1937. In the following months, Steck served in the International Brigades with the First Regiment de Tren, where he was made political commissar; worked with British writer Ralph Bates, putting out the magazine Volunteer for Liberty; headed the Tarazona Base Cultural Commission, adapting his theater experience to the political and social realities of the war and creating skits performed off the back of trucks (known as "Buffoons on Trucks"); and was rifleman, runner and battalion scout for the Third Lincoln company. This collection includes images acquired by Steck in the course of his service in Spain and images of Steck, and others, from before and after the Spanish Civil War. The collection contains non-combat photographs of the members of the First Regiment de Tren, images of Carl Geiser in Spain after the Civil War and of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in a solidarity parade held in the United States and one image of the "Night of Stars," a New York City benefit for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The collection also includes portraits of Steck, images of Steck with his public school pupils and one image of Steck attending a picket and rally in Puerto Rico.
Historical/Biographical Note
Robert Steck, actor and social activist, sailed to Europe to volunteer for service in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in January 1937. In the following months Steck served in the International Brigades with the First Regiment de Tren, where he was appointed political commissar; worked with British writer Ralph Bates, putting out the magazine Volunteer for Liberty; headed the Tarazona Base Cultural Commission, adapting his theater experience to the political and social realities of the war and creating skits performed off the back of trucks (known as "Buffoons on Trucks"); and was rifleman, runner and battalion scout for the Third Lincoln Company. The photo collection reflects the range of Steck's progressive activities and concerns, including his long association with the communal adult camp, Camp Unity. This collection includes images acquired by Steck in the course of his service as a volunteer in Spain and images of Steck, and others, from before and after the Spanish Civil War. ( For further biographical information on Robert Steck see the Guide to the Robert Steck Papers, ALBA 104.)
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically by topic.The photographic prints are identified by four numbers separated by colons. The first number refers to the collection number, the second to the box number, the third to the folder number, and the fourth to the individual print. For example, the first print in this collection is labeled 104:1:1:1. The negatives and slides are numbered in a similar fashion and are contained in a separate box from the prints.
The files are grouped into two series:
Missing Title
- I, Prints
- II, Negatives and Slides
Scope and Content Note
Series I, Subseries A: Spanish Civil War Photographs. The collection contains approximately 80 images including non-combat photographs of the members of the First Regiment de Tren (Robert English, Ernie Parlour, and William Sennett)-with one image showing Ralph Bates addressing the First Regiment; images of Carl Geiser in Spain after the Civil War and of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in a solidarity parade held in the United States; and one image of the "Night of Stars," a New York City benefit for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The collection includes portraits of Steck, images of Steck with his public school pupils, in Spain addressing the First Regiment de Tren, in Spain with Charles Hall and Saul Wellman (Madrid, 1996) and one image of Steck relaxing after attending a picket line and rally in Puerto Rico. There are four images of prisoner of war Sol Leiserowitz with his family and friends in the United States, one image of Leiserowitz' mother and one of his father. Subseries A contains photocopies of contact sheets with images taken by the International Brigade's photographic unit led by Harry Randall. The contact sheets were removed and the images with Randall numbers were placed in ALBA Photo #11.
Series I, Subseries B: Camp Photographs. The collection contains approximately 650 images relating to Steck's experience at Camp Calumet, Camp Unity and other summer camps including landscapes, performances, portraits and sporting events. Eleven portraits taken at Camp Unity are attributed to Sylvia Chesteroff-Brown and 25 images of Paul Robeson at Camp Unity are attributed to Paul Bernstein. There is also one image of Pete Seeger performing at Camp Unity. The subseries contains 55 8 x 10 contact sheets of Camp Calumet with approximately 30 images per sheet.
Series III. Negatives and Slides. The collection contains 81 black and white negatives and 51 slides. The negatives include 78 images of Camp Calumet on 26 negative strips (measuring 3/8 x 7 ½ inches and containing three images per strip), two images of unidentified volunteers in Spain and one image of children in a classroom at Smith High School [?]. The slides include 48 color slides and three black and white slides. The color slides include 25 images of Camp Unity and 17 images of Camp Calumet, four images of San Pedro de Cardenas in Burgos, Spain (the location of a prisoner of war camp) and two images of Steck on vacation in China. The three black and white slides include two images of James Philips Lardner and one image of Steck shaving in Spain during the Civil War. None of the negatives or slides matches the prints.
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Access Restrictions
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for more information and to schedule an appointment, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.
Use Restrictions
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
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
The bulk of material contained in the Robert Steck Photograph Collection was donated to the Tamiment Library by Robert Steck in 1979. The remaining Steck photographs were donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by Robert Steck between 1979 and 1998. This portion of the collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University. The images in the Steck Photograph collection were separated from the Steck manuscript material at the time of processing.
