Research Catalog

Randall B. Smith collection of Spanish Civil War photographs

Title
Randall B. Smith collection of Spanish Civil War photographs [graphic]
Author
Smith, Randall B., 1916-1989, collector.
Publication
1937-1938.

Details

Description
  • 3526 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w; 9 x 12 cm or smaller.
  • 300 contact sheets (photographic prints) : silver gelatin, b&w ;
  • 15 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
Summary
  • Photographs of Americans (including African Americans), British, Canadians, Cubans, Greeks, Spanish, Ukranians and other nationalities in International Battalions during the Spanish Civil War. Primarily including the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the Lincoln Washington Battalion and the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion, there are also images of other units including the British Battalion and a few images of a Spanish Battalion. Numbered units include the XV International Battalion, the 18th Battalion, the 24th Battalion, the 35th Division, the 51st, the 59th Battalion, the 61st Brigade, and the 75th.
  • Primarily portraits, and images of military life including cooking, barbering, bathing, playing games, attending fiestas, meetings, and May 1st celebrations, examining brigade "wall papers," having competitions, including boxing, football, rifle shooting, and stretcher carrying. The collection also includes images of men training, being deployed and in action, including building temporary bridges and defenses, marching, being inspected, on the front lines, with artillery, and tanks, including winter scenes. There are also views of fascist prisoners and casualties. Behind the lines activities such communications by radio, phone and heliograph, cartographers, observers and men doing paperwork, are also shown. Republican dugouts and thatched huts and positions are shown, as well as Nationalist fortifications. There are street scenes in various towns and images of Republican and Nationalist destruction in various places, including Belchite, Quinto, Teruel. Men are shown receiving medical attention at the front and in hospitals, and there are images of nurses, ambulance drivers, and ambulances donated by various organizations in the United States. Men are shown receiving commendations, attending a funeral of a comrade and attending other occasions, including a dance with civilians. A few images exist of a trial of deserters, and some portraits of individuals have notations such as "shot for attempted desertion."
  • There are images of peasants and residents of towns near the fighting, including views of peasants working in the fields, women doing laundry in a river, an "Aragonese anarchist," children in classrooms, and refugees. In some views soldiers are shown assisting in harvest, hauling oranges, giving gifts to civilians, and evacuating civilians from threatened areas. Civilians involved with the Republican cause, including members of the UGT (Unión General de Trabajores), delegates from unions, the J.S.U., and the F.U.E are depicted. Well known people shown visiting the brigade include Ernest Heminway and Langston Hughes. Delegates of soldiers are shown at an Activists' Congress, and visiting munitions and textile factories in Barcelona. There are general views of countryside and towns. The propoganda war is depicted through images showing posters, grafitti, murals and sound trucks. There are also images of motion picture and still photographers who documented the action. A few images are from captured negatives, including a church interior, a parade and others.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Portraits.
  • Photographic prints.
  • Silver gelatin prints.
Note
  • Title devised by cataloger.
  • Prints are primarily 4 x 6 cm. and are mounted on gray or brown paper pages of albums which have been disbound. Each is numbered in ink, the numbers referring to a caption list. There are five series designated A-E.
  • Contact prints were made duplicating the prints in series A-E as well as other prints. Each sheet is titled "Comrades" and is numbered in ink, #27-327. The sheets are housed in large albums. Not all original photographs held at NYPL are represented in the contact sheets. A few images from the A-E series' appear only in contact sheets. In addition there are other images including ones from a P series that appear in the contact sheets.
  • The mounted photographs are numbered recto. Some may be enlargements from originals held by NYPL. One of the prints is a copy of a brigade member's identification documents.
  • Related materials are held in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, NYPL.
Access (note)
  • Restricted access;
Biography (note)
  • Randall B. Smith (1916-1989) was a veteran of the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War, and an active member of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Provenance (note)
  • Gift of Randall B. Smith, 1986.
Call Number
MFY 95-47
OCLC
NYPG95-F214
Author
Smith, Randall B., 1916-1989, collector.
Title
Randall B. Smith collection of Spanish Civil War photographs [graphic]
Imprint
1937-1938.
Restricted Access
Restricted access; Pforzheimer Collection; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.
Biography
Randall B. Smith (1916-1989) was a veteran of the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War, and an active member of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Provenance
Gift of Randall B. Smith, 1986.
Research Call Number
MFY 95-47
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