During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), almost forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, including 2,800 Americans volunteered to travel to Spain and join the International Brigades to help fight fascism. The U.S. volunteers served in various units and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Join us and learn about the diverse mosaic of stories that make up the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the legacy of American Anti-fascist activism in the 20th century and today.

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Bay Area Online Gala

Join us for an Online Event organized by our Bay Area Community on FacebookLive and on YouTubeLive on Saturday, October 15th at  4 PM ET/ 1 PM PT

Join us on Facebook
Join us on Youtube

The Online Streaming Event will feature musical performances, exciting speakers, and updates from the wider ALBA community.

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Spain, WWII, and the Holocaust

Part of the Perry Rosenstein Cultural Series

Conducted via Zoom by experienced presenters, Gina Herrmann & Sara Brenneis

With support from Robert Coale and Joshua Goode

Register Here

Join Us
Thursday, October 20th, 3 PM ET/ 12 PM PT

Tickets are limited. Register now to ensure your participation.

Attendance is free but registration is required

Roundtable Length: 60-90 minutes

The Perry Rosenstein Cultural Series

In honor of philanthropist and visionary Perry Rosenstein, whose Puffin Foundation has made so many ALBA programs possible, ALBA presents an interactive series of events, bringing together diverse progressive voices to enhance understanding and awareness of progressive traditions in America and beyond, and to put those traditions in the context of today’s troubling political and social climate

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Information Session on the Alvah Bessie Program

Conducted via Zoom on Sunday, September 18th, 1 PM ET/ 10 AM PST

We hope you enjoyed the online interview, discussion, and Q & A. The Interview and Information Session on the Alvah Bessie Program featured Jordi Martí Rueda and Eulàlia Mesalles of the General Directorate for Democratic Memory in conversation with ALBA Chair Sebastiaan Faber.

The Alvah Bessie Program is an undertaking of the Generalitat de Catalunya that will focus on exhuming and identifying the remains of International Brigade volunteers who died and were buried in Catalonia.

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ALBA Statement on Abortion Rights

In response to today’s ruling The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) reaffirms that it stands with the majority of Americans who support ensuring access to safe and legal abortion for all. Intrusion into an individual’s reproductive life poses a direct threat to economic and social justice, with a particularly devastating impact on women of color and low-income families. ALBA opposes any and all attacks on the fundamental rights established 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. Keep abortion safe and legal! – ALBA Board of Governors

Ways to get organized and mobilized, from New York Magazine: Click Here

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Perry Rosenstein Cultural Series: 

Poetry and the Spanish Civil War

Conducted via Zoom by experienced presenter Anthony Geist on June 30, 2022.

Anthony Geist is Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the University of Washington. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Geist’s research concerns the art and literature of the Spanish Civil War. He published a photo-essay on Seattle-area Lincoln Brigade veterans, coauthored with the Spanish photojournalist José Moreno, entitled Passing the Torch: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and its Legacy of Hope / Otra cara de América: Los brigadistas y su legado de esperanza. He has also curated ALBA’s traveling exhibit, They Still Draw Pictures: Children’s Art in Wartime from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo. The accompanying book was published in 2002. In 2006 he co-produced and co-directed a documentary film on the American volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War, Souls without Borders: The Untold Story of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 1936-2006.

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Film Screening and Interactive Discussion: Bones of Contention

Co-presented with CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies at CUNY

Bones of Contention is the first nonfiction feature film to explore the theme of historical memory in Spain, focusing on the repression of the LGBTQ community under Franco.

Click here to find out more about the film!

Wednesday, June 8
6 PM EST / 3 PM PST

The Panel Included:

Andrea Weiss
Director, Bones of Contention

Emilio Silva
President, Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory

Professor Shaka McGlotten
Chair, Gender and Global Black Studies at SUNY Purchase

The panel was moderated by Theadora Williams, a student anti-fascist activist and researcher at Hunter College studying Sociology and Computer Science. Theadora is the creator and maintainer of Stuyvesant’s Spanish Civil War Archives.

Check out the trailer for Bones of Contention here!

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A Live Online Gala! 
Honoring the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

&

Life After Hate

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2022 ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism

Is Awarded to

On January 6, 2022, the one-year anniversary of the horrific assault on our nation’s capital, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) announced that the 2022 ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism would be awarded to Life After Hate (LAH). One of the largest monetary awards for human rights in the world, the ALBA/Puffin Award is a $100,000 cash prize granted annually by ALBA and the Puffin Foundation to honor the nearly 3,000 Americans who volunteered in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) to fight fascism under the banner of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The award ceremony took place at a live online gala on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Due to the alarming rise of fascism in America, as witnessed one year ago in Washington, ALBA and The Puffin Foundation renew their commitment to combating far-right extremism. LAH is an organization whose mission is helping people leave the violent far-right to connect with humanity and lead compassionate lives. Their vision is a world that allows people to change and contribute to a society without violence. The work of LAH will help ensure that the horrendous events of January 6 are never repeated.

Life After Hate is a leader in the violence intervention community and the first nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to helping individuals disengage from violent far-right hate groups and hateful online spaces. Since its founding in 2011, LAH has expanded its services to include family members of individuals who are involved with or are disengaging from the violent far-right.

A central part of the LAH mission is their innovative approach to interventions. A multidisciplinary team model pairs former violent extremists and mental health practitioners to help individuals leave hate and violence frameworks and to set and manage their goals to restore their lives.

“The work and message of Life After Hate has never been more valuable and more needed. A daily diet of media-infused disinformation touted by self-absorbed politicians spewing far-right rhetoric has led to more and more Americans turning to violence and hate groups. The success of Life After Hate’s outreach, research, and interventions shows that we can overcome this hate and have people reconnect with humanity and lead compassionate lives.” said Neal Rosenstein, President of The Puffin Foundation

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The Spanish Civil War Letters of George and Ruth Watt

The Spanish Civil War Letters of George and Ruth Watt is a love story – a war story – a personal public history – and a retelling in dramatic form of a crucial time in the ongoing struggle for justice and human dignity. If it’s true that “the political is always personal,” this story shows that the personal can also be political.

The online performance and discussion were held on Saturday, April 9th, at 1 PM EST/ 10 AM PST. The Interview and Q&A Session featured Dan Lynn Watt and Molly Lynn Watt, the authors of the play.

Download the Full Play Script Here for Educational Use 

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ALBA Statement on Invasion of Ukraine

The ALBA Board of Governors issued the following statement regarding the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine:

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces. The resulting destruction, chaos, and loss of life is the sole responsibility of President Vladimir Putin, who has perverted the concept of anti-fascism to justify imperialism and these despicable violations of human rights. ALBA stands in complete solidarity with the Ukrainian people as they suffer these unprovoked and unjustified attacks.

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ALBA Event Calendar

Check out our Online Event Calendar to plug into ALBA programming and learn how to get involved.

Also, check out our past programming by enjoying our archived event videos.

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FAQs on ALBA and the Lincoln Brigade 

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