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Creator
Smith, Randall B., 1916-1989
Call number
MssCol 2790
Physical description
, 3 linear feet (4 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Randall B. Smith collection of Spanish Civil War materials, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

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. Collection consists of materials relating to the Spanish Civil War and the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Seventy-three audiotapes (ca. 1975-1985), include interviews with veterans, radio programs, conferences and classes and document experiences of Americans and Canadians in the Spanish Civil War. They provide information on the involvement of veterans in a number of organizations and movements, including the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, the Communist Party, the Vietnam anti-war movement, and protests against U.S. policies in Central America. Collection also includes lists of veterans, printed matter and photographs and slides of Spanish Civil War posters, and two original posters.

Biographical/historical information

Veteran of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War and active member of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Randall B. ("Pete") Smith (1916-1989) was born in Warren, Ohio in 1916. In the early 1930s he moved to New York City, where he joined the Communist Party. In 1936, he volunteered to serve in the International Brigades that were organized by the Communist Party to defend the government of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. He returned to the United States in 1938. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, and after the war he worked as a longshoreman. He was an active member of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). This was an organization formed by veterans of the Spanish Civil War, which took its name from the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, an American unit in one of the International Brigades. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Smith spearheaded efforts of veterans to collect and preserve material documenting the history of the Spanish Civil War and the VALB. Randall Smith died in October 1989.

Scope and arrangement

The collection contains seventy-three audiotapes (circa 1975-1985) relating to the Spanish Civil War, including interviews with veterans, radio programs, conferences and classes. In addition, the collection holds lists of veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, printed matter and photographs and slides of Spanish Civil War posters, and two original posters.

This collection consists of materials collected by Randall B. Smith relating to the Spanish Civil War and the veterans of the International Brigades. It includes audio cassette tapes, photographs and slides of Spanish Civil War posters, lists of veterans of the Spanish Civil War and printed matter, dating from 1936-1985. The bulk of these items date from 1969-1985.

These materials document the experiences of Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War. They also provide information on the history of organizations and movements in which these individuals were active before and after that conflict, such as the Communist Party and the labor movement. Some of the audiotapes chronicle the experiences of Spanish Civil War veterans who fought in World War II, including some who participated in Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operations in Europe. A number of the audiotapes, especially the interviews, also document American social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the opposition to U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam and Central America.

The Randall B. Smith collection of Spanish Civil War materials are arranged in two series:

  • Series 1. Photographs, VALB lists, bibliographies, and printed ephemer
    1936-1985
    2.0 linear feet

    This series consists of a variety of materials, which document the history of the Spanish Civil War and the VALB, and provide biographical information on Spanish Civil War veterans. There are several lists of members of the VALB. A computerized list (c.1969) includes the age, occupation, place of residence, and ethnic background of many of the volunteers. Other lists include the names of the dead and the missing.

    Printed matter includes scattered issues of publications of the International Brigades (1937) and several issues of the Volunteer for Liberty (a VALB publication). A binder containing copies of newsclippings about veterans and a few copies of letters make up part of the printed matter.

    The series also includes a card file of bibliographic citations for pamphlets, monographs and periodicals relating to the Spanish Civil War and the minutes of a meeting of an International Brigade in Spain in 1937.

  • Series 2. Audiotapes
    1975-1985, undated
    1 linear foot; 73 items

    This series consists of sound recordings of veterans meetings, lectures, documentaries, interviews, personal communications, and other recordings relating to the history of the Spanish Civil War and the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. These tapes document the battlefield experiences of Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War, their relationships to the Communist Party, their lives after the war, and the activities of the VALB. They also provide information on various efforts to document the history of the Spanish Civil War and the VALB that were undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Randall B. Smith, 1986

Processing information

Compiled by Francesca Pitaro, July 1990; Revised by Richard Hollinger, 1992

Separated material

Most of the photographs from Randall Smith Collection have been transferred to the Photography Collection (Rm. 308).

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Access restrictions

The two original posters are unavailable for use, but copies are available in box 2. The original audiotapes can be viewed, but audio cassette service copies of the tapes must be used for listening.

Alternative form available

Sound recordings available on audio cassettes