Mike Nash, RIP

July 26, 2012
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I have just heard the heartbreaking news of the death of Michael Nash, Director of the Tamiment Library and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at NYU.

Over the years I had the good fortune of being able to work with Mike on a number of ALBA-related projects and on several occasions we co-taught an undergraduate seminar on the Spanish Civil War.  He was a remarkably learned teacher and scholar who wore his erudition lightly; a generous and gentle archivist always eager to help others; a principled and committed man whose teaching and scholarship and stewardship of Tamiment were of a piece with his lifelong dedication to the promotion, via historical understanding, of human rights and social justice.

May he rest in peace, and may his family find some solace in the genuine and profound affection and admiration of the many people whose lives were touched by Mike.

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2 Responses to “ Mike Nash, RIP ”

  1. Miriam Basilio on July 26, 2012 at 10:57 am

    All of us at NYU who had the pleasure to work with Mike, without whom we would not have the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives and so many other collections that enable the documentation of the lives, activism, and memories of those who fought for justice, are saddened to learn of his loss. I worked with him on a colloquium about the ALBA archive holdings with James Fernandez and Jordana Mendelson, which was one of many wonderful experiences I’ve had at NYU, because we have a great collegial group of scholars who work on the Spanish Civil War. HIs legacy will live on.

  2. michael ratner on July 28, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    Thank you James for this. I just loved Michael and his work at the archives was superb. He, like the Volunteer magazine, could encompass many different tendencies on the left. Center for Const archives are at Tamiment because of his work.

    In another peace of sad news John “Tito” Gerassi died a few days ago. His father was an officer in the Spanish Civil War. Tito’s work on the SCW is archived at Tamiment as is oral history of some who fought in the war.
    Abstract: Journalist and scholar John (“Tito”) Gerassi received his MA at Columbia University and earned his doctorate at the London School of Economics. Among his publications are The Great Fear in Latin America(1965), The Boys of Boise(1966), and the biography Jean-Paul Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century, (1989). The Premature Anti-Fascists: Oral History of American and Canadian Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War was published in 1986, and is a tribute to the men and women who volunteered to fight on behalf of the Spanish Republic. This collection consists chiefly of full transcriptions of 65 of the oral histories that were conducted for Gerassi’s project, with supporting research materials.
    Quantity: 4.5 linear feet (9 boxes)
    Call Phrase: ALBA.018

    hishttp://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/alba_018/alba_018.html