Author Archive for James D. Fernández

ARKIVO — “Remember, This Was You.”

May 16, 2025
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<em>ARKIVO —</em> “Remember, This Was You.”

In this new occasional feature of The Volunteer, whose title is the Esperanto word for “archive,” we will present, translate and contextualize iconic foreign language documents related to the anti-fascist struggle in Spain. If you have a favorite document in a language other than English, let us know!
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Letter from ALBA: Liberation through Solidarity

<em>Letter from ALBA:</em> Liberation through Solidarity

“The courage and fortitude the Lincoln Brigade exemplified is desperately needed today. They saw the writing on the wall and didn't wait until the powers that be caught up with them to take what J. Edgar Hoover preposterously described as premature anti-fascist action.” Audrey Sasson, the Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic...
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How Did Spaniards in the US Experience the Spanish Civil War?

February 22, 2025
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How Did Spaniards in the US Experience the Spanish Civil War?

From March 1 to August 3, 2025, The Tampa Bay History Center will host an exhibition titled “Invisible Immigrants: Spaniards in the US, 1868-1945.” Co-curated by Luis Argeo and James D. Fernández, this show uses materials—photographs, documents, letters, keepsakes—digitized or on loan from the family archives of the descendants of those immigrants, as well...
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Letter from ALBA: Indignation and Disbelief

February 22, 2025
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<em>Letter from ALBA:</em> Indignation and Disbelief

Dear Friends, We know that many of you are working hard to transform your indignation and disbelief at political developments in our country into the mobilizing energy needed to build a new Popular Front against fascism. At ALBA we are well aware of the small but significant role we play as an educational organization...
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Book Review: Franco’s Mass Graves

November 22, 2024
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<em>Book Review:</em> Franco’s Mass Graves

Franco’s Mass Graves: Breaking the Silence in Spain, by Emilio Silva Barrera. Translated by Veronica Dean-Thacker and Shelby G. Thacker. Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta.
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Ben Shahn Returns to Spain, or the Intangible and Untimely Heritage of Anti-Fascism

February 24, 2024
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Ben Shahn Returns to Spain, or the Intangible and Untimely Heritage of Anti-Fascism

We talk about the “return” of Picasso’s Guernica to Spain, even though that massive painting had never been here before its “repatriation” in 1981. The magnificent show “Ben Shahn: On Non-Conformity” curated by Laura Katzman and on display until February 26 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, elicits a similar sense:...
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by Guernica [part 2]

November 18, 2023
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by <em>Guernica</em> [part 2]

When a visit to Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid was canceled because of Covid, James Fernández instead delivered this lecture. This is the last of two installments.
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by Guernica [part 1]

August 30, 2023
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by <em>Guernica</em> [part 1]

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, James D. Fernández had agreed to visit Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid with a group of students from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. The trip was canceled, and instead, he delivered a zoom lecture to the students about Guernica without Guernica, which we...
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Dreaming Wide Awake in the Archives

August 5, 2019
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Dreaming Wide Awake in the Archives

The ALBA collection at NYU’s Tamiment Library is an extraordinary trove of documents, images, and artifacts chronicling the lives of the almost 3,000 American men and women who joined the Spanish Civil War. It collection represents about ten percent of these volunteers—a respectable sampling. But is it representative?
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A New Home for ALBA in New York, and a Homecoming—of Sorts

February 27, 2018
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A New Home for ALBA in New York, and a Homecoming—of Sorts

ALBA has moved offices from one historical location to another one. Our new home is steeped in history and ripe with promise.
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