Today at Tamiment Library, looking through the binders that catalogue the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), it quickly became clear how formidable the volume and variety of documentation to which we have access is. There are so many areas of interest addressed by the writings of the veterans and their friends and family, from the fighting to the politics to the culture to more specific topics like the roles of women and African Americans, among many other things. This first visit got me thinking about what topic(s) I would like to hone in on for future projects, and I am still thinking; there is a plethora of material to sift through and consider.
As I looked through several veterans’ writings today, just to get an impression of what I will be working with, I did not focus on any particular stories, but I did begin to consider common threads and their implications. One striking commonality is that all of the Americans involved with the Republic were volunteers. The fact that all of these men and women were involved voluntarily is phenomenal, and I find them especially courageous and selfless when considering how much they stood to lose. First and foremost they stood to lose their own lives, and of course their connections to loved ones, family, friends, causes, and other interests back home, as made abundantly clear by the extensive and endearing content of various diaries, documents, and letters. These writings discuss love, longing, and the mental and emotional leaps of faith involved in leaving home, and risking life and limb to defend beliefs, and the people who shared those beliefs, from a fascist force hell bent on the destruction of those people and beliefs. The humanizing effect of these writings is simultaneously inspiring and gut-wrenching; to think that young (and some not-so-young) people from a different era, with whom I nonetheless have much in common, could uproot their lives, go to Spain, fight, and die for their cause. I appreciate those who fought for the Republic, as well as those who fought many other wars throughout history, to defend ideas and freedoms that I value, but at the same time I wonder how I would feel and what I would do if I found myself in a position similar to theirs…
Dear Ryan,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection. As you say, the topic of motivation --what drove these people to do this-- is a fascinating one, and could well be the focus of a research project (or many research projects.) I like the fact that at first you're going in to the archive without too much of an agenda, trying to let the materials speak to you.