Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives vol06 (Page 15)

THE VOLUNTEER, WINTER 1997-98 15

Tampa remembers Spain -- BIG!

aid the Spanish Republican gov-
ernment in the Spanish Civil War
against the Fascist armies of
Franco; and

"Whereas, U[niversity of]

S[outh] F[lorida] in conjunction
with the Florida Humanities
Council, the Centro Asturiano, Inc.,
the Hillsborough County Arts
Council, the Spanish Ministry of
Culture and many other Com-
munity organizations, is hosting
events in Tampa to commemorate
the sixtieth anniversary of the
Spanish Civil War and the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade's coura-
geous and selfless fight on behalf of
the Spanish people and freedom
loving people everywhere."

A well-designed color brochure,

No Pasaran, circulated weeks ahead
of time, describing the many planned
events so well that it helped attract
many Florida residents. The Univer-
sity of South Florida provided the
sites for most of the events. Leading,
participating and organizing many of
these events were USF history
Professor and ALBA Co-Chair Fraser
Ottanelli, Maura Barrios of USF's
Latin American and Caribbean
Studies Program, and graduate stu-
dent Ana Varela-Lago (whose essay,

Tampa Latins Aid to Loyalist Spain,
won the 1996 George Watt Memorial
Essay Award, and appears in con-
densed form in the Summer 1997
Volunteer).

Two other ALBA Board members

were also on hand for the Tampa com-
memoration. Professor Cary Nelson
came from the University of Illinois to
lecture on The Literature of the
Spanish War under the auspices of
USF's English Department. Peter
Carroll came from California to con-
duct a workshop for local secondary
school teachers under the auspices of
Tampa Historical Heritage, Inc., and
the Hillsborough County School
Board. Carroll also gave a lecture on
The United States and the Spanish
Civil War, sponsored by USF's
History Department.

We Lincoln veterans also partici-

pated. I got to speak, along with a vet
I had never before known, John
Penrod, who is now a pal. We dis-
cussed Idealism and International-
ism with members of the USF
International Students organization.
We remembered that during the
Spanish Civil War, Tampa, with its
huge Hispanic population, was a
major source of support to the
Republic, sending ambulances, food,
clothing and medical supplies
throughout the war. In fact, Tampa

Remi Skoutelsky, whose book about
French volunteers will be published
next year, used police and court
records to document the careers of his
country's volunteers.

One result of the conference was

to identify new source materials
about the IB experience. Fraser
Ottanelli recently discovered valuable
information about IB volunteers in
the police records kept by the
Mussolini regime in Rome. Others
drew heavily on newly released docu-
ments from Moscow. We also learned
that the records of the Non-
Intervention Committee of the
League of Nations that involved

raised more per capita than any other
community in the USA.

That these memories are still alive

among Tampa Hispanics was amply
demonstrated in the Ybor City district
on the evening of December 7, when a
program dedicated to "España En El
Corazon," with poetry, music, dance
and readings took place in the Centro
Asturiano theater. On November 21, I
attended an event at the same theater,
which featured remembrances of six
women and three men who were active
supporters 60 years earlier of Loyalist
Spain. Their stories held the large
audience spellbound, and in tears. Me
too. Much of the organizational work
for these programs was done by
William Garcia of the Centro
Asturiano, along with Anthony Palms
and Ana Varela-Lago, to whom all
Tampa was grateful.

Films about Spain and the War

were shown on successive Saturday
mornings, even including Ken Loach's
Land and Freedom on which Bill
Susman and I were asked to com-
ment. Bill was calmly analytical in
his criticism of the Loach film, while
the movie turned my stomach. But I
managed to keep my expression of
distaste rather mild.

Several thousand people attended

and participated in these Tampa Bay
area events. No other U.S. communi-
ty, large or small, has, to my knowl-
edge, witnessed this kind of homage,
this intense personal identification,
this bonding with and collective
understanding of historical events
that took place so long ago. Most
exciting was the rare and warm rela-
tionship that has developed between
the young university students and the
Spanish-speaking community. You
really had to be there.

Ay Manuela!

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granting exit visas to the volunteers
in 1938 were deliberately destroyed in
1940. Following the fall of France,
League officials worried that capture
of these records by Germany would
imperil volunteers.

ALBA is hoping to coordinate a

listing of international source materi-
al and acquire new microfilm for the
collection at Brandeis. In addition,
ALBA's electronic chat-group, admin-
istered by Andrew Lee
alba@lists.nyu.edu will maintain
continuing contact among the inter-
national scholars. By sharing
research, answering queries, and
identifying sources, this project
promises to keep ALBA at the center
of international research.