Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives vol06 (Page 16)

THE VOLUNTEER, WINTER 1997-98

Ralph

Fasanella

alph Fasanella, 83-year-old
Lincoln veteran, nationally

acclaimed painter, died on December
16, 1997, in a hospital near the town
of Ardsley New York where he and
his wife Eva lived.

Born to an immigrant Italian

family his father an iceman, his
mother a garment worker Ralph
was a truck driver in an Amal-
gamated Clothing Workers' shop
when he left for Spain in the spring
of 1937. His IB service was in the
Primero Regimiento de Tren, the
freight hauler of the Republican
army. He drove in the Aragon,
Teruel and Gandesa campaigns,
returning home in the summer of
1938.

While working as an organizer

for United Electrical Workers of
the CIO in 1944, Ralph became
hooked on painting after he suc-
cessfully tried it as therapy for a
wrist ailment. Four years later, the
progressive ACA Gallery in New
York City gave his work a premier
showing. From then on there was
continuous, increasing acclaim as a
painter.

Ralph's work was bought by

prestigious galleries and "name" col-
lections. It found a place in the
Smithsonian Museum. A huge can-
vas on the famous 1912 Great Textile
Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts,
had a tumultuous journey from the
hearing room of the House Com-
mittee on Labor and Education in
the U.S. Capitol to its present venue
in New York City's Museum of
American Folk Art.

Ralph and Eva were prominent

at the past five New York annual
VALB affairs. They set up shop at
each for the sale of posters reproduc-
ing Ralph's most famous subjects. At
each occasion their effort raised hun-
dreds of dollars for the ongoing work
of the East Coast VALB.

Readers of The Volunteer

(Spring, 1996) will recall the gift of
Ralph's Subway Riders painting that
is uniquely on permanent display in
the NY Transportation System's
Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street
Station.

Len Levenson

Note: The next issue of The

Volunteer will feature a story on
Ralph Fasanella's planned project,
unfortunately curtailed by his pass-
ing, for a painting on the Spanish
Civil War. It is being written by
Lincoln vet Harry Fisher.

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Alvin Warren

incoln veteran Alvin Warren died

in Sleepy Hollow, New York, On

October 18, 1997. By the time he
arrived in Spain (May 1938) to join
the 15th Brigade as a lieutenant in
the autopark of the 15th Brigade, Al
had already qualified himself for the
title of "Forever Activist." Leaving
home at the age of 15, he had ridden
the rails between laboring jobs and
cut his political eyeteeth in struggles
for African-American equality and
strikes that hit the waterfronts in
Texas and San Francisco and in his
native city of Mount Vernon.

After enlisting in World War II,

Al successfully beat back the discrim-
inatory policy against the Lincoln
veterans and landed on the
Normandy beachhead as a demoli-
tions expert.

In postwar years, Al settled with

his family in Montrose New York and
became a self-employed master car-
penter. His activity range was broad
and intense: He was a founder of
Westchester SANE, one of the largest
and most active chapters in the coun-
try. He was a also a founder of
Veterans Against the War in Vietnam.

In a tribute to Al, Walter Brooks,

president of the Ossining NAACP
Chapter, declared, "He lived the life
and died the death of a revolution-
ary."

In the draft of an autobiography,

Al wrote:

"My work career included long-

shoreman, teamster, lifeguard, sea-
man, student, teacher, gandy dancer,
temporary railroad brakeman union
organizer, laborer, fruit picker, har-
vest hand, carpenter, cabinet maker,
department store clerk, dishwasher,
floor scraper, smoke chaser and full-
time agitator."

Len Levenson

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Ralph Fasanella in his studio.

G. Paul Burnett

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives - vol06 (Page 16)