Robert Steck Photographs 1937-1996

ArchivalResource

Robert Steck Photographs 1937-1996

Robert Steck (1912-), actor and social activist, sailed to Europe to volunteer for service in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in January 1937. In the following months, Steck served in the International Brigades with the First Regiment de Tren, where he was made political commissar; worked with British writer Ralph Bates, putting out the magazine Volunteer for Liberty; headed the Tarazona Base Cultural Commission, adapting his theater experience to the political and social realities of the war and creating skits performed off the back of trucks (known as "Buffoons on Trucks"); and was rifleman, runner and battalion scout for the Third Lincoln company. This collection includes images acquired by Steck in the course of his service in Spain and images of Steck, and others, from before and after the Spanish Civil War. The collection contains non-combat photographs of the members of the First Regiment de Tren, images of Carl Geiser in Spain after the Civil War and of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in a solidarity parade held in the United States and one image of the "Night of Stars," a New York City benefit for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The collection also includes portraits of Steck, images of Steck with his public school pupils and one image of Steck attending a picket and rally in Puerto Rico.

1.75 linear feet, (5 boxes)

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Bates, Ralph, 1899-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61g0pjd (person)

Steck, Robert

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63x8nfs (person)

Robert Steck was born in 1912 in Rock Island, Illinois. One of five brothers, he inherited a keen awareness of society's injustices from his father, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler and member of the Freethinking Society, leading Steck to a lifelong commitment to public service and political activism. While attending St. Ambrose College in Iowa, Steck discovered the theater and, after a stint as a truck driver for his father's business, landed in New York City, where he worked on the staff of Ne...

Spain. Ejercito Popular de la Republica. Abraham Lincoln Battalion.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m7059x (corporateBody)

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Archives.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6586wgf (corporateBody)

Sennett, William, 1914-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w670928t (person)

William (Bill) Sennett (né Snesetsky or Snestzki) was raised in Chicago and participated in hunger marches, organizing in the South Side black community and other political activities as a Section Organizer for the Young Communist League. He was a metalworker, living in Cicero, IL, when he volunteered for service on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. He arrived in Spain in March 1937 and served in the International Brigades as political commissar of a transportation regimen -- Second S...

Spain. Ejército Popular de la República. Brigada Internacional, XV.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6716hd6 (corporateBody)

Geiser, Carl

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68w3tp9 (person)

Carl Frederick Geiser was born in Orrville, Ohio on December 10, 1910. He was the oldest of six children and is maternal grandparents raised Geiser and his siblings. In the early 1930s, Geiser wrote press releases and edited International Labor Defense bulletins, organized for the League against War and Fascism, and in 1936 was elected to the National Committee of the Young Communist League. In 1937 Geiser joined the International Brigades and served in the Spanish Civil War. He served as an am...

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Historical Commission

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63249d2 (corporateBody)

English, Robert (Robert D.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zj2kd6 (person)

Parlour, Ernie.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h28zn9 (person)

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c57872 (corporateBody)

VALB was formed in December 1937 by U.S. volunteers returning from combat in the Spanish Civil War. VALB originally assisted wounded veterans and sought to awaken the U.S. public to the significance of the Spanish Civil War and the Loyalist cause. In later years, VALB began to address other political issues, including U.S. policy in World War II and later, Cuba, Nicaragua and Vietnam. In addition to their headquarters in New York City, VALB "Posts" developed in various cities including Los Angel...