Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives

Ralph Garnet Thorton was born in Pittsburgh, 1901. He worked at a print shop in Wilkinsburg and joined the CPUSA in 1934. He sailed for Spain on April 10, 1937. He served with ALB in the Headquarters and Commissariat until he returned to the US on December 20, 1938.

Spain Again
España otra vez
Thursday, July 9 at 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT
With Discussion Leader Randal Scamardo
Moderated by ALBA Board Member Sebastiaan Faber

Please join us for this expert-led discussion taking a closer look at the 1968 film, Spain Again.

Before the discussion session on Zoom, registrants will be directed to watch both an expert introductory video and the film. Attendance is free but registration is required.

Spain Again, directed by Jaime Camino, follows Dr. David Foster, who returns to Spain for the first time since serving as a doctor for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War three decades earlier. The film was produced in collaboration with Alvah Bessie, an Abraham Lincoln Brigade vet. Bessie contributed to the English-language dialogue, participated in scouting locations, and appeared on screen in a supporting role.

Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alba-film-series-spain-again-tickets-1991703909007?aff=oddtdtcreator

Learn more about Alvah Bessie in ALBA’s Volunteer Database:
https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/alvah-bessie/

Part of the Peter N. Carroll Anti-Fascist Education Fund

We are pleased to announce upcoming screenings of the documentary American Agitators in Columbus, Seattle, San Luis Obispo, and Long Beach in July 2026.

Executive co-produced by ALBA community member Margo Feinberg, the daughter of Helen Freeman, an AMB nurse, the film explores the remarkable life of Fred Ross Sr. and a legacy of grassroots organizing that continues today.

Born in Los Angeles in 1910, Ross dedicated his life to organizing people to challenge police brutality, fight segregation, and mobilize voter registration and turnout campaigns. The film also follows present-day organizers carrying that legacy forward, guided by the same principles of community organizing and collective action pioneered by Fred Ross Sr. and continued by his son, Fred Ross Jr.

Learn more about American Agitators and purchase tickets to upcoming screenings here:
https://www.americanagitators.com/screenings

Learn more about AMB nurse Helen Freeman in ALBA’s Volunteer Database here:
https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/helen-freeman/

Luba Brisker was born in Russia, 1898. She arrived in the US in 1922 and worked as a physical therapist. She travelled to Canada, France and Bermuda before she arrived in Spain on February 2, 1938. She served at Mataro before she returned to the US on New Years Eve, 1938. Luba died on March 17, 1998 in Russia.

Bernard “Barney” Spaulding was born in Pueblo, CO, 1901. He may have served in the Canadian Army from 1918-1919. He worked as a sailor from 1928. He joined the NMU, CPUSA, and PCE. He arrived in Spain on March 17, 1937, served with ALB and was WIA on July 11, 1937.

Abraham Albert Koslow was born in Brooklyn, 1909. He was an organizer with the Unemployed Councils in Brooklyn before he arrived in Spain on February 20, 1937. He was WIA on April 18, 1937 and returned to the US by September 12, 1937. He later served in the US Army in WWII. Al Koslow died at the age of 97 in New York.

Basilio Curtis Obret was born in Marianao, Havana, 1898. He served in the Cuban Army from 1917-1920 as a baseball player. He relocated to US in 1920, playing baseball in the Negro National League with a team of Cubans. By 1923 he quit baseball and moved to Florida. By 1926, he moved to Long Island. After a brief return, he retired from baseball in 1928.

A member of the Cuban Workers Club and CPUSA, he arrived in Spain on February 4, 1937. He served with ALB at the *Battle of Jarama and single-handedly eliminated an enemy machine gun nest. Basilio later led a machine gun company in the 46th Division. It’s unclear when he left Spain or if he returned to New York or Cuba. He was President of the Committee for Ex-Combatants.

He passed away on May 8, 1959 in Cuba, just after the successful Cuban revolution.

*Learn more about the Battle of Jarama in our document library: https://alba-valb.org/resource/battle-of-jarama/

Frank Carruthers Dorsey was born in San Francisco, 1912. He worked as a journalist and joined the CPUSA in 1936. He arrived in Spain on June 3, 1937 and served with ALB until he returned to the US on New Years Eve, 1938. He married Charolette Hudson on January 6, 1939.

Frank briefly served in the US Army during WWII but was discharged after 3 months due to tuberculosis. He lived in Montpellier, France when he died on January 26, 2005.

Book presentation: Las cajas de Ámsterdam: Kati Horna y Margaret Michaelis en la Guerra Civil

The event will take place on Monday, June 15, 2026, at 7 PM at Ateneo La Maliciosa (Madrid). Admission is free.

Join author Almudena Rubio of the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam for a conversation with ALBA Board Member Sebastiaan Faber of Oberlin College, Jordana Mendelson of New York University, and ALBA Board Member Jo Labanyi of New York University.

This illustrated monograph recovers the work of Margaret Michaelis and Kati Horna, two foreign photographers whose images are among the most powerful visual records of the Spanish Civil War. Long believed lost, hundreds of their photographs were later identified by historian Almudena Rubio in the historical archives of the CNT-FAI. T

These materials, known as the “Amsterdam boxes,” were taken clandestinely out of Spain in January 1939, shortly before Franco’s victory, and brought to the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam.

More information:
https://traficantes.net/actividad/las-cajas-de-%C3%A1msterdam-kati-horna-y-margaret-michaelis-en-la-guerra-civil