Mellon Foundation Fellow Participates in the Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence
by Lynda. F. Rysavy | Thursday, Dec 05, 2019
Carmen Cañete Quesada, Ph.D., an associate professor of Spanish in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of FAU recently participated in the Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Program.
Dr. Cañete Quesada conducted archival research regarding the involvement of African Americans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Dr. Cañete Quesada located invaluable archival material in the Schomburg Center, the Tamiment Library at NYU, and the Spanish Refugee Relief Association Records at Columbia University.
On November 20, Dr. Cañete Quesada presented “African Americans and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).” Her research seeks to increase awareness of the African-American volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB), its motivations, experiences and struggles, and the ideals for which its members fought during the Spanish conflict.
In this context of historical awareness, using archival material and other unrevealed sources, it also explores the efforts of leading African-American figures, who collaborated with aid organizations to send food, medical supplies, and other needs to Spain’s supporters of the Republic.
The presentation brings attention to the voices and opinions of the black brigadiers Oscar Hunter, Thomas Page and Luchell McDaniels, and members of the medical personnel from the American Medical Bureau, like Salaria Kee and Arnold Bennett Donowa. It also describes the contribution of social worker and activist, Thyra Edwards, who was one of the leading figures of the Negro People's Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy.