The Front Lines of Social Change:
 Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Richard Bermack

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), close to three thousand young, idealistic Americans formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and joined thirty-five thousand people from around the world in the fight against Franco's fascists, who were supported by Hitler and Mussolini. When these young people returned home, they were labeled communists and blacklisted.

Surviving members of this group have since formed the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and, over the last sixty years, most have participated in virtually every progressive social movement in America. Richard Bermack has assembled an inspiring record. In this book, lifetime activists, many in their eighties and nineties, tell their stories in their own words.

About the Author

Richard Bermack is a documentary photographer, labor journalist, and writer who began photographing members of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade twenty years ago at events and rallies. Bermack’s awards include the Media Alliance’s Meritorious Award for Photography and the International Labor Communicators Association/AFL-CIO’s prestigious Max Steinbock Award for labor journalism.