Inventory of the Javier Benedet papers
Processed by David Jacobs.
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Phone: (650) 723-3563
Fax: (650) 725-3445
Email: hooverarchives@stanford.edu
© 2012
Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Javier Benedet papers
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California
- Processed by:
- David Jacobs
- Date Completed:
- 2012
- Encoded by:
- Machine-readable finding aid derived from Microsoft Word and MARC record by Beth Goder.
© 2012 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Title: Javier Benedet papers
Dates: 1900-1977
Collection Number: 2013C11
Creator: Benedet, Javier
Collection Size:
22 manuscript boxes, 10 oversize boxes, 1 oversize folder
(14.8 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: The Javier Benedet papers contain significant materials relating to the Spanish Civil War and to fundraising efforts in Northern
California on behalf of the Republican side in that conflict. The papers also provide documentation on the plight of Republican
refugees in the aftermath of the Civil War and on the political life of the Spanish anti-fascist diaspora in France, Mexico,
and other countries.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages: The collection is in
Spanish with some materials in English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
Publication Rights
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Javier Benedet papers, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2012.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Related Materials
Burnett Bolloten papers, Hoover Institution Archives
Leo Eloesser papers, Hoover Institution Archives
Biographical Note
| 1904 |
Born, Siete Iglesias, Valladolid, Spain |
| 1910-1925 |
Lives in Mexico and is apprenticed as a bullfighter |
| 1925-1969 |
Works as a waiter in San Francisco, California |
| 1930s-1970s |
Secretary, Acción Demócrata Española. Active in fundraising on behalf of the Spanish Republic |
| 1969-1985 |
Works as a bartender in Mill Valley, California |
| 1990 |
Died |
Scope and Content of Collection
The Javier Benedet papers contain significant materials relating to the Spanish Civil War and to fundraising efforts in Northern
California on behalf of the Republican side in that conflict. The papers also provide documentation on the plight of Republican
refugees in the aftermath of the Civil War and on the political life of the Spanish anti-fascist diaspora in France, Mexico,
and other countries. In terms of volume, the Benedet papers presently constitute the second largest collection (after the
Burnett Bolloten papers) in the archives pertaining to the Spanish Civil War.
In the 1930s, Benedet was a founding member of Acción Demócrata Española, a political organization based in San Francisco
and comprised largely of Spanish expatriates and immigrants. During the civil war that engulfed Spain in 1936-1939, the organization
campaigned on behalf of the Spanish Republic and against the rightwing forces headed by Francisco Franco. By means of public
appeals, festivals, and concerts, Acción Demócrata Española raised money that was sent to Republican Spain in aid of children
affected by the war and, when the conflict was over, on behalf of Spanish refugees in France and elsewhere. Affiliated with
the Sociedades Hispanas Aliadas, Acción Demócrata Española participated in the political life of the Spanish emigration in
North America, maintaining a general anti-fascist orientation amidst the often bitter divisions among Spanish Republican factions.
Its fundraising activities continued into the 1970s.
As secretary of Acción Demócrata Española in San Francisco, Benedet played a key role both within the organization and as
its public representative within the Hispanic community of Northern California. The
organizational records series includes correspondence, minutes of meetings, and publicity materials used in the fundraising efforts of Acción Demócrata
Española. There are a small number of writings by Benedet in the
speeches and writings series. In addition to a number of monographs and pamphlets relating to Spanish politics, the large
printed matter series contains copies of the many journals and newspapers received by Benedet before, during, and after the Spanish Civil
War. These materials reflect a wide spectrum of political thought on the Republican side and include anarchist, socialist,
communist, and independent publications. Also included in this series are numerous issues of
España libre, the newspaper of the Sociedades Hispanas Confederadas in the United States and a major forum for Spanish Republican opinion
after the end of the civil war.
The collection also contains a number of posters relating to the Spanish Civil War and to various fiestas in Northern California
organized by Acción Demócrata Española. There is also an original artwork by a child depicting a scene of aerial combat during
the civil war.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into 6 series: Organizational records; Speeches and writings; Photographs; Printed matter; Oversize
materials; Oversize folder.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Refugees.
Spain--Emigration and immigration.
Spaniards--United States.
Acción Demócrata Española
Collection Contents
Box: 1-6
Organizational records
1932-1976
Scope and Content Note
Contains correspondence, financial records, minutes of meetings, publicity materials, and reports relating to Acción Demócrata
Española and other organizations
Box/Folder: 1 : 1
Comité de Acción Republicana Española, minutes of meetings and printed matter,
1932-1933
Box: 1
Acción Demócrata Española
Box: 1
Correspondence and financial records,
1942-1968
Box: 1
Fundraising records and publicity materials,
1961-1974
Box: 2
Minutes of meetings,
1942-1945
Box: 2
Correspondence, financial records, and reports,
1939-1976
Box/Folder: 2 : 9
Printed matter,
1946-1972
Box: 3
Correspondence, financial records, and reports,
1936-1973
Box: 3
Sociedades Hispanas Aliadas,
1938-1940
Box/Folder: 3 : 10
Correspondence,
1938-1940
Box/Folder: 4 : 2
Correspondence,
1938-1941
Box: 4-6
Acción Demócrata Española
1937-1968
Box: 4
Brochures, leaflets, newsletters, and programs,
1939-1949
Box/Folder: 4 : 6
Reports and publicity materials,
1937-1939
Box: 4
Correspondence,
1939-1968
Box: 5
Financial records, minutes, and reports,
1937-1950
Box: 5
Correspondence,
1938-1949
Box/Folder: 6 : 1
Leaflets and announcements,
1942-1945
Box: 6
Correspondence,
1938-1958
Box/Folder: 6 : 5-8
Miscellaneous programs and publicity materials,
1930-1975
Box/Folder: 6 : 9
Speeches and writings
1929-1960
Scope and Content Note
Contains articles and speeches by Javier Benedet
Box: 7-22
Printed matter
1900-1977
Scope and Content Note
Largely relating to the Spanish Civil War and Spanish politics, contains bulletins and newsletters; clippings; monographs;
pamphlets; and serial issues
Box: 7
Bulletins and newsletters
Box: 7
Spanish Newsletter,
1951-1960
Box/Folder: 13 : 10
Acción socialista,
1957-1960
Box/Folder: 14 : 3
Correspondencia internacional,
1932-1935
Box/Folder: 14 : 4
Democracía española,
1938
Box/Folder: 14 : 5-31
Documentos politicos,
1928-1929
Box/Folder: 15 : 1
España dia a dia,
1939-1940
Box/Folder: 17 : 1
Facetas de actualidad,
1938-1940
Box: 17-20
Hispano americano,
1954-1961
Box/Folder: 21 : 1
Ibérica por la libertad,
1960-1962
Box/Folder: 21 : 2
Internacional comunista,
1933
Box/Folder: 21 : 4
La Līberecana sīntezo,
1938
Box/Folder: 21 : 5
Masses & Mainstream,
1952-1953
Box/Folder: 21 : 7
Nuestra bandera,
1974-1975
Box/Folder: 21 : 8
Nuestra España,
1939-1940
Box/Folder: 22 : 1
Revista blanca,
1930-1933
Box/Folder: 22 : 2
Revista universal,
1934-1935
Box/Folder: 22 : 3
Tiempos nuevos,
1935-1937
Box/Folder: 22 : 4
Tierra y libertad (Mexico),
1956-1960
Box: 23-32
Oversize materials
1929-1976
Scope and Content Note
Contains serial issues, calendars, drawing, musical score, political button, posters and proclamations, and tickets
Box: 23
Frente popular,
1938-1939
Box/Folder: 24 : 2
Izquierda republicana,
1957-1959
Box/Folder: 24 : 4
México antifranquista,
1947-1948
Box/Folder: 24 : 7
Nueva república,
1955-1958
Box/Folder: 29 : 4
Cultura proletaria,
1938-1953
Box/Folder: 29 : 5
España popular,
1946-1948
Box/Folder: 30 : 4
La Nouvelle Espagne antifasciste,
1938
Box/Folder: 30 : 7
El Socialista (Madrid),
1934
Box/Folder: 30 : 8
El Socialista (Toulouse),
1958-1961
Box: 31
Solidaridad obrera (Barcelona),
1932-1938
Box/Folder: 31 : 3
Solidaridad obrera (Mexico City),
1946-1962
Box/Folder: 31 : 4
Solidaridad obrera (Paris),
1956-1960
Box: 31
Tierra y libertad (Barcelona),
1937-1938
Box/Folder: 31 : 8
Tierra y libertad (Mexico City),
1945-1956
Box/Folder: 31 : 9
Voz de los españoles,
1939
Box/Folder: 32 : 1
Calendars published by the Sociedades Hispanas Confederadas and Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista,
1939-1948
Box/Folder: 32 : 2
Child's drawing depicting a scene from the Spanish Civil War,
1937
Box/Folder: 32 : 3
"Himno de la República," musical score transcribed by Felipe Osta,
1939
Box/Folder: 32 : 4
Political button with slogan in support of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade,
1937
Box: 32
Posters and proclamations,
1936-1976
Box/Folder: 32 : 8
Tickets for fundraising events sponsored by Acción Demócrata Española and the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade,
1948-1965
Map Case Oversize folder
Posters,
1937-1943
Scope and Content Note
Contains five posters relating to the Spanish Civil War and a solidarity campaign in Mexico on behalf of Spanish refugees
