Finding Aid to the Lisette and Sam Kutnick Abraham Lincoln Brigade Collection
Finding aid prepared by Leah Sylva in 2021.
Labor Archives and Research Center
2002, revised 2014 and processed with additions in 2021
San Francisco State University
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco 94132-1722
larc@sfsu.edu
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
Title: Lisette and Sam Kutnick Abraham Lincoln Brigade collection
Creator:
Kutnick, Sam
Creator:
Kutnick, Lisette
Collection number: larc.ms.0229
Accession number: 2007/033
Identifier/Call Number: 301
Extent:
3 Linear Feet
(7 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1937-1995
Abstract: Materials collected by Lisette (Lee) and Sam Kutnick over the course of their political work in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The collection contains typed transcripts of letters (circa 1937-1938) written by members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade from
the Spanish Civil War to family and friends in the Bay Area, collected by Lisette (Lee) Kutnick when she served as secretary
of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in San Francisco. Kutnick gathered and typed copies of letters received by friends,
as well as many addressed to her and her husband Sam. The letters span the period when the Americans arrived in Spain in early
1937 and continued to the end of 1938 when most of the American volunteers returned home. The collection also contains materials
from Sam Kutnick's work on the County Personnel Committee of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) in
the late 1940s and early 1950s. This committee was charged with investigating CPUSA members for political and personal transgressions,
recommending names to County Leadership for expulsion from the Party. There are handwritten notes with lists of names for
further research, correspondence with other County or District Committees to share information on members, correspondence
from Party members recommending others for investigation, and files related to the investigation of specific local Party members.
Location: Collection is available onsite.
Language of Material:
English.
.
Availability
Collection is open for research.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Lisette and Sam Kutnick Abraham Lincoln Brigade Collection, larc.ms.0229, Labor Archives and Research
Center, San Francisco State University.
Separated Materials
The following books and pamphlets have been relocated to LARC's Ephemera and book collection:
"The Yanks Are Not Coming" stickers; pamphlet, "Story of the Imperial Valley," by Frank Spector, Int'l Labor Defense Pamphlet
No. 3;
Migratory Labor in California, State Relief Administration of California, 1936;
Early Master Teachers, W.P.A., 1940
Related Collections
Related collections include the following LARC holdings: Archie Brown Collection; People's World Photograph Collection; People's
World Research Files; and California Labor School Collection.
For more information about the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, see the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives at New York University's
Tamiment Library.
Acquisition
This collection was donated to the Labor Archives by Esther Kutnick, daughter of Lee and Sam Kutnick; accession number 2007/033.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series, roughly arranged according to chronology:
SERIES 1: Abraham Lincoln Brigade
SERIES 2: Sam Kutnick Papers
SERIES 3: Lisette Kutnick Papers
SERIES 4: Assorted Publications
Biography
Lee Kutnick (1914-2010), born Lisette Levy, was a community and union organizer who supported a variety of leftist causes,
including the Communist Party of the United States of America. In the early 1930s, she moved to San Francisco and married
Sam Kutnick. From 1937 to 1938, Lee served as the Secretary of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB). She received,
transcribed, and circulated letters sent from ALB members including those written by her cousin, Douglas "Dud" Wayne Male,
who fought and died as part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Lee worked as an office worker for more than 50 years as a member
of OPEIU Local 3 and served on the executive board of Local 3 from 1983 to 1986. Lee Kutnick worked until the age of 87 in
the office of Sheet Metal Workers Local 104.
Sam Kutnick (1908-1966) was an active member of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and corresponded with many of the
Bay Area anti-fascists fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Sam was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of
America and worked on the San Francisco County Personnel Committee for the Communist Party which worked to maintain the "purity"
of the Party by investigating and expelling suspected infiltrators, factionalists, and "social deviants." Due to his involvement
in the Communist Party, Sam Kutnick experienced repression and harassment from the United States government. Sam was a member
of the Miscellaneous Culinary Employees Union Local 110 from 1959 until his death in 1964.
Historical Note
The Spanish Civil War (1936-39) began when a Nationalist faction supported by the military, Catholic church, and conservative
groups instigated a coup d'etat against the left-leaning Popular Front government which had won electoral control of the Spanish
Republic. This insurrection was met with armed resistance by the Loyalists, a coalition of leftist groups including the Confederación
Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), a confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions.
The Spanish Civil War was a popular cause for international anti-fascists who showed solidarity with the Loyalists by traveling
to Spain to fight on the front lines as members of International Battalions, such as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The Abraham
Lincoln Brigade (ALB) was a racially integrated battalion composed of 2,800 anarchist and communist volunteers from the United
States. Members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought in various battalions (such as the Lincoln Battalion) as shock troops,
suffering a high rate of casualties in battle.
These internationalist fighters were supported by groups of radicals in their home country including the Friends of the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade (FALB) in San Francisco. The Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade advocated for their comrades overseas,
exchanging letters and gifts between San Francisco and Spain. Members of FALB collected and published letters from Spain to
raise money and support for the cause of international anti-fascism.
When the war was over, leaving fascist dictator Francisco Franco in control of Spain, the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
was disbanded and the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) was created to support returning veterans, aid refugees
of the Spanish Civil War, and to continue the fight for peace, democracy, and civil liberties. Upon their return to the United
States, surviving members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were harassed and surveilled by the United States government and
blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) as part of the Red Scare.
The VALB was on the United States Justice Department list of subversive organizations from 1953 to 1971 and members were denied
employment and housing opportunities due to their political beliefs and willingness to take up arms against fascism.
Historical Note
The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) was formed in 1919 after splitting from the Socialist Party of
America. CPUSA was centered around the belief that workers were united as a social class under capitalism and entitled to
control the industries in which they labored. CPUSA was known for opposing white supremacy and advocating for racial integration
and civil rights for Black people. The Party and its members were deeply involved in the labor movement in the United States
in the early 20th century, organizing and supporting trade unions, worker organizations, and strikes. As anti-capitalist sentiments
surged during the Great Depression, the organizing successes of the Communist Party in the United States were followed with
intense State repression.
The Red Scare and McCarthyism positioned the Left as a subversive element that threatened the social order of the United States.
Due to fears around the domestic and international spread of Communism undermining the United States' imperialist agenda,
members of the U.S. Intelligence apparatus worked alongside federal lawmakers, weaponizing fear as a tactic to silence dissent
and enforce loyalty to the US government. Known and suspected communists and other radicals were subject to arrests, widely
publicized trials, social sanctions and denunciations, and deportations under the Immigration Act of 1918. The House Committee
on Un-American Activities (HUAC) operated from 1938-1975 to investigate suspected Communists, resulting in those targeted
losing employment and facing social isolation.
Due to this repression and other internal tensions within the Left movements in the United States at the time, CPUSA turned
inwards to inspect, surveil, and purge itself of undesirable members at the County, Regional, State, and National levels.
Scope and Contents
Materials collected by Lisette (Lee) and Sam Kutnick over the course of their political work in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Roughly one-half of the collection consists of typed transcripts of letters (circa 1937-1938) written by members of the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade from the Spanish Civil War to family and friends in the Bay Area, collected by Lisette (Lee) Kutnick when
she served as secretary of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in San Francisco. Kutnick gathered and typed copies
of letters received by friends, as well as many addressed to her and her husband Sam. The letters span the period when the
Americans arrived in Spain in early 1937 and continued to the end of 1938 when most of the American volunteers returned home.
The letters document daily life behind the lines and in the trenches, including their food, training, learning Spanish, recreation,
and interactions with Loyalist soldiers. Many are told with humor as well as the affirming the righteousness of their cause.
The political dogma of the Communist Party can be seen in many letters. Undoubtedly some of the hardships were edited out
for families and friends and some letters were censored. Among the prolific writers are Maurice Hawkins, Boleslaw "Slippery"
Slivan, and Alphaeus Prowell (an African-American volunteer who died in Spain). Also notable are handwritten letters from
Fritz Orton to "Paul," most likely Paul Ryan better known by his pseudonym Mike Quin. Quin writes about Fritz Orton in the
collection of his articles in
On the Drumhead (page 84).
The other large part of this collection contains materials related to Sam Kutnick's work on the County Personnel Committee
of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). This committee was charged with investigating CPUSA members
for political and personal transgressions, recommending names to County Leadership for expulsion from the Party. There are
handwritten notes with lists of names for further research, correspondence with other County or District Committees to share
information on members, correspondence from Party members recommending others for investigation, and files related to the
investigation of specific local Party members. These files show how cases were built against members and their associates,
sometimes resulting in a chain reaction of expulsion. For example, Vern Smith was expelled for being suspected of homosexuality,
then Harrison George was expelled for associating with Vern Smith after his expulsion and for organizing a "renegade, anti-Party
group" before Lenny Fels was then expelled for continuing to associate with Harrison George.
Of note are the files of M. Vicker and Jane Barnes protesting and appealing their expulsions. Other material of interest includes
two letters from The Crusader in which the anonymous author sends anti-Communist materials and challenges recipients to leave
the Party.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939 -- Participation, American.
Spain. Ejército Popular de la República. Abraham Lincoln Battalion.
Anti-Fascism
Internationalists -- Labor -- Solidarity
Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Series 1:
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
1937-1996 Bulk, 1937-1938
1937-1938
Arrangement
This series is arranged hierarchically into three subseries according to authorship.
Subseries 1.1 contains the letters written from members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who were fighting in Spain and is arranged
alphabetically and then chronologically.
Subseries 1.2 contains hierarchically-arranged materials that were created and collected by the San Francisco-based group,
the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Subseries 1.3 is chronologically arranged and contains the materials created by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Scope and Contents
This series contains materials related to San Francisco-based anti-fascists who fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of
the International Battalion the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB). It includes the letters that fighters in the ALB wrote from
battlefields of Spain to their friends back home in the San Francisco Bay Area, detailing their experiences, political convictions,
and reflections on the nature of warfare. This series also contains materials related to the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln
Brigade, a group which advocated for the fighters of ALB by publishing their letters in newspapers such as People's World
and original pamphlets, sending gifts of cigarettes and gum, and garnering political support for the cause of international
anti-fascist solidarity. Also present are materials created by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, demonstrating
the efforts of surviving members to commemorate this history and engage in continued international solidarity struggles.
box 1, folder 1
Andell, Evelyn 61833
1938 March
box 1, folder 2
Bailey, Bill, to Edna
61834
1937-1938, undated
box 1, folder 3
Bailey, Mike
61835
[1937] September 13
box 1, folder 3
Bell, Hilda 61836
1937 December 9
box 1, folder 3
Bridges, E. W. 61837
1937 September 20
box 1, folder 4
Brown, "Bimbo" to Archie
61838
1937 June-September
box 1, folder 5
Caldarella, Michael to Carlson
1937 August 6
Scope and Contents
Original handwritten letter without typed copy.
box 1, folder 6
Cullinen, George to Bob Dagley 61839
1937 August 4
box 1, folder 7
Eaton, Henry to LaRue
1937 August 6
box 1, folder 8
Flanner, John to Justin Vanderlaan 61840
undated
box 1, folder 9
Gomez, Antonio Lopez to Mother 61841
1938 March 4
box 1, folder 10
Hawkins, Maurice H., to his wife from Paris and from Spain 61842
1937-1938
box 1, folder 11
Larsen, Leonard H. M.D. to Louise 61843
1937-1938
box 1, folder 12
Male, Douglas "Dud" to Sam, Esther, Lee, Sis, Mom
61844
1937 November-1938 February, undated
box 1, folder 13
Marques, A. J. 61845
1938 May 18
box 1, folder 13
Masterson, Louis J. to friends, Applestein, D. 61846
1937 October 1
box 1, folder 13
McDaniel, Eluard Luchell 61847
undated
box 1, folder 13
Merriman, Marion to John C. Ross
61848
1937 July-1938 February
box 1, folder 14
Nitzburg, Leo to Edna 61849
1937 October 15
box 1, folder 15
Orton, Fritz to Paul
61850
1937 September-October
box 1, folder 15
Payne, Perley 61851
[1937] April-July
box 1, folder 16
Prowell, Alphaeus to Harry
61852
1937 September-November, undated
box 1, folder 17
Sansone, Joe to Edna 61855
1938 February
box 1, folder 18
Silverstein, Esther to children
61853
1937
box 1, folder 19
Slivan, Boleslaw (Slipp, Slippery) to Archie, Samuel, Ednaita, Lee 61854
1937-1938
box 1, folder 20
Smith, "Junior" to Mike, Joe, Canales, etc.
61856
1937 May-October, undated
box 1, folder 21
Thompson, David
1937 October
box 1, folder 21
Thompson, Frederick to Miss Schneider 61857
1938 June 2
box 1, folder 22
Yeager, N.T. to Henry 61858
1937 September 14
box 1, folder 23
Unidentified, or no surname 61860
1937-1938
Contents
Including:
Ken to My darling Sis (Sigrid Parmalie)
DM to Ethel
DM to E.
D....to Mom
Jack to L...S...& M...
Bob 3/26/38
Evelyn to Mildred
Fred to Ann (handwritten)
Wade to Mario Caseroli
box 1, folder 24
Transcript of Murphy / White Interview with Sam Kutnick
1938 October 12
box 3, folder 1
Photocopies of letters - A - O 61863
1937-1938
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically and chronologically.
box 3, folder 2
Photocopies of letters - P - Z 61864
1937-1938
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically and chronologically.
box 3, folder 3
Photocopies of letters - Unidentified authors 61865
1937-1938
box 3, folder 4
Photocopy of Transcript of Murphy / White Interview with Sam Kutnick
1938 October 12
Duplicate photocopies of letters
1937-1938
Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
box 2, folder 1
Abraham Lincoln Brigade poems, songs 61866
undated
box 2, folder 2
International Brigade publications 61867
1937-1938
box 2, folder 3
Abraham Lincoln Brigade clippings, ephemera 61869
undated
box 2, folder 4
Photographs From Spain
1938
Scope and Contents
Two original photographs sent by Slivan, Boleslaw (Slippery) in a letter to Lee dated Sept. 6, 1938. One photograph shows
a sailor, Bill Bailey, Slippery, and Pedro with a machine gun captured from fascists. The second photograph shows Slippery
in a helmet loading a clip for the machine gun.
box 2, folder 5
The Story of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion
1938
Scope and Contents
Pamphlet published as a fundraiser by the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Battallion.
box 2, folder 6
Letters From Spain Publication
1937
Scope and Contents
Booklet published by the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, showing a selection of reprinted letters sent home from the
trenches accompanied by illustrations.
box 2, folder 7
Seamen, Longshoremen & Maritime Workers of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion in Spain to The National Unity Convention of Maritime
Unions, San Francisco
61862
1937 December 27
Scope and Contents
Statement with list of signers included; pages 2-3 of untitled essay upholding the battle to support a constitutional government.
box 2, folder 8
Precinct 11, Assembly District 19 Index to Register 61831
1943
box 2, folder 9
Spanish Refugee Relief Campaign Letter
1939
box 2, folder 10
Posters from Time Magazine
1938
Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
box 2, folder 11
The Volunteer Newsletter
1984
box 2, folder 14
International Solidarity Efforts
1993
box 2, folder 15
Meeting Minutes 61870
1993-1995
box 2, folder 16
Commemorative Events Ephemera
1985 - 1996
Series 2:
Sam Kutnick papers
1933-1964, Bulk 1945-1959
1945-1959
Arrangement
This series is arranged hierarchically into subseries that reflect various organizations and projects that Sam Kutnick was
involved with throughout his lifetime.
Subseries 2.1 Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)
Subseries 2.2 Committee for World Peace
Subseries 2.3 Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee
Subseries 2.4 Miscellaneous Culinary Employees Union, Local 110
Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)
Scope and Contents
Due to State repression and other internal tensions within the Left movements in the United States at the time, CPUSA turned
inwards to inspect, surveil, and purge itself of members who were deemed undesireable. The San Francisco County Personnel
Committee was charged with investigating Party members to be expelled in the name of the survival and success of CPUSA.
Members of the Party could be expelled for any of the following reasons:
1. Being or suspected of being a state agent, spy, or informant.
2. Being or suspected of being a factionalist such as a Trotskyist or Lovestoneite whose ideology was deemed "impure" by the
central leadership.
3. Being or suspected of being a social deviant whose presence in the Party was a threat either to social unity or further
State repression. The beliefs and identities targeted in this category include white chauvinists; people with a history of
debt, gambling, alcoholism, and receiving psychiatric care; or people who experience same-sex attraction or engage in sexual
promiscuity.
4. Associating with former Party members who had been expelled for one of the reasons listed above.
These files reveal the motivations behind the Committee and the mechanisms by which the internal investigations and expulsions
occurred.
County Personnel Committee
box 4, folder 2
Policies and Procedures
1933-1954
box 4, folder 5
County Personnel Committee Reports
1950
box 4, folder 6
Correspondence From Other CPUSA Entities
1949-1951
box 4, folder 7
Letters From Local Members
1949-1952
box 4, folder 9
Bridges-Robertson-Schmidt Trial
1949-1950
box 4, folder 11
FBI Visit Reports
1947-1955
box 4, folder 12
FBI Loyalty Investigations
1947-1948
box 4, folder 13
San Francisco Committee on Leadership
1945
box 5, folder 3
Alexander, Edwin Jr.
1948
box 5, folder 4
Baker, Enos Jr.
1947-1949
box 5, folder 13
Franklin, Francis
undated
box 5, folder 14
Furst, Peter / Cannan, June
1951
box 5, folder 19
Kepner, Jim / Brown, Mel
1949-1950
box 5, folder 21
Kjosness, Mollie / Lucid, Jack
1946
box 5, folder 25
Rector, Nicky / Sherwood, Mary
1947
box 5, folder 29
Smith, Vern / George, Harrison / Fels, Lenny
1947-1949
box 5, folder 36
List of expelled members and charges [slides and photocopies]
undated
box 6, folder 2
Declaration of Aims and Tasks
1959
box 6, folder 4
Preconvention Discussion Materials
1959
box 5, folder 5
Reports on the State of the Country
1959
box 5, folder 6
Horizons of the Future Pamphlet
1959
box 6, folder 7
Discussion on "The Negro Question"
1958-1959
box 6, folder 9
SF County Convention
1959
box 6, folder 11
Convention Materials and Notes
1959
box 6, folder 12
California Labor School
undated
box 6, folder 13
Committee for World Peace
1950
box 6, folder 14
Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee
1954
box 6, folder 15
Miscellaneous Culinary Employees Union, Local 110
1959-1964
Series 3:
Lisette Kutnick papers
1950-2003, Bulk 1972-1986
1972-1986
Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)
1972-1985
box 7, folder 5
Memos and Reports
1972-1985
Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
1974-1996
Arrangement
This series is arranged hierarchically into the following subseries:
Subseries 3.1 Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)
Subseries 3.2 Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
Subseries 3.3 Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
Subseries 3.4 AFL-CIO Committee on Evolution of Work Report
Subseries 3.5 Conference Materials
Subseries 3.6 News Clippings
box 7, folder 7
Constitution and By-laws
1974-1996
box 7, folder 8
Committee for International Support of Trade Union Rights (CISTUR)
1982-1985
box 7, folder 9
Membership Meeting Minutes
1983-1986
Scope and Contents
Includes financial documents.
box 7, folder 10
Executive Board Meeting Minutes
1983-1986
box 7, folder 12
Grievances and Charges
1987-2003
box 7, folder 14
Tentative Agreement with Sheet Metal Union Local 104
1997
box 7, folder 3
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
1985
box 7, folder 4
AFL-CIO Committee on Evolution of Work Report
1985
box 7, folder 15
Conference Materials
1982-1984
Series 4:
Assorted Publications
1935-1996
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically.
box 6, folder 16
Song Books and Pamphlets
1935-1954
box 6, folder 17
The Italians of San Francisco: Their Adjustment and Acculturation
1935
box 6, folder 18
History of Journalism in San Francisco
1940
box 6, folder 19
Flashes from Hollywood
1947
box 6, folder 20
Negro Heroes Comic and Soviet Humor Book
1947
1949
box 6, folder 21
Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
1996
Scope and Contents
Ten page booklet written by Esther Kutnick about her experience growing up with Communist parents during the Red Scare, focusing
on her relationship with her father, Sam Kutnick.
