Joshwald Martinez
HONS 2011J
Final Essay
Professor Hernández-Ojeda
Archie Brown
Personal Statement
It was quite daunting to begin writing this paper. A voice of fear told me that I had better make this perfect. Having studied the Spanish Civil War this semester, I have come to realize that the way one tells a story impacts memory in long-lasting ways. Through the device of emplotment, the historian—the storyteller—assumes the role of a narrative architect whom the reader implicitly trusts to build the tale with the foundational bricks of chronicles. I urge the reader to experience this paper through the critical lens of metahistory and challenge my choice of narrative building blocks, asking such questions as: “why only a handful of letters—why not the whole lot?” I will tell you now that I write about what interests me as a theatre lover, as a student living in a time of increasing authoritarianism in the United States and as a writer seeking his own voice. Archie Brown’s letters to his wife Esther
“Hon” Brown gave me a glimpse into his multidimensional character: part Communist, part writer, part husband, always passionate and never indecisive. I do not aim to put Mr. Brown on a pedestal, only to share what parts of him will live on with me after I submit this assignment.
Introduction
Can you remember the moment you found a piece of your identity that would inform your choices for the rest of your life? Perhaps it was a lemonade stand you ran as a child that sparked your entrepreneurial spirit or a science class in high school to which you credit as the inspiration for your career in oceanography? Whether you are living the dream of your formative years or not, there was a moment that changed you and continues to impact you, however muted the effect. Archie Brown became a forever-man of the working people, a staunch Communist, when he was a 13-year-old paperboy. His participation in a newsboys’ strike in 1928 directly set him on the path to fighting fascism in Spain and indirectly contributed to inspiring his literary legacy a decade later. [1]
Early Life
Archie Brown, VALB/ALBA; in Spain
Before Archie, his parents were Breen—Nathan and Sarah Breen, Russian Jews who changed their last name to Brown when they immigrated to the United States. A peddler in Russia and a teamster in Sioux City, Iowa, Nathan Brown embodied the working-class immigrant ethic, struggling to support Sarah and their 8 children. It would not be a stretch to say that Archie inherited some of his tenacity from his father, who relocated to Oakland, California in the early 1920s to find economic opportunity. At the age of 13, Archie boarded a train and made the 2,000-mile journey to Oakland himself to join his father and older brother in their industrious search. This would not be the last time that Archie would undertake a life-changing odyssey.
In California Brown carved his niche among newsboys, a group with whom he felt such affinity that he joined them in a strike in 1928 when he was 17. The strike received support by the Trade Union Education League, William Z. Foster’s trade union labor-organizing group which was subsidized by the Communist International’s Workers Party of America (WPA). [2] Supported by these comrades, Archie’s lifelong study and application of Communist thought commenced, leading him to join the Young Communist League (YCL) shortly after in 1929. He met his wife, Esther “Hon” Matlin at a YCL dance in 1934. By the time the two were married two years afterward, Archie had found his place on the soapbox, orating, and on the San Francisco shore, organizing for the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU).
After the start of the Spanish Civil War, the Communist Party sought volunteers to send to Spain to join the International Brigades in the struggle against Francisco Franco’s fascist forces. Archie and his younger brother Frank (called “Bimbo” by Archie) were among those roughly 2,800 volunteers who entered the fray. While Frank joined the war in 1937, Archie did not land in Spain until May of 1938. He began his journey to fight fascism abroad in February of 1938, taking a bus from San Francisco to New York City.
To New York
Esther could not accompany Archie on this trip—the Communist Party did not allow for couples to go to Spain together. [3] This was disheartening for the revolutionary duo, particularly for Esther, who had learned to drive when she was 14 and could drive large vehicles with confidence and desired to volunteer as an ambulance driver in Spain. While Archie traversed the country, Esther attended business classes to learn office skills (she would later work on and off as a legal secretary for the rest of her life), and the two communicated through letters and the occasional telegraph. Promising Esther at the end of his first trip letter on February 15th, 1938, Archie said: “I’ll write often, my darling—don’t forget I love you so much.” [4] Indeed, Archie chronicled the 5-day ride from California, complete with drunk Jimmy, who needed Archie to nurse his hangovers [5]; a Black girl riding with his group of comrades who was denied food in a dining room, not without protestation from Archie and his comrade Tony who brought her food when they exited the room [6]; and a prophecy following news of Hitler’s planned invasion of Austria that “it’s going to be very hard to sit on the fence” in non-interventionist America. [7]
Though missing his wife, Archie remained committed to busying himself with the Communist activism which drove him to the New York City in the first place—he visited the YCL National Office and connected with comrades from all over the city to organize educational discussions and confer about the status of the socialist revolution. On the same day that he attended the Party Builders Congress Open Session at Madison Square Garden, wherein the keynote speaker proclaimed that “neither Washington, Jackson, Lincoln nor Frederick Douglass were isolationists when it came down to brass tacks” [8], Archie also watched a show on Broadway titled “Casey Jones.” The next day he saw “Return of the Maxim” and March 4th, he witnessed “One-Third of a Nation”, a show which exemplified the politically conscious form of storytelling known as “living newspaper.” [9] Archie, as it turns out, was quite a theatre lover.
Archie Brown, the Playwright
In his correspondence to Esther, Archie wrote the beginnings of a play titled, “Odessia the 2nd.” The play reflects the events in Archie’s life during February of 1938—he had made the trip from San Francisco to New York City to apply for a passport to go to France, where he could then cross the Pyrenees into Spain. Appreciation of “Odessia the 2nd” requires some context about the world in the 1930s, specifically regarding European politics.
Archie Brown’s anti-fascist ideals shine through in this play as he critiques the British and French governments for not being harder against Hitler and Mussolini and Franco in his description of both governments as Second and Third Villain, respectively, in his dramatis personae. The Second Villain is described as: “The British Cabinet, headed by [Neville] Chamberlain, an amateur Romeo, wooing Hitler”; the Third Villain is “the French Cabinet, well-meaning but weak.” [10] Archie’s choice of “wooing” maybe refers to Britain being too soft on Hitler, whom Brown casts as the First Villain who is “a clown who decided to become a dictator.” [11] Neville Chamberlain would go on to sign the Munich Agreement, appeasing Hitler’s demands to conquer Sudetenland in exchange for Germany ceasing to advance in Europe (a move opposed by Czechoslovakia’s leader Edvard Benes, who accurately prophesied that Czechoslovakia would soon fall shortly after). [12] Archie might call Chamberlain a fascist. In fact, he took a dig at the British in a letter from February 21st: “The British tories are trying to come to some arrangements with these gangsters [the Nazis]”. [13] In calling the French Cabinet “well-meaning but weak”, Archie touches upon France’s commitment to supporting Czechoslovakia, indicating anti-fascist leanings, but also the country’s refusal to take action before Britain. [14]
Though the play was not completed and resolved, its literary value cannot be ignored. Aside from providing insight on the volatile geopolitics of the time period, the reader gets a good sense of what Archie valued as a human being. He was not just anti-fascist, he was pro-people. The stage direction for the first scene reads: “In a small room, set off with paintings of people reading newspapers. A woman in the painting is holding a baby whose face is older than hers. All the people are ugly, as if the painter don’t like workers. (All this goes under proletarian art).” [15] Archie criticizes the hypothetical artist who “don’t like workers”, flipping what was supposed to be an insult to workers into a piece that can be filed under “proletarian art”—one may posit that the baby with the old face represents comrades who embody a youthfulness while possessing a wisdom far beyond their years.
To France—a letter-inspired reimagining
May 22nd, 1938. “Now walk aboard as if you owned the joint,” [16] says the comrade’s comrade who Archie met just this morning. Archie sizes up the ship and takes a deep breath of harbor air—he has boarded ships countless times. As a longshoreman, he has no problems with the vessel. The people on it, however, rock his stomach. He doesn’t know anyone aboard, and they especially don’t know him. Archie’s stowing away on this ship today, headed for Spain.
It had been a hectic morning. At the Communist headquarters in Manhattan, Archie was given $25 to give to a man who has not shown up and was supposed to square away Brown’s papers (Americans at this time are not allowed to travel to Spain, their passports are stamped with this prohibition). [17] Now another comrade urges Archie and his fellow traveler, Ken, to mingle on the tourist deck. The two look at each other briefly and covertly encourage each other to begin their performance—Archie boards against his stomach’s wishes.
Archie is on edge. “Do they know who we are? Can they tell we shouldn’t be here? Ken and I should have shaven,” Archie thinks, distracted in his attempts to camouflage and engage the ticket-holding passengers in idle conversation. Some conversationalists have German accents and Archie makes note of this, wary of any potential Nazi. Any minute now, a crew member could ask for a ticket he didn’t have. For 60 any-minute-now’s, Archie bristles in conversation with veiled apprehension until finally a whistle blows and he witnesses “the familiar finishing moves” [18] of departure—“the last batch of luggage comes aboard, the mail truck rushes up with the mail, the last visitor is whisked over the gangway as the lines are being let go”. [19] Archie and Ken follow the lead of the other passengers on the boat and wave at the people on the disappearing dock as if they know someone there. They have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve nautical miles [20] to count before they exit territorial waters and escape the immediate fear of returning to land on the pilot boat which is guiding their vessel. For twelve miles, there is no movement of the crew going below or emerging from the deck, no indication of Archie’s next step. Finally, the pilot boat turns back towards New York City and Archie and Ken descend to the ship’s barbershop for a much-needed shave while the ship sails on, Paris-bound.
In Spain
Archie Brown was one hell of a storyteller—his surviving daughter Stephanie can attest to his prowess spinning bedtime tales and I agree after reading the man’s letters. [21] The preceding chronicle was inspired by Archie’s gripping letter to Hon on May 26th, after he arrived in France. The story of the ship concludes when, arriving in Paris, Archie is asked by the dock-hand for his papers, which are obviously fabricated. In a tension-filled moment, the world pauses, until the dock-mate erupts in laughter, allowing Archie to step onto French soil.
Archie enjoyed the sights of Paris—and the commute where he sees field workers hailing the Popular Front salute as Archie and his comrades roll along the Seine— for a day, comparing the City of Lights and San Francisco, saying they are “one in spirit.” [22] His sight-seeing would eventually be disrupted by the realities of the war—on the 30th, he participated in his first drill in Barcelona, learning call-and-response commands such as the sergeant’s “Rompa fila” (“Break line”) requiring the soldier’s “Salud”. [23]
War for Archie, for anyone, was tiring. Archie was a commissar, responsible for the political education and organization, his strong-suit, and also tried to get by during long days. Two days after the Battle of the Ebro commenced, Archie wrote a letter to Esther after having his bed which he shared with three other men break in the middle of the night. [24] Archie spun the 3 days of rain into a positive, expressing gratitude for the rain for bogging down the fascist counter-offensive and giving the Republicans a chance to better prepare for defense and counterattacks. This was his nature—positive, hopeful. According to his surviving daughter, there is a story which he never personally shared about “how during a particularly grim time on Hill 666 during the Battle of the Ebro, he lifted morale by singing the Internationale”. [25] He loved to dance as well— he organized a “brigade fiesta” for the boys in Barcelona eight days after Ebro, inspired by the bailes that he’d gone to earlier in the war. [26]
The war was trying on both Archie and Esther—letters would take weeks to arrive from across the world and by then the contents of the previous letter was mostly forgotten. Archie often longingly wrote to Esther, describing “different stages of the return trip”, from the bus ride to the boat home and the first breakfast back home full of eggs, coffee and honeydews. [27] The only letter of Esther’s from the time period starts with this painful paragraph:
“I got your letter this week in which you complained of not getting a letter from me for two weeks… I hope you don’t think that because I don’t write so often, it is a sign that I don’t think of you so much because it it is when I spend a lot of time thinking about you that I don’t want to write. Some days like today, when I don’t have any school and I have a lot of time to write you a letter, I sit out on the lawn and dream about all the things we’ll do when you come back, how happy I’ll be then, how I wish I were there with you, and millions of other things.” [28]
Such longing can be found echoing in many of Archie’s letters throughout the end of the war, particularly several moments when he realized that the last time he wrote he’d be home soon was a lie. On December 10th, aboard the Ausonia ship back to New York—not as a stowaway—he writes: “We’ll we are finally on our way. And of course we feel very good. We’re sorry that we had to leave Spain before the struggle has been settled—but since we can do more good on the outside it is better to be home working than in the rearguard of Spain, waiting.” [29]
Conclusion
Archie Brown’s YCL membership card reads: “Upon joining the Young Communist League, I pledge to be a loyal fighter for the everyday interests of the working-class and the toiling youth. To further do all in my power to learn to become a conscious leader amongst the young workers, wherever I may be, in the struggle against the boss class and for the establishment of a workers’ and farmers’ government, a soviet America.” [30] He took this oath in 1929 and these words can be found at the heart of all of his actions thereafter—volunteering as commissar in the Spanish Civil War, fighting in WWII against the fascist regimes he had kept his eye on during the Republican struggle, raising money for the Nicaraguan and Cuban struggles. [31] Even after he officially retired from being a full-time Communist Party organizer, he had to resist the United States government which was on his heels during the heightened period of McCarthyism. After Archie won a fair election to serve on the executive board of the ILWU’s Local 10 union in 1962, a Federal court found Archie guilty of violating Section 504 of the Landrum-Griffin Act. The Justice Department claimed that the statute made it “a federal crime for a man who is a member of the Communist Party to serve as a member of the executive board of a union, and whether his general reputation among his fellow trade unionist is good, bad or indifferent as being a unionist is not the question.” [32]Archie loved democracy and hated those who would jeopardize it, whether the perpetrator was Franco himself or the American Government— in “Odessia”, he writes: “He [the hero] has been hampered and hogtied by the American State Department who suspect him of wanting to uphold the country’s tradition of democracy. That, it seems, is a crime, punishable by law.” [33] Luckily, his reputation among his fellow trade unionist was quite good, and they supported him through to a victory when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the legislation in 1965—one educational pamphlet echoes his “Odessia” statement: Is Union Democracy a Federal Crime? The strange case of the Landrum-Griffin Act vs. Archie Brown.” [34] A testament to the Communist Party’s commitment to democracy reverberates in a postcard to Archie from an anonymous comrade celebrating his victory: “I am not sympathetic to your political beliefs but your right to be heard at any and all times and to run for office should not be questioned.” [35] Archie Brown lived a long life—79 years—and whether you agree with his politics or not, it is unquestionable that he lived committed to his ideals and believed they could change the world for the better, for good.
[1] “Archie Brown.” Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spanish Civil War History and Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2017.
[2] Philip S. Foner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume IX: The TUEL to the End of the Gompers Era. New York: International Publishers, 1991. Page 105.
[3] Brown, Stephanie. “Re: Hunter College Paper on Archie Brown.” Message to Joshwald Martinez. 15 May 2017. E-mail.
[4] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 15 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 17 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[7] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 21 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[8] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 22 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[9] “Living newspaper/learning tool.” Audiohistory: an experiential model for teaching 30s era American culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017.
[10] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “Chamberlain and Hitler 1938.” The National Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.
[13] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 21 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[14] “Chamberlain and Hitler 1938.” The National Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.
[15] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[16] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[17] Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spanish Civil War History and Education: FAQs. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.
[18] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[19] Ibid.
[20] United States Office of Coast Survey. “U.S. Maritime Limits & Boundaries.” NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.
[21] Brown, Stephanie. “Re: Hunter College Paper on Archie Brown.” Message to Joshwald Martinez. 15 May 2017. E-mail.
[22] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[23] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 30 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[24] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 27 July 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[25] Brown, Stephanie. “Re: Hunter College Paper on Archie Brown.” Message to Joshwald Martinez. 15 May 2017. E-mail.
[26] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 24 Nov 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[27] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 27 July 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[28] Correspondence: Brown, Esther to Archie Brown, 9 Sept 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 12;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[29] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 10 Dec 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[30] YCL: Membership Ticket and Delegate Ticket, 1935; ALBA; 207; 2; 8; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[31] Brown, Stephanie. “Re: Hunter College Paper on Archie Brown.” Message to Joshwald Martinez. 15 May 2017. E-mail.
[32] Landrum-Griffin Act Appeal, 1965; ALBA; 207; 2; 23; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[33] Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[34] Landrum-Griffin Act Appeal, 1965; ALBA; 207; 2; 23; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
[35] Ibid.
Works Cited
“Archie Brown.” Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spanish Civil War History and Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2017.
Brown, Stephanie. “Re: Hunter College Paper on Archie Brown.” Message to Joshwald Martinez. 15 May 2017. E-mail.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 15 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 17 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 21 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 22 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 February 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 26 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 30 May 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 27 July 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Esther to Archie Brown, 9 Sept 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 12;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 24 Nov 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Correspondence: Brown, Archie to Esther (Hon) Brown, 10 Dec 1938; ALBA; 207; 1; 8;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Landrum-Griffin Act Appeal, 1965; ALBA; 207; 2; 23; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
“Living newspaper/learning tool.” Audiohistory: an experiential model for teaching 30s era American culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017.
Philip S. Foner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume IX: The TUEL to the End of the Gompers Era. New York: International Publishers, 1991. Page 105.
United States Office of Coast Survey. “U.S. Maritime Limits & Boundaries.” NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.
YCL: Membership Ticket and Delegate Ticket, 1935; ALBA; 207; 2; 8; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.