The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives at the New York University Tamiment Library have proven an essential tool in defining the Spanish Civil War to a cohort of students who grew up far away from this conflict, both in terms of time and space.

Using the wide array of primary documents found at the Tamiment Library’s collection, this generation connects with the stories and experiences of the American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. Rather than merely searching academic databases and writing about secondary sources, they investigate personal correspondence and a variety of original documents.

This project allows students not only to make their own historical discoveries and learn the skills of archival research, but also reflect in the complexities of history as a subjective concept.