10/21/09

William Morell Papers

These I found interesting because there were pictures to go along with the file which is great because it goes along with the whole cliche of "face to a name" kind of ordeal.

William Morell in his pictures looks like a 30 - 40 year old man with piercing clear eyes, almost like a vampire. It's almost as if you can tell he is this hardcore man. Oddly enough, he's from California and then went to Barcelona for the Fonda Ca La Candida. (I'm not sure what this means).

Within his file, there were a lot of things that marked that he was in Spain/a member of groups in Spain. For example, in one thing, there is a membership paper for the Veterans of the Lincoln Brigades. It's quite a simple paper but it's like memorabilia. Also there's a little red book for the Communist party of the Spain. Alongside with the book, there are little "receipts" is the only way I could describe it, that show the amounts of money he donated to the cause. For example, in one he donated 50 pesetas and in another 10 pesatas. (I wonder how much that is with inflation)?

At the end of the collection there is a recommendation for Morell. This gives a little more information as to who he was in regards to the cause. It states that William Morell in 1937 jointed the Spanish Loyalist Army. However, upon returning, he had a hard time getting work because his employers (he used to be an active member of the American maritime workers), had blacklisted him. Instead of sitting around complaining, he went to Mexico and researched the Mexican labor movement to help the problems of the Mexican people and so this lady asks the Confederacion Trabajadores de Mexico to aid him in any way possible.

Overall, I thought this was interesting because I researched the Maritime workers and the same problems were faced by people who came back from fighting abroad in Spain. They all had a hard time getting work but unlike them who simply articulated their problems, Morell went off and did something else. A worthy cause :)