SIGHTSEEING
The Abraham Lincoln
Brigade Monument in
San Francisco
“What we have created here is an antidote to amnesia”
- Peter N. Carroll, historian
Marina Garde
Political scientist and
Executive Director of the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Archives (ALBA)
N
ine years ago, on March 30th, 2008, a national monument to the Abraham Lincoln
Brigade was unveiled in San Francisco. Forty feet long and eight feet high, the
monument is made of forty-five onyx panels that are framed in a steel structure.
Every day, hundreds of people make their way into the city from the ferry building and pass
by this powerful and dramatic reminder of the Lincoln volunteers. The monument to the
Lincoln Brigade stands as the only national monument and permanent outdoor structure to
commemorate one of the most remarkable acts of bravery of the Twentieth Century.
Between 1936 and 1938, responding to a military coup in Spain—led by General Francisco When the dedication ceremony was held in 2008, there were thirty-nine surviving veterans
Franco with the support of both Hitler and Mussolini—almost 3,000 US anti-fascists and eleven, at their old age, were present at the ceremony. Today, there are no more
joined over 35,000 volunteers from around the world to form the International Brigades. American volunteers left, but their ideas are honored and preserved in this monument. San
The American volunteers would later become collectively known as the Abraham Lincoln Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom attended the inauguration as did the Spanish Ambassador
Brigade. This was a paramount event in our history. It was a moment in time when the to the US Carlos Westerdorp y Cabeza and the Director of Cultural Affairs for the San
gross injustice of a military coup against a democratic government was met with outrage Francisco Arts Commission Luis Cancel. Oddly enough President Reagan’s former Secretary
across the world and many thousands of men and women outside Spain stood up against of State, George Shultz, also attended, along with a crowd of 1,200 people.
the fascist takeover. As the coup evolved into a bloody civil war, the International Brigades
volunteered to fight for the defense of the legitimate government. They risked and often Shortly after the monument’s dedication, two of the veterans who had participated in the
gave their lives for the idea that democracy should triumph. ceremony passed away unexpectedly (and three other veterans died during the following
weeks). These deaths were a shock but showed the importance of safeguarding historical
Observing Memories
Building a monument to this legacy was a great achievement. Years of discussions and legacies. The veterans of the Lincoln Brigade had a good idea about what would happen and
controversy among the veterans preceded its completion. Some objected to it, favoring took care to prepare for the inevitable. They assigned the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
“action” over “memory” (i.e. using the money for other causes rather than building a (ALBA) as their legal successor, creating the largest and most comprehensive historical col-
monument,) others wished it were different or in another location but eventually, the lection of the Lincoln volunteers. They did so to make their antifascist legacy permanently
project came around. available to the public. The creation of the monument was also part of this endeavor.
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Observing Memories
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