Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee
Variant namesThe Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (JAFRC) emerged in 1941superseding several earlier committees and organizations that had been developed to secure humanitarian aid for refugees of the Spanish Civil War. Along with providing humanitarian aid, the JAFRC was “dedicated to the rescue and relief of thousands of anti-fascist fighters trapped in Vichy France, and North Africa so that they [could] return to the active fight against the Axis.” Dr. Edward Barsky, leader of American medical volunteers in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and chairman of the North American Spanish Aid Committee, became the national chairman of the JAFRC. Dorothy Parker was the chairman for the Spanish Refugee Appeal, the fundraising arm of the JAFRC. Prominent religious leaders, artists, musicians, scientists and academics were among the sponsors of the JAFRC, including Leonard Bernstein, Albert Einstein, Lillian Hellman, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and Orson Welles.
Early in 1946 Barsky, Executive Secretary Helen R. Bryan and Executive Board members of JAFRC were subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), to surrender financial records, and to turn over the names of contributors and recipients of aid. After refusing to comply with HUAC demands, Barsky and the entire board of JAFRC were charged with contempt of Congress and convicted in June 1947.
Three years of appeals that challenged the constitutionality of the HUAC hearings ended in 1950 when the Supreme Court refused to review the convictions. The board members were sentenced to three months in prison, and Barsky, as the JAFRC’s chairman, was sentenced to six months in the Federal Penitentiary in Petersburg, Virginia and fined $500. Barsky resigned from JAFRC and in 1951 Dr. Mark Straus, who had served as a physician and a soldier in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion during the Spanish Civil War, was elected chairman of the organization.
Despite the change in leadership, the JAFRC was unable to avoid the scrutiny of the United States government. In 1952 the JAFRC, whose tax-exempt status had been rescinded by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1948, was sued by the United States Department of the Treasury for $307,000 in back taxes. The next two years found the JAFRC attempting to ward off efforts by the United States Congress’s Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB) to force the JAFRC to register as a Communist front organization. In 1955, citing harassment by the HUAC, the SACB and the Treasury Department, the board of JAFRC voted to disband.
From the guide to the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee Records, 1942-1954, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)
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referencedIn | Luscomb, Florence, 1887-. Additional papers of Florence Luscomb, 1888-1988 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1949. | University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library | |
referencedIn | Guide to the Fredericka Martin Papers, 1926-2019 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Administrative Records, 1941-1957. | Andover-Harvard Theological Library | |
creatorOf | United States. President (1945-1953 : Truman). Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1945. | University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library | |
referencedIn | Kusman, Felix, 1909-1983. Papers, 1937-1983 (bulk 1937-1963). | Churchill County Museum | |
referencedIn | Luscomb, Florence, 1887-1985. Papers, 1856-1987 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Koussevitzky, Serge, 1874-1951. Serge Koussevitzky Archive, 1920-1976 (bulk: 1924-1951) | Library of Congress. Music Division | |
creatorOf | Marshall, George, 1904-2000. George Marshall papers, 1933-1955. | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
referencedIn | Bernard, John T. (John Toussaint), 1893-1983. John Toussaint Bernard papers, 1934-1973. | Minnesota Historical Society Library | |
creatorOf | Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee Records, 1942-1954 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Presidential Papers, American Unitarian Association, 1936-1958. | Andover-Harvard Theological Library | |
referencedIn | Lawrence Graham Brooks papers, 1897-1981 | Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 | |
referencedIn | Martin, Fredericka I. Papers, 1926-1990 (bulk 1968-1984). | Churchill County Museum | |
Martin, Fredericka I. Papers, 1926-1990 (bulk 1968-1984). | Churchill County Museum | ||
referencedIn | Records of the Lyman R. Bradley Academic Freedom Case, 1947-1961 | New York University. Archives | |
referencedIn | Felix Kusman Papers, Bulk, 1937-1963, 1937-1983 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Charlotte Todes Stern Papers, 1925-1956 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated | David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library | |
referencedIn | Guide to the Edward K. Barsky Papers, 1936-1970 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Spanish Civil War Poster Collection, Bulk, 1936-1939, 1936-2003 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Sheldon Glueck papers | Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 | |
referencedIn | Luscomb, Florence, 1887-1985. Papers, 1856-2001 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Bessie, Alvah Cecil, 1904-. Papers, 1937-1991 (bulk 1936-1939, 1967-1985). | Churchill County Museum | |
referencedIn | Guide to the Edward K. Barsky Papers, 1936-1970 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1947-1954 | Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 | |
referencedIn | Brooks, Lawrence Graham, 1881-1981. Papers, 1897-1981. | Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 | |
referencedIn | Todes, Charlotte. Papers, 1927-1956. | Churchill County Museum | |
referencedIn | Records, 1939-1957. | Andover-Harvard Theological Library | |
creatorOf | Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Correspondence with Wanda Gág, 1944. | University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library | |
referencedIn | Alvah Bessie Papers, Bulk, 1936-1985, 1936-1985, (Bulk 1936-1939; 1967-1985) | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Records, 1940-1951. | Andover-Harvard Theological Library |
Role | Title | Holding Repository |
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Filters:
Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
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Spain |x History |y Civil War, 1936-1939 |x Refugees. | |||
Spain |x History |y Civil War, 1936-1939 |x Participation, Polish. | |||
Spain |x Politics and government |y 1939-1975 |v Periodicals. |
Subject |
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War correspondents |
Anti-fascist movements |
Anti-fascist movements |
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Activity |
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Corporate Body
Active 1933
Active 1955