The Ben Leider Archive: Papers and Ephemera Commemorating an American Volunteer Killed in the Spanish Civil War

This archive documents the life and death of Benjamin Leider, the first American volunteer killed in the Spanish Civil War (February 19, 1937). The collection includes a 13-page booklet, *The Flying Reporter* (Vol. 1, No. 3, March 1938), issued by the Ben Leider Memorial Committee; a press release announcing his death; a broadside detailing his death and including letters and newspaper reports; a photograph of Leider with friends; a love letter from Leider to S. Marshak (January 24, 1931); and a second love letter to S. Marshak (circa 1935). The archive also contains biographical information detailing Leider's early life in Kishinev, Russia, his family's emigration to the United States, his career as a journalist and aviator, his involvement in labor activism, and his service in the Spanish Loyalist Air Force. Additional information provides context on the 1905 Kishinev massacre, Leider's work with the New York Graphic, New York News Association, and New York Post, and the memorial service held at Carnegie Hall in 1938.

Associated People/Businesses

• Leider, Ben

Geography

No geographic information available.

Subjects

• Journalism
• Aviation

Physical Location

Ms. Coll. 1410, M, Box 8, Folder 25