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Sixty years ago, posters screamed theirprotests from the walls of Spanish cities. With stark images of raised fistsand faces and of guns and flags held high, these stunning pictures spoke of thedangers of fascist terror and the urgency of public resistance.

On Sunday, Sept. 7, the Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College will present theopening of the exhibition Shouts From the Wall: Posters and PhotographsBrought Home from the Spanish Civil War by American Volunteers. Theexhibition, which presents a selection of the powerful posters that wereemployed by the Spanish Republic to exhort and inspire its people during theSpanish Civil War (1936-1939), continues through October 19.

In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, the Emerson Gallery willpresent two days of special events on Sunday, Sept. 7 and Monday, Sept. 8. OnSunday, Sept. 7 at 2 p.m. two American veterans of the Spanish Civil War willparticipate in a panel discussion entitled The Meaning of the Spanish CivilWar to take place in Dwight Lounge in Bristol Campus Center. Abe Osheroffand Saul Wellman, both of whom fought in Spain in the late 1930s, will discussthe significance of their volunteer effort. Following the panel discussion, areception for the speakers and for the opening of the exhibition will takeplace at the Emerson Gallery from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The opening events continue on Monday, Sept. 8 with the showing of the filmThe Good Fight in the auditorium of the Kirner-Johnson Building at 4:00p.m. This unusually engaging historical documentary on the American volunteersin the Spanish Civil War will be introduced by veteran Abe Osheroff. On Mondayevening at 8 p.m., a lecture titled The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and theSpanish Civil War: Legend and Legacy will be presented in the Red Pit ofthe Kirner-Johnson Building. The speakers will be co-curator of theexhibition, Peter Carroll, authority on the American experience in Spain andauthor of The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in theSpanish Civil War; and Maurice Isserman, William R. Kenan Professor ofHistory at Hamilton College and author of Which Side Were You On?: TheAmerican Communist Party During the Second World War.

The Spanish Civil War has been called one of the most idealistic and mosttragic wars ever

waged. Just three years before Hitler plunged the whole world into war, he andMussolini

bankrolled Generalissimo Francisco Franco in a brutal military coup in Spain insuppression of the democratically-elected Republican government. The westerndemocracies, including the U.S., chose to remain non-interventionist, therebycutting off the flow of arms to the beleaguered Republicans (also calledLoyalists). In an unprecedented international response to the threat offascism, nearly 40,000 idealistic volunteers from 52 countries went to Spain toassist the Republic. Over 2,800 Americans, collectively dubbed the AbrahamLincoln Brigade, were among them.

Artists and intellectuals from all over the world supported the SpanishRepublic or were creatively inspired by its heroic resistance -- Picasso,Hemingway, Malraux, Octavio Paz, Miro, Auden, Orwell, Dos Passos, Sartre, PaulRobeson and Pablo Neruda to name only a few. Shouts From the Walloffers a remarkable opportunity to reconsider a momentous historical event thatis little understood today.

In addition to the opening events, the Emerson Gallery will present additionalprograms during September and October which will further explore the politicaland cultural history of the Spanish Civil War from a variety of perspectives,with particular emphasis on America in the 1930s and the American men and womenwho volunteered to come to the aid of the Spanish Republic. They will includea gallery talk and slide-illustrated lecture by Cary Nelson, co-curator of theexhibition, a film series, and a program of letters and music. Forfurther information on the events planned, please consult the enclosedprogram.

The exhibition is organized by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives atBrandeis University. The curators are Peter Carroll and Cary Nelson. It ismade possible by grants from The Puffin Foundation Ltd., Charles Lawrence Keithand Clara Miller Foundation, the Program for Cultural Cooperation BetweenSpain's Ministry of Culture and United States' Universities, the Blue MountainCenter, and the Needmor Fund. Professional services provided by the TechnicalAssistance Program, a division of The American Federation of Arts.

Admission to the exhibition and to all events is free and open to the public.The Emerson Gallery is located on the first floor of Christian A. Johnson Hall,directly behind the Hamilton College Chapel, and is wheelchair accessible.Gallery hours are weekdays, 12 - 5 , weekends, 1-5. The gallery is closednational holidays. For further information, contact the Emerson Gallery at 315859-4396.

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