Fighting Fascist Spain: The Exhibits (FFSTE)
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The Sociedades Hispanias Confederadas (SHC)
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One significant US-based effort to support the Spanish workers started only eight days after Francisco Franco's uprising. About 200 U.S. Hispanic cultural and mutual aid societies joined in what became known as the Sociedades Hispanas Confederadas (SHC, Confederation of Hispanic Societies).
Through the publication of Frente Popular (1936-1939) and later España Libre (1939-1977), the SHC remained devoted to its antifascist cause throughout the Franco years. Although the SHC grew to 65,000 members at its height, it maintained close ties with anarchist and socialist networks, which often shared their membership. Among the thousands of Spanish workers who arrived in the United States around the turn of the twentieth century, many brought radical traditions rooted in their homeland. They created scores of cultural and mutual aid societies in cities and rural and mining areas across the United States, fueling anti-authoritarian and emancipatory practices that foregrounded the creation of culture and collective knowledge from below. During and after the Spanish Civil War, they built support networks for refugees and published periodicals that reported on the war and denounced Francoist repression.
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Map of SHC (Black States: 50+ SHC groups; Dark-Grey States: 10-49 SHC groups; Grey States: 2-9 SHC groups; Pale-Gray States: 1 SHC group). Created by Ian Maloney.
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Funded by: 2020 Mellon Foundation Grant-in-aid of the US Latino Digital Humanities (USLDH) program, 2021 SHSU Fast Award, and 2022 SHSU Pilot grant.