Letters from an American volunteer in the Spanish Civil War by Dawn Rolland

Alphaeus Prowell: An Unordinary Life by Dawn Rolland

Coming Soon - Prowell Family

Excerpt from the book, Letters from an American volunteer in the Spanish Civil War

Sept. 27, 1937

Dear Comrade Harry:

Best wishes dear comrade and give my very best wishes to all my friends. Are you still with Mack, please say hello to him. Evelyn wanted to give me her photograph, have her send it in your letter.

Spain is a beautiful country and the climate is very much like southern California. The countryside however is very much different. The appearance is dry like in California, but homes, gardens, fields are much different. There are no orange orchards, but vast quantities of grapes are seen everywhere. Corn and melons are the chief crops.

The homes are made of clay, mother earth is the floor, and there are very few cement roads, considering these conditions it rather surprising how clean and well kept are the homes of these peoples.

There is no running hot waters, soap is expensive, and seldom seen on the market. Clothes must be washed in cold water and peoples have very few clothes. Because of these conditions it is not surprising that the children are generally always dirty, clothes not clean, and sores all over their faces.

These sores are due to unsanitary conditions and the lack of medical attention. I saw a little baby its little face marred by a hideous sore, and the mother covering the sore with a dirty rag. There is great need of doctors in Spain, and I believe that you should advise Dr. Jaimie to come to Spain. What a field for experience for an intelligent doctor.

The Spanish women have not the slightest idea of hygienic conditions. Birth control is an art due to the Catholic Church, these peoples have never heard of. The C.P. of America should emphasize even more the importance of medical aid to the Spanish peoples. The ideas I have presented above should not leave you under the impression that these people are dirty.

I mean hygienic conditions in the sense of the utilization of douche bags, birth control and contraceptives. On Sunday, these women put on nice inexpensive clothes and they are attractive. Few countries beat Spain in the quantity of attractive women.

I cannot talk about the morals of these women because I don’t know the language. Now I have been in the homes of many Spaniards, natural intelligence of these peoples are equal to any peoples. As for customs I simply don’t know and that is the best I can do.

I entered the home of a small farming family--they had a 19 year old daughter named Blanca and a friend named Anita. I drew a picture of Anita and she told me something about Spain life in the big cities is no difference than in the United States. People go to shows, dances and go with each other. But when you go with a Spanish girl it means matrimony. She was very careful to find out whether I was married.

I met and was in the home of a still younger girl Maria. She is teaching me Spanish and she is very patient with me. I have eaten at her house, and her people are very strict. Now she says in small villages never put your arm around a girl, in large cities like Madrid you put your arms around a girl. I go walking each evening with her, and she walks the life out of you. Say these girls are far more muscular and better shaped than American girls. The calves are rounder and the breasts are much firmer.

It is a relief to find people who do not know race prejudice. There is nationalism in Spain. That is, Catalonians do not marry people of Valencia. For 4 years I went to Oxnard high school. I was never in the home of any of my school mates. Three weeks here, and I have been in the homes of many peoples. I saw the difference as soon as I entered Paris. This country is poor, Harry. In L.A. I made over $7.50 a day in Spain I make less than 40¢ a day. I was miserable in L.A. I have found myself. I can in truth say, the best step I ever made was to come to Spain. I was rapidly deteriorating in L.A. and now I feel like a new man.

I cannot tolerate peoples with race complex. In this army there are means at hand to deal with race prejudice. The army of America encouraged race prejudice, but in this country any man guilty of prejudice will be sent to jail.

There are some Americans who brought their prejudice with them, they over stepped their bounds this time and are out of their place. This army has no place for race prejudice. The American group has more petty fights when drunk than any other group. As soon as they get pay you can expect a fight or the start of a fight. Well, we will get all the fighting they want. We break camp tomorrow, where I go I don’t know so I will write again soon. Say hello to mother.

Alphaeus Prowell

Grace

I was curious as to what became of Alphaeus’ ex-wife Grace Fisher. I continued to research her life and discovered she had an equally noteworthy life; a successful entrepreneur, educator and pioneer in the fashion industry. She was also a columnist for the California Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel newspapers. A socialite, her life was filled with great achievements and tantalizing scandals that played out in newspapers. 

Grace forged her own path in a time where few opportunities existed for African American women. Grace was a renaissance woman, a woman of her time. I’m surprised her story remains untold- until now.

(Article: Los Angeles Sentinel, February 19, 1948)

Read more about the extraordinary life of Grace Fisher in Alphaeus Prowell: An Unordinary Life.

Fighters for Freedom

This article in the California Eagle newspaper dated June 25, 1942, paid tribute to the heroic efforts of the African American men from the Los Angeles area who fought in the Spanish Civil War. 

Read more of the article in the book, Alphaeus Prowell: An Unordinary Life

Sophie and Mayme: The Women Alphaeus Loved

Man behind the Revolutionary. What made Alphaeus human was the inclusion of his love life in the letters. When he wrote about Sophie it was with still raw emotions. Undoubtedly, she was someone he cared deeply about and couldn’t release from his heart. Then there was Mayme Reed. Alpheus spent his last days with her before he traveled to Spain. The letters are somewhat ambiguous on the nature of their relationship.