American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy

The American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy is documented here through its East Bay chapter and a fundraising effort involving Berkeley faculty in 1938. The record establishes local support for the organization, including a reported $1,500 raised for its East Bay chapter, but does not describe the Bureau’s wider structure or its medical operations.

Berkeley Fundraising in 1938

In late January 1938, J. Robert Oppenheimer made a donation to the Bureau. He also joined a University of California, Berkeley fundraising committee that included Haakon Chevalier and other faculty members. The committee raised $1,500 in support of the Bureau’s East Bay chapter, linking the organization to a local network of academics and political engagement.

Documentary Significance

The fundraising is also cited in a discussion of Jean Tatlock’s politics. Her participation alongside Oppenheimer, Chevalier, and other Berkeley professors in supporting the Bureau is presented as evidence inconsistent with a later characterization of her as fascist or conservative. The account thus records not only financial support for the organization but also the way that support became relevant to disputes over the political commitments of people associated with it.