Hakam, Harry, 1913-1996

Harry Hakam was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1913. His father was a building contractor. Hakam finished two years of college and three years of union courses in electrical engineering before sailing for Spain in February 1936. He was among the first Americans to join the International Brigades. In Spain, Hakam started out as a machine-gunner, then became a runner in a communications unit in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, taking part in the Jarama, Brunete and Aragon offensives. Later Hakam worked in the rear as an electrician. Hakam (who signed some of his letters "Yog De Von"), stayed in Spain until the International Brigades evacuated in September of 1938.

In World War II, Hakam was a frogman in the U.S. Navy, and afterward he continued a career as a journeyman electrician and union activist. He died in 1996.

From the guide to the Harry Hakam Papers, 1937-1988, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)