Collection of Correspondence Sent to Carmen de Isasi Garcia del Salto, Central Youth Counselor for the Sección Feminina

varies: 1943-1947. Mostly ALs, a few TLs. Sizes vary. Also included is what appears to be a black armband with “36” embroidered in red thread and “9936” embroidered in white thread. One letter seems to be without an envelope and one envelope is empty but they do not match. Moderate general wear. Very Good.

A strong collection of 27 letters and one postcard written to Carmen de Isasi Garcia del Santo, a rising star in the Sección Feminina, the women’s branch of the Falangist political movement and an official institution under Franco’s regime. The Fascist Falangist movement was founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933. His sister Pilar Primo de Rivera began and led the women’s section from 1934 until the fall of the Franco regime in 1977. Although the main principle behind the Sección Feminina was the rather repressive one of keeping women in the home, rearing children, and providing succor to wounded comrades, the group allowed women a good deal of freedom. In fact, the only way a woman could obtain a driver’s license was if they were a party member, and many women were employed by the party, including Carmen de Isasi Garcia del Santo.

In Pilar Primo de Rivera’s memoirs, Carmen is mentioned several times as a great friend and comrade as well as a supporter of the arts and a former provincial delegate of Cadiz and lifelong Falangist (antigua delegada provincial de Cádiz y falangista de siempre) who Pilar promoted to the Central Youth Counselor of La Sección Feminina (Regidora Central de Juventudes). This is backed up by many of the letters in this collection. In 1944, Carmen is addressed as “Delegada Provincial Sección Femenina” of Cadiz, and then in 1945 her title changes to Regidora Central de Juventudes.” Eventually, in 1973, Carmen rose to the position of director of the school for rural instructors (La Escuela de Instructoras Rurales Onésimo Redondo) in Aranjuez. The school was another creation of Pilar Primo de Rivera’s and was founded in 1950.

Although many of the letters are written in the familiar, and offer hugs, etc., when signing off, de Isasi was obviously a respected and powerful figure within the Falangist organization to whom people, especially other women, turned to for aid. In one letter from 1944 from Carmen de la Guerra, de Isasi is addressed as “Jefe” (boss) and de la Guerra asks that de Isasi recommend her for an instructor job in Madrid. In 1945, Angel del Rio, a soap manufacturer, writes to Carmen asking from whom he should request remuneration for funds that he loaned to the party; he signs off with “te saluda efusivamente brazo en alto” (I send you my warmest regards with my arm raised high). Conchita Ferrer (mentioned in Pilar’s memoirs) writes to request that she be allowed to retire from being an instructor as a present for her name day and complains that she is “fed up with registration books, circulars, and typewriters” (estoy hasta mas anila de la cabeza de libros registro, de ciruculares, de maquinas de escribir) and has found a doctor who can cure her of her ailments. Sancho Dávila sends a typewritten letter to Carmen on embossed stationery with the red Falangist symbol, asking Carmen to find placement for several girls on a list from Las Hermanas de Cruz, a religious order of social workers, and salutes her with the fascist “brazo en alto.” Similarly, in 1946, in an envelope marked “¡¡Urgente!!” from Dora Martinez is a letter that begs Carmen not to forget her as she is desperate for work and really hopes to get the job in either Medina del Campo (most likely at the school for boys mentioned above) or at an Estación Preventorial (a type of holiday camp during Francoism, where children learned about health, sport, politics and Francoist ideologies).

The correspondence also touches on the roles of other women within the organization. In one impassioned typewritten letter from 1947, another woman named Carmen pleads with de Isasi to stand up for her as it seems that she may be on the verge of losing her job due to her direct supervisor taking exception to her morals and education. The same year, Josefina (most likely Josefina Lajusticia, who is mentioned in Pilar’s memoires as doing exceptional work at the Estación Preventorial “Jose Antonio” Gallarta) writes on bespoke stationery from that Estación about getting through all of the bad colds etcetera that ran through the Estación throughout the winter. In the same letter, Josefina updates Carmen on the agricultural work Josefina has been implementing lately: tilling the soil in preparation for planting potatoes, beans and corn.

Falangist friends and acquaintances also write, which points to the strength of the relationships women formed within the organization. For example, in a 1945 letter a group of women at one of the Falangist youth schools for boys (Escuela Mayor de Mandos “José Antonio” at Castillo de la Mota) send felicitations on the New Year and a reproduction of an Albrecht Dürer woodcut. In 1946, Carmen receives a letter from another comrade (who signs off as “Petit) who is tired out at 38 and a half years of age and wants to retire. Enclosed in this envelope is a smaller black-edged envelope with three black-edged cards inside. The cards are signed in blue pen with “muy agradecidos” (with many thanks) and are from: Clara Stauffer Loewe (1904-1984) nazi sympathizer, propagandist and head of press for Sección Feminina, and major proponent in finding homes for fugitive Nazis in Spain after WWII; Carlos Mahou Olmeda (co-owner of the Mahou brewing company along with Clara’s father); María Stauffer de Mahou; Julio Stauffer Loewe; and María de la Luz Stauffer Díez. A Conchita González writes to let Carmen know that she is sending her money to pay her back for a loan. 1947 must have been a challenging year for Carmen’s mother as many of her colleagues write to say how good it is to hear that her mother is now feeling so much better.

All in all, an uncommon collection showing the contradictions of fascism for women, in that participation in the Falangist movement empowered women and created lasting bonds that enabled them to rise within the ranks and/or at least maintain their positions, even while the organization itself sought to restrict women to traditional roles in the private sphere.

See for reference: http://www.maalla.es/Libros/Recuerdos%20de%20una%20Vida.pdf p.72 and https://consellodacultura.gal/mediateca/extras/CCG_ig_ALBUM_PENCHA_015.pdf p. 13.