University of Miami Libraries > UM Libraries Digital Collections > Cuban Heritage Collection Digital Collections

Below are descriptions and links to Cuban Heritage Collection digital collections with digital manuscripts, photographs, letters, maps and other resources held in the University of Miami Libraries Cuban Heritage Collection. These presentations have been developed collaboratively by teams comprised of archivists, Digital Initiatives staff and the Cataloging Department.

Agrupación Abdala Poster Collection

Posters dating from 1967 to 1982 by the anti-communist student organization Agrupación Abdala.

Alberto Arredondo Papers

Essays, reports, and conference papers by Alberto Arredondo (1912-1968) regarding Cuba's economy.

Randy Barceló Collection

Cuban-born Randy Barceló (1946-1994) was the first Hispanic nominated for a Tony Award for costume design for 1972's Jesus Christ Superstar. Selected design drawings, theater production photographs, and posters have been digitized and are available online.

Luis J. Botifoll Oral History Project

Transcriptions and video clips of oral history interviews conducted with members of the first generations of Cubans exiled since the Cuban Revolution.

Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection

Over 600 black and white photographs of buildings, landscapes, street scenes, and other views from all parts of Cuba, primarily from the turn of the 20th century.

Lydia Cabrera Papers

Letters, photographs, research notes, and manuscripts from the papers of Lydia Cabrera (1899-1991), one of the 20th century's leading writers on Afro-Cuban religion and culture.

Ramiro Casañas Collection

Correspondence and documentation from the nineteenth century Cuban independence movement, Junta Revolucionaria Cubana [Cuban Revolutionary Committee].

CHC Books

Selected books held by the Cuban Heritage Collection and published before 1923.

CHC Lectures and Presentations

Video recordings of Cuban Heritage Collection lectures, book presentations, and other events from 2005 forward.

CHC Periodicals

Selected journals, newspapers, magazines, and newsletters held by the Cuban Heritage Collection and published primarily before 1923.

CHC Theater Collections

Digitized content from CHC's holdings of the papers of theater artists in Cuba and the diaspora, including photographs, playbills, and costume and set designs.

CHC Viewbooks Collection

Selected booklets and souvenir albums of Cuba from the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century.

Cordovés and Bolaños Families Collection

Letters, documents, and photographs from Cuba's 19th-century Wars of Independence and the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Cuba: Capitanía Collection

"Bandos" (edicts), royal decrees, and official forms published between 1896 and 1898 during the governments of Valeriano Weyler and Ramón Blanco, Captain Generals of the Island of Cuba.

Cuban Historical & Literary Manuscript Collection

Original manuscripts from the 17th to the 20th centuries, including letters, literary manuscripts, slavery and property documents, and other such materials by figures in Cuba's history and culture.

Cuban Museum of Art and Culture Records

Correspondence, including several letters from Cuban poet and patriot José Martí, photographs, documents, and other materials relating to members of the Bacardí family in Cuba during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cuban Photograph Collections

Over 5,000 photographs from the 19th to the 21st centuries, covering a wide range of topics about Cuba and the Cuban diaspora.

Cuban Postcard Collection

Over 500 postcards depicting landscapes, street scenes, monuments, and other views across the island of Cuba.

Cuban Refugee Center Records

Selected photographs and newsletters published by the Cuban Refugee Program, a federal program that provided education, medical, employment, and relocation services to Cuban refugees. Photographs primarily depict refugee families and the service activities coordinated by the Program during the 1960s and early 1970s.

José Curbelo Papers

The José Curbelo (1917-2012) papers contain photographs, clippings, copies of advertisements, and promotional materials which primarily document Curbelo’s band and its trajectory in New York during the 1940s.

Herberto Dumé Papers

Selected photographs and theater programs from the papers of the Cuban theater director Herberto Dumé (1929-2003).

Tomás Estrada Palma Collection

Letters, photographs, and clippings related to Tomás Estrada Palma (1835- 1908), first president of the Cuban Republic from 1902 to 1906, and his family, in particular Tomás Andrés Estrada Palma II (1884-1960) and his son Tomás Douglas Estrada Palma III (1911-1999).

Fernando Fernández-Cavada Collection

Correspondence of Federico, Adolfo, and Emilio Fernández Cavada during Cuba's Ten Years War (1868-1878), as well as some materials of Emilio Fernández-Cavada Suárez del Villar, Lieutenant Colonel in Cuba's War of Independence (1895-1898).

Ramiro A. Fernández Collection

Photographs collected by Ramiro Fernandez that document Cuban life, history, and culture from the 1890s through the 1950s.

Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers

Letters from 1962 to 1966 from the Cuban visual artist Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) to Dr. Martha Frayde Barraqué (b. 1920).

Polita Grau de Agüero Papers

Speeches, writings, and photographs that document Polita Grau's (1915-2000) 13 years as a political prisoner in Cuba and her activities in exile on behalf of political prisoners.

José Lezama Lima Papers

Letters written between 1961 and 1976 by Cuban poet, essayist, and novelist José Lezama Lima (1910-1976) to his sisters Eloisa and Rosa.

Enrique Labrador Ruiz Papers

Manuscripts, letters, and clippings of Enrique Labrador Ruiz (1902-1991), Cuban journalist and poet.

Rolando Laserie Papers

Photographs documenting the career of Cuban-born singer Rolando Laserie (1923-1998) in Cuba and in exile, including images of many other Cuban musicians and entertainers.

Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club Collection

Photographs, yearbooks, and newsletters primarily from the 1940s and 1950s of the Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, a women's organization in Havana, Cuba dedicated to the promotion of cultural understanding, women's issues, social welfare, and women's athletics.

Gerardo Machado y Morales Papers

Letters, photographs, manuscripts, financial records, and other documents of Gerardo Machado (1871-1939) and his family, primarily from their years in exile from Cuba. Machado was Cuba's fifth president from 1925 to 1933.

Estus H. Magoon Collection

Over 1,600 photographs primarily from the 1930s and 1940s that document sanitation and public health projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, showing technical processes and construction sites but also living conditions and scenic views of several countries that include Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and Jamaica.

Manuel Martín, Jr. Papers

Production photographs of plays written by Cuban-born playwright and theater director Manuel Martín, Jr. (1934-2000), who founded Teatro Duo/ Duo Theater with Magaly Abalú in New York in 1969.

Augustus C. Mayhew, Jr. Photograph Collection

Black and white photographs of the Mayhew and McAbee families during their time living in the American colony of La Gloria in the province of Camagüey, Cuba from 1901 to 1952.

Manuel Ochoa Papers

Selected images, programs, and music scores from the papers of Cuban-born conductor Manuel Ochola (1925-2006), founder of the Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Orichas Collection

Seventeen signed lithographs and one catalog of the series of drawings by Cuban-born artist Alberto del Pozo (1946-1992) of the deities of Afro-Cuban Santería.

Virgilio Piñera Collection

Letters exchanged between Virgilio Piñera and Adolfo de Obieta during the 1940s and 1950s, and a copy of Piñera’s play Una caja de zapatos vacía.

Tom Pohrt Photograph Collection

The Tom Pohrt Photograph Collection includes photographs from Cuba in the 19th and 20th century, including albumen prints, daguerreotype and ambrotype portraits, stereographs, and color slides.

Carmen Puig Papers

Primarily 19th century and early 20th century photographs of the Ramsden and Cox families. Jennings Cox was the American engineer who ran the mines at Daiquirí, Cuba who is credited with inventing the daiquiri cocktail in 1898.

Leandro Soto Papers

Designs and playbills of the exhibitions and performances by Leandro Soto, Cuban-born set and costume designer, and a visual and performance artist.

Edward Spalding Papers

Correspondence and business records from 1800-1825 documenting the activities of Edward Spalding, a shipping agent who worked in Cuba in the early nineteenth century.

Tad Szulc Collection of Interview Transcripts

Transcripts of interviews with Fidel Castro and others recorded by Tad Szulc in preparation for his book Fidel: A Critical Portrait (New York: Morrow, 1986).

Tobacco Art Collection

Art and ephemera associated with the Cuban tobacco industry, including commercial tobacco packaging labels, cigar trademarks, and cigar bands.

Asela Torres Photography Collection

A selection of photographs of Cuban and Hispanic performing artists in Miami as captured by photographer Asela Torres. 

The Truth About Cuba Committee, Inc. Records

Pamphlets, fliers, newsletters, and other publications by The Truth About Cuba Committee, Inc. (TACC), a non-profit organization established by Cuban exiles in Miami in 1961 for the purpose of disseminating information about communist Cuba and its role in promoting communism throughout Latin America.