The Harvard Cubans

In 1900, more than half of all Cuban public teachers boarded five American military ships to participate in a summer school organized by Harvard University. For the first time, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States opened its doors to 1,273 people born in a foreign country. The purpose of the trip was to teach them about modern methods of teaching and to show them the great advances of American society. The people of Cambridge, Mass., convinced that this expedition would aid the reconstruction of Cuba after the terrible wars of independence that the Island had suffered, donated more than $70,000 for the visit. The educational project was not only a resounding success, but it also became the largest cultural exchange that has ever existed between the two countries: thousands of Americans accompanied the Cubans for six weeks. In the spring of 2016, Cuban journalist and documentarían Danny González Lucena, under the auspices of the Cuba Studies Program of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, began an investigation that finished with the production of the documentary Los cubanos de Harvard (The Harvard Cubans\u27). The result of his work will be screened and discussed with him and the following persons: •Irina De la Guardia, assistant to the director •Dr. Eliana S. Rivero, Professor Emérita, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Arizona •Dr. Michael J. Bustamante, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Florida International University •Michael H. Frye, great-grandson of Alexis E. Frye, Colorado Springs, Colorado •Teresa L. Frye Dushane, great-granddaughter of Alexis E. Frye, Salt Lake City, Utahhttps://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cri_events/1383/thumbnail.jp