From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 166
Image Count:
1
Description:
Taken on January 1, 1959, and stamped January 7, 1959, on the reverse side, this print documents the first victory speech given by Fidel Castro upon the fall and flight from Cuba of the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Having taken the reins of power in the city of Santiago de Cuba earlier that day, Fidel declared Santiago the temporary capital of the country and spoke for over three hours, well past midnight, to a huge crowd gathered in the city's central plaza. Frames 36-37 show closeup shots of some members of the crowd who appear jovial and excited. See also Prints 9, 20, 22, 31, 32 and 39.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 2
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 167
Image Count:
1
Description:
Probably taken in the late night, early morning hours of January 1, 1959, during or after Fidel Castro's famous first address to the people of Santiago, these images show at least one military soldier (see man in helmet with back to camera, frame 16), rebel soldiers and local people on the streets and in a tavern. The top three rows of frames show members of Fidel Castro's esolta (see the gray and long-haired rebel in the far right-hand corner of these frames with rifle in hand), as well as local citizens sitting on the front porch of a house beside a homemade shrine to the Virgin of Charity that is lit up by dozens of votive candles.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 168
Image Count:
1
Description:
Scenes of the rebel takeover of the city of Guantánamo where huge contingents of Batista's military forces were stationed during the course of the two-year civil war. The top two rows of frames show sandbags piled along the parapet wall of the military barracks in the center of Guantánamo, with soldiers surrendering weapons to revolutionary guerrillas beneath. Frames 3-27 are of particular interest because they reveal the Batista military's use of the rooftop of a public secondary school or Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza, of which there were less than two dozen nationwide, as a defensive outpost against possible rebel attacks on the city. None ever came. The building is surrounded by hundreds of civilian onlookers who listen to a hat-wearing rebel perched on the corner of the sandbagged rooftop as he addresses the crowds. Alongside him are not just rebels but batistiano soldiers who are distinguished by their metal helmets. See also Prints 40 and 44.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 169
Image Count:
3
Description:
Rebel takeover of the city of Guantánamo where huge contingents of Batista's military forces were stationed during the course of the two-year civil war. The top row of frames shows crowds gathered before a public secondary school or Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza, whose roof is still covered with sandbags from the time that it apparently served as a defensive outpost against possible rebel attacks on the city. Frames 18-28 show crowds gathered around the highly unusual, homemade personnel carrier that Batista's forces designed but never used against the guerrillas during the last months of the war. Also significant is the image in frame 32 of a recently surrendered batistiano military officer walking away from the barracks with a suitcase under his arm, a towel around his neck and a metal fighting helmet in hand. See also Prints 40 and 43.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 170
Image Count:
1
Description:
This print depicts a government military barracks in the process of being taken over by 26th of July guerrillas who are engaged in confiscating all the available munitions, as well as questioning men who may be Batista's political prisoners through the bars of the prison cells. Because of their dress and general physical state, it is likely that these men were not taken prisoner by the rebels but were already there at the time of the government's military surrender. Although the precise location is not clear, the wall against which two rebel soldiers lean as they keep guard reads "Primera Compañía." The same location is featured in Print 17. See also Print 17.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 2-8
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 171
Image Count:
1
Description:
This print features shots of Fidel's victory motorcade as it makes its way along the national highway to Havana. Top frames 33-34 show the front view of his car in what appears to be the early morning hours, as well as Fidel emerging from a middle-class home and standing behind the gate of the house with members of his personal escolta. Subsequent pictures show him speaking with small groups of civilians and rebels and frames 14-17 show the motorcade in movement and then stopping alongside the road. Frame 6 shows a rebel with rifle and beret seated underneath a large advertisement for "Hatuey" beer, owned by Bacardí Co., and frames 7-12 show nighttime scenes, probably preceding those in the top rows of frames, as Fidel's motorcade moves through a small town.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1-8
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 172
Image Count:
1
Description:
This print depicts Fidel Castro and his escolta as Fidel boards a British-made helicopter captured at the time of the surrender of Batista's forces and requisitioned as a means for hastening his trip to Havana, where he formally announced the victory of the Revolution on January 8, 1959. Fidel alternated traveling by motorcade and helicopter on the route to Havana. See also Print 13.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 174
Image Count:
1
Description:
These pictures document the first, historic meeting of Fidel Castro and Manuel Urrutia Lleó, a judge whose support of the constitutionality of the rebels' assault on Batista's forces got him ousted from the bench and forced into exile in New York City. Fidel Castro had personally nominated Urrutia for the presidency of Cuba as early as 1957. In frames 21-35, Urrutia speaks with Fidel Castro; to the left of both stands Armando Hart, the son of another judge who suffered a fate similar to Urrutia's for having protested the unconstitutionality of Batista's government in support of the rebels years before. Urrutia speaks to reporters alongside the airplane Guíamaro, normally used as a presidential aircraft by Batista. See also Prints 18, 19, 27 and 50.