From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 155
Image Count:
1
Description:
Images of Fidel Castro's motorcade as it made its way along the national highway in the victorious march to Havana. Here Fidel speaks to a well-dressed civilian couple while surrounded by rebel soldiers. Australian pines line both sides of the road in the background. See also Print 29.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 158
Image Count:
1
Description:
Scenes from the highly symbolic rebel takeover in January 1959 of the Cuartel Moncada, the military barracks in Santiago de Cuba which was the original target of the failed assault by Fidel Castro's "Movimiento Centenario" on July 26, 1953. The event itself and the resulting massacre of the Centenary forces by Batista's troops led to the remaining rebels' imprisonment and exile and was the foundation of the future guerrilla movement led by Fidel Castro known as the "26th of July." Frames 26-32 show a surprising degree of fraternization between rebel officers and surrendering members of Batista's military.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 159
Image Count:
1
Description:
A number of random images dating from the first days of January showing nocturnal scenes of townspeople and reporters gathered in an unidentified location, possibly a roadside watering hole where they are seen eating and talking. The top row (frames 36-37) shows a Batista-era police officer standing behind a desk while talking to a long-haired man sitting in front of him, probably a rebel soldier. It is likely that these images were taken along the route of Fidel Castro's triumphant motorcade as it made its way to Havana.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 160
Image Count:
1
Description:
This print features various unusual scenes of jubilant townspeople as they greet Fidel Castro in the central streets of an unidentified provincial city during the first days of January 1959, right after the fall of Batista. Frames 3-14 appear to show an entirely different location than top rows of frames: these frames (3-14) in the bottom rows include images of the preparation of a speaker's dais before a municipal government building, as well as a rebel soldier examining a leaflet of pro-dictator propaganda (frame 5); the leaflet he is holding has a 26th of July guerrilla wearing blackface and squeezing the far-eastern end of the island with one hand while the red flag of Communism flies in the background. Frames 15-31 appear to show crowds of revelers on the outskirts of Havana proper as Fidel Castro arrives by tank and wades through the people.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 161
Image Count:
1
Description:
This print shows veteran guerrilla fighter Efigenio Ameijeiras (frame 24) driving a car filled with rebels into the main streets of a provincial city in Oriente where rebel forces will take over the main station of the national police. The top two rows of frames, shot from inside a car, show the delighted and startled faces of civilians as they see and touch for the first time the rebel soldiers (who had long been a source of anxiety and fear as well as empowerment and inspiration). The remaining rows of images show townspeople gathering and pressing in on the rebel vehicles as well as the gate of the police station in the town.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 162
Image Count:
1
Description:
Frames 18-37 show Fidel Castro speaking to reporters and others while surrounded by rebel soldiers in the interior of what appears to be a government building at the time of the rebel takeover. Frames 5-17 show rebel officers as they negotiate the terms of surrender with officers of Batista's armed forces in the first day or two after the collapse of the dictator's regime. The location of these images is unknown, although they were probably taken in Santiago, Oriente.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 163
Image Count:
2
Description:
This print features key figures of the civilian wing of the 26th of July Movement as they gather on the tarmac and await the arrival of Fidel Castro at Camagüey's Ignacio Agramonte Airport; Fidel took the plane to make up for time lost in traveling by motorcade on his triumphant march to Havana in the first days of January 1959. Frames 5-6 appear to show Roberto Agramonte (bald and corpulent man to the left), the first Minister of Foreign Relations under the first revolutionary government of President Manuel Urrutia and Prime Minister Fidel Castro. Frame 14 shows a guerrilla soldier taking a break and drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola. Frames 15 and 17-20 depict Armando Hart, a key figure in the rebel underground, standing next to his fiancée, Haydée Santamaría, the legendary heroine of Fidel Castro's 1953 assault on the Moncada barracks. See also Print 27.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 164
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 8-19 feature an unidentified man wearing civilian clothes and leaning against a rifle as he talks to Manzanillo-based guerrilla courier and soldier, Felipe Guerra Matos. See also Prints 9, 20, 22, 31, 32 and 41.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 165
Image Count:
1
Description:
Together with Prints 43 and 44, this print features images of the rebel takeover of military and police headquarters in the city of Guantánamo, also seen in Film 2 shot by St. George that forms part of the Cuban Collection. Frames 24 and 25 show both a rebel soldier and a batistiano soldier guarding the gate of the city's police station while frames 26-35 show police and soldiers surrendering to rebels by piling their weapons in the middle of the station's courtyard, to the backs of the rebel and batistiano guards. Frames 17-23 show townspeople gathering outside the mammoth military headquarters in the center of the city and final rows of images depict the interior of the same building where officers are handing over authority to the rebels. See also Prints 43 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 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.