Summer 2001 - George A. Smathers Libraries - University of Florida

UF Libraries rescue Cuban National Archives (Continued from page 1)
when traveling from Spain to
America and back again. The
volumes hold valuable clues to life in
colonial Spain. From 1578 to 1900
there were less than 20 notary families
in Havana. The job was passed
down from father to son. They started
a new volume every year, keeping
the old ones in the family. In 1900,
the Cuban government collected the
volumes for safe storage.
“Beyond the preservation of the
information contained in this
global heritage, this project aims
to link three centuries from the
past with our present and
future, and thereby help us
better understand ourselves and
our place in the rapidly changing
world.”
The result, says John Ingram,
Director of Collections and principal
administrator for the project, is a
priceless archive of materials that
many specialists regard as the single
most important source of informa -
tion on the New World’s Colonial
history. This information is especial -
ly relevant to Florida where notary
archives were destroyed during the
United States invasion of Spanish
Florida in 1812.
After two decades of interest, the
university and the Cuban National
Archives reached an agreement in
March which will permit the documents
to be microfilmed in Havana,
and then scanned into digital format
in Florida. Library staff will travel to
Havana with a $50,000 camera and
Page 2
Chapter One
John
Ingram
train Cuban archival staff during a
12- to 18-month pilot program for
the lengthy and painstaking process
of transferring the entire collection
to microfilm and digital formats.
Cuban archives employees will
assist in the pilot project, which
is expected to cost more than
$250,000. The university seeks to
raise funds from private donors and
foundations. No state or federal
money will be used for the project.
Ingram said he is confident that private
foundations will fund the pilot
project early next year. Plans call for
indexing the records and making
them available on the Internet to
assist historians and genealogists to
locate specific records.
With the completion of a
successful pilot program, and to
make the larger effort possible, the
UF Libraries seek to team up with
U.S. and Spanish libraries and insti -
tutions, in enlisting funding support
for the entire project.
Ingram and archivist Bruce
Chappell have made several trips to
Havana to negotiate the agreement.
Ingram said, “I’ve seen some of the
tomos (volumes), and some of them
are in a condition I would liken to a
very well-tatted piece of lace. There
are many holes, and some paper is
very fragile and could soon be lost
entirely. There has also been insect
damage and some water damage.”
“I am convinced the Notary
Protocols in Cuba’s archives will
assume their rightful place of global
importance for New World history
and culture. For my colleagues in
Latin American studies, these
records will truly open a window in
time,” Ingram further said. The
information will be a significant
addition to Smathers Libraries’ P.K.
Yonge Florida History Collection.
For more information about
the project or to make funding
inquiries, contact Dr. John Ingram,
(352) 392-0342; email:
jeingr@mail.uflib.ufl.edu.
Dr. Berarda Salabarria, center, Director of Archivo Nacional de Cuba,
signs the agreement to partner with the University of Florida. At left
is Dr. Luis Frades, Vice Director; at right is Bruce Chappell, Smathers
Libraries archivist.