Finding Aids to Collections Organized by Topic in the Archive of Folk Culture

CUBAN AND CUBAN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS
IN THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE
Acquired through 1995

Compiled by: Sarah L. Bryan and Kenneth G. Schweitzer
Series Editors: Judith Gray and Ann Hoog

Publication Date: August 2000
Series Number: LCFAFA No. 25
ISSN 0736-4903

Sound Recordings and Multiformat Collections

AFS 2735-3153:  Four hundred nineteen 12-inch discs of instrumentals, monologs, prayers, sermons, songs, and stories recorded in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, by Herbert Halpert, March 15-June 23, 1939, for the Folk Arts Committee of the WPA and the Library of Congress.  The collection includes one and one-fourth linear inches of articles, contact sheets, correspondence, descriptions, interviews, lists, photographs, reports, and song texts.

AFS 3145-3146:  Two discs containing performances by "members of a visiting Cuban vaudeville group."  Instruments include drums and traps, gourds, and piano.  Explanations and translations are provided for each song.  Recorded at the Cuban Club in Tampa, Florida, June 21, 1939.  (Twenty-three minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 209)

AFS 3145A:  An introduction to the group and its repertoire by manager Gilberto Delfino (translated by pianist Art Peller), followed by a song sung by Estela Echezabal accompanied by drum and piano.  (Four and a half minutes)

AFS 3145B:  "Guabina," sung with drums and traps, gourds, and piano, by blackface comedian Carlos Pous.  (Four and a half minutes)

AFS 3146A:  "Mercé" sung with drums, gourds, and piano by Adela Martínez.  (Four minutes)

AFS 3146B1-2:  "Nena" sung with piano by Ramón Bermudez and Gilberto Delfino.  (Three and a half minutes)

AFS 3146B3:  Five Cuban drum rhythms performed by Ramón Bermudez:  bembé, conga, maní, rumba, and son.  (One minute)

AFS 3378-3395:  Eighteen 12-inch discs of imitations, instrumentals, riddles, songs, and tales of African American, Arabic, Bahamian, British American, Cuban, Greek, Italian, Minorcan, Seminole, and Slavic cultures throughout Florida.  Recorded in Key West, Riviera, and Ybor City, Florida, by Robert Cook and Stetson Kennedy, January 15-31, 1940, for the Florida Music and Writers Projects of the Works Projects Administration (WPA).  The collection includes one-half linear inch of descriptions, lists, and song texts. This collection is available online as part of the Library of Congress's American Memory online presentations of the National Digital Library Program, entitled Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections 1937-1941.

AFS 3381A3; 3381A5-3383:  Three discs containing ten imitations, instrumentals, and songs performed by Cubans.  Recorded in Key West, January 18, 1940.  (Twenty-seven minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reels 222B-223)

AFS 3381A3:  "Papá, Mamá y el Niño" (Father, Mother and the Child), sung by Rachelita Sánchez.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3381A5:  "Coocoo Bobo," an imitation of a train, performed by Enrique Rodriguez.  (One minute and a half)

AFS 3381A6: "Stars and Stripes Forever" (fragment), played on a bazooka, an instrument made and played by Enrique Rodriquez.  (Twenty seconds)

AFS 3381B1:  "Una Tarde en Mayo" (One Evening in May), sung by Felipe Valdez, with guitar by Milton Esquinaldo.  (Three and a half minutes)

AFS 3381B2-3382A2:  "La Cucaracha" (The Cockroach), sung by Felipe Valdez, with guitar by Milton Esquinaldo.  (Five minutes)

AFS 3382B1:  "El Caballo de Palo" (Wooden Horse), sung with bass, viol, bongo, claves, and two guitars, by the Sexteto Encanto.  (Three and a half minutes)

AFS 3382B2:  "El Sacrificio" (The Sacrifice), performed by the Sexteto Encanto.  (One minute and ten seconds)

AFS 3383A-B1:  "El Sacrificio," performed by the Sexteto Encanto.  (Three minutes)

AFS 3383B2:  Puntos guajiros, performed by the Sexteto Encanto.  (Three minutes)

AFS 3385A:  One disc containing four songs sung by a class of Cuban school children, and one song sung by Benildes Remond Isern, a Cuban school teacher employed by the Cuban government.  Recorded at San Carlos Institute, Key West, Florida, January 22, 1940.  (Five minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 223)

AFS 3385A1:  "El Ratón y el Gato" (The Mouse and the Cat), sung by schoolchildren.  (One minute and a half)

AFS 3385A2:  "El Columpio" (The Swing), sung by Benildes Remond Isern.  (One minute)

AFS 3385A3:  "Bayameses" or "Himno Nacional Cubano" (The Cuban National Anthem), sung by schoolchildren.  (Forty seconds)

AFS 3385A4:  Duérmete mi Niéo" (Go to Sleep my Child), a lullaby, sung by Alba Rodriguez.  (Twenty seconds)

AFS 3385A5:  "El Patio de mi casa" (The Patio of My House), sung by schoolchildren while skipping rope.  (Forty seconds)

AFS 3521-3536:  Sixteen 12-inch discs of conversations, games, interviews, riddles, songs, and stories recorded in Cross City, Tampa, and Ybor City, Florida, by Robert Cook and Stetson Kennedy, August, 1940, for the Florida Music and Writers Projects of the WPA.  The collection includes three-eighths linear inches of correspondence, explanations, song texts, and translations.  This collection is available online as part of the Library of Congress's American Memory online presentations of the National Digital Library Program, entitled Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections 1937-1941.

AFS 3530-3531B1:  Two discs containing one birthday party and seven games, songs, and stories, with explanations.  Recorded in Tampa and Ybor City, August 24, 1939.  (Forty-six minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 229B)

AFS 3530A1:  "Amamabrocha To," a children's singing game, sung by Evelia and Ziomara Andux.  (Four and a half minutes)

AFS 3530A2:  Two renditions of "Miss Martínez Cockroach and Mr. Pérez Mouse, first told by Evelio Andux, and then spoken and sung by Evelia Andux.  (Six and a half minutes)

AFS 3530B1:  "Canto Jaujiro," a Cuban farming song, sung by Evelio Andux.  (Three minutes)

AFS 3530B2:  ["La canión de pandería"], a song that Evelio Andux used to sing when he worked in a bakery at Key West.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3530B3:  A Cuban lullaby sung by Evelio Andux and Martín Noriega.  (Two minutes and twenty seconds)

AFS 3530B4:  A love serenade sung by Evelio Andux.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3530B5-3531B1:  A recording of a birthday party.  Esther Andux, Evelio Andux, Martín Noriega, and Adelpha [?] Pollato are conversing, joking, and singing.  (Twenty-one minutes)

AFS 3531B2-3532:  Two discs containing seven games and stories.  Recorded August 25, 1939.  (Thirty-four minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reels 229B-230A)

AFS 3531B2-3:  "The Devil and Ribbons" and "The Melon Game," explained and played by Evelia, Orbito, and Ziomara Andux.  (Five and a half minutes)

AFS 3532A1-B1:  "The Story of Juan José, a Working Man, and his Beautiful Wife," told by Martín Noriega, with explanations by Ziomara Andux.  (Five and a half minutes)

AFS 3532B2:  A bawdy story about a woman in confession, told by Martín Noriega, with explanations by Evelio Andux.  (Two and a half minutes)

AFS 3532B3-B5:  A bawdy story ("San Blas"), an anecdote about a man from Ybor City, and a fragment of another joke told by Martín Noriega.  (Five minutes)

AFS 3533:  One disc containing eight rhymes, songs, and stories.  Recorded August 23, 1939.  (Twenty-two minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 230A)

AFS 3533A1:  Teasing game told by Zenaida Beuron and Victoria Váldez.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3533A2:  "Duérmete mi Niño" (Go to Sleep, my Baby), a lullaby sung by Zenaida Beuron.  (One minute and a half)

AFS 3533A3:  "La Buena Pipa" (The Good Pipe), a teasing story told by Evelio and Ziomara Andux.  (One minute)

AFS 3533A4:  "La mata de higo" (The Fig Tree), a story about a wicked stepmother who buries her stepdaughter beneath a fig tree, told and sung by Ziomara Andux.  (Five and a half minutes)

AFS 3533B1:  "La Persima en el Cemetario" (The Persimmon Tree in the Cemetery), a story told by Tony López.  (Two and a half minutes)

AFS 3533B2:  Ghost story about a woman who fed her husband a human leg which she dug up from a cemetery, told by Evelia Andux.  (Three and a half minutes)

AFS 3533B3:  "Cachumbambé," a song sung while see-sawing, by Evelia Andux, Ziomara Andux, Isabel García, and Tony López.  (One minute and twenty seconds)

AFS 3533B4:  A counting-out rhyme recited by Dolores Noriega.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3534-3535A:  Two discs containing ten riddles, songs, and stories.  Recorded August 26, 1939.  (Thirty-three minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 230)

AFS 3534A1:  "Papá Sigallo," a children's story told by Edith Kennedy (Stetson Kennedy's wife, a Cuban American).  (Two minutes)

AFS 3534A2-4:  Two riddles told by Edith Kennedy and one riddle told by Evelia Andux.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3534A5-3535A1:  An anecdote about a bootblack who becomes a bullfighter, and "Antonio the Woodcutter," told by Martín Noriega.  (Sixteen minutes)

AFS 3535A2:  A love song learned in Key West and sung by Evelio Andux.  (Three and a half minutes)

AFS 3535A3-A5:  "Se Encuentran dos Carreteros" (Two Carters Meet), and "Trinaban los Ruiseñores" (The Nightingales Were Singing), sung by Martín Noriega.  (Five minutes)

AFS 3536:  One disc containing eight songs and stories.  Recorded August 27, 1939.  (Fourteen minutes; tape copy on LWO 4872 reel 230B)

AFS 3536A1:  "Calinga," sung by Adelpha Pollato. (Three minutes)

AFS 3536A2:  "La Cucaracha" (The Cockroach), sung with claves and maracas by Edith Kennedy, Adelpha Pollato, and Amado Valdez.  (Three minutes)

AFS 3536A3-A4:  "Señora Santana" and "Para Subir al Cielo" (To Ascend the Skies), sung by Adelpha Pollato. (Two minutes)

AFS 3536A5:  "Chiquitín," explained and sung by Amado Valdez.  (One and a half minutes)

AFS 3536A6:  Two renditions of  "Tranquitró," a taunting song about a resident of Ybor City who had a peculiar gait, first sung by Amado Valdez and then sung by Adelpha Pollato.  (Two minutes)

AFS 3536B:  "Donde vas Alfonso Doce?" (Where Goest, Alfonso Twelfth?), an old Spanish ballad, sung by Adelpha Pollato and Amado Valdez.  (Two and a half minutes)

AFS 8562-8567:  Six 12-inch discs of drum rhythms of five Afro-Cuban popular dances (columbia, comparsa, conga, guaguancó, and lucumí) and one example of combined rhythms played by an ensemble of five musicians.  Recorded possibly in Havana, Cuba, by Katharine Beardmore, ca. 1947-48.  The collection includes eight pages of correspondence, descriptions, and lists.  (Twenty-two minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reels 121B-122A)

AFS 9076-9098:  Twenty-three 12-inch discs of instrumentals and songs recorded in New York City by Charles Hofmann, May 30-October 28, 1947, for the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library.  The collection includes forty-two pages of correspondence, lists, notes, reports, and song texts.  The following are performed and spoken by Carlos Toledo, originally of Cuba.

AFS 9076-9077:  Two discs containing eleven cradle and other songs.  Recorded October 28, 1947.  (Sixteen minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 180B)

AFS 9084:  One disc containing "Canción de la Vida Profunda" and a narration.  Recorded June 10, 1947.  (Five minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 181A)

AFS 9085:  One disc containing examples and explanations of castanet rhythms as used in Spanish dancing.  Recorded June 10, 1947.  (Ten minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 181A)

AFS 9907-9909:  Three 16-inch discs of Cuban and Venezuelan instrumentals and songs recorded by Juan Liscano before 1950.  The collection includes eight pages of descriptions and lists.  The Cuban examples consist of claves, drums, male chorus, rhythm stick, and solo male vocalist.

AFS 9907A3-B1:  One disc containing two rumbas.  (Seven minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 278B)

AFS 9908B1-B2:  One disc containing two Afro-Cuban religious songs.  (Seven minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 278B)

AFS 9909A1-A2, B2:  One disc containing three rumbas.  (Eleven minutes; tape copy on LWO 5111 reel 279A)

AFS 11,589-11,602:  Fourteen 12-inch discs entitled "Música de los cultos Africanos en Cuba" (Music of the African cults in Cuba), featuring instrumentals, prayers, salutes, and songs recorded in Agramonte, Jovellanos, Pedro Betancourt, and Perico, Matanzas Province, Cuba, by Josefina Tarafa, ca. 1955.  Though the majority of these recordings are of the Lucumí cult, the collection also includes liturgical songs of the Arará and several Congo cults.  The collection includes an article by Lydia Cabrera and one-half linear inch of descriptions and lists.  Unless stated otherwise all songs are accompanied by a combination of drums, metallic idiophones, and shakers.  (2E6KP 2469-2767 Musica de los cultos africanos en cuba)

AFS 11,589-11,591A:  Three discs containing songs, prayers, and instrumentals, mostly in praise of orishas, (gods and saints of the pantheon worshiped by African faiths in the New World).  Performers include Miguel Santa Cruz, Gustavo Díaz, Marcos Portillo Domínguez, Juan González, Domingo Hernández, Fernando Hernández, Cándido Martínez, and Inés Sotomayor. (Two hours)

AFS 11,591B-11,592A:  Two discs containing twenty-six songs sung by Fernando Hernández, Inés Sotomayor, and group.  The first seventeen are led by Sotomayor, the remaining by Hernández.  (Forty-eight minutes)

AFS 11,592B:  One disc containing twenty instrumentals (oro de tambores) in praise of orishas, performed on batá by Miguel Santa Cruz, Gustavo Díaz, and Juan González.  (Thirty-one minutes)

AFS 11,593:  One disc containing twenty-four songs (oro) in praise of orishas, sung by Antonio Alberiche and Cándido Martínez with batá by Miguel Santa Cruz, Gustavo Díaz, and Juan González.  (Fifty-nine minutes)

AFS 11,594:  One disc containing twenty songs used at funerals performed by Augustín Diago, Florinda Pastor, and group.  The first twelve are described as Cantos de Palo Gangá Ñongobá, and the remaining as Cantos de Palo, Congo Musunde y Ganga.  (Forty-two minutes)

AFS 11,595A:  One disc containing six songs sung by Silvino Baró, Martín Catalá, Sergio Rodríguez, and Rodolfo Viart.  (Thirty-one minutes)

AFS 11,595B:  One disc containing seven Congo songs (mayimbi, toque de palo) performed by Silvino Baró, Martín Catalá, Sergio Rodríguez, and Rodolfo Viart.  (Thirty-two minutes)

AFS 11,596A:  One disc containing twelve Lucumí songs in praise of orishas, performed by the same musicians as AFS 11,595.  (Thirty-one minutes)

AFS 11,596B:  One disc containing nine arará songs performed by the same musicians as AFS 11,595. (Thirty minutes)

AFS 11,597A:  One disc containing nine instrumentals, prayers, and songs, performed by Petronila Hernández, Antonia Alberiche, and Domingo Hernández.  (Twenty-four minutes)

AFS 11,597B:  Seven instrumentals performed on drums by Domingo Hernández, Domingo Hernández Jr., Marcelo Carreras, and Ángel Rolando.  (Eighteen minutes)

AFS 11,598-11,599A:  Two discs containing twenty-eight songs accompanied with drums by Alberto Yenkins (Yin) and group.  (Sixty-eight minutes)

AFS 11,599-11,600:  Two discs containing thirty funeral songs (itutu) performed by Fernando Hernández and group.  (Sixty-two minutes)

AFS 11,601:  One disc containing twenty songs in praise of orishas.  (Forty minutes)

AFS 11,602:  One disc containing thirty-six congo songs (cantos congos y gangas) performed by Florinda Diago and his family.  These are songs that would be sung at a wake or vigil "para llorar y despedir a los muertos" (to mourn and say goodbye to the dead).  (Forty-eight minutes)

AFS 16,278-16,335:  Fifty-eight 10-inch discs of instrumentals, songs and stories recorded in the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Martinique, by Laura Boulton, 1938.  The collection includes three-quarters of a linear inch of correspondence, description, and lists.  This is Part 10 of the Laura Boulton Collection.

AFS 16,329-16,335:  Seven discs, including songs sung by Gibo Gerompe, recorded in Cuba.  (Eighteen minutes; tape copy on LWO 7551 reel 36A)

AFS 20,524-20,867:  See AFC 1981/004

AFS 22,185:  One cassette of interviews, narrations, songs, and stories, including examples of Afro-Cuban, Bosnian, Thai, and Turkish music, recorded at various locations by Karl Signell, February-April, 1981, and assembled as a preview of the "Music in a New World" series for National Public Radio.  The collection includes twenty pages of correspondence and descriptions.

AFS 22,185A1:  One cassette containing an excerpt of a rumba presented simultaneously with an interview.  (Two minutes; RYA 2526)

AFS 23,019-23,155:  Two 5-inch tapes, eighteen 7-inch tapes, and one hundred seventeen cassettes containing various ethnic radio broadcasts, recorded throughout the United States by Elena Bradunas, Theodore Grame, and Alan Jabbour, 1977-78, project sponsored by the American Folklife Center.  The collection includes Grame's Ethnic Broadcasting in the United States and nine and one-half linear inches of correspondence, manuscript material, and tape logs.

AFS 23,061-23,062:  Two tapes containing pop music and news, broadcast by Angel Martín on WCMQ 1220 AM and on WCMQ 92.1 FM.  Recorded in Miami, Florida, by T.C. Grame, July 12, 1978.  (Three hours; RYA 2920-2921)

AFC 1981/004:  Ninety-nine 7-inch tapes, two hundred forty-five audiocassettes, nine linear inches of black-and-white photographs, five and one-fourth linear feet of slides, and two videotapes from the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection, a field survey of ethnic artistic expression including community gatherings, crafts, dance, education, foodways, music, and religious celebrations.  Recorded in the Chicago, Illinois area by various collectors under the direction of Elena Bradunas, February-November, 1977.  Co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Illinois Arts Council.  The collection includes a 561-page report on the project published by the American Folklife Center in January 1978. 

AFS 20,762-20,763:  Two cassettes containing an interview with Efrén del Castillo, a Cuban affiliated with the theater group "Círculo Teatral de Chicago."  Recorded by Phillip George in Chicago, July 1, 1977.  (One hour and eight minutes; RYA 0773-0774)

B71987 #1-9:  Nine black-and-white images of the garden of Mr. and Mrs. Leval, a retired Cuban couple.  Photographed by Jonas Dovydenas, August 22, 1977. 

176-Ch77: Sixteen color slides of the garden of Mr. and Mrs. Leval, a retired Cuban couple.  Photographed by Jonas Dovydenas, August 22, 1977.

AFC 1981/006:  Eleven 10-inch tapes, one hundred ninety-four black-and-white prints and negatives, and one hundred twenty color slides of performances from the 1981 Neptune Plaza Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center and featuring the presentation of folk traditions from many cultures.  Recorded at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, May-October 1981.  The following lists materials from the July 2nd concert of Kubatá, an Afro-Cuban music and dance ensemble from Washington, DC

RWA 0912:  One tape containing the concert by Kubatá. (Two hours)

Folder 6:  Eight pages of concert notes, definitions of rumba, internal correspondence, identifications of people in photographs, and press releases. 

Folder 7:  Fifteen black-and-white images photographed by John T. Gibbs. 

Envelope 6:  Fifteen black-and-white images photographed by John T. Gibbs.

Envelope 7:  Eighteen color slides photographed by John T. Gibbs.

AFC 1990/012:  Twelve 10-inch and three 7-inch tapes, one hundred eighty-two black-and-white prints and negatives, one color print, ninety-two color slides, and two videocassettes of performances from the 1981 Neptune Plaza Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center and featuring the presentation of folk traditions from many cultures.  Recorded at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, April-September 1990.  The following lists materials from the September 20^th concert of Otonowa an Afro-Cuban group from Washington, DC

SR16-17:  Two tapes containing the concert.  (Two hours)

Folder 20:  Eighteen pages of concert logs, a concert flier autographed by the performers, unsigned concert fliers, descriptions and diagrams of instruments, descriptions of Otonowa's music, maps of Africa and the Caribbean, news clippings, press releases.

Folders 21-22:  Seventy-one black-and-white images photographed by David Taylor, and two black-and-white prints and one color print by an unknown photographer. 

Envelope 4:  Sixty-eight black-and-white images photographed by David A. Taylor.

Envelopes 5-7:  Fifty-four color slides photographed by David A. Taylor. 

V2:  One videocassettes of concert excerpts filmed by Terrence Lisbeth.

AFC 1994/001:  Four 10-inch and three DAT tapes, one diskette, two hundred two black and white prints and negatives, ten contact sheets, five color prints, one hundred twenty-four color slides, and five videocassettes of the 1994 Neptune Plaza Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center and featuring the presentation of folk traditions from many cultures.  Recorded at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, May-October 1981.  The following lists materials from the September 15 concert of Cachao and his Latin All Stars (Cuban mambo) from Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico.