Finding Aid for the Collection of African Slavery in Cuba Documents LSC.2384
Finding aid prepared by Shannon Campbell, 2023.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2023 September 28.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
This record is made available under an Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license.
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Collection of African slavery in Cuba documents
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2384
Physical Description:
2.5 linear feet
(2 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1852-1891
Abstract: A collection of 19th-century documents related to African slavery in Cuba. Documents include auction records, baptism records,
sale documents, and other legal records. By the middle of the 16th century, enslaved Africans were colonial Cuba's primary
source of labor after most of the indigenous population were killed by European diseases. Enslaved people endured forced family
separation, harsh manual labor, and sexual assault. Cuba participated in the transatlantic slave trade until 1867, longer
than any other region in the Americas.
Sources:
"African Slavery in Cuba - Manuscript Archival Collection." Description by Libros Latinos, 2019.
Childs, Matt D., and Manuel Barcia. "Cuba." In The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas, edited by Mark M. Smith and
Robert L. Paquette, Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199227990.013.0005.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections material
must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Libros Latinos, 2019.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Collection of African slavery in Cuba documents (Collection 2384). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Original description by Libros Latinos in 2019. Processed by Shannon Campbell utilizing guidelines outlined in "Anti-racist
Description Resources" by Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia, under the supervision of Jasmine Larkin, 2023.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
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Biographical / Historical
By the middle of the 16th century, enslaved Africans were colonial Cuba's primary source of labor after most of the indigenous
population were killed by European diseases. Enslaved people endured forced family separation, harsh manual labor, and sexual
assault. Cuba participated in the transatlantic slave trade until 1867, longer than any other region in the Americas. In 1880,
Cuba passed their Patronato Law that established a set date for the abolition of slavery. Under this law enslaved people were
required to complete an eight-year period of unpaid indentured servitude where formerly enslaved people were called
patrocinados and enslavers were called
patronos. Slavery in Cuba was not officially abolished by Spanish royal decree until 1886, two years before the original planned date
under Patronato Slavery.
Sources:
"African Slavery in Cuba - Manuscript Archival Collection." Description by Libros Latinos, 2019.
Childs, Matt D., and Manuel Barcia. "Cuba." In The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas, edited by Mark M. Smith and
Robert L. Paquette, Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199227990.013.0005.
Scope and Contents
A collection of 19th-century documents related to African slavery in Cuba. Documents include auction records, baptism records,
sale documents, and other legal records.
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Slavery -- Cuba
Indentured servants
box 1, folder 1
Manuscript of an enslaved Black man in the Royal Jail
1852
box 1, folder 2
Document regarding liberty of Luisa
1856
Scope and Contents
Luisa was an enslaved Black person.
box 1, folder 3
About the purchase of an enslaved female
1857
box 1, folder 4
About the auction/remate del Deposito General de Esclavos
1860
box 1, folder 5
Libertad de esclava and venta de esclava
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 6
Venta de esclavo and venta de esclavo
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 7
Libertad de esclava and venta de esclava
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 8
Venta de 3 esclavos
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 9
Manuscript, venta de esclava, female, 400 escudos
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 10
Manuscript, libertad de esclava female and libertad de esclavo male
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 11
Manuscript, venta de esclava, female, 200 escudos and libertad de esclava female, 1400 escudos
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 12
Manuscript, venta de esclava, female, 1200 escudos
circa 1860-1869
box 1, folder 13
Manuscript mentioning "esclavos" on official letterhead of "Coma de entradas de S. Felipe y Santiago"
1862
box 1, folder 14
Manuscript regarding slave auctioneer of a slave depository and the annulment of an auction
1863
Scope and Contents
A captain general is involved.
box 1, folder 15
Detailed report on baptism for "negros bozales emancipados"
1864
box 1, folder 16
Legal manuscript regarding an inquiry made by a slave auctioneer of a slave depository on the nullification of a slave auction
1864
Scope and Contents
Abuses are also discussed in the manuscript.
box 1, folder 18
Legal manuscript regarding slave auctioneer of a slave depository.
1865
Scope and Contents
Discusses a failure to submit slaves to a depository, rendering a slave auction invalid.
box 1, folder 19
Venta de esclava, female 25, and venta de esclava, female, 20
1866
box 1, folder 20
Venta de esclavo, female 7, and libertad of 4 enslaved people
1866
Scope and Contents
Libertad includes a female aged 26 and her three children, two of which are described as "chino."
box 1, folder 22
Document discussing a free and previously enslaved African
1866
box 1, folder 23
Document granting freedom to a six-year-old girl
1866
box 1, folder 24
Venta de esclava and libertad of a "china criolla," aged 40
1866
box 1, folder 25
Manuscript, libertad de esclava, female, 26 and libertad de esclava, female, 25 and her daughter, 6 months old
1866
box 1, folder 26
Manuscript, libertad de esclava female
1866
box 1, folder 27
Manuscript, venta de esclava, female, 27 "who knows how to wash and iron"
1866
box 1, folder 28
Manuscript, libertad de eslcavo, 13-month-old baby
1866
box 1, folder 29
Three documents regarding the "Brooks Brothers"
1866-1874
Scope and Contents
The first documents the freedom of a male slave by Brooks & Company; the second is an 1874 legal manuscript from the consulate
of the United States in Paris, France, discussing one of the Brooks Brothers, bearing several seals from the Consul General;
the third document is written in 1871 New York by a French law firm discussing Brooks & Company as well as other family members.
box 1, folder 30
Extensive solicitation to open a brotherhood for people of color in Regla, Havana
1867
Scope and Contents
The request is made by Abraham Gomes, described as Black/Moreno of old age.
box 2, folder 1
Death certificates for free and unfree Black persons
1886
box 2, folder 2
40 death certificates for "Morenos" and "Pardos"
1886-1889
Scope and Contents
The majority are described as "natural de" Africa.
box 2, folder 3
Sale of enslaved black female, aged 24 with her 1-year-old baby
1869
box 2, folder 4
Freedom of a 32-year-old enslaved female
1869
box 2, folder 5
Sale of two enslaved males
1869
box 2, folder 6
Venta de esclava, 30 and venta de two esclavos, aged 25 and 22
1869
box 2, folder 7
Venta de esclavo de Africa, aged 38 and venta of a 46-year-old enslaved female
1869
box 2, folder 8
Venta de 19 esclavos and venta of an enslaved female, aged 22
1869
box 2, folder 9
Manuscript, libertad, granting the freedom of a Black enslaved female, 20 years old
1869
box 2, folder 10
Manuscript, venta de esclava, 20 years old
1869
box 2, folder 11
Manuscript, venta de esclavos, female, 21 years old, African enslaved male, 44
1869
box 2, folder 12
Manuscript, venta de esclavo, 21 years old
1869
box 2, folder 13
Manuscript, venta de esclavo, 18 years old
1869
box 2, folder 14
Manuscript, libertad de esclava female, 26
1869
box 2, folder 15
Baptismal document of a Lucumi enslaved person from Guanabo near Havana
1871
box 2, folder 16
Notice of an enslaved Black person being sent to Puerto Rico
1871
box 2, folder 17
Documents regarding a Black prisoner in a "castillo" on official letterhead of "Comandancia General del Distrito de Matanzas"
1872
box 2, folder 18
Pagare for the transport of five "negros alquilados"
1873
box 2, folder 19
Police document regarding Moreno "Joaquin Diaz"
1875
box 2, folder 20
Manuscript, a young girl is certified by a doctor as belonging to the "raza blanca"
1875
box 2, folder 21
Manuscript re: baptism of a girl belonging to the "white class"
1875
box 2, folder 22
Pagare for the payment of an enslaved person
1876
box 2, folder 23
Manuscript, baby classified as having characteristics of the white race
1876
box 2, folder 24
Manuscript el "parbulo", son of a Black woman who belongs to el "clase de pobre" being admitted to Real Casa de Beneficencia
y Maternidad
1877
box 2, folder 25
Manuscript re: a Black man ("pardo") Juan Ricardo Valdez
1877
Scope and Contents
Juan Ricardo Valdez who says he was baptized in February 1869, but no records can be found in the years 1868/1869.
box 2, folder 26
Manuscript re: a girl who offers all "the characteristics and signs" she belongs to the "white race" as observed by the medical
doctor "de la Casa"
1877
box 2, folder 27
Manuscript regarding a Moreno woman being taken to an asylum
1881
box 2, folder 28
Manuscript regarding Salvador, an enslaved Moreno man
1883
Scope and Contents
Features "Junta Provincial de Patronato Matanzas" stamp.
box 2, folder 29
Six burial notices for "Morenos" and "Pardos"
1886-1889
box 2, folder 30
A wedding manuscript detailing the wedding of Juan de Dios Llanes and Florinda Hernandez y Gil
1891
Scope and Contents
Juan de Dios LLanes is described as "Pardo" (Black) and Florinda Hernandez y Gil, described as white. Includes some history
of Juan de Dios Llanes.
box 2, folder 31
Manuscript regarding Angel, an enslaved Moreno person
1891
Scope and Contents
Features "Junta Provincial de Patronato Matanzas" stamp.
