The Guantánamo Public Memory Project Collection

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The Guantánamo Public Memory Project Collection

The Guantánamo Public Memory Project is thrilled to announce that the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library will create a new publicly accessible archive for the Guantanamo Public Memory Project Collection.  The documentary collection will be housed by the Center for Human Rights Documentation & Research, part of Columbia University Libraries and Information Services.  Digital material will be housed by the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), a partnership between the University of Florida and Florida International University.

The documentary collection will include documents, photographs, and other material about the long history of the US naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from the War of 1898 through the present.  The digital archive at dLOC will include digitized material as well as dozens of audio and video interviews.  It will document the social history of everyday life on the base at different moments, as well as periods of crisis and conflict.  Some of the first pieces of the collection include photographs of construction on the base in the early 20th century; a cookbook created by Navy wives in the early 1960s, featuring a combination of patriotic American recipes and Cuban cuisine; photographs of Haitian refugee camps in 1992 taken by a social worker that provide rare views into the struggles there.  The material is being donated by individuals across the country and around the world with diverse experience on the base.  The Project will begin identifying potential donors at the beginning of 2013; over time the material will be processed and made available to the public.

If you are interested in donating material, or have suggestions for additional archives or resources, please email guantanamo@columbia.edu.