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Irene Aloha Wright collection of Cuban revolt letters

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0028

Scope and Contents

The Wright Collection consists of correspondence (primarily in Spanish and addressed to the Havana Daily Telegraph where Wright served as city editor) written during the August (1906) Revolution. The rebellion against the government of President Thomas Estrada Palma resulted from the fraudulent election in the fall of 1905 and the denial of political sinecures to the so-called liberals led by Jose Miguel Gomez. The collection includes correspondence from rebel leaders Gen. Faustino "Pino" Guerra of Pinar Province and Gen. Ernesto Asbert of Havana Province. The letters of N.E. Allen provide information on rebel leader Eduardo Guzman of Santa Clara Province, and reports by W.R. Roberts and Arturo Sainz de la Pena cover Asbert and Guerra respectively. The Gen. Mario Menocal document relates to his failure to reconcile differences between Estrada Palma and the rebels. Eventually the government appealed to Theodore roosevelt for intervention under the Platt Amendment, leading to the investigation by Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon in September - October 1906. Wright has annotated some of the documents.

Dates

  • Creation: 1906 August 23-September 12

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Collection is open for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical Note

Irene Aloha Wright, American writer and journalist, was born in 1879. She became a special writer for the Havana Post (1904 - 1905) and city editor of the Havana Daily Telegraph (1905 - 1907). She was owner and editor of Cuba Magazine (1908 - 1914). In 1910, Wright published Cuba, which described the revolution of 1906 in Cuba. Wright also published several histories of Spanish Exploration in the New World. Later in her career, Wright worked as an archivist (1936 - 1938) with the National Archives and was a foreign affairs specialist with the State Department in the 1940's. Irene Aloha Wright died in 1972.

Extent

0.24 Cubic Feet (1 legal half-size document box)

Language of Materials

Spanish; Castilian

Abstract

Irene Aloha Wright, American writer and journalist, was born in 1879. She became a special writer for the Havana Post (1904 - 1905) and city editor of the Havana Daily Telegraph (1905 - 1907). The collection consists of correspondence (primarily in Spanish and addressed to the Havana Daily Telegraph) written during the August (1906) Revolution.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Wright sent the collection to the University shortly after the rebellion, and forwarded an additional document in 1908. The collection was found among the papers of Herbert Baxter Adams in 1982.

Bibliography

In 1910, Wright published Cuba (New York: Macmillan, 1910), in which can be found a description of the events surrounding the documents in the collection (pp. 172 - 181). See also Charles E. Chapman, A History of the Cuban Republic (New York: Macmillan, 1927) for more detail.

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Michael Warner and Ben Primer in 1982.

Title
Irene Aloha Wright collection of Cuban revolt letters
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
The Sheridan Libraries
Special Collections
3400 N Charles St
Baltimore MD 21218 USA