A Hidden Window into Cuban History: The Carl Withers Manuscript Collection at New York University

Abstract

This research note describes the Carl Withers Manuscript Collection (CWMC) held at the University Archives of New York University. A unique and rarely used collection, it includes the ethnographic materials and professional correspondence of U.S. anthropologist Carl Withers and his Cuban collaborator Juan Manuel Picabea. Withers did fieldwork in the rural town of Mayajigua, in central Cuba during the late 1940s and early 1950s, with the assistance of Picabea. The authors of the research note focus on three important components of the CWMC that are particularly relevant to Cuba, the Caribbean, and the intellectual history of anthropology in the region: 1) Withers' fieldnotes; 2) black and white photographs taken by Withers; and 3) the manuscript materials by Picabea. The authors provide some insights into each of these components with examples highlighting the potential of the collection for Cuban and Caribbean Studies.