Centro Cultural Cubano de Nueva York

We cap our celebration of Women’s History Month with an illustrated presentation by historian Teresa Fernández Soneira on the Cuban woman as represented in 19th century photography, bringing to light the visual and literary history of their time through never-before-seen images taken by the first photographers who arrived in Cuba to develop their art. Her extensive collection, including ambrotype, daguerreotype, and albumina prints, enriched by photographs from the collection of the University of Miami’s Herencia Cubana, encapsule the everyday life of Cuban women of different races, from all walks of life, diverse age groups, and across social class. The underlying background is Cuba’s society and politics during those decades.

The collection is part of Soneira’s volume titled La Bella Cubana, rostros de mujeres en la Cuba del siglo XIX (Alexandria Library, 2022), which inlcudes 150 images in sepia, complemented by poems and reflections, as well as the history of photography in Cuba and worldwide.*

The online presentation will be followed by a Q&A via Zoom with the author.

This presentation is part of our CreateNYC Language Access Series on Cuban History, Art, and Literature. It will be held in Spanish.

Teresa Fernández Soneira (Havana, 1947) left Cuba for the United States in 1961. She studied at the Colegio del Apostolado in Havana and Madrid, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in the Humanities from Barry University and an Associate in Philosophy from Miami-Dade College. She has given numerous lectures at the Cuban Research Institute, the Padre Félix Varela Foundation, and other educational and cultural institutions. She is the author of several books on Cuban history, including Cuba: Historia de la educación católica 1582-1961; Con la Estrella y la Cruz: historia de la Federación de la Acción Católica Cubana; Mujeres de la Patria: contribución de la mujer a la independencia de Cuba and La bella cubana: Rostros de mujeres en la Cuba del siglo XIX. She is a frequent contributor to El Nuevo Herald, La Voz Católica, Revista Herencia, and other publications.

*To obtain a copy of La Bella Cubana, rostros de mujeres en la Cuba del siglo XIX
click here: https://shorturl.at/hoORT

This event is being held in celebration of Women’s History Month, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature.