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Baeza Flores, Alberto, 1914-1998
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Alberto Baeza Flores was a Chilean poet, novelist, and journalist. He was the co-founder of the magazines La Poesía Sorprendida, Acento and Expresión.
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William Calhoun “Bill” Baggs was born In Atlanta, Georgia, on September 30, 1920, the son on C.C. Baggs and the former Kate Bush. Baggs declined an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1941, and travelled to Panama where he worked as a stevedore and copy reader with the Panama Star and Herald. During World War II Baggs served as a pilot with the 485th Bomber Group of the 14th Air Force in North Africa and Italy. Baggs married the former Joan Orr of Athens, Georgia, in 1945 and worked for the Greensboro News (North Carolina) before accepting a position as a reporter with the Miami News in 1946. He was promoted to editor in 1957.
Bill Baggs began a daily column in 1949 and soon became an intimate part of the Miami journalism and political landscape. At the request of President John F. Kennedy, Baggs served of the United States Mission that established the Caribbean Organization. Among countless local activities Baggs served on the Citizens Board of the University of Miami, the Metro Community Relations Board, the State Constitution Revision Commission, and the Cuban Refugee Resettlement Commission. He was also director of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
In 1959 Baggs received the Leonard Abess Human Relations award for his editorial campaign to keep Florida schools open when legislators threatened to close schools rather than end segregation. Baggs fought successfully for the establishment of Cape Florida State Park. He also received the Eleanor Roosevelt-Israel Humanities Award for his editorial on behalf of the State of Israel. Baggs was nominated for the Nobel Prize for his efforts to bring peace to Vietnam. He died shortly before the National Conference of Christians and Jews was able to present him with its highest honor, the Brotherhood Medallion.
As Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Baggs made two trips to Vietnam with State Department approval, in January, 1967, and March, 1968. Baggs and the Center's executive vice president, Harry Ashmore, told of their experiences in a book, Mission to Hanoi: A Chronicle of Double-Dealing in High Places. They returned from Vietnam with the initial aide memoire that set forth North Vietnam position on negotiations with the United States. The memoire was delivered to Ambassador William H. Sullivan in Vientiane, Laos, on April 6, 1968. Baggs wrote and published extensively, in newspapers journals and books. He also appeared frequently on television and traveled the country as a speaker.
Bill Baggs died in Miami Florida, on January 7, 1969, of complications from viral pneumonia.
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Opened in September 1920 in Havana by educator Hiram Ruston, The Ruston Academy was considered the premiere American school in Latin America. Originally focused on providing an English college-preparatory education for the children of American expatriates in Cuba, it quickly grew into a bilingual academy with a multinational student body. In the 1940s, Ruston expanded to include an elementary school, business preparatory program, basic English classes for Cuban students, and a boarding school, with enrollment measuring at roughly 750 students. In 1955 Ruston moved to a new, larger campus in Havana.
The school was founded by retired English teacher Hiram Hall Ruston and his sister Martha Ruston, of Princeton, Indiana. Mr. Ruston served as headmaster from 1920 to his death in 1946, after which James Baker took over the school's administration. James and his wife Sibyl inherited ownership of the school and converted it into an educational non-profit foundation.
Ruston Academy was closed down by the Castro government in 1961. Its former location was used as a public school, storage facility, homeless shelter, and military intelligence facility by the Cuban government.
The Ruston-Baker Educational Institution (RBEI) was founded in 1992 by James Baker and former members of the Ruston Academy Board of Directors, with the goal of reopening Ruston Academy following the collapse of the Castro government. The RBEI maintains a network of alumni located across the globe. Sibyl Baker died in 1993 and James Baker died in 2001. Their sons, Dennis and Chris, remain active in RBEI activities and organizing alumni reunions.
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