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Rosa M. Abella was an exiled Cuban librarian who worked at the University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library.

A native of Havana, Abella received her library technician degree in 1955 and a doctor of philosophy in 1958. She served as the head of the circulation department for the National Library of Cuba from 1960 to 1961, at which point she left the island for Miami, Florida, as a political refugee. She worked as a librarian at Assumption Academy until she was hired as an acquisitions librarian for the Otto G. Richter Library in 1962, specializing in Spanish and Hispanic materials.

Abella was instrumental in the preservation of Cuban materials and the founding of the library's Cuban Heritage Collection.

Aristides j. Millas, a registered architect since 1962, holds degrees in Architecture and Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon and Harvard Universities. He taught architectural design, historic preservation, and history at the University of Miami School of Architecture for over forty years until his retirement in 2015. His expertise in historic preservation of architecturally significant South Florida buildings, his research on elderly populations in Miami Beach, and his diverse research library collection of books, journals, reports, and ephemera form a significant contribution to a variety of scholarly Florida-related topics as well as Byzantine and Classical Greek and Roman architecture and art history.

Obituary Miami Herald https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/herald/name/aristides-millas-obituary?id=31593744

Antonia Rey was born Maria Antonia Francesch on October 12, 1927, in Havana, Cuba to Antonio Francesch, a dentist, and Emilia Rey, a nurse. Antonia’s father died before she was born and she was given her mother’s surname. Rey’s grandmother raised her while her mother studied nursing. Her mother later married Rafael Rangel and had two sons. Antonia was a teenager when her mother remarried. From a young age, Rey wanted to be an actress, but she decided to study the law at the University of Havana, which garnered her stepfather’s approval, unlike her dream of acting on stage. However, Rey dropped out of law school and went on to pursue theater, making her debut in 1948 in “Numancia Cervantes,” at the University of Havana.

In the 1950’s she rose to prominence on the stage in Havana, playing principal roles such as Madge in William Inge’s “Picnic,” the title role in George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” and Elizabeth Proctor in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” During this epoch, she met her husband Andres Castro who owned the theater, Las Mascaras. Castro, born July 27, 1917, in Havana, Cuba, was from an affluent family that was in the furniture business. He and Rey married in 1958. Reportedly they tied the knot during the intermission of a show they were rehearsing at the time. After the Castros rose to power in 1959, Rey and her husband who were famous in the theater community and considered to be pioneers in the pre-Revolution theater movement. Post-1959 they were presented with the offer of National Theater and getting a plethora of roles in its productions. Rey and her husband, however, decided to flee to the U.S. in 1961 as part of the “first-wave” of Cuban political exiles, which mostly consisted of upper and middle-class professionals and their families. Although she left her illustrious theater career and possessions behind in Havana, Rey’s niece reports that Rey never regretted their decision to leave Cuba.

In the United States, Rey and Castro settled in New York City to continue being part of the theater world. Like many Cuban exiles, the couple had to start from scratch. Through a connection she made, Rey was given a small role, which expanded to further opportunities. Rey made her debut on Broadway in 1964, when she played the role of Lupa in the chorus of the musical “Bajour,” which starred Chita Rivera at the Shubert Theater. Rey also played a Mexican woman in “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1973 and had small roles in two other productions of Tennessee Williams plays, “The Rose Tattoo” in 1995 and as Madrecita in “Camino Real” in 1970 at the Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City; as prisoner in, “Poets from the Inside”, and as Mamita, “The Wonderful Year”, both Public Theatre, New York City; as Fula Lopez, “In the Summer House,” Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City; as Maria in, “Back Bog Beast”, at American Place Theatre; as mother in “Blood Wedding,” INTAR Theatre, New York City; as Ranevsky in “The Cherry Orchard”, in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and as Mrs. Warren in “Mrs. Warren's Profession,” all Westside Repertory Theatre in New York City. She also appeared in “The Engagement Baby” in 1970, as Mrs. Murino in “42 Seconds from Broadway” in 1973 and “The Ritz” in 1975.

Antonia Rey began appearing on screen in film and television roles, although during the time period when Rey was active, many of the parts available to her were “ethnic” supporting roles that followed the tropes of maternal figures, Gypsies, witches, and fortune tellers. She appeared in 30 movies from comedies to psychological thrillers, including as the landlady in “Klute,” a 1971 crime thriller with Jane Fonda, the 1979 musical “Hair,” “Moscow on the Hudson,” the 1978 drama “King of the Gypsies”, “Coogan’s Bluff,” in 1968 was her first movie appearance,” “The Lords of Flatbush,” the comedy “Kiss Me, Guido” in 1997, the thriller “Jacob’s Ladder” in 1990, as Mrs. Stella in one of the “Die Hard” films, the voice of Trixie in the 2005 animated film “The Corpse Bride,” and the voice of “Abuela” on the children’s show “Dora the Explorer.” She won cameos and small roles in sitcoms as well as soap operas (“As The World Turns,” “All My Children”), police procedurals (“Law and Order” and “Third Watch”), the TV-movie pilot for “Kojak,” and “Who’s the Boss Her final appearance was as Assunta, Blue and Isabella Scaramucci's spiritual aunt on the second season of the series “Happy!” for the Syfy Channel, which premiered after her death.The episodes where she appeared were dedicated in her name.

In 2003, Rey received a lifetime achievement award from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. (HOLA) Her frequent appearance on television and in movies caused her to be recognized while out and about. She was beloved by those who world with her and fellow actress Gilda Miros referred to her as “Good-hearted Antonia.” Rey died at the age of 92 on February 21, 2019 in New York City.

Richard W. Riker was a photographer for Ibis when he studied at the University of Miami. He was also the President of Gamma Theta Upsilon for the academic year 1964-65 and eventually received his Bachelor of Arts in 1964.

Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza was a Cuban-born diplomat who worked for the Organization of American States from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Pedro J. Saavedra was a Cuban political scientist, diplomat, and exile leader. He worked for the Organizacion de Estados Americanos in Washington D.C, as well as other political organizations.

Ramón Grau Alsina was the nephew of Ramón Grau San Martín, a prominent physician and president of Cuba from 1933 to 1934 and again from 1944 to 1948. Together with his sister Polita Grau Alsina, Grau Alsina orchestrated Operation Pedro Pan, which smuggled over 42,000 children out of Communist Cuba.

Ana Rosa Núñez was a Cuban poet and librarian who authored and translated over two dozen books. She and fellow Cuban exile librarian Rosa Abella were hired by the University of Miami in 1965, helping to found the Cuban Heritage Collection of the University of Miami Library.

José Manuel Roseñada was a noted Cuban journalist and caricaturist.

Inés Segura Bustamante (1919-2002) was a clinical psychologist, member of Directorio Estudiantil Universitario, writer, painter, composer, and lyricist. Segura Bustamante graduated from the University of Havana with degrees in psychology, philosophy, and letters and worked as a professor of psychology at the University of Havana. As a student in the 1930’s she was politically active and participated in the 1933 Revolution against the Machado government. During the riots that broke out at the University of Havana, she and fellow students Rafael Trejo and Alberto Espinosa were defended by their professor, Dr. Guerra, who later left the university. Later, Segura Bustamante was held at the Isle of Pines prison along with fellow Directorio members Zoila Mulet, Silvia Shelton, and Calixta Guiteras. During her professional career in Havana, she authored many publications such as her 1947 “¿Es la acción voluntaria realmente voluntaria?” in the Revista Cubana de Filosofía de La Habana, which ran from 1946-1958. This article later was published as a monograph in 1948.

She left Cuba after the Revolution of 1959. In exile in Miami in the 1960’s, she was a leading figure in the Directorio Magisterial Revolutionario (DMR), a non-militant anti-Communist organization of professional teachers formed in November of 1960 that worked to produce and distribute anti-Castro informational materials. Segura Bustamante also continued her work as a psychologist and writer in the U.S, where she studied at Columbia University in New York and received her certification from the Florida State Board of Psychology.

She authored several books including El nuevo Gólgota: Cuba y otros temas, a book of Cuban history published in 1996 by Editora Corripio (República Dominicana). She also published another book of Cuban political history, Cuba siglo XX y la generación de 1930: un documento histórico published by Ediciones Universal (Miami) in 1987. In 1989 she published a book about the Directorio Estudiantil called Cuba: pruebas documentales de nuestra historia published by Editora Corripio in Santo Domingo, R.D. Her published works of psychology include Problemas de conducta en los niños: y su repercusion en la edad adulta published by Caribe in 1973 and translated into English by Carlos de Varona and published in 1988 by Editora Corripio as Behavior problems in children and their aftermath in adult age: A book for professionals and non-professionals.

Segura Bustamante studied music and piano and wrote a significant amount of songs. She also studied painting and some of her pictorial works are held in the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami.

Maximo Soronodo was a Cuban exile who served as an international delegate of the Consejo Revolucionario Cubano, the Cuban government in exile. He served in Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, and Chile.

Elena Zayas was an educator from Cuba who lived and worked in New York City. She and her husband, Mario Zayas, were active in Club de Leones Cubanos and other Cuban exile organizations in New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Josefina Inclán (b. 1922) was a Cuban writer, scholar and editor. She edited manuscripts by a number of famous Cuban and exile writers, as well as authoring books on the subjects of Cuba and certain Cuban individuals with whom she worked closely, such as Lydia Cabrera, Carmen Conde, and Amelia Peláez. She was an active participant in the Cuban Women's Club in Miami, FL. In 1972, she was presented with a Lincoln-Martí award at a ceremony that took place at the MacAllister Hotel in Miami, Florida.

Select publications include Una carta de Martí (1976); Viajando por la Cuba que fue libre (Ediciones Universal, 1977); and Lydia Cabrera : creación y poesía (Miami, 1981).