Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Rosa M. Abella Collection
Date(s)
- 1968-2009 (Creation)
Extent
3 Boxes
Name of creator
Biographical history
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.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Rosa M. Abella Collection contains personal papers of Cuban exile and University of Miami librarian Rosa M. Abella. The collection contains materials relating to her work with the Cuban Heritage Collection, the 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes over international waters between the United States and Cuba, and other personal papers.
Series one consists of correspondence between Abella and various others, mostly related to her work as a University of Miami librarian. Series two contains personal papers from her library position, her work with various conferences and events, and academic papers by her and Carlos Ripoll. Series three contains news clippings and photocopies about the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, and particularly her nephew, Armando Alejandre Jr., a pilot who was killed in the shootdown.
System of arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Requests to publish or display materials from this collection require written permission from the rights owner. Please contact chc@miami.edu for more information.
Preferred citation: Rosa M. Abella collection, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Languages of the material
- English
- Spanish
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gifts of Rosa M. Abella, 2001 and 2006; additional gift of Marlene Alejandre-Triana, Ana Ciereszko and Maggie Khuly, 2014.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
A second donation in 2006 added photographs and Lyceum and Lawn Tennis clippings to the collection.
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Selected materials from this collection have been digitized.
https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/cubanphotos
Related archival materials
Photographs from this collection are housed in the photograph section of the compact files.
CHC5117 Phonograph Collection.
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Other Information:
Sponsor Note: Selections from this collection were digitized with a grant from the State of Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Arts Council in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Rights Statement: The text of this webpage is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Collection-level record added by Amanda Moreno, January 2013. Processed and updated by Fernando Espino, April 2014. Updated by Juan A. Villanueva, December 2020.
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Brothers to the Rescue, Incorporated (Subject)