The Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscript Collection is comprised of original manuscripts from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Acquired as individual pieces or in small groups, this collection includes literary manuscripts, slavery sales and property documents, wills, and correspondence.
The papers document activities of Eugenio Castillo who was a lawyer and a Consul of Cuba before 1959. He was associated with the following places: Cuba, London, New York, Paris and Baltimore. The materials include correspondence with prominent Cuban figures including José Raul Capablanca, who was a Cuban chess player and a world chess champion from 1921 to 1927, Luis Machado and others, as well as, PelDrak Cuba Copper Products Corporation data and photographs, invitations, clippings, official papers signed by a president of the Republic of Cuba and memorabilia.
The Manuel Rionda papers reflect activities of a sugar baron, Manuel Rionda, Spanish-born master of two important Cuban sugar mills and chair of the major U.S. sugar brokerage firm of Czarnikow-Rionda. Rionda was a businessman associated with Cuba, New York and Santo Domingo. The majority of materials include bills of ladings Rionda used to conduct his shipping business between New York and Cuba and Santo Domingo. Correspondence and other official documents are also included in this collection.