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The Top Secret History of America’s Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Warfare Programs and Their Deployment Overseas
At its peak in 1967, the U.S. nuclear arsenal consisted of 31,255 nuclear weapons with an aggregate destructive power of 12,786 megatons – more than sufficient to wipe out all of humanity several hundred times over. Much less known is that hidden away in earth-covered bunkers spread throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan, over 40,000 tons of American chemical weapons were stored, as well as thousands of specially designed bombs that could be filled with even deadlier biological warfare agents.
The American WMD programs remain cloaked in secrecy, yet a substantial number of revealing documents have been quietly declassified since the late 1970s. Put together, they tell the story of how America secretly built up the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The documents explain the role these weapons played in a series of world crises, how they shaped U.S. and NATO defense and foreign policy during the Cold War, and what incidents and nearly averted disasters happened. Moreover, they shed a light on the dreadful human and ecological legacy left by decades of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons manufacturing and testing in the U.S. and overseas.
This collection contains more than 2,300 formerly classified U.S. government documents, most of them classified Top Secret or higher. Covering the period from the end of World War II to the present day, it provides unique access to previously unpublished reports, memoranda, cables, intelligence briefs, classified articles, PowerPoint presentations, military manuals and directives, and other declassified documents. Following years of archival research and careful selection, they were brought together from the U.S. National Archives, ten U.S. presidential libraries, the NATO Archives in Brussels, the National Archives of the UK, the National Archives of Canada, and the National Archives of the Netherlands. In addition, a sizeable number of documents in this collection were obtained from the U.S. government and the Pentagon using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests.
This collection comes with several auxiliary aids, including a chronology and a historiographical essay with links to the documents themselves, providing context and allowing for easy navigation for both students and scholars.
Highlights:
• The papers in this collection detail how America’s stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons were developed, the staggering costs that were involved, the network of laboratories where the bombs and their components were designed and developed, new details about the dozens of secret factories spread across the U.S. where these lethal bombs and warheads were built, the sites where they were tested, and even newly released information about some of the storage depots where the weapons were deployed in the U.S. and overseas.
• This collection contains for the first time ever a comprehensive set of declassified documents which quantify the size and destructive power of the American nuclear, chemical and biological weapons stockpile throughout the Cold War era, including new details about the many different types of weapons in these arsenals, such as nuclear landmines (Atomic Demolition Munitions) and even a nuclear-capable recoilless rifle system.
• This collection contains hundreds of pages of declassified Defense Department and State Department documents concerning the secret negotiations between the U.S. government and over fifteen foreign governments concerning the deployment of nuclear and chemical weapons to their countries (complete biological weapons were never deployed overseas), as well as the even more difficult task later in the Cold War of trying to get permission to remove these weapons after they had outlived their usefulness. In some instances, the U.S. government deliberately did not inform the host nations that they had deployed nuclear and chemical weapons to their countries, as in the case of Japan, which was shocked to learn in 1969 that the U.S. was storing large numbers of nuclear and chemical weapons on the island of Okinawa without their knowledge or consent.
• Also included are over a hundred declassified documents regarding U.S. nuclear war plans, detailing how the American nuclear, chemical and biological weapons were to be used in wartime, including lists of their targets inside the USSR and the People’s Republic of China; newly declassified documents containing the details of all known nuclear, chemical and biological weapons accidents, some of which produced fatal results; and incidents involving attempts by foreign governments (Greece, Turkey and South Korea) to pressure the U.S. government by threatening to seize American nuclear weapons stored on their soil. Finally, there are recently released files concerning an attempt by a terrorist group to penetrate a U.S. nuclear weapons storage site in West Germany.
Number of documents: 2,374
Number of pages: ca. 21,212
Auxiliary aids:
• Introductory essay
• Glossary of acronyms
• Chronology
• Bibliography
• MARC21 catalog records
Sourcing archives:
• U.S. National Archives, Legislative Archives Branch, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. National Archives. Military Records Branch, College Park, Maryland
• U.S. National Archives, Civilian Records Branch, College Park, Maryland
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Archives, Brussels, Belgium
• National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague, The Netherlands
• National Archives of the UK, Kew, Great Britain
• Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
• Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
• John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts
• Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
• Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library, Yorba Linda, California
• Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, Georgia
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, Houston, Texas
• William J. Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
• DOD FOIA Reading Room, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Army Center for Military History, Washington, D.C.
• Naval Historical Center Operational Archives, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
• Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Washington, D.C.
• Douglas MacArthur Library, Norfolk, Virginia (Douglas MacArthur Papers)
• George C. Marshall Library, Lexington, Virginia (George C. Marshall Papers)
• Mudd Library, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (George W. Ball Papers)
• National Security Archive, Washington, D.C. (Chuck Hansen Collection)
• Maryland Historical Trust, Annapolis, Maryland
See also the companion collections Cold War Intelligence, U.S. Intelligence on Asia, 1945-1991, U.S. Intelligence on Europe, 1945-1995, and U.S. Intelligence on the Middle East, 1945-2009.
The American WMD programs remain cloaked in secrecy, yet a substantial number of revealing documents have been quietly declassified since the late 1970s. Put together, they tell the story of how America secretly built up the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The documents explain the role these weapons played in a series of world crises, how they shaped U.S. and NATO defense and foreign policy during the Cold War, and what incidents and nearly averted disasters happened. Moreover, they shed a light on the dreadful human and ecological legacy left by decades of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons manufacturing and testing in the U.S. and overseas.
This collection contains more than 2,300 formerly classified U.S. government documents, most of them classified Top Secret or higher. Covering the period from the end of World War II to the present day, it provides unique access to previously unpublished reports, memoranda, cables, intelligence briefs, classified articles, PowerPoint presentations, military manuals and directives, and other declassified documents. Following years of archival research and careful selection, they were brought together from the U.S. National Archives, ten U.S. presidential libraries, the NATO Archives in Brussels, the National Archives of the UK, the National Archives of Canada, and the National Archives of the Netherlands. In addition, a sizeable number of documents in this collection were obtained from the U.S. government and the Pentagon using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests.
This collection comes with several auxiliary aids, including a chronology and a historiographical essay with links to the documents themselves, providing context and allowing for easy navigation for both students and scholars.
Highlights:
• The papers in this collection detail how America’s stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons were developed, the staggering costs that were involved, the network of laboratories where the bombs and their components were designed and developed, new details about the dozens of secret factories spread across the U.S. where these lethal bombs and warheads were built, the sites where they were tested, and even newly released information about some of the storage depots where the weapons were deployed in the U.S. and overseas.
• This collection contains for the first time ever a comprehensive set of declassified documents which quantify the size and destructive power of the American nuclear, chemical and biological weapons stockpile throughout the Cold War era, including new details about the many different types of weapons in these arsenals, such as nuclear landmines (Atomic Demolition Munitions) and even a nuclear-capable recoilless rifle system.
• This collection contains hundreds of pages of declassified Defense Department and State Department documents concerning the secret negotiations between the U.S. government and over fifteen foreign governments concerning the deployment of nuclear and chemical weapons to their countries (complete biological weapons were never deployed overseas), as well as the even more difficult task later in the Cold War of trying to get permission to remove these weapons after they had outlived their usefulness. In some instances, the U.S. government deliberately did not inform the host nations that they had deployed nuclear and chemical weapons to their countries, as in the case of Japan, which was shocked to learn in 1969 that the U.S. was storing large numbers of nuclear and chemical weapons on the island of Okinawa without their knowledge or consent.
• Also included are over a hundred declassified documents regarding U.S. nuclear war plans, detailing how the American nuclear, chemical and biological weapons were to be used in wartime, including lists of their targets inside the USSR and the People’s Republic of China; newly declassified documents containing the details of all known nuclear, chemical and biological weapons accidents, some of which produced fatal results; and incidents involving attempts by foreign governments (Greece, Turkey and South Korea) to pressure the U.S. government by threatening to seize American nuclear weapons stored on their soil. Finally, there are recently released files concerning an attempt by a terrorist group to penetrate a U.S. nuclear weapons storage site in West Germany.
Number of documents: 2,374
Number of pages: ca. 21,212
Auxiliary aids:
• Introductory essay
• Glossary of acronyms
• Chronology
• Bibliography
• MARC21 catalog records
Sourcing archives:
• U.S. National Archives, Legislative Archives Branch, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. National Archives. Military Records Branch, College Park, Maryland
• U.S. National Archives, Civilian Records Branch, College Park, Maryland
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Archives, Brussels, Belgium
• National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague, The Netherlands
• National Archives of the UK, Kew, Great Britain
• Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
• Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
• John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts
• Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
• Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library, Yorba Linda, California
• Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, Georgia
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, Houston, Texas
• William J. Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
• DOD FOIA Reading Room, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Army Center for Military History, Washington, D.C.
• Naval Historical Center Operational Archives, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
• Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Washington, D.C.
• Douglas MacArthur Library, Norfolk, Virginia (Douglas MacArthur Papers)
• George C. Marshall Library, Lexington, Virginia (George C. Marshall Papers)
• Mudd Library, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (George W. Ball Papers)
• National Security Archive, Washington, D.C. (Chuck Hansen Collection)
• Maryland Historical Trust, Annapolis, Maryland
See also the companion collections Cold War Intelligence, U.S. Intelligence on Asia, 1945-1991, U.S. Intelligence on Europe, 1945-1995, and U.S. Intelligence on the Middle East, 1945-2009.
The Archive of the Christian Student Movement of Cuba (MECC) is part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). It consists of documents of the Movimiento de Estudiantes Cristianos de Cuba (MEC), an affiliate of the World Student Christian Federation, on the organization’s history, activities, and relations with related organizations between 1960 and 2018.
The Archive of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cuba (SETC) is part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). It consists of documents of the Seminario Evangélico Teológico of Matanzas, Cuba, from its foundation in 1946 to the present. It includes a.o. foundational documents, periodicals, correspondence, materials from distinguished professors and documents of the Conferencia Cristiana por la Paz, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC) encompass three distinct archival collections: Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba, IPRC); Archive of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cuba (Seminario Evangélico Teológico, Matanzas, Cuba, SETC); and Archive of the Christian Student Movement of Cuba (Movimiento de Estudiantes Cristianos de Cuba, MECC), an affiliate of the World Student Christian Federation. These collections offer numerous possibilities for researchers interested not only in the history of Protestantism and Christian education but also provide windows onto Cuban history, society, and culture.
The Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (IPRC) are part of the Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC). This recently enlarged collection makes available for research the records of the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) and predecessor Presbyterian churches and missions in Cuba. It includes a wide range of materials that are indispensable for the study of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba, and more broadly, the study of Protestantism in Cuba.
[This collection is no longer available for purchase. For the new version see Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba (IPRC) and Archives of Christian Churches and Organizations in Cuba (CCOC)]
This collection makes available for research the records of the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) and predecessor Presbyterian churches and missions in Cuba, including a complete run of Heraldo Cristiano, the church’s newsletter, 1919 – 2010, which provides a framework for the history of the church, its work and history. Also included are the periodicals Juprecu and Su Voz, early mission records, originally maintained in English and then in Spanish as the congregations took over management of their churches and schools from the mission workers. These include session minutes and membership/baptism/marriage/death records, as well as minutes of men’s, women’s, and youth groups, including their mission work in their communities.
Size of the collection: 52,000 scans, approx. 80,000 pages.
Languages: Spanish (main), English.
This publication was realized with the support of the Kenneth Scott Latourette Fund, Yale Divinity School Library.
Historical background
The Archives of the Presbyterian Church of Cuba Online collection consist of the records of the National Presbyterate of Cuba (1904- ), the First Havana Congregation founded in 1901 (including a group made up exclusively English-speakers), and the records of eleven other Presbyterian congregations located in or around Havana: Guanabacoa, Güines, Güira de Melena, Luyanó, Nueva Paz, Palos, Regla, San Antonio, San Nicolás, Vega, and a small church that served Havana’s Chinese population. These records are in Spanish, begin in the first decade of the twentieth century and go up to the 2010s. The collection also includes fairly complete sets of Presbyterian periodicals: Heraldo Cristiano (1919-2010), the official monthly publication of the Cuban Presbyterian Church; Juprecu (1961-2009), the bimonthly publication of the Unión Nacional de Jóvenes Presbiterianos (Presbyterian Youth Union), and a collection of quarterly Su Voz (1961-2010).
While there had been a Protestant presence on the island as far back as the early colonial era, the first formal Protestant congregations emerged only in 1871, following a short-lived declaration of religious tolerance for Spain and its colonies. These first legal non-Catholic congregations served primarily Havana’s established and floating English-speaking Protestants. At the time, tens of thousands of Cuban political exiles resided in various U.S. locations from Key West to New York City. Following the end of the Ten Years’ War (1868-1878) against Spain, Cuban Protestants returned to the island and began to spread the work of various Protestant denominations. Cuban layman Evaristo Collazo established the first Presbyterian works in Havana in 1890 but had to close them five years later, when Cubans launched yet another war of independence against Spain.
The Presbyterian Church was officially established in Cuba in December 1901, during U.S. military occupation. Three years later, Cuba’s Presbyterians founded the Presbyter of Havana. During the Republican era (1902-1958) the church experienced growth and expanded its religious, educational, and charitable work. Much reduced in numbers and freedoms, the Presbyterian church persisted during the Revolutionary period that began in 1959. In 1967, Cuba’s Presbyterian churches became independent, and formed the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC; Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba). During the 1990s and first decades of the twenty first century, this and other Protestant denominations experienced significant growth.
The bulk of Cuba’s Presbyterian Church records consist of scores of libros de actas (books of minutes) of each of the churches’ consistory meetings, regular meetings that included clergy and church elders. It also includes the minutes books of different committees and associations, among them those kept by men’s, women’s, and youth organizations, as well as Sunday Schools, Christian Education, and Benevolence groups. These books provide important information on a variety of topics ranging from clergy appointments and membership lists to budgets and the various roles played by Presbyterian women over the decades. Of great value to historians and genealogists are the records of baptism, marriage, and death. Because these records span over one hundred years, they allow scholars and other individuals to recognize and track changes over time. For example, one can trace the growth of various congregations and gather important sociodemographic data on gender, ages, and socioeconomic composition.
These records also provide insights on the participation and church activities of various ethnic and racial groups. There is a book of minutes of the consistory of an English-speaking congregation in Havana (1919-1926) and a particularly interesting set of bound volumes of the Chinese congregation in Havana. These materials are rich in information; they provide a historical sketch of these congregations, a complete list of members, records of baptism and marriage, and a revealing list that states the reasons why particular individual members left the church: “indifference,” “moved to the US,” or “joined a Pentecostal church.”
Besides books of minutes, the collection includes a wide range of historical documents and ephemera such as photo albums, church bulletins, lists of offerings pledges, and various other materials that offer information on the congregations, including the existence of a church-affiliated Boy Scout troop, lists of individuals served by church-run dispensaries, etc. These materials complement the microfilmed Princeton University Library collections of materials on religion in Cuba, among them, “Cuba Protestant Serials” and “Protestant Churches in Cuba.”
The Heraldo Cristiano magazine is particularly useful for anyone seeking a good understanding of the church’s development since 1919. Each edition consists of between fifteen and thirty-six pages of articles and regular sections. These include family devotionals, Sunday school curricula, news from around the world, and up to the mid 1930s, a section called “Cuba Seca” (dry Cuba) devoted to the subject of temperance. Both Cuban authors and US-based clergy and laypeople contributed to the magazine. The Heraldo Cristiano included information on church happenings, clergy appointments, and a social notes section announcing births, baptisms, and marriages, as well as obituaries. The monthly publication also carried photographs of clergy, church buildings, and benevolent work at orphanages and retirement homes. One particularly telling photograph showed a half-burnt Bible, victim of the intolerant zeal of a Catholic priest. The Heraldo Cristiano also carried ads for bookstores selling Christian books, Protestant schools, and other products and services.
The Heraldo Cristiano is also a valuable source to trace the relations of the denomination with various Cuban governments, particularly the revolutionary government since 1959. The February 24, 1959 issue, for example, carried a jubilant editorial entitled “La fiesta de la Patria liberada.” With the passing of time, the Presbyterian Church increased its support for the state and its official magazine included titles such as “Presencia del hombre protestante en la revolución.”
While students of Latin America demography have, for many decades, made good use of Catholic baptismal, confirmation, marriage, and burial records, few have consulted similar records generated by Protestant denominations. Such records, included in this collection, can shed much light on demographic questions and social realities. For example, the role of women in various leadership positions and as educators; and the rapid Cubanization of the clergy in the early years of the twentieth century. Genealogists and individuals putting together family trees will also find these records useful.
This collection offers multiple possibilities for those interested not only in the history of Protestantism on the island but for individuals in search of windows to Cuban culture and society. It will stimulate scholars to venture into a number of historical questions such as: Protestant positions vis-à-vis Catholicism and Afro-Cuban religions; the effects of the Cuban Revolution on Protestant churches and the impact of the consequent massive exile on church membership, attendance, and finances; and the role of the Presbyterian church during the profound economic and moral crisis of the Special Period that began in the early 1990s.
Luis Martínez-Fernández, University of Central Florida
This collection makes available for research the records of the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) and predecessor Presbyterian churches and missions in Cuba, including a complete run of Heraldo Cristiano, the church’s newsletter, 1919 – 2010, which provides a framework for the history of the church, its work and history. Also included are the periodicals Juprecu and Su Voz, early mission records, originally maintained in English and then in Spanish as the congregations took over management of their churches and schools from the mission workers. These include session minutes and membership/baptism/marriage/death records, as well as minutes of men’s, women’s, and youth groups, including their mission work in their communities.
Size of the collection: 52,000 scans, approx. 80,000 pages.
Languages: Spanish (main), English.
This publication was realized with the support of the Kenneth Scott Latourette Fund, Yale Divinity School Library.
Historical background
The Archives of the Presbyterian Church of Cuba Online collection consist of the records of the National Presbyterate of Cuba (1904- ), the First Havana Congregation founded in 1901 (including a group made up exclusively English-speakers), and the records of eleven other Presbyterian congregations located in or around Havana: Guanabacoa, Güines, Güira de Melena, Luyanó, Nueva Paz, Palos, Regla, San Antonio, San Nicolás, Vega, and a small church that served Havana’s Chinese population. These records are in Spanish, begin in the first decade of the twentieth century and go up to the 2010s. The collection also includes fairly complete sets of Presbyterian periodicals: Heraldo Cristiano (1919-2010), the official monthly publication of the Cuban Presbyterian Church; Juprecu (1961-2009), the bimonthly publication of the Unión Nacional de Jóvenes Presbiterianos (Presbyterian Youth Union), and a collection of quarterly Su Voz (1961-2010).
While there had been a Protestant presence on the island as far back as the early colonial era, the first formal Protestant congregations emerged only in 1871, following a short-lived declaration of religious tolerance for Spain and its colonies. These first legal non-Catholic congregations served primarily Havana’s established and floating English-speaking Protestants. At the time, tens of thousands of Cuban political exiles resided in various U.S. locations from Key West to New York City. Following the end of the Ten Years’ War (1868-1878) against Spain, Cuban Protestants returned to the island and began to spread the work of various Protestant denominations. Cuban layman Evaristo Collazo established the first Presbyterian works in Havana in 1890 but had to close them five years later, when Cubans launched yet another war of independence against Spain.
The Presbyterian Church was officially established in Cuba in December 1901, during U.S. military occupation. Three years later, Cuba’s Presbyterians founded the Presbyter of Havana. During the Republican era (1902-1958) the church experienced growth and expanded its religious, educational, and charitable work. Much reduced in numbers and freedoms, the Presbyterian church persisted during the Revolutionary period that began in 1959. In 1967, Cuba’s Presbyterian churches became independent, and formed the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC; Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba). During the 1990s and first decades of the twenty first century, this and other Protestant denominations experienced significant growth.
The bulk of Cuba’s Presbyterian Church records consist of scores of libros de actas (books of minutes) of each of the churches’ consistory meetings, regular meetings that included clergy and church elders. It also includes the minutes books of different committees and associations, among them those kept by men’s, women’s, and youth organizations, as well as Sunday Schools, Christian Education, and Benevolence groups. These books provide important information on a variety of topics ranging from clergy appointments and membership lists to budgets and the various roles played by Presbyterian women over the decades. Of great value to historians and genealogists are the records of baptism, marriage, and death. Because these records span over one hundred years, they allow scholars and other individuals to recognize and track changes over time. For example, one can trace the growth of various congregations and gather important sociodemographic data on gender, ages, and socioeconomic composition.
These records also provide insights on the participation and church activities of various ethnic and racial groups. There is a book of minutes of the consistory of an English-speaking congregation in Havana (1919-1926) and a particularly interesting set of bound volumes of the Chinese congregation in Havana. These materials are rich in information; they provide a historical sketch of these congregations, a complete list of members, records of baptism and marriage, and a revealing list that states the reasons why particular individual members left the church: “indifference,” “moved to the US,” or “joined a Pentecostal church.”
Besides books of minutes, the collection includes a wide range of historical documents and ephemera such as photo albums, church bulletins, lists of offerings pledges, and various other materials that offer information on the congregations, including the existence of a church-affiliated Boy Scout troop, lists of individuals served by church-run dispensaries, etc. These materials complement the microfilmed Princeton University Library collections of materials on religion in Cuba, among them, “Cuba Protestant Serials” and “Protestant Churches in Cuba.”
The Heraldo Cristiano magazine is particularly useful for anyone seeking a good understanding of the church’s development since 1919. Each edition consists of between fifteen and thirty-six pages of articles and regular sections. These include family devotionals, Sunday school curricula, news from around the world, and up to the mid 1930s, a section called “Cuba Seca” (dry Cuba) devoted to the subject of temperance. Both Cuban authors and US-based clergy and laypeople contributed to the magazine. The Heraldo Cristiano included information on church happenings, clergy appointments, and a social notes section announcing births, baptisms, and marriages, as well as obituaries. The monthly publication also carried photographs of clergy, church buildings, and benevolent work at orphanages and retirement homes. One particularly telling photograph showed a half-burnt Bible, victim of the intolerant zeal of a Catholic priest. The Heraldo Cristiano also carried ads for bookstores selling Christian books, Protestant schools, and other products and services.
The Heraldo Cristiano is also a valuable source to trace the relations of the denomination with various Cuban governments, particularly the revolutionary government since 1959. The February 24, 1959 issue, for example, carried a jubilant editorial entitled “La fiesta de la Patria liberada.” With the passing of time, the Presbyterian Church increased its support for the state and its official magazine included titles such as “Presencia del hombre protestante en la revolución.”
While students of Latin America demography have, for many decades, made good use of Catholic baptismal, confirmation, marriage, and burial records, few have consulted similar records generated by Protestant denominations. Such records, included in this collection, can shed much light on demographic questions and social realities. For example, the role of women in various leadership positions and as educators; and the rapid Cubanization of the clergy in the early years of the twentieth century. Genealogists and individuals putting together family trees will also find these records useful.
This collection offers multiple possibilities for those interested not only in the history of Protestantism on the island but for individuals in search of windows to Cuban culture and society. It will stimulate scholars to venture into a number of historical questions such as: Protestant positions vis-à-vis Catholicism and Afro-Cuban religions; the effects of the Cuban Revolution on Protestant churches and the impact of the consequent massive exile on church membership, attendance, and finances; and the role of the Presbyterian church during the profound economic and moral crisis of the Special Period that began in the early 1990s.
Luis Martínez-Fernández, University of Central Florida
Latin America’s Oldest Film Magazine
• Unique access to all issues of Cine Cubano that have ever been published in print (205 issues, 1960–2019)
• 18,921 digital pages (full color)
• Full-text search functionality
• Including MARC21 bibliographic records
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
• Scanned at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), Havana, Cuba
The journal Cine Cubano is an essential resource for studying the rich history of both Cuban revolutionary cinema and Latin American cinema at large, and is now made available online for the first time. The more than two hundred digital issues offer students and researchers unparalleled access to six decades of cutting-edge film theory, novel approaches to film making, and scores of film reviews.
Turbulent times
In June 1960, less than nineteen months after the establishment of Cuba's revolutionary government, the first issue of Cine Cubano was published. Despite the turbulent times, it had a print-run of 20,000 copies and was launched as a monthly. The cover featured a photograph of ‘Rebeldes,’ the second episode of the movie Historias de la Revolución, which at the time was yet to be released. The new journal would become the longest ongoing film magazine of Latin America and continues to be published until today.
Cine Cubano is the official organ of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Enacted by law on March 24, 1959, ICAIC was the first cultural body founded by the new government. With its clear desire for rupture, the institute needed a medium to disseminate its ideas.
Point Zero
In the editorial to the inaugural issue of Cine Cubano, ICAIC founder Alfredo Guevara (1925–2013) states that “creating from a Point Zero is the first revolutionary action taken in the field of art.” He then proceeds to define the characteristics of the new Cuban cinema: quality, artistic, national, nonconformist, affordable, and commercially and technically accomplished. In this context, the pages of the magazine welcomed new creators who were trained on the job; others joined from Cine Club Visión and the Nuestro Tiempo cultural society. The new magazine attracted renowned writers such as the critic René Jordán of Bohemia magazine, the young Fausto Canel, contributor to the film magazine Cine Guía, Héctor García Mesa, soon to be founding director of the Cinemateca de Cuba, and the Spaniard José Miguel García Ascot, who pioneered the clapperboard in an ICAIC production. Throughout the years, the invaluable stillmen of the ICAIC contributed their photographs to the journal.
The longest-lived film publication in Latin America
More than sixty years have passed and Cine Cubano—despite varying its circulation, going through stages of irregular frequency, and ceasing publication twice (from mid-1974 to 1977 and from 1994 to 1997)—remains the longest-lived specialized film publication in Latin America. Its mission of integrating all the arts and give voice to the new Latin American cinema, a movement that was bursting with force, led the magazine at times to publish single-themed issues and, at other times, to ignore cinema altogether in favor of other art forms, such as the plastic arts.
It is noteworthy that in its first issues, Cine Cubano included the year and issue number, but later dispensed with this important piece of information. The first triple issue (23–25) deals with ICAIC itself and zooms in on the law that founded the institute. It also features texts about ICAIC’s different departments—the Cinemateca de Cuba, the cartoon department, and the ICAIC Latin American Newscast. It addition, it includes awards won by ICAIC until 1964 and interviews with the artistic staff. Issues 42–44 (1967) and 140 (1998) were published in Spanish and French.
Switch to online format
Since issue no. 134, Cine Cubano had a circulation of two thousand copies. As of issue no. 150 (2000), some significant changes were introduced, the main purpose of which was to devote more space to the cinema of all periods produced on the island, without foregoing reports on filming, interviews with filmmakers, and excerpts of scripts. Thanks to the boundless energy of Pablo Pacheco, who edited the journal from 2006 to 2019, Cine Cubano finally returned to its quarterly publication schedule. In 2020, the journal switched from a print to an online format. The present collection includes all 205 issues that have ever been published in print (1960–2019).
Luciano Castillo
Director, Cinemateca de Cuba
• 18,921 digital pages (full color)
• Full-text search functionality
• Including MARC21 bibliographic records
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
• Scanned at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), Havana, Cuba
The journal Cine Cubano is an essential resource for studying the rich history of both Cuban revolutionary cinema and Latin American cinema at large, and is now made available online for the first time. The more than two hundred digital issues offer students and researchers unparalleled access to six decades of cutting-edge film theory, novel approaches to film making, and scores of film reviews.
Turbulent times
In June 1960, less than nineteen months after the establishment of Cuba's revolutionary government, the first issue of Cine Cubano was published. Despite the turbulent times, it had a print-run of 20,000 copies and was launched as a monthly. The cover featured a photograph of ‘Rebeldes,’ the second episode of the movie Historias de la Revolución, which at the time was yet to be released. The new journal would become the longest ongoing film magazine of Latin America and continues to be published until today.
Cine Cubano is the official organ of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Enacted by law on March 24, 1959, ICAIC was the first cultural body founded by the new government. With its clear desire for rupture, the institute needed a medium to disseminate its ideas.
Point Zero
In the editorial to the inaugural issue of Cine Cubano, ICAIC founder Alfredo Guevara (1925–2013) states that “creating from a Point Zero is the first revolutionary action taken in the field of art.” He then proceeds to define the characteristics of the new Cuban cinema: quality, artistic, national, nonconformist, affordable, and commercially and technically accomplished. In this context, the pages of the magazine welcomed new creators who were trained on the job; others joined from Cine Club Visión and the Nuestro Tiempo cultural society. The new magazine attracted renowned writers such as the critic René Jordán of Bohemia magazine, the young Fausto Canel, contributor to the film magazine Cine Guía, Héctor García Mesa, soon to be founding director of the Cinemateca de Cuba, and the Spaniard José Miguel García Ascot, who pioneered the clapperboard in an ICAIC production. Throughout the years, the invaluable stillmen of the ICAIC contributed their photographs to the journal.
The longest-lived film publication in Latin America
More than sixty years have passed and Cine Cubano—despite varying its circulation, going through stages of irregular frequency, and ceasing publication twice (from mid-1974 to 1977 and from 1994 to 1997)—remains the longest-lived specialized film publication in Latin America. Its mission of integrating all the arts and give voice to the new Latin American cinema, a movement that was bursting with force, led the magazine at times to publish single-themed issues and, at other times, to ignore cinema altogether in favor of other art forms, such as the plastic arts.
It is noteworthy that in its first issues, Cine Cubano included the year and issue number, but later dispensed with this important piece of information. The first triple issue (23–25) deals with ICAIC itself and zooms in on the law that founded the institute. It also features texts about ICAIC’s different departments—the Cinemateca de Cuba, the cartoon department, and the ICAIC Latin American Newscast. It addition, it includes awards won by ICAIC until 1964 and interviews with the artistic staff. Issues 42–44 (1967) and 140 (1998) were published in Spanish and French.
Switch to online format
Since issue no. 134, Cine Cubano had a circulation of two thousand copies. As of issue no. 150 (2000), some significant changes were introduced, the main purpose of which was to devote more space to the cinema of all periods produced on the island, without foregoing reports on filming, interviews with filmmakers, and excerpts of scripts. Thanks to the boundless energy of Pablo Pacheco, who edited the journal from 2006 to 2019, Cine Cubano finally returned to its quarterly publication schedule. In 2020, the journal switched from a print to an online format. The present collection includes all 205 issues that have ever been published in print (1960–2019).
Luciano Castillo
Director, Cinemateca de Cuba
Sources from the Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro; New York University Libraries; and four private collectors in Brazil
• Unique access to more than 60 magazines
• Fan magazines, trade magazines, Cinema Novo magazines
• Covering the period 1913–1974
• Ca. 75,000 full-color images
• Full-text search functionality
• MARC21 catalog records available
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
Brazilian cinema gained international acclaim through the Cinema Novo of Glauber Rocha, Nelson Pereira dos Santos and other directors in the 1960s. Yet Brazil produced numerous films throughout its various regions since as early as 1896. Until now, a proper appreciation of early Brazilian cinema has been hampered by the loss of a significant number of the films, as well as a lack of available printed sources pertaining to Brazil’s movie industry.
The present collection remedies this situation by providing easy online access to more than sixty Brazilian movie magazines, from the earliest ones published in the 1910s to later magazines covering the 1960s and early ‘70s. Many of them survive in only a few or even single copies and have not been available to researchers before. By bringing together film magazines from institutions and private collections in both Brazil and the United States, this collection dramatically increases the number of sources available to researchers interested in understanding the role of cinema in the largest country in Latin America.
Major transformations
The magazines in this collection not only shed a light on the history of Brazilian film — whose production periodically encountered great financial difficulties before it would expand again —, but also on the creation of both a market and a cinematographic culture in Brazil, strongly influenced by France until World War I, then dominated by Hollywood. In addition, the collection documents the major transformations that took place after World War II, when Brazilian audiences became increasingly familiar with films produced in other Latin American countries, as well as in Asia and Europe.
From Silent Period to Cinema Novo
By digitizing for the first time magazines on Brazilian cinema from the archives of the Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro, the Fales Library & Special Collections at New York University (NYU) and four private collectors in Brazil, this collection offers a unique source of a wide-ranging scope. From Portuguese magazines issued by the major Hollywood studios — Revista Universal (1921), Mensageiro Paramount (1926), Films (1926) by MGM, and Fox Revista (1927) — to highly influential publications from the Silent Period, such as Selecta (1915). The collection also contains trade magazines aimed at owners of movie theaters, which are little known and have virtually never been studied before, including O exhibidor (1927), Jornal do Exibidor (1938), Revista do Exibidor (1952) and O Exibidor (1955). Many publications not only address cinema, but also offer valuable material for the study of Brazilian theater, radio, and music, such as the influential Cine-Rádio Jornal (1938) or the corporate magazine Atividades Byington (1938). The collection also includes popular magazines read by (young) movie fans, such as Cine Revista (1938), Filmelândia (1951) and Cine Fan (1955). On the other hand, it documents the emergence of publications aimed at more sophisticated cinephiles, from the pioneering Filme (1949) to the influential Revista de Cultura Cinematográfica (1957). For the research of Cinema Novo films and filmmakers, little-known magazines from the early 1960s such as Cine Clube (1960) and A Tela Ilustrada (1961) are veritable gems.
Unknown even to experts
Major critics and filmmakers such as Pedro Lima, Alex Viany, Antonio Moniz Vianna, Vinícius de Moraes, Zenaide Andréa, Luiz Sérgio Person and Jean-Claude Bernardet appear in the pages of several magazines gathered in this collection, hitherto unknown even to experts. The breadth and diversity of this collection, which includes a number of short-lived publications, embody the richness and complexity of cinema in Brazilian society and culture; it will serve as an invaluable tool for historians, anthropologists, sociologists, designers, and many others.
Rafael de Luna Freire, Universidade Federal Fluminense
• Unique access to more than 60 magazines
• Fan magazines, trade magazines, Cinema Novo magazines
• Covering the period 1913–1974
• Ca. 75,000 full-color images
• Full-text search functionality
• MARC21 catalog records available
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
Brazilian cinema gained international acclaim through the Cinema Novo of Glauber Rocha, Nelson Pereira dos Santos and other directors in the 1960s. Yet Brazil produced numerous films throughout its various regions since as early as 1896. Until now, a proper appreciation of early Brazilian cinema has been hampered by the loss of a significant number of the films, as well as a lack of available printed sources pertaining to Brazil’s movie industry.
The present collection remedies this situation by providing easy online access to more than sixty Brazilian movie magazines, from the earliest ones published in the 1910s to later magazines covering the 1960s and early ‘70s. Many of them survive in only a few or even single copies and have not been available to researchers before. By bringing together film magazines from institutions and private collections in both Brazil and the United States, this collection dramatically increases the number of sources available to researchers interested in understanding the role of cinema in the largest country in Latin America.
Major transformations
The magazines in this collection not only shed a light on the history of Brazilian film — whose production periodically encountered great financial difficulties before it would expand again —, but also on the creation of both a market and a cinematographic culture in Brazil, strongly influenced by France until World War I, then dominated by Hollywood. In addition, the collection documents the major transformations that took place after World War II, when Brazilian audiences became increasingly familiar with films produced in other Latin American countries, as well as in Asia and Europe.
From Silent Period to Cinema Novo
By digitizing for the first time magazines on Brazilian cinema from the archives of the Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro, the Fales Library & Special Collections at New York University (NYU) and four private collectors in Brazil, this collection offers a unique source of a wide-ranging scope. From Portuguese magazines issued by the major Hollywood studios — Revista Universal (1921), Mensageiro Paramount (1926), Films (1926) by MGM, and Fox Revista (1927) — to highly influential publications from the Silent Period, such as Selecta (1915). The collection also contains trade magazines aimed at owners of movie theaters, which are little known and have virtually never been studied before, including O exhibidor (1927), Jornal do Exibidor (1938), Revista do Exibidor (1952) and O Exibidor (1955). Many publications not only address cinema, but also offer valuable material for the study of Brazilian theater, radio, and music, such as the influential Cine-Rádio Jornal (1938) or the corporate magazine Atividades Byington (1938). The collection also includes popular magazines read by (young) movie fans, such as Cine Revista (1938), Filmelândia (1951) and Cine Fan (1955). On the other hand, it documents the emergence of publications aimed at more sophisticated cinephiles, from the pioneering Filme (1949) to the influential Revista de Cultura Cinematográfica (1957). For the research of Cinema Novo films and filmmakers, little-known magazines from the early 1960s such as Cine Clube (1960) and A Tela Ilustrada (1961) are veritable gems.
Unknown even to experts
Major critics and filmmakers such as Pedro Lima, Alex Viany, Antonio Moniz Vianna, Vinícius de Moraes, Zenaide Andréa, Luiz Sérgio Person and Jean-Claude Bernardet appear in the pages of several magazines gathered in this collection, hitherto unknown even to experts. The breadth and diversity of this collection, which includes a number of short-lived publications, embody the richness and complexity of cinema in Brazilian society and culture; it will serve as an invaluable tool for historians, anthropologists, sociologists, designers, and many others.
Rafael de Luna Freire, Universidade Federal Fluminense
From the Archives of the Filmoteca of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
• Number of images: ca. 40,000 (full color)
• MARC21 catalog records are available
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
• Location of originals: Filmoteca, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Mexican cinema, from its beginnings in the late 1890s to its Golden Age (1930s to 1960), was consistently the largest and most important of all the Spanish-speaking countries. During its heyday, the Mexican film industry produced an average of one hundred films annually and supplied screen entertainment to both domestic audiences and international markets in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. The Golden Age of Mexican cinema is illuminated in this collection of popular movie periodicals. Not only does it include chief magazines such as Cinema Reporter (1943-1965) and Cine Mundial (1951-1955), it also features two extremely rare issues of El Cine Gráfico from 1935 and copies of the weekly El Mundo Ilustrado (1902-1910), an arts magazine that also contained notes on movies. The true extent of the popularity of Mexican film is illustrated by Cinelandia (1931-1947), which was published in Hollywood both in Spanish and in English. This collection also includes some fifty rare lobby cards, which were used to advertise a film. Finally, for the first time this collection gives access to the personal scrap book of Fernando de Fuentes (1894-1958), one of the leading Latin-American filmmakers to this day. It contains reviews, movie stills, programs, and advertisements, shedding a unique light on the career of this pioneering director.
The sources in this collection, heretofore only accessible in the archives of the Filmoteca de la UNAM in Mexico City, will be invaluable to researchers and students working on Film and Media Studies, Latin American Studies, and many other aspects of the historical, social, and political impact of cinema.
• MARC21 catalog records are available
• Part of our ongoing series The History of Latin American Cinema
• Location of originals: Filmoteca, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Mexican cinema, from its beginnings in the late 1890s to its Golden Age (1930s to 1960), was consistently the largest and most important of all the Spanish-speaking countries. During its heyday, the Mexican film industry produced an average of one hundred films annually and supplied screen entertainment to both domestic audiences and international markets in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. The Golden Age of Mexican cinema is illuminated in this collection of popular movie periodicals. Not only does it include chief magazines such as Cinema Reporter (1943-1965) and Cine Mundial (1951-1955), it also features two extremely rare issues of El Cine Gráfico from 1935 and copies of the weekly El Mundo Ilustrado (1902-1910), an arts magazine that also contained notes on movies. The true extent of the popularity of Mexican film is illustrated by Cinelandia (1931-1947), which was published in Hollywood both in Spanish and in English. This collection also includes some fifty rare lobby cards, which were used to advertise a film. Finally, for the first time this collection gives access to the personal scrap book of Fernando de Fuentes (1894-1958), one of the leading Latin-American filmmakers to this day. It contains reviews, movie stills, programs, and advertisements, shedding a unique light on the career of this pioneering director.
The sources in this collection, heretofore only accessible in the archives of the Filmoteca de la UNAM in Mexico City, will be invaluable to researchers and students working on Film and Media Studies, Latin American Studies, and many other aspects of the historical, social, and political impact of cinema.
Online edition of the so-called Archivo Vertical at Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba. Published in four parts, this collection offers an unparalleled insight into the culture and literature of not only Revolutionary Cuba, but also the wider Caribbean and Latin America as a whole.