American Photo Company Photographs of the Port of Havana Construction
Scope and Content
This collection houses photoprints that were taken by the American Photo Company, formed in 1912, and which established a commercial network in Havana that became responsible for distributing images of Cuba on a worldwide scale. Of the enclosed 25 photographs, eight are captioned in Spanish and sixteen are captioned in English; two are stamped by the American Photo Company. This collection, which dates from September 1910-June 1912, shows the progress of the construction of the Port of Havana and shows views of the loading docks, the piers, and the San Francisco de Paula Church in the background of some of the pictures.
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1912
Creator
- American Photo Co. (Organization)
Language of Materials
Includes materials written in Spanish and English.
Access
This collection is open for research.
Biographical/Historical Note
For 400 years, the port of Havana, sitting in the fan-shaped bay Bahia de La Habana, had been one of the most important ports in the world. The Spanish used this port to assemble their large convoys and to ship the riches of the Americas to Spain. In 1898, as a prelude to the United States' war with Spain, the USS Maine was sunk in Havana Harbor. By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, the Cubans and their American business partner wanted to rebuild and expand the harbor and the sunken American battleship remained a hazard that they wanted removed.
The U.S. government agreed to remove the sunken ship on May 9, 1910. Much of the harbor work was carried out by The Snare & Triest Company (of New York and Havana), which was founded in 1898 by Frederick Snare and W. G. Triest and became one of the largest contracting engineering firms working in Latin America.
Extent
0.1 Linear feet (25 photographs)
Abstract
This collection includes 25 duotone photographs of the construction of the Port of Havana in Cuba.
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged in chronological order.
Physical Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Alternate Form of Finding Aid
This guide is available in Spanish at https://www.uflib.ufl.edu/findingaids/Spanish/mss0347.pdf.
Acquisition Information
This collection was purchased in 2013.
Alternative Format Available
Digital reproductions of items in the American Photo Company Photographs of the Port of Havana Construction are available online via the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright, fair use, and use of UFDC digital objects.
Subject
- Havana Bay (Cuba). (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- A Guide to the American Photo Company Photographs of the Port of Havana Construction
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by Wondy Joseph
- Date
- December 2015
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu