Changing history

Philip A. Howard traces the origins and evolution of Afro-Cuban benevolent societies from early African slave-based associations to the Pan-Afro-Cuban groups that emerged in the late nineteenth century. Relying on rich archival materials in Spain and Cuba, Howard illuminates the process by which African immigrants, both slave and free, employed benevolent societies to retain their culture and identity, to protect their human rights, and eventually to facilitate their integration into post-emancipation Cuban society. Howard's study is crucial to the understanding of the African experience in nineteenth-century Cuba and will be an indispensable resource for all students of African history in the Americas.