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Digital Collections Blog Logo

Immigrant Children from Cuba Celebrated Christmas in ‘60s at Miami Memorial Library
Children fleeing Cuba in the ‘60s took part in Christmas programs at Miami Memorial Library

12/16/20

By: I. S.

Children with no relatives in Miami received temporary housing through the Freedom House, also known as the Casas de la Libertad, at Miami International Airport. Pictures in the Digital Collection at Miami-Dade County Library System capture memories of these children taking part in holiday rituals.

Immigrants are an important part of Miami-Dade County’s history. The Miami-Dade Public Library System has always celebrated the many cultures that make up our beloved melting pot including the Cuban community.

In 2019, there were nearly 700,000 Cuban-born immigrants in Miami-Dade County. That is over 25 percent of the county’s population of 2.7 million. When we include the US-born children and grandchildren of those immigrants, the number jumps to over 1 million residents with Cuban ancestry.

A wide spectrum of Miami’s resources were deployed to help Cubans resettle. From 1965 to 1973, many Cubans came to the US by way of the Freedom Flights organized by the federal government, which brought thousands of Cuban refugees to Miami every week. By the end of the program, around 270,000 people had arrived through the Freedom Flights.

Cuban refugees would arrive at the Freedom Gate of Miami International Airport then they were processed at the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center located in the Freedom Tower at 600 Biscayne Boulevard.

Freedom Tower

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These pictures show us the Freedom House’s children in December 1969 at Miami Memorial Library.

The children did activities such as crafting Santa Claus with apples and decorating a Christmas tree.

Just as back then, MDPLS continues to stay invested in immigrant communities.