Much has been published in Cuba about all phases of the island’s struggles for independence, particularly on the last period from 1895 to 1898. Yet there still remains a hiatus concerning the underground movement in Cuba itself. This was carried on by organizations generally called clubs, which gathered and sent to the forces in the field money, food, medicine, clothing, and (especially) strategic information.
One of the most effective of these organizations was that of Santa Clara, which took the name of a young physician of the province who had become a combat brigadier general before he lost his life in the battle of La Jaima in June 1896. Very active in assisting the club and in helping families of Cuban soldiers was the ladies’ auxiliary known as the “Hermanas de Juan Bruno Zayas,” whose work was continued for some time after the war.
At the end of the war the club’s papers, partly from the files of the organization and partly from Generalissimo Máximo Gómez, passed into the hands of the first president of the club, Rafael Lubián y Rodríguez. The collection was necessarily incomplete because many papers had been lost or had been destroyed to prevent their falling into Spanish hands. From Lubián they passed, upon his death, to his daughter Silvia, who delivered many key documents (which were never returned) to Don Enrique del Canal. From these Canal prepared a seventy-six-page Memoria histórica del Chib Juan Bruno Zayas (Havana, 1925). Silvia Lubián has used the remaining papers and data from other publications to prepare this history of the club, which includes the papers themselves in the appendix (pp. 117-282). In the body of the work and in the footnotes appear several lists of members of the club at various times during its existence. There are also tables of pseudonyms of members, their correspondents, and other revolutionaries. Many papers are in cipher, and when the keys have been discovered, translations are given. The book’s greatest contribution is its detailed picture of underground operations during the final independence effort.
