On the Saturday night of April 26, 1959, a teeming crowd of more than 10,000 gathered at the Dillon Field House to welcome an intriguing visitor. Long before he was scheduled to speak, concerns were already brewing over audience size, security, and even a failed bomb threat. Even more worrisome than the logistics of the visit was what it represented. Democracy, U.S. foreign policy, and the future of a nation were brought into question. Taking these manifold concerns and questions in stride, Harvard welcomed with open arms the arrival of Fidel Castro: revolutionary, liberator, and, for one night, the center of campus life.

After a guerrilla campaign, the young Cuban leader had defeated then-President Fulgencio Batista’s forces and ousted the dictatorial government in January of that year. By March of 1959, Castro had accepted an invitation to speak at the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ annual convention in Washington D.C. He then planned an 11-day tour of North America, speaking in New York, Montreal, and at Harvard.

Although Castro may have initially been invited to the United States by a private organization, he chose to speak at universities because he said, “that is where you find the real ‘military spirit,’ in students, not in the barracks.” Castro was on a tour, but the fact that he was coming to Harvard was still monumental for many. “It was huge, from Harvard’s point of view, it was huge,” said Michael D. Lockshin ’59.

CASTRO THE LIBERATOR

Many students were excited and curious to see the face of the future of Cuba. According to Michael D. Lockshin ’59, “He had been on a triumphant tour and students were in favor of him… he was a romantic hero to the students I knew.” Willard Emery, Jr. ’59 agreed, saying that “Batista was seen as a corrupt oppressor of the Cuban people and Fidel Castro was seen as coming from the mountains as a liberator.”

Studying government at the time, Jonathan S. Barker ’59 said he left the speech with positive reactions. “He stood out as revolutionary in the context of Harvard… he was part of some change that I thought was positive on the whole and was an example of a kind of activism that was pretty new for me. He didn’t strike me as someone who was anti-democratic, so I was quite hopeful,” said Barker. Barker recounted how Castro’s visit was the crest of a wave of visits from leaders and nationalists from African nations and Cyprus and that it was part of a trend of “big changes.”

But not all in the audience shared Barker’s positive impressions. Although he said he entered with high expectations, Lockshin said that “the speech… was very, very long, challenging the most mind-numbing of professors for inducing restlessness in the crowd.” The biggest “turn-off” for Lockshin was Castro’s comment regarding the rights of a government to appeal trials just as if it were a private party.

This incident was also noted in the New York Times for inducing hissing at Harvard. “We had gone expecting all positive things and we were quite disturbed,” Lockshin said.

His brother, Richard A. Lockshin ’59 had similar recollections. “I remember it—and mention it today—as a turning point in attitudes of many U.S. citizens toward Cuba,” Richard A. Lockshin said. He even quit the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, which he had been a member of, after Castro’s visit.

A HAVANA HARBINGER

Castro’s visit to Harvard and to the United States in general marked a decisive time for Cuban-American relations. Prior to his visit, a New York Times article even said that the visit was, in some ways, the most important test that Castro had faced thus far. Seen as a liberator of Cuba and a harbinger of democracy, Castro was welcomed warmly by many, especially at Harvard.

However, others still harbored animosity toward him. Issues of security were problematic at all the venues that hosted Castro. The situation was especially chaotic in Boston, where, prior to Castro’s arrival, a man from Massachusetts was found in New York’s Central Park with a homemade, and most likely unusable, bomb.

But the visit was viewed largely as a success, and, according to the New York Times, made Americans and Castro feel better about each other.

These hopeful feelings and possibilities of friendly relations between the two countries were nevertheless quickly dispelled. In 1960, ties severely worsened as Cuba increasingly supported the Soviet economy. By 1961, Castro had declared Cuba a socialist state and abolished free elections. Confrontations such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis revealed the deep tensions that had quickly developed since Castro departed Harvard a few years prior.

Today, the United States still holds a trade embargo against Cuba. Travel restrictions also hinder the exchange of ideas and cultures between citizens of the two nations.

AN ACADEMIC EXCEPTION

Although Americans are not permitted to freely enter Cuba, Harvard students are. Despite hostile foreign policies that the United States still holds towards Cuba, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) is nevertheless committed to fostering academic exchange with Cuban institutions.

The Cuban Studies Program, established in 1999, strives to bring together faculty and students who study Cuba, to assist Cuban scholars and scientists, and to strengthen institutional bonds of study. According to Lybia M. Rivera, Cuba Program Coordinator, the program has been vastly successful thus far, bringing Cuban scholars to the United States, organizing academic conferences, and making strides in a variety of studies, from tropic medicine to social policy. It functions with the belief that “restoring and enhancing cooperation between the U.S. and Cuban academic communities can play a significant role in promoting peaceful changes within and between our two countries,” according to the DRCLAS website.

The obstacles that the Cuban Studies Program faces are great, but they are far from being deterrents for academic exchange. “Harvard never ‘embargoed’ Cuban scholars nor did Harvard seek to stand in the way of any member of our community studying or engaging in research in Cuba. The U.S. government, especially over the past five years, did both,” Jorge I. Dominguez, Vice Provost for International Affairs, wrote in an email. “Visas for Cuban scholars to visit the U.S. for short periods were characteristically denied; U.S. barriers to student research or study in Cuba became very high,” added Dominguez, who is also co-chair of the Cuban Studies Program. The other co-chair and Assistant Professor of Social Medicine Arachu Castro-San Juan said that because the relationship between Cuba and Harvard is academic and not political, the relationship is “excellent.”

The Harvard College Program in Cuba is a key component of the initiative to strengthen ties between Harvard and Cuba. Since 2006, Harvard has been able to send a select group of students to study abroad for one semester at the University of Havana, Castro’s alma mater.

Harvard students who go to Cuba must be juniors at the time and must have had at least six semesters of Spanish language training. These students are able to travel where few Americans have gone because of an institutionalized license granted by the U.S. Treasury Department. It took 18 months for Harvard to initially obtain the license, which must be renewed every year.

In the fall semester of 2008, four Harvard students participated in this program. Christina M. Giordano ’10 was one of them. She said that although there were anti-American and anti-Bush sentiments in the media, the Cubans were very welcoming.

“People were excited to find out there were Americans down there. It became more appealing to be a friend or significant other of an American,” she said. Giordano noted that many Cubans, who were socialist and thus, ideologically opposed to the United States, still admired the American economy and wanted to work here. She said that although being from Harvard often grabbed attention, it was the American connection that appealed to many Cubans. “Being American was the big tip off… being from Harvard was just icing to the cake,” she said.

A LASTING IMPACT

Willard Emery, Jr. ’59 recalled similar stories of Cuban excitement over American presence. “They loved Americans, they really did… they still consider us friends,” he said. Emery visited Cuba in 1995 but did not attend Castro’s speech in 1959.

When Castro stepped foot on American soil in 1959, he embarked on an important journey, one that has been called a “turning point” and a “test.” During his 11 days, Castro answered many questions but many issues were still left gapingly ambiguous. The whirlwind tour had a lasting impact on Cuban-American relations, which quickly turned sour as the Cold War unfurled. Although Castro may not have directly addressed Cuban-Harvard relations, today, it is this partnership that has become the more cooperative and fruitful one.

With the recent change in the heads of state in both nations, the issues surrounding Cuba are once again being questioned. While the United States government may still be ambivalent about the future of the Cuban-American relations, Harvard, represented by DRCLAS and the Cuban Studies Program, remains optimistic.

“This is just the beginning and I am hopeful for more changes and that relations will improve and that the program will grow more,” Rivera said.

“We’ve been able to do this even in times when relations between the countries have been in strain. I can only hope that it will get better,” Castro-San Juan said.

It is perhaps fitting that now one of the places with the most unique, persistent, and progressive stance towards Cuba is the place where 50 years ago, a crowd of more than 10,000 lauded Castro with a standing ovation.

—Staff writer Julia S. Chen can be reached at jschen@fas.harvard.edu.