Special Collections Internship at the University of Central Florida

Week 6: New Discovery

The Pot of Gold

This week I wanted to step back and take some time and investigate on Jose Guerra Alemán and his family. Beforehand, I believe I rushed that process. I went in familysearch.org and I was able to find a few new pieces of information. I found a temporary immigration card to Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) (Fig.1). On the card, it had his full name, Jose Ramon Guerra Aleman. At least in the Spanish culture, people include their father’s last name and their mother’s maiden name next to each other. In this case, Guerra comes from his father’s side and his name was Jose Guerra. While Aleman comes from his mother’s side and her name was Herminia Aleman according to the document below. Another information I found out was that he put journalism as his profession and he could have gone to Brazil for a story.

Fig. 1. Jose Ramon Guerra Alemán Immigration Card, Brazil. (Courtesy of Familysearch.org.)

As a historian and scholar, one must know how to validate the information one finds. In the digital humanities, the process that scholars reference is called triangulating. It means finding other sources that can match the original information. This creates a strong foundation to build upon in anything, including research. I need something similar. I underline the other sources I used to validate the Immigration card in a general sense. 

1.     I made sure he has his last names- Guerra and Aleman. His signature validates one way he wrote his name from other signature such as signing his brother's funeral payments.

2.     His birth date I found is the same and he was Cuban- 1922-11-20 from U.S public records index.

3.     His occupation was journalism and I know he was in that career as it is mentioned in his mini-biographies from his published books such as Barro y Cenizas.

4.     It is not always the case, but the card has his photograph and there are similarities from other photos of him.

I found from some sources online where it led me to find Jose Braulio Aleman’s full name, Jose Braulio Castúlo Alemán Urquía. Sometimes when researchers cannot find a lot of information on a person they turn to websites for anything. However, one must check and make sure they are valid information. Some sites include a reference or bibliography of sources they used. Here are two examples. 

1.     “Santaclareño Jose Braulio Alemán: Periodista Y Patriota.” Mi Santa Clara Gloriosa (blog). 2012. http://narciso.bloguea.cu/2012/03/26/santaclareno-jose-braulio-aleman-periodista-y-patriota/.

a.     The author referenced expediente (case files) of Jose Braulio Alemán at an archive called Archivo Histórico Provincial Villa Clara. Villa Clara is the area of Jose Braulio Alemán’s birthplace. The author was able to find photographs of him throughout his life. Even though it is a blog, it can be useful and can lead you to find more answers by seeing where another person did his/her research.

2.     Gutiérrez, Héctor Maseda. “Nuestros Pensadores (XXIII): “Jose Braulio Castúlo Alemán Urquia.” Convivencia Desde el Interior De Cuba. http://www.convivenciacuba.es/index.php/historia-mainmenu-54/1415-nuestros-pensadores-xxiii-jose-braulio-castulo-aleman-urquia.

a.     The author used encyclopedias to understand the context in which Jose Braulio Alemán lived in. It is important to know the background history and culture of the time you are researching. He also used letters from Maximo Gomez, a soldier where Jose Braulio Alemán helped him, especially during the War of 1895. 

And Good News! I was able to use the University of Central Florida Library interloans system and get the Cuba Infinita Tomo IV (Volume IV) that I was missing in the collection. I was able to put the draft of that volume in order according to the final copy. 

I am starting to figure out more of Jose Guerra Alemán as time goes on. Hopefully, I can continue to find more pots of gold.