Special Collections Internship at the University of Central Florida

Week 5: The Battle Continues

At the archives, I have been doing the same routine. I have been organizing and archiving one box to the next. However, I happen to change it a bit. I usually go and work on the next box chronologically, but this week I decided to go backwards and start with box 12. I found more draft pages of his four- volume encyclopedias. I needed to put them in order accordingly to how it appears to the final draft. This task seems easy to do, but it takes time when the draft pages are not in order or not all in the same place. I would imagine someone thinking why I would I care to place a draft together when the final copies of Aleman’s encyclopedias are available. As a historian, I feel the need to preserve the drafts of a manuscript or book because it can be the gateway of the writer’s thoughts. One person can just see changes on a page, but there is more meaning. The slightest change can mean the writer was detailed and thought-provoking. Academically speaking, scholars go through many revisions and development of their work until the final draft. Although this is the case, I sort of witness his process and I am a part of what led to his final vision, the four-volume encyclopedias. Besides the revision process, I get to see the images he chose to be in the volume. For instance, there is a cartoon version of Jose Braulio Alemán, his grandfather, in one of the volumes (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Cartoon Portrait of General Jose Braulio Alemán. (Courtesy of Jose Guerra Alemán from Cuba Infinita Volume II.) 

Another thing I did different was I tried to call the number of Guastella Film Producers INC. The company was making historical documentary film, especially from the 1960s. Alemán was a part of it as the Senior Vice President. I found the contact number by googling “Guastella Film Producers.” I was hoping that I would have more information on Alemán, but the number led me to a pizzeria in Puerto Rico. I was dismayed because I thought I could learn more about this man and get another source other than his son. This experience shows that research does not always go the way you want it. Sometimes roadblocks and obstacles may come your way. At least, I can look at Jose Braulio Alemán, the cartoon and lighten the mood. Anyways, other online sources has the contact of the company, but it was not the same one when he was working in the company. Then, I went on a online scavenger hunt. I emailed universities and other institutions from librarians to professors to see if any of them know if they have or know of somebody who has the Volume IV copy of Alemán's encyclopedias. I found out that the University of Miami had a copy, but I could only get my hands on it if I came in person. It is in their special collections. So I did an interloan and document delivery services (ILL/DDS). I can now only hope that I get the good news and be able to borrow the volume for a couple of days. I need the book to put this volume in order, the draft copy. May I be able to overcome these obstacles or mini battles and may new source of information come my way soon or "win the war."