CONVERSATIONS: The Guayo Collection

On March 21, Dr. Lillian Guerra and Martha Kapelewski presented the Smathers Libraries newest collection. The Eduardo “Guayo” Hernández collection contains documents, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, slides, correspondence, films, documentaries, and ephemera. Guayo was one of the premiere cameramen and journalists of pre-revolution Cuba. Guayo formed Noticuba, a news documentary production company that featured his documentaries in theaters.

One of the most popular cameramen in Cuba, Guayo was alongside Agustín Alles Soberón, the first cameraman and photojournalist to reach Fidel Castro in Sierra Maestra. Disenchanted with Castro’s regime ideals, Guayo left Cuba (1960) and worked in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Miami.

The collection, donated by his son Luis Hernández Abreu, his brothers Eduardo “Guayito” Hernández Gabelas and Jorge Hernández Gabelas (in memoriam) as well as Guayo’s grandchildren and friends, is an invaluable resource that documents Cuba before, during, and after the revolution, covering counterrevolutionary missions to Cuba with Brigada 2506 and Alpha 66.

The Program