CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library

Commemorating the historical significance of the 1965 Revolution

Below please find our pick of bibliographical references available to the general public at our library about the 1965 Revolution in the Dominican Republic. The selected list has been compiled in honor of those who fought and lost their lives fifty-one years ago on April 28, 1965 in the capital city of Santo Domingo against the American troops that invaded ,and interrupted a pivotal moment in the country's history.

Meza Nieto, José. Acción dominicana: 1965 ¿Intervención o cooperación? Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University, Center for Strategic Studies, 1966. 

This source is a foreign policy report that provides insight into the minds of foreign policy experts and analysts inside and outside of the Capital Beltway in Washington D.C. who were trying to make sense of the crisis unfolding in Santo Domingo.

Despradel, Fidelio. Historia gráfica de la revolución de abril. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Editora Nuevo Rumbo, 1975. 

This seminal book is an important reference on the 1965 Revolution, and the subsequent U.S. military intervention that took place in the Dominican Republic

Fidelio Despradel, a theorist and leading member of the 14th of June Movement (1J4), and renegade son of a prominent government official during the Trujillo dictatorship, compiled a valuable visual resource that sheds light onto the events that led to the military coup that overthrew Bosch’s government, and the counter-coup that aimed to bring him back to power.

Also, the book highlights the various political groups that came together during the four months such as the composition of the Comandos Populares (civilian military units), the role of artists and intellectuals, women, Haitian immigrants, exiles, and foreigners who participated in the struggle against the U.S military troops and their local allies.

Fortunato, René. Una primavera para el mundo: La revolución constitucionalista de 1965. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Amigo del Hogar, 2015. 

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Revolution, acclaimed Dominican film director René Fortunato published a collection of 650 unedited photographs. The book includes a chronology of national and international news coverage of daily events from April 24 to September 3, 1965.

Cordero, Margarita. Mujeres de abril. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: CIPAF, 1985. 

This book is a collection of testimonies from women who fought in the 1965 Revolution. In these interviews, Margarita Cordero, a renowned journalist, focuses on the daily lives of some of the women who participated in the revolution, and highlights their concrete experience amidst of war, their training in combat at Academia Militar 24 de Abril, As well as how women’s presence and involvement diversified the social discourse of the time and the history of the revolution. (Available online here)

Núñez Fernández, José Antonio. La guerra de locutores Abril 1965. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Biblioteca Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, 2009. Print.

The book is an examination of the lives and experiences of radio commentators who were in favor of safeguarding the constitution of the Dominican Republic that recognized only democratically elected governments. These radio commentators waged a campaign against the 1965 U.S. occupation based on the unconstitutionality of the intervention. Furthermore, this book highlights the much larger collective role of many individuals in Dominican society who used whatever means at their disposal to fight against the U.S. occupation.

Available online here:  Download La_Guerra_Locutores_abril_1965

To have access to the broad and rich collection of resources related to the 1965 Revolution in the Dominican Republic, please visit The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute’s library.  

Jhensen Ortiz, Librarian

Generosa donación de Rocío Billini, Directora de Intercambios Académicos de la UASD

La Profesora Sarah Aponte agradece a la Directora Rocío Billini por conseguir denodadamente y donar a nuestra biblioteca una copia de la importante publicación: Historia de la UASD y de los estudios superiores, escrita por el Prof. Franklin J. Franco  (Santo Domingo: Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo; Editora Universitaria, 2007).

Le agradecemos a nuestra Directora, la Dra. Ramona Hernández, por hacernos llegar este valioso libro  que le fue entregado en su reciente viaje a la República Dominicana durante el lanzamiento de la primera traducción al inglés del libro: Los negros, mulatos, y la nación Dominicana / Blacks, mulattos, and the Dominican Nation también escrito por el Prof. Franco, una obra clásica que fue publicada en el 1969 y recientemente traducida al inglés por la Dra. Patricia Mason en el 2015, a través de una colaboración entre Routledge Press y el Instituto de Estudios Dominicanos. 

Esta donación contribuye a la valiosa colección bibliográfica del estimado y respetado Prof. Franklin J. Franco que se encuentra en nuestra biblioteca. Historia de la UASD constituye uno de los trabajos más completos realizados sobre la historia de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, la más antigua de nuestro continente y que fue fundada en 1538.

Jhensen Ortiz

Asistente Bibliotecario

 

Thank you Professor Danny Méndez for your visit and kind donation

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute’s Chief Librarian Sarah Aponte is happy to share information about Prof. Danny Méndez’s research visit from Michigan State University and the donation of his book to the Dominican Library
Méndez, Danny. Narratives of Migration and Displacement in Dominican Literature. New York, New York: Routledge Press, 2012. Print.

After requesting this book via interlibrary loan time after time, we finally get our very own copy from the author himself during his recent visit to the CUNY DSI Archives and Library. Prof. Méndez’s book is focused on narratives of migration and displacements in the works of Dominican contemporary writers. Throughout his book Prof. Méndez analyzes the works of Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Josefina Báez, Junot Díaz, and Loida Maritza Pérez while engaging critically with the different process of racial and identity constructions of the Dominican experience in the Dominican Republic before they embark on their journey to the United States. Moreover, he argues that "their representations of immigration and traveling in New York City reflect the racial, ethnic, class, and gender experiences that have marked their internalized conception of dominicanidad” at different historical junctures. Méndez explains that dialogues with past notions of gender, sexuality, and race gained in the Dominican Republic emerge displaced and link to new forms of dominicandad in the context of the United States.

We highly recommended this book for literary scholars and students with an interest in understanding Dominican literature and the works of Dominican authors dealing with themes of immigration, displacement, race, and identity.

During his research visit, Prof. Mendéz consulted The Normandía Maldonado Collection. He is currently exploring the cultural production of Dominican women in the arts particularly dance, music, and acting. To hear him speak, go to the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Congress in New York City from May 27-30th this year. He will be presenting about his latest research on the figure of Maria Montez. For more information on his presentation you can view the program here.

Jhensen Ortiz

Assistant Librarian