Scope and arrangement
The Roland T. Ely papers, 1951-1961, contain his slide presentation "Moses Taylor and the Cuban Trade, 1832-1882," describing his use of The New York Public Library's Moses Taylor Papers and his research in Cuba while a doctoral student. Also included are some of Ely's research computations on Moses Taylor's business finances; typescripts of his academic writings on contemporary United States-Latin American relations; documents relating to a film project promoting inter-American relations by Student-to-Student, Inc. with the Princeton Film Center; copies of awards received from the governments of Argentina and Ecuador; and copied news clippings relating to Ely's professional activities and his research in Cuba, with some loose printed matter. A few items are in Spanish.
The slide presentation comprises a typescript narration, two boxes of glass color stereograph slides shot by Ely, an accompanying Esso map of Cuba marked by Ely, and a photostatic copy of a Moses Taylor portrait. The text and slides are marked as a duplicate set. The spoken presentation consists of an introduction (9 pages), and text (60 pages) keyed to each slide in Boxes I and II (30 slides each). Ely's stereoscopic slide viewer is included in the collection.
Roland Taylor Ely presented "Moses Taylor and the Cuban Sugar Trade, 1832-1882" before an unidentified audience in Princeton, New Jersey, probably in the late 1950s. The slides were created during the course of his doctoral research on Taylor (no apparent relation), which began in 1951. The introduction describes the life and career of Moses Taylor (1806-1882), with reference to the portrait and the map showing locations visited by Ely. The first box of slides describes his work organizing, and conducting research in, the unprocessed Moses Taylor papers at The New York Public Library, and similar labors in the papers of Tomás Terry, Taylor's business associate, at Cienfuegos, Cuba. Also depicted is the "central" (sugar mill) Constancia, owned by Fernando de la Riva, and his estate "Hormiguera," where Ely stayed during his time at Cienfuegos. Ely's discussion of Taylor's business with sugar planters in the valley near Trinidad carries over into box II. Box II then describes his visits to old sugar plantations in the provinces of Matanzas and Oriente under the guidance of Cuban sugar industrialist Julio Lobo (1898-1983) and his younger daughter, Miss [María Luisa] Lobo. Ely concludes with a trip to Santiago de Cuba to see old sugar and coffee plantations, in connection with his own family history. The slides include images of the Lobos, Ely and his wife, and house guests at the Lobo residence at the central "Tinguaro" in Matanzas. Julio Lobo fled Cuba in 1960 as a result of Fidel Castro's nationalization of the sugar industry. There is no mention of Castro or Lobo's loss of assets in the presentation.