Harvard University. Cuban Summer School

The Cuban Summer School held at Harvard University in 1900 was one of the largest cultural exchanges between the United States and Cuba. On July 5, 1900, about 1,270 Cuban teachers arrived in Boston to complete a six-week summer school program at Harvard where they participated in classes, lectures, and excursions. Superintendent of Public Schools in Cuba Alexander Everett Frye (LLB 1890) organized the summer school to instruct Cuban teachers in the latest American educational methods and American culture.

The summer school was based on lawyer Ernest Lee Conant’s (AB 1884) suggestion to Frye to bring some Cuban teachers to the United States for further education. Vastly increasing the scale of Conant’s original plan, Frye proposed the Cuban Summer School to Harvard President Charles W. Eliot and the project was approved in April 1900. With support from the Boston community, more than $70,000 was raised by subscription to defray students' travel costs. The summer school was also supported by the United States federal government. Officials such as Secretary of War Elihu Root and Military Governor of Cuba Major-General Leonard Wood viewed the expedition as a step towards the annexation of Cuba through acculturation. The U.S. government provided ship transportation for the expedition, covering the cost of onboard meals and service.

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