Apr

April 11, 1980

April 11, 1980: Secretary S. Dillon Ripley visits Cuba and signs a memorandum of understanding to further cooperation between the Smithsonian and the Cuban Academy of Sciences. The agreement was also signed by acting president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, Dr. Tirso W. Saenz, and is intended to restore scholarly exchanges that were interrupted in 1969 when the U.S. and Cuba severed relations.

This image shows Smithsonian staff and members of the Cuban Academy of Sciences touring Cuba in 1977, the first visit of Smithsonian scientists and administrators to Cuba since the 1959 revolution. The group included Porter Kier and was facilitated by Alberado Moreno and Ted Reed. The visit included tours of the institutes of the Academy in Havana, the Zapata swamp, and the Zoo and Aquarium. This trip resulted in the 1980 Memorandum of Understanding to establish a program of exchange of scholars between SI and Cuba.

Visits to Cuba by four Smithsonian scientists (Porter Kier, Eugene S. Morton, James F. Lynch and Storrs Olson) in October and November 1980 marked the first projects under the treaty.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives