Operation Pedro Pan : the migration of unaccompanied children from Castro's Cuba / John A. Gronbeck-Tedesco.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gronbeck-Tedesco, John A., 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Unaccompanied immigrant children--United States--History--20th century.

Unaccompanied immigrant children.

Unaccompanied immigrant children--Cuba--History--20th century.

Refugees--Cuba--History--20th century.

Refugees.

Church work with refugees--United States--History--20th century.

Church work with refugees.

Cuba--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.

Cuba.

United States--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (281 pages)

Place of Publication:

Lincoln, Nebraska : Potomac Books, [2022]

Summary:

"At the outset the proposal seemed modest: transfer two hundred unaccompanied Cuban children to Miami to save them from communism. The time apart from their parents would be short, only until Fidel Castro fell from power by the result of U.S. force, Cuban counterrevolutionary tactics, or a combination of both. Families would be reunited in a matter of months. A plan was hatched, and it worked-until it ballooned into something so unwieldy that within two years the modest proposal erupted into what at the time was the largest migration of unaccompanied minors to the United States.Operation Pedro Pan explores the undertaking sponsored by the Miami Catholic Diocese, federal and state offices, child welfare agencies, and anti-Castro Cubans to bring more than fourteen thousand unaccompanied children to the United States during the Cold War. Operation Pedro Pan was the colloquial name for the Unaccompanied Cuban Children's Program, which began under government largesse in February 1961. Children without immediate family support in the United States-some 8,300 minors-received group and foster care through the Catholic Welfare Bureau and other religious, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations as young people were dispersed throughout the country. Using personal interviews and newly unearthed information, Operation Pedro Pan provides a deeper understanding of how and why the program was devised. John A. Gronbeck-Tedesco demonstrates how the seemingly mundane conditions of everyday life can suddenly uproot civilians from their routines of work, church, and school and thrust them into historical prominence. The stories told by Pedro Pans are filled with horror and resilience and contribute to a refugee memory that still shapes Cuban American politics and identity today. "-- Provided by publisher.

""Operation Pedro Pan" tells the history of the Unaccompanied Cuban Children's Program, colloquially known as Operation Pedro Pan, which brought over fourteen thousand children to the United States from Castro's Cuba between 1960 and 1962"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Takeoff

Landing

From Camps to Resettlement

Americanize a la Cubana

The "Other Miami"

Operation Pedro Pan in Cuba

A Brief History of Intimate Ties

A National Test

Cold War Childhood

For God and Country

Abuse

Vaults of Oblivion

Bittersweet Reunions

Putting the Program to Bed

The Politics of Exile Identity

The Return

Conclusion.

Machine generated contents note: List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

A Note on Language

Introduction

1. Takeoff

2. Landing

3. From Camps to Resettlement

4. Americanize a la Cubana

5. The "Other Miami"

6. Operation Pedro Pan in Cuba

7. A Brief History of Intimate Ties

8. A National Test

9. Cold War Childhood

10. For God and Country

11. Abuse

12. Vaults of Oblivion

13. Bittersweet Reunions

14. Putting the Program to Bed

15. The Politics of Exile Identity

16. The Return

Conclusion

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Gronbeck-Tedesco, John A. Operation Pedro Pan

ISBN:

1-64012-562-0

OCLC:

1337943899