Freedom Tower, Miami's bastion of hope for thousands of Cuban refugees
Miami's Freedom Tower became known as 'The Refuge' to 450,000 Cuban refugees who passed through its doors from 1962 to 1974. Volunteers offered food, medical care, financial support.
A searchable database of South Florida events is at www.MiamiHerald.com/events . Choose “Food & Wine” from the list on the left. To submit a listing, click “add to our events” on the upper right.
The database -- an Ellis-Island style registry -- contains the names of Cuban exiles who entered the U.S. through the Freedom Flights, between 1965 and 1973.
The unique, searchable database obtained by The Miami Herald, is believed to be the only one now available to the public.
The personal information it contains was mainly entered by immigration workers at Miami's Freedom Tower. One oddity of the list is the designation of ''Boat'' as the mode of entry -- that's because most freedom flight passengers were initially claimed by relatives in the U.S. during the Camarioca boatlift of 1965.
In such a massive list, there are errors and omissions. The Herald is asking freedom fliers to help make corrections and enhance the database by sending photos and memories from their early days in Miami, or last days in Cuba to FreedomFlights@MiamiHerald.com
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