Building a Model “Manicomio”: Citizenship, Race, and the Mazorra Mental Asylum in Cuba, 1899–1909

Cuba’s ascendance to national sovereignty in the aftermath of the Cuban Wars for Independence was a contradictory process. A U.S. occupation had short-circuited the transition to full independence; former Spanish loyalists had found their way into a postcolonial government; and a debate had emerged over the contours of Cuban citizenship, particularly with respect to the large number of emancipated slaves who had fought for the cause of Cuba libre. The contours of postcolonial citizenship, however, were determined both by public political battles and by daily strain and struggle.

This paper foregrounds the case of the Mazorra Mental Asylum from 1899 to 1909 to examine the interplay of daily life at the asylum with broader political changes of the day. As a privileged location for the intervention of U.S. occupiers, Mazorra frequently appeared in discussions about the obligations of government in the area of public charity. Equally important, however, was the relationship of Mazorra to populations unlikely to participate in such discussions. For several decades after independence, the representation of Cubans of color in the asylum was much higher than that in the general population. These inmates were largely invisible to the public gaze, excepting a “colorful” self-declared African prince whose theatrics earned the bemused attention of visitors to the institution. Instead, it was Juana García, a white murderess and the member of a demographic proportionately underrepresented in the asylum, whose case was heard in Charles Magoon’s occupation government (1906-09).  As she and her supporters lobbied for her release from the asylum, U.S. officials took an interest in her case while promoting a policy of justice and liberty in contrast to Spanish autocracy. Her case highlights the everyday transactions that promoted the forging of a vision of national citizenship and identity under the watchful eye of the U.S.