Bautismos de Color [1765-1895]

These bound volumes contain paragraph length entries for recording information of people who the Church classified "of colour." This was primarily a racial designation that was determined by skin color, the race of one's parents, and other factors. In Cuba, there were many ways to describe race that have inexact English translations. In general, an individual was defined as "mulatto/a" which denoted half African/ half European descent; "moreno/a" which was likely fully of African descent or dark skinned. Individuals are also described as enslaved or free, and in many cases their African ethnonym is given. If this occurs, it is highly likes that the person was born in Africa. If born in Cuba, the person is generally called a "criollo/a." The second most important social designation when the documents were created was whether a person was of legitimate or illegitimate birth. Some of the numerically ordered volumes are missing.

Arrangement: By volume number and date.

Additional language information: Mainly Spanish with occasional Latin.