Cuba Research Project launches a collaborative tool that makes it possible to trace ancestors among more than 600,000 historical records from the island
14ymedio, September 28, 2026, Madrid/Cuba Research Project, the free online resource devoted to the island’s genealogy and demography, announced this week the launch of Árbol Genealógico de Cuba [Cuban Family Tree], a collaborative tool that allows users to build and document their family roots, connect their ancestors with the records available in the archive and find possible links with other families’ public trees.
The new tree expands the search tools the project already offered, which currently brings together more than 600,000 records distributed across 30 collections. Users can search, free of charge, databases of civil and parish records, cemeteries and burials, censuses, passenger lists, naturalizations, school records and documents related to military service.
The tool allows users to build a family tree directly on the site or import an existing one using a GEDCOM file – a format used to exchange genealogical information. People added to the tree can be linked to the archive’s records, while users can also consult the trees that other families have decided to make public.
Among the most notable collections is a historical list of passengers on ships that arrived in Cuba or left the island, with almost 340,000 records. The oldest date from the 16th century, although most are from the 19th.
The tool makes it possible to build and document family roots, connect ancestors with the available records and find links with other families’ public trees
The archive also includes 47,824 names from death notices published in the newspaper Diario de La Marina between 1868 and 1960, compiled by Lydia E. Reyes, as well as more than 18,000 names from burial notices for Havana’s Colón Cemetery published between 1920 and 1921.
Another collection brings together more than 15,000 records of people from the Canary Islands who emigrated to Cuba during the 19th century. The material was originally compiled from data held by various town councils and by the now-defunct Emigrant Museum of Teguise, in Lanzarote.
The database also includes the official register of 74,000 mambí fighters from Cuba’s War of Independence, naturalization certificates issued between 1904 and 1939, and records from various cemeteries on the island. Among the latter is that of the Centro Macabeo, in Guanabacoa, considered the oldest Jewish cemetery in Cuba, established in 1910.
The project has also added reference works for family research, such as the nine volumes of Historia de Familias Cubanas [History of Cuban Families], by the Count of San Juan de Jaruco, which gathers genealogical information on 841 Cuban surnames.
“If enough people do it, this will become the largest collection of Cuban genealogy ever assembled, and it will have been built by Cubans themselves”
“Half a million records took us three years and dozens of volunteers working name by name,” said the project’s founder, Richard Villalba, in a statement in which he also encourages more people to contribute. “Families hold far more than we will ever have,” he said. “If enough people do it, this will become the largest collection of Cuban genealogy ever assembled, and it will have been built by Cubans themselves.”
The project accepts contributions of documents, photographs, parish or civil records, passenger lists and other materials that may help expand the archive. Users can also flag errors in existing records and submit corrections directly from each person’s entry. Cuba Research Project says its goal is to gather, preserve and index these materials so that they can be searched in a single, free digital archive.
Translated by GH
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.