Colcha (blanket/coverlet) from the Escuela al Campo

Object/Artifact

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

2025.6.1

Description

A coarse, napped off-white/natural (undyed) textile, photographed folded. The surface is soft and brushed/fleecy over a loosely woven, slightly crinkled ground; a hemmed edge is visible. No decoration, border, stripe, or applied label is visible.

Use

Used by Mirta Suquet Martínez during the Escuela al Campo.

Collection

The Martínez Suquet family collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.6

Source or Donor

Mirta Suquet

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Notes

Maker: Unidentified — no visible label or marks. Plausibly Cuban state textile production / state-issued bedding for the program (inferred, not confirmed). Date: No date appears on the object. By its stated association with the Escuela al Campo program (established mid-1960s; a major educational policy by 1966), it belongs to the program era and is consistent with 1959–1990. The textile itself bears no date, and the program continued past 1990, so an exact date cannot be confirmed. Place of Origin: Cuba — inferred from the use-context (issued bedding for a Cuban educational program); not marked on the object.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

twin size

Materials

Material

Fabric

Material Notes

Materials: Apparently cotton, undyed (natural/cream), with a napped surface. Fiber content not confirmed from the image and could be cotton or a cotton blend — flagged. Technique: Woven textile with a raised, napped/brushed surface; hemmed edge (apparent).

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Mirta Suquet

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Pinar del Río

State/Province

Pinar del Río

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use, acquisition

Research Notes

Notes

The EAC sent secondary and pre-university students to rural camps for roughly 45 days each school year to perform agricultural labor; it later expanded into the ESBEC boarding schools (Escuelas Secundarias Básicas en el Campo), intensifying in the 1970s, and was phased out after 2011. A colcha like this would have formed part of a student's issued bedding at the rural albergues (dormitories/camps).

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

March 31, 2022

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 11, 2026