Cuban American Friendship Urn

Cuban American Friendship Urn

National Park Service photo by Nathan Adams

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto

The Cuban American Friendship Urn in Washington, D.C. is a monument that carries with it the weight of war, the fragility of diplomacy, and the endurance of memory. Its story begins in Havana, Cuba, where it once crowned a marble column erected to honor the American sailors who perished in the explosion of the USS Maine in 1898. That disaster in Havana Harbor became a turning point in history, helping to ignite the Spanish–American War and forever intertwining the destinies of Cuba and the United States.

In 1926, a hurricane toppled the original memorial. Rather than discard the broken fragments, Cuban officials salvaged part of the monument and fashioned it into a new urn. Two years later, during President Calvin Coolidge’s visit to Cuba in 1928, Cuban President Gerardo Machado presented the urn to the United States as a gesture of goodwill. It was intended not only as a remembrance of the Maine’s victims but also as a symbol of friendship between the two nations.

The urn was first placed outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington, but as relations between the countries cooled, it was moved to East Potomac Park near the 14th Street Bridge, where it remains today. For decades, it sat largely unnoticed, even “lost” to public awareness, until rediscovered and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Carved from white marble, the urn is adorned with allegorical figures representing Cuba and the United States, clasping hands above a depiction of the sinking Maine. National crests, oak and laurel leaves, and an eagle motif reinforce its commemorative purpose. Inscribed in Spanish are words that capture its dual meaning: remembrance of sacrifice and hope for enduring friendship.

Though modest in scale and tucked away from the city’s grander monuments, the Cuban American Friendship Urn remains a poignant relic. It is at once a memorial to tragedy, a diplomatic gift, and a quiet reminder of the complex, often turbulent relationship between Cuba and the United States—a relationship marked by conflict, reconciliation, and the enduring desire for mutual respect.