A History of ‘Utterly Ordinary People’
Ada Ferrer's new memoir, 'Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter,' explores her family's experiences as Cuban immigrants. The book reflects on how ordinary people are often overlooked in historical narratives, despite being shaped by significant events. Ferrer uses personal letters and memories to illustrate the impact of migration and revolution on her family and others like them.
- ▪Ada Ferrer is a historian and professor at Princeton University.
- ▪Her memoir recounts her family's experiences after the Cuban Revolution.
- ▪Ferrer inherited letters that provide insight into her family's history and the broader context of Cuban migration.
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
BooksA History of ‘Utterly Ordinary People’The historian Ada Ferrer’s new family memoir retells the story of Cuba through the individuals who matter most to her.By Geraldo L. CadavaIllustration by Allison Zaucha Davis / The Atlantic.*May 19, 2026, 8 AM ET ShareSave Decades ago, Ada Ferrer learned a lesson about what she’d later call the “misencounter between the history I was reading and the history of the people in my life.” During the late 1980s, while pursuing a master’s degree in history at the University of Texas, Ferrer asked her parents to share their memories of events covered in her coursework. Did Adela and Ramón, who had emigrated from Cuba in the early ’60s, remember the nation’s constitutional convention of 1940? They did not.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
