Between 1960 and 1962, over fourteen thousand children traveled from Cuba to the United States for an exodus that is now known as Operation Pedro Pan. After the Cuban revolution, some Cuban parents feared for their children's futures under the new Communist regime. They entrusted the Catholic Church, aid societies, and the U.S. State Department to connect their children with awaiting relatives and friends in the United States. Some were cared for by the Catholic Welfare Bureau and placed in temporary shelters in Miami before being relocated to foster families in 30 different States. These groups cared for children until the families could be reunited. Margarita Lora, who owned this dress, was one of the children brought to the United States as part of Operation Pedro Pan from Cuba to Miami, Florida on August 14, 1961. She was eight years old, and ended up in foster care with her sister and two brothers, in Syracuse, New York.
After the Cuban Revolution, many parents feared for their children's futures under communism. This Pan American passenger ticket was used by eight year old Margarita Lora when she left Cuba for Miami, Florida on August 14, 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, a program that airlifted over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children from Havana to the United States between 1960 and 1962.