Panoramic Photograph of Police Headquarters in Old Havana by [Cuba]. Laredo, Federico. Policia Nacional División Central. Link, Fred - 1940

1940. Very good with some foxing, soiling to the edges, and some fading at the corners.. 1 sheet. 9 1/4 inches by 50 inches. Mounted to card stock. Built in 1939 to resemble an old Spanish fortress, and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Police headquarters, and the Radio Patrol, had just been outfitted with the latest two-way FM radio system when this image was taken. This new communication technology, only adopted by its first police department, the Connecticut State Police, that same year, was invented by an American radio engineer Fred Link (1905-1998) who appears as the white clad figure at the center of this panorama of the fortress fronted by dozens of police cars and officers. Signed by six important Cuban officials including President Federico Laredo [Brú] (1875-1946) and police chief Bernardo Garcia, who has warmly inscribed it (Garcia would be ousted by Batista, who became president in October, less than a year later). Dated Havana, 18 June 1940. The picture had hung in Link's office (See Dan Bishop, "Fred M. Link, Goodwill Ambassador," in Proceedings of the Radio Club of America 72:3 (Fall 1998), pages 8-13). Original frame available.