Schmidt’s research focused on the appropriation of the Virgin of Charity by white Catholic colonists and its implications for Cuban women.

The Virgin, who is now Cuba’s official patron saint, was worshipped by Afro-Cubans as early as the 17th century, according to Schmidt.

“The Virgin was seen as a loving mother of Cuba but also as a symbol of sensuality and celebration,” Schmidt said. “Her cultural and religious significance placed women at the center of Cuban society, as well as on its margins.”

Smith said that depictions of the Virgin as an icon of sensuality have recently resurfaced, though they were repressed by church and state for years. This depiction as well as other less sterile depictions was mostly held by colonized Afro-Cubans.

The Cuban Catholic Church, which remained closely linked to Spain even after independence, capitalized on the Virgin’s popularity among Afro-Cubans by canonizing her as Cuba’s patron saint.

“In many cases, religion has been used to give governments legitimacy and moral and political authority,” Schmidt said. “The bourgeoisie and state feared Afro-Cuban religion as subversive and criminal. But [the Afro-Cubans] loved the Virgin.”

Schmidt showed that the Virgin became increasingly depicted as white instead of brown-skinned as Cuba’s colonizers co-opted her.

The white Catholic depiction of the Virgin reinforced gender stereotypes and societal structuring throughout Cuba, according to Schmidt. Schmidt explored the gender divide through comparing public and private environments.

“The [Spanish] word for marriage, ‘cassada,’ comes from the word ‘casa,’ or ‘house,’” Schmidt said. “Marriage [after colonialism] came to literally mean ‘housed.”

Schmidt said that Cuban women were not expected to go outside their homes without male escorts.

“While the house is seen as a safe and ordered space, the streets are seen as informal, transactional, risky, masculine spaces,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt experienced this notion first-hand during her fieldwork.

“Whenever I left the house without my husband my family would cluck disapprovingly,” Schmidt said. “When I returned they would interrogate me and wonder aloud what immoral behavior I’d engaged in outside the house.”

Schmidt believes the distinction between house and street was temporarily overcome during festivals and religious processesions.

“During processions to honor the Virgin, she would be lifted up above everyone to overcome the house/street dichotomy,” Schmidt said. “Nevertheless, processions would avoid the commercial centers. They instead went down residential streets so people could see the Virgin without having to leave their houses.”

Schmidt said that to this day women take festivals as an opportunity to express themselves outside the home, often dressed up in different depictions of the Virgin.

Schmidt said the Virgin receded from public forums following the Communist revolution but that the steps taken to remove her from view were a testament to her significance. Schmidt says many Catholics and Afro-Cubans alike continue to worship her in their own ways.