The house this museum occupies was the birthplace of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, recognized by Cubans as the Father of the Land. This was the man who set in motion the independence uprisings against Spanish dominion when by granting freedom to his slaves he led them on to revolt and take arms against the colonialists on the 10th of October 1868. The museum showcases documents and personal objects belonging to Céspedes, as well as furniture and bijouteries dating from the XVIII and XIX centuries that portray the manner in which the town’s well-to-do families decorated their homes in bygone times. The house was declared National Monument in 1978.