Saucedo, Dominican Republic: The Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa, were from an upper class, conservative family and came of age during the height of Dominican dictator Trujillo’s brutal regime. Although their privilege awarded them safety from secret police, the four women, called the Mariposas, or butterflies, were active in organizing against the dictatorship and became a vocal and prominent threat to Trujillo. In 1960, Trujillo sent soldiers to detain Patria, Minerva and María Teresa as they returned home from visiting their husbands, who had been jailed by the regime. The three women were strangled and beaten, their car pushed over the edge of a precipice. Dedé, the sole surviving sister, opened a museum memorializing the victims which is located on the grounds of the family’s summer home located nearby. The house features the Mariposa’s writings and belongings and visitors can also visit their graves. The clothing and shoes that the sisters wore on the day of their death are on display, as are several long braids of hair that Dedé cut from their heads when she went to identify them in the local morgue.
