Commemoration

The story of the Mirabal sisters has influenced the creation of monuments of many kinds. If you travel through the Dominican Republic, you will see several standing monuments. There is the museum, an obelisk that had originally been meant for Trujillo, and a water tower. And there are most likely many more sculptures located throughout the country. Dede runs the Museo de las Hermanas Mirabales, the museum located in their home.

Another kind of monument is that of story. Julia Alvarez wrote the book In the Time of the Butterflies, which is a fictionalized recounting of the lives of the four sisters. Miss Alvarez worked from truth, and invented or imagined where necessary. This book has also influenced many film adaptions. The most famous of these features Salma Hayek as Minerva. This movie adaption focuses on Minerva as the central character.

Here is the trailer for that movie:

In the Time of the Butterflies Trailer