UT Collections
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This photography collection consists of original materials from an exhibition excerpted from the book El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers, including 69 gelatin silver prints by various photographers, one large chromogenic color print of the image from the book's cover, 13 bilingual text panels written by Carolyn Forché, and the paper work and comments book from the original exhibition tour. The first section of the exhibition was made up of 67 images taken by 30 international photojournalists during the intensely brutal period of conflict between 1979 and 1983. Photographers Susan Meiselas and Harry Mattison gathered these images into a traveling exhibition and book in 1983 to raise global awareness about the conflict. At a time when the Reagan administration insisted that military aid to El Salvador's government was essential to stopping the spread of communism and that progress was being made on human rights, the photographs contributed to the debate by providing a contrary eyewitness account. The images are accompanied by texts written by poet Carolyn Forché.
1979-1983 -
This collection contains video footage shot by WITNESS partner Jesús Tecú Osorio, an activist and survivor of the March 13, 1982 massacre in which 177 Mayan-Achi women and children in Río Negro, Rabinal were tortured, raped, and slaughtered by the Guatemalan army and army-led civil patrol groups. Río Negro was one of the 440 villages that were razed and destroyed during the Guatemalan government's counter-insurgency campaign. This collection includes recorded interviews and footage from the Rabinal area of exhumations, memorial ceremonies and re-burials, political actions against amnesty for those responsible for the killings, gatherings of former civil patrollers, and legal proceedings against former civil patrollers involved in the massacres. There is also footage of various indigenous Maya Achí rituals and performances. This collection includes two WITNESS co-productions, A Right to Justice and A Massacre Remembered. Materials are in English, Spanish, and Achí.
1996-2002, undated -
Dulles is the author of Yesterday in Mexico: A Chronicle of the Revolution, 1919-1936; Vargas of Brazil; Unrest in Brazil; Anarchists and Communists in Brazil, 1900-1935; and Brazilian Communism, 1935-1945, among other books. The collection includes summaries of oral and written interviews conducted by Dulles between 1961 and 1977 with leading figures in the Communist movement in Brazil and in Brazilian politics. There are also microfilmed pamphlets, periodicals, typescripts, clippings, handbills, and circulars relating to the Brazilian Communist Party. Papers include information on internal disputes between Brazilian communists, notes on social and political conditions in Brazil, informational letters to party members, and propaganda and doctrinal works.
1920-1979 -
The José Angel Gutiérrez Papers gather together information on the career and interests of the political organizer who founded the Raza Unida Party and other Chicano organizations in the 1960s and 1970s. Materials originate from Gutiérrez's work with the Committee for Rural Democracy, Crystal City Independent School District, the Raza Unida Party, Zavala County Economic Development Corporation, and Zavala County Health Association, among others. Issues included in the collection range from rights to education and health, farm workers' and immigrants' rights, and the economic development of the border region. Correspondence, legal documents, Gutiérrez's writings, audio-visual materials and political artifacts are included in the collection.
1954-1990 -
José de la Luz Sáenz was a founding member of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), serving on the LULAC Board of Trustees from 1930-1932. As a young man, Sáenz fought for the U.S. Army in World War I, and following the war he published a diary arguing that Mexican American service to the U.S. military should translate into the full realization of Mexican American civil rights. These experiences and publications helped to inspire the Mexican American rights movement in Texas and the foundation of organizations such as LULAC. The Sáenz Papers include biographical materials for Sáenz, his professional and activist correspondence and his written works, published or unpublished.
1908-1998 -
Mexican American civil rights advocate, educator, sociologist and anthropologist Dr. Julian Samora is considered to be the first Mexican American to receive a Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology. His research interests included the delivery of health services, rural populations in urban settings and the rural poor, Mexican immigration and the movement of Mexican Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border, population studies, and the educational status of youth and adults. He was co-founder, along with Ernesto Galarza and Herman Gallegos, of the Southwest Council of La Raza, now the National Council of La Raza. He served on boards or as a consultant to many organizations including, among others, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission, the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, the Mexican American Legal Defense ' Education Fund, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the President's Commission on Rural Poverty, the President's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the United Way. The collection is comprised of correspondence, written works, personal and biographical materials, organization records, photographs, audiovisual materials, and Samora’s personal library.
1934-1989 -
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was founded in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1929 with the mission to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. Today, LULAC advocates powerfully for legislation that benefits the interests of all Latin Americans in the U.S. as individuals and members of larger Latin American communities. This three part collection stems from the "Presidential Papers Initiative" established to collect the papers of each LULAC president from 1929 to the present; however, actual preservation in this collection is limited to sixteen presidents over the 80 year history of the organization. Materials range from administrative documents to subject files on a wide range of civil, economic and social rights.
1929-present -
Political leader from La Joya, Texas, and advocate for the poor, Leo James Leo championed many Mexican American causes. He was involved in both local and statewide politics and served on the boards of directors of many Great Society poverty programs, such as the Associated City and County Economic Corporation, helping the poor with food, job assistance, housing, and medical aid. He was often involved in controversy because of his forthright defense of these programs. In 1960, Leo and other Mexican -American political leaders organized the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations (PASSO). Leo chaired the 1,000 member Hidalgo chapter of PASSO, the largest in the state. He also formed the Hidalgo County Political League, an association of liberal Anglo American and Mexican American Democrats, in the late 1960s. In addition, he assisted with summer youth programs and helped file citizenship papers for many Mexican immigrants. The collection contains materials from La Joya political activities and statements; the Guillermo Flores Elementary School dedication; personal and family history; and posthumous dedications and tributes.
ca. 1960-1985 -
Peruvian author, poet, and political activist Magda Portal became active in leftist politics in Peru and Bolivia and was active in the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA). In 1927, she was exiled to Cuba and in 1930, she was incarcerated in Chile. Upon returning to Peru, she founded the Peruvian Aprista Party. Through PAP she worked for women's rights and started educational and political programs for women. She became the leader of the Feminine Sector of APRA's National Executive Committee and was in charge of organizing feminist groups throughout Peru. Portal also helped edit the party magazine Apra and published variouspolitical pamphlets and essays. During the presidency of dictator Sánchez Cerro and his persecution of Aprista leaders in 1932, Portal was forced to go underground for some 16 months but was later arrested in 1934 and sentenced to 500 days in Santo Tomás women's prison in Lima. After release from prison Portal continued her work for APRA and spent time working in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The collection contains Portal’s correspondence, written works and radio transcripts, as well as a variety of political ephemera related to the PAP.
1922-1986 -
Photographer and civil rights activist Manuel (Chaca) Ramírez (1947-present) documented Mexican American barrios, civil rights activities, (including the Texas Farmworkers' march of 1977 and the East Austin Boat Race controversy), and Chicano arts and artists. In the 1980s, he recorded the work of Mexican American artists Amado Maurilio Peña, Jr. and Consuelo (Chelo) Gonzalez Amezcua. The collection consists of 875 images that document activities and environs of Mexican Americans in Texas. Photographs of Laredo, Texas, in the 1970's show people of Laredo in their surroundings and the contrasts between poverty and luxury in the city. Slides document the Texas Farmworkers' march of 1977 for reform of labor laws in Texas and the United States, protest marches against police brutality, neighborhood activism in Austin, Texas, and a mural project by the League of United Chicano Artists (LUChA) in East Austin.
1964-1982
