A Guide to the Texas Partners of the Americas Records, 1978-1993 (bulk 1987-1989)

Historical Note

Texas Partners of the Americas (TPA) is incorporated in the State of Texas as a non-profit organization—the first and largest state affiliate of Partners of the Americas, a private organization that develops leadership, understanding and opportunity in Latin American and the Caribbean through a network of volunteers.

President John F. Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress in 1963, as a program of government-to-government economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. Partners of the Americas, originally called Partners of the Alliance, was established in 1964 as the people-to-people component of the Alliance for Progress. Dr. Jim Boren, a native Texan, founded the group that later developed into Partners of the Americas, and led the organization until 1970. Originally funded solely by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Partners of the Americas now has expanded support for its programs to include various other government agencies, foundations and corporations.

The national organization Partners of the Americas maintains an extensive network that links people and organizations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with affiliates in 45 states of the U.S. and the District of Columbia. Its areas of activity include citizen participation; education and culture; youth; agriculture; women and families; outreach and advocacy. The organization also provides training and workshops related to emergency preparedness, economic development and other community development issues.

TPA's activities in Latin America includes sponsoring projects in health and education; providing training and study in emergency preparedness for counterpart organizations from Latin America; distributing books and textbooks to Mexican universities; and making surplus U.S. and state government property available to its Latin American partners. Among its crowning achievements was sponsoring an economic summit in 1989--the Camino Real conference--along with its Mexican Partners in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, as well as hosting a visit by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to Austin in February 1992.

Sources: El Mensajero (Quarterly Newsletter of TPA), Vol. 1, no. 2 (December 1988) and Vol. 1., no. 3 (August, 1989), and Partners of the Americas Website at http://www.partners.net/.

Scope and Content Note

The Texas Partners of the Americas records span the years 1978 to 1993, but predominately cover 1987-1989. These years represent the tenure of Dr. Joe Neal as Vice-Chair of TPA for Mexico Partnerships in 1988-1990, as well as his work with TPA's El Camino Real Economic Seminar (1988-1989), Higher Education Committee (1987), Nominating Committee, and other activities of Texas Partners. The papers also contain considerable information about the partners, projects and activities of TPA, in general, as well as information on its national affiliate--National Partners of the Americas--and chapters in various Texas cities and other U.S. states.

The records are organized into two series: Administrative and Activities. Administrative documents include annual plans, bylaws, charters, correspondence, and letters of understanding which document the administrative actions of the Texas group. This series also includes information about committees, working projects and other activities or interests of the organization. There is also a subseries for dealings with the national organization and files on communication with other Partners of the Americas chapters in various cities and states.

The Activities series is subdivided by general activities and country. Countries include Peru, Mexico (general), and the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Guerrero, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.

Individuals highlighted in the papers, in addition to Dr. Joe Neal, include Bob Honts, Member of the TPA Board of Directors since 1986 and Chair-President of the organization in 1988-1990; other directors or committee chairs of the state and national organization; and Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions on use of this material.

Usage Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Texas Partners of the Americas must be obtained from the UTSA Library, Archives, or the appropriate copyright holder.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Texas Partners of the Americas Records, 1978-1993 (Bulk 1987-1989), MS 129, UTSA Archives and Special Collections, Library, University of Texas at San Antonio.

Acquisition Information

Materials donated by Clarice Neal and the Texas Partners of the Americas, September 2003.

Processing Information

Processed by Dennis G. Medina, Special Collections Librarian, August 2005.

The files were received in no order, so an order was imposed. There is overlap between files within a series. For example, a separate memo regarding the Annual Plan (without an Annual Plan attached) may be found in the Correspondence folder, however the same memo regarding the Annual Plan, with the plan attached, would be filed under Annual Plans.

The Correspondence and General files are intended for documents that do not fit into a more specific folder. Due to time constraints however, staff could only quickly scan the documents for content. Therefore, some documents in a Correspondence or General folder may relate to activities of a more specific Committee or Project, even though there is a separate file for the Committee or Project. It is suggested therefore, if a researcher is interested in a specific topic, or activity, that he or she review the Correspondence and General folders, as well as the more specific file.

Detailed Description of the Collection