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Latina History Project

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-0048

Scope and Contents

This collection includes materials related to the subjects photographed for the “Rostros y Almas” exhibit and the logistical process and administrative details of the exhibit, including permission forms, event programs, newspapers and newspaper clippings, resumes, letters of recommendation, biographical sketches, photos, letters, memoranda, handwritten notes, photocopies, slides, and micro cassettes.

The materials, in English and Spanish, cover the lives and contributions of the Central Texas Latina women chosen for the exhibit from 1960 to 1992; oral history interviews conducted with the participants by Mary Visser in 1991; the planning and exhibition of the “Rostros y Almas” exhibit from 1991 to 1992; and the Latina History Project’s use of the materials in 2017.

Box 1, “Info About Exhibition Subjects” is arranged by subject name. Box 2, “Logistical Info” is arranged by subject and type of materials. Box 3, “XX,” references the first narcotics investigator for the Texas Department of Public Safety and is restricted until 2067.

Dates

  • Majority of material found within 1960 - 2017

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Southwestern University Distinctive Collections and Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from SU Distinctive Collections and Archives before any publication use. Distinctive Collections does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical / Historical

Co-directed by faculty members Dr. Brenda Sendejo (Anthropology) and Dr. Alison Kafer (Feminist Studies) the LHP is a faculty-student research project that aims to enhance undergraduate education and provide resources on Latina/o and Chicana/o history in the Central Texas region. While the project began with the goal of digitizing the “Rostros y Almas/Faces and Souls” exhibit on local Tejanas, it has grown to encompass the broader mission of enhancing understandings of Latina/o and Chicana/o history. The LHP does so through the collection of oral histories from past and present members of Southwestern community as well as several activists, including key figures in the Chicana/o Movement in Texas.

The “Rostros y Almas/Faces and Souls” exhibit began in 1992 when photographer Mary Jessie Garza and co-curators Mary Visser and Lupita Barrera Bryant sought to create an exhibit that displayed the work of Latina women throughout Central Texas. The original exhibit displayed 31 photographs of the women paired with portrait descriptions. It debuted at the 1992 Brown Symposium held at Southwestern University, titled “Discoveries of America.” This campus event recognized the Quincentennial of Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. According to the 1992 Winter Southwestern Quarterly, the symposium featured a “range of academic disciplines who discussed interconnected meanings of America.” The exhibit discussed Columbus’ lasting effect on the various peoples of the Americas that were and are marginalized by the history of colonization. As of 2017, the original “Rostros y Almas” exhibit remains on display in the F.W. Olin Building at Southwestern University.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the SU Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
1001 East University Avenue
Georgetown TX 78626 United States