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| Latin Americanist Research Resources Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | Latin Americanist Research Resources Project |
| Type | Research support initiative |
| Founded | 1990s |
| Location | United States |
Latin Americanist Research Resources Project is a research support initiative focused on identifying, describing, and facilitating access to primary and secondary sources for studies of Latin America, Caribbean, and related diasporas. It has functioned as a bibliographic clearinghouse and a guide for researchers working on topics ranging from the Mexican Revolution and Cuban Revolution to social movements in Brazil and archival collections in Peru and Argentina. Scholars across institutions such as Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Florida, University of California, Los Angeles, and Columbia University have used it alongside resources from the Library of Congress, British Library, Biblioteca Nacional de España, and regional repositories like the Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico).
The project emerged in the 1990s amid growing archival interest after events like the democratization transitions in Chile, the truth commission processes following the Argentine Dirty War, and intensified scholarly focus sparked by works such as The Open Veins of Latin America and studies by Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Gilbert Joseph. Early contributors included archivists and bibliographers affiliated with Latin American Studies Association, librarians from the University of Texas Libraries and curators from the New York Public Library, while grant support drew on foundations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over time the project documented holdings from the Archivo General de la Nación (Peru), the Archivo General de la Nación (Colombia), and specialized collections at institutions including Tulane University and Princeton University.
The stated mission centers on improving discoverability of sources for regional study areas including the histories of Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Caribbean territories like Puerto Rico and Haiti. Scope spans manuscript collections, oral histories, ephemera related to movements such as Zapatistas, archives on the Sandinista National Liberation Front, film holdings connected to directors like Fernando Meirelles and Alejandro González Iñárritu, and digitized newspapers such as archives of El Universal (Mexico City) and Granma (newspaper). The project aims to link researchers to collections at national institutions (e.g., Biblioteca Nacional de México), university archives (e.g., University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection), and private repositories housing papers of figures like Simón Bolívar, Eva Perón, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo.
Cataloged resources include inventories of manuscript collections at the Archivo General de Indias, oral history transcripts from initiatives similar to the Truth Commission (Chile), microfilm and digitized serials from presses such as Editorial Porrúa, and photographic collections connected to photographers like Sebastião Salgado. The project indexed holdings of university centers—Center for Latin American Studies (Oxford), Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Centro de Estudios Cubanos—and foreign archives including the French National Archives and the Archivo General de Simancas. Subject strengths cover independence-era documents related to the Battle of Ayacucho, diplomatic correspondence concerning the Monroe Doctrine, and labor union records tied to organizations such as the Confederación de Trabajadores de México.
Researchers have used the project's guides to locate materials for dissertations, monographs, and exhibitions at institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Latin American Art. The project provided finding aids, collection-level descriptions, and guidance for remote access to digitized holdings at entities like the Hemeroteca Nacional de México and the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. Use policies referenced materials from repositories including the Archivo General de la Nación (Chile), the Archivo Histórico de la Ciudad de México, and consortia like the Digital Library of the Caribbean; researchers planning travel also consulted catalogs from national archives in Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Collaborative relationships were cultivated with major academic and cultural institutions: university libraries at Yale University, Stanford University, Brown University, and University of Michigan; national libraries such as the Biblioteca Nacional de Brasil; and international projects like the Latin American Memory Project. Cooperative work extended to professional associations including Association of College and Research Libraries and the Society of American Archivists, as well as regionally focused centers like the Instituto de Historia (Mexico) and archival programs at El Colegio de México.
Administration typically involved a coordinating committee drawn from librarians and scholars at institutions such as University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Indiana University, with project management practices reflecting standards from the American Library Association. Funding streams historically combined support from private foundations like the Rockefeller Foundation, federal entities such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, and institutional in-kind contributions from research libraries at Boston College and Duke University.
The project influenced bibliographic practice in Latin American studies and was cited in guides used by researchers at centers like the Latin American Research Review and graduate programs at University of Wisconsin–Madison. Its inventories aided exhibitions featuring artifacts tied to figures such as José Martí, Che Guevara, Rubén Darío, and Octavio Paz, and supported scholarship published by presses like University of Texas Press and Cambridge University Press. Critics and users noted strengths in breadth of coverage from holdings in Mexico City to collections in Havana while urging continued updates to reflect digitization efforts at institutions such as the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia and projects hosted by the World Digital Library.