Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg

Preserving Hispanic heritage now

Researchers solicit family photos, letters

Photos capturing a wedding, anniversary, dance recital or just a moment in the family business may seem like mundane stuff, but for those who strive to preserve the present for the future, these pictures represent slices of history.

Christine Marin, curator/archivist and historian of the Chicano Research Collection at ASU’s Department of Archives and Manuscripts, understands people have a tendency to downplay the details of daily life. But she says donating one’s personal papers and family photos isn’t just for the famous or wealthy.

“We don’t think of the history that happens every day,” she says. “I find that once we have a talk, and we talk about family history, then they have a better understanding of their own history.”

It is most important for Latinos to consider donating to archives, as those materials help to paint a more accurate picture of their place in history. As an archivist, Marin goes the extra mile to make sure a potential donor learns about the archiving process, even giving tours.

“I do it with as many donors as I can,” Marin says. “I’ll make time on Saturday morning or whenever it’s convenient for them. They can see what an archive or a web page looks like. That’s quite important.”

PRESERVING A RECORD

Recording one’s family genealogy alone is worth the effort, as subsequent generations will attest. And individuals who are active in their communities, from volunteering to church activities to corresponding over business matters, deserve historical mention. Even letters from the battlefield, such as those used in journalist Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation Speaks, Letters and Reflections, provide invaluable glimpses into individual’s perception of the world.

Anthropologist Paul Espinosa, whose work as an independent filmmaker relies heavily upon archival material, emphasizes the value of preserving such items.

“When I was working on The Hunt for Pancho Villa, we were fortunate in that we were able to come across lots of personal correspondence that had been written by people on the (Gen. John J. Pershing) expedition and that included letters and post cards from individual soldiers and the leaders, including Gen. Pershing,” Espinosa explains. “One of the personal letters that Pershing wrote to his father-in-law, who was a high-level member of Congress, was a heartfelt evaluation of what they’d just been through. That’s an example of the kind of information one might want to preserve.”

In that letter, Pershing confided that the mission was a failure, an opinion that stood in stark contrast to press clippings from that time.

REPRESENTING A REGION

If the thought of sorting through papers sends you into panic mode, the staff of ASU’s Chicano Archives reassures potential donors that they will transfer your materials to the library as it currently exists. There is no need to sort the papers before the transfer, as researchers view even your filing approach in a historical light (those who recycle shoeboxes as storage containers, take note).

Even non-print items (videos, compact discs and digital videos) are desirable, as researchers find visual history very helpful. For example, visual history helps a researcher determine “aspects of different parts of the community, and where structures were,” Espinosa said, thus providing an accurate portrait of an area.

If your family has historical papers and photos from another state, the archivist can help you place it in the most appropriate repository. Marin says most archivists know each other regionally and often collaborate.

“If I’m aware of a collection that should stay in New Mexico, I’ll call and tell them,” she says. “We want to represent our region and represent it well.”

The Chicano Research Collection at ASU is the state’s best bet for finding a concentration of research material on Latinos, Marin says.

“I find it interesting that U of A and NAU do not have a Chicano/Chicana archive,” she says, noting that ASU created its archive in 1970.

The University of Arizona Library Special Collections includes an Arizona and Southwestern biographical file that contains bio sketches, articles and miscellaneous documentation from the late 1800s to the present. There are a few Hispanics included in this collection, but there are no photographs.

At Northern Arizona University, the Cline Library Collections and Archives Department focuses on documents about the history and development of the Colorado Plateau.

Espinosa, who teaches at ASU’s Chicano/Chicana Studies Department, adds that donating to an archive is particularly important for the Mexican-American community because “in broad strokes, that history is not part of the official record.”

“It’s a story that hasn’t been told,” Espinosa says. “In essence, the history of the Mexican population is not well documented in historical archives. Unfortunately, most of the history basically lies with families and individuals. If we are going to get a clear picture of the history of the Mexican-American community in Phoenix or Tucson, or the American Southwest, we’re going to need private collections that are in local hands. A lot of people have personal attachments to their photos, but it is possible for archival collections to copy their photographs. And their photos become part of a larger, more permanent collection.

“Not to mention, if people want to give their materials they will be kept in better condition than in a shoebox.”