The Society of American Archivists (SAA) Foundation awarded the University of Houston’s (UH) Arte Público Press a Strategic Growth grant to support a Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) community archiving event to preserve local US Latino history. Through this activity, community members will learn how to preserve their archives, be able to scan items on site, learn how to donate their collections (post-custodial or otherwise) and browse a pop-up exhibit that showcases local collections and digital projects. This event builds on previous public activities, such as “Nuestra Historia: Alonso S. Perales Exhibit” (2019) and Community Archiving Day (2022). The latter resulted in the preservation of 7 family collections and the start of a community map that documents the presence of historical Latino business in Houston. “During Community Archiving Day, we made valuable connections in the neighborhood, feedback was positive, our students experienced community engagement firsthand, and we put …
2023 Summer Interns
Interns at Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) and the US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) at Arte Público Press work closely with archival texts, such as periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, albums, correspondence, books, ephemera and other documents. In doing so, they gain valuable experience with archival collections and asset management. The USLDH Center provides training in digital tools and students contribute to digital humanities data and projects. They have the opportunity to learn the following skills: Scanning of archival items Microfilm scanning Handling and preserving archival texts Inventory of primary documents Organizing collections Creating finding aids Curating exhibits Database research Primary document research Asset management Data management (with spreadsheets) Metadata creation Metadata translation Familiarity with Library of Congress Subject Headings E-book editing and translation (APP Digital) Digital archives (Omeka) Digital tools (mapping, timelines, digital collections, OpenRefine) Archival theory Digital humanities theory Academic conference presentations Academic conference posters Planning an …
Call for Submissions: Children’s Book Awards Support Latino Authors
HOUSTON, TX—Generations of Hispanic children in US schools had to do without books reflecting their culture and heritage. In 2022, according to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, only 351 of the 3,173 children’s books published in the United States were written by Latinos (11.06%); only 231 were about Latinos (7.28%). To fill that gap, Arte Público Press is accepting children’s book manuscripts to be considered for two awards: the Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature and the Reyes-Olivas Award for Best First Book of Latino Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Both seek to stimulate the work begun by Arte Público Press and its imprint, Piñata Books, which is dedicated to the publication of children’s and young adult literature that realistically portrays themes, characters and customs unique to US Hispanic culture. In addition to the publication of the book and royalties from sales, the winning authors will receive a …
Children’s Book Celebrating Nature Wins Prize
HOUSTON, TX—A trilingual picture book about the earth we inhabit, Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth by Jorge Argueta (ISBN 978-1-55885-967-8, hardcover, $18.95), is the winner of the 2023 Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature. Published May 31, 2023, this stirring story celebrating Mother Earth reflects the author’s indigenous roots and appreciation for the natural world. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, just 351 of the 3,173 children’s books it received that were published in the United States in 2022 were written by Latinos; only 231 were about Latinos. The Salinas de Alba Award seeks to stimulate the work begun by Arte Público Press and its imprint, Piñata Books, which is dedicated to the publication of children’s and young adult literature that authentically and realistically portrays themes, characters and customs unique to US Hispanic culture. In addition to the publication of the book and royalties from sales, …
Documenting Discrimination: Alonso S. Perales Correspondence (1927-1952)
The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the release of “Documenting Discrimination: Alonso S. Perales Correspondence (1927-1952).” This digital collection compiles letters written to and by Alonso S. Perales (1898-1960), a Mexican-American lawyer, diplomat, civil rights activist and co-founder of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Perales, in his mission for social justice, encouraged the Latino community to submit their experiences of discrimination at public establishments. Community members signed affidavits and wrote letters to Perales that detailed racism faced at restaurants, theaters, schools, bars, dance halls, clinics and many other places. They also wrote about the prejudice encountered while seeking employment or purchasing homes. Perales later published many of these letters and affidavits in his book, Are We Good Neighbors? (1948). Two undergraduates contributed to this collection: Cynthia Díaz, a Leadership Rice Mentorship Experience (LRME) summer intern at Rice University and Cruz E. Almonaci, …
Now available on APPDigital: Mexican American Theatre
The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the digital publication of Mexican American Theatre: Then and Now by Nicolás Kanellos (1983) on APPDigital. Kanellos’ collection compiles interviews, essays and vaudeville skits from the 1930s to the 1950s all pertaining to Mexican-American theater. It includes historical studies by Jorge Huerta, Nicolás Kanellos, Tomás Ybarra-Fausto and others; an exclusive interview of Luis Valdez; and vaudeville material from Lalo Astol, the Carpa García and others. Mexican American Theatre makes an excellent addition to US Latino, Mexican American, Ethnic and American studies, performing arts, history or literature courses. Mexican American Theatre compliments the Hispanic Theater Collection digital exhibit, which showcases posters, flyers and photographs from the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage’s Hispanic Theater Collection, donated by Kanellos. This project was also developed by the USLDH Center. Mexican American Theatre offers a virtual option for content and assignments. Educators and …
Recovery Program Receives NEH Challenge Grant
HOUSTON, TX—Arte Público Press’ long-term project to locate, preserve and disseminate the written legacy of Latinos in the United States from the Colonial Period to 1980, the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Program, has received a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to raise funds to improve the digital infrastructure of its US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH). Dr. Gabriela Baeza Ventura, the primary investigator for the grant, co-director of the USLDH Center and executive editor of the press, said: “This support from the NEH will be critical in generating additional funding to create a customized cloud-based digital repository of texts and content management system, all with the long-term goal of making the hundreds of thousands of Latino texts already preserved by the Recovery Program accessible to scholars and community members.” Currently these recovered documents are stored in several different servers and are not …
New Book Named a Finalist in the Texas Institute of Letters Award
HOUSTON, TX—The Texas Institute of Letters (TIL) announced Jasminne Mendez’s new young adult memoir, Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American, is a finalist for its 2023 Jean Flynn Award for Best Young Adult Book. Founded in 1936, The Texas Institute of Letters is a nonprofit honor society which celebrates Texas literature and recognizes distinctive literary achievement. Each year, the organization recognizes the best of Texas writing in a variety of genres including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, design, short form and scholarly writing. In Islands Apart, Mendez writes about her experiences growing up Afro Latina in the Deep South and feeling torn between her Dominican, Spanish-speaking culture at home and the American, English-speaking one around her. She didn’t speak English when she started kindergarten, and her young, white teacher thought the girl was deaf because in Louisiana, you were either black or white. The teacher didn’t know that a black girl could be …
Three Arte Público Titles Named 2023 Southwest Books of the Year
HOUSTON, TX—The Pima County Public Library and the Friends of the Pima County Public Library in Arizona have named three Arte Público Press titles to their Southwest Books of the Year: Best Reading 2023 list. The eight-person review panel recognized Jimmy Santiago Baca’s No Enemies: Poems in the Poetry category and Raulito: The First Latino Governor of Arizona / El primer gobernador latino de Arizona by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford in the Children’s/Young Adult category. Diana J. Noble’s Chances in Disguise was also selected for the Children’s/Young Adult category and was named a Top Pick by the review panel. In No Enemies: Poems, Jimmy Santiago Baca writes urgently about the most important themes of our generation, including education, justice, the environment and even the coronavirus. While many of his poems are stinging rebukes against the wealthy and powerful and their disregard for children living in poverty and for the environment, others …
Bank Street College of Education Recognizes Three Piñata Books as Best of 2023 in Spanish
HOUSTON, TX—The Bank Street College of Education Children’s Book Committee named three Piñata Books to its Best Children’s Books of the Year in Spanish list for 2023. El cumpleaños de mi hermana Dulce / My Sister Dulce’s Birthday by Erika Said, El niño de maíz / The Boy of Maize by Mario Bencastro and Viento, Vientito / Wind, Little Wind by Jorge Argueta were all recognized, and Bencastro’s book was highlighted with a star as an exceptional book for cultural authenticity in text and artwork, among other characteristics. In El cumpleaños de mi hermana Dulce / My Sister Dulce’s Birthday, Erika Said tells the story of six-year-old Dulce, who loves sweets. Vibrant illustrations by Claudia Navarro show Dulce and her sister as they search for the perfect candies to go inside the traditional Mexican birthday piñata. Midwest Book Review called it “a charmingly entertaining bilingual (Spanish/English) picture book” and “an …
