Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage, an initiative housed at the University of Houston and dedicated to preserving and making accessible the written legacy of US Latinas and Latinos, announces the launch of the Esther Campos Collection in its Digital Collections platform. The newly available collection celebrates the life and career of Maria “Esther” (Estrada) Campos (1930–2025), a pioneering Mexican-American educator, civic leader and public servant who devoted her life to advancing educational opportunities for Houston’s youth. Born in Houston on October 6, 1930, Campos earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Houston College of Education at a time when few Latinas pursued higher education. She became one of the first bilingual instructors hired by the Houston Independent School District (HISD), later serving as counselor, assistant principal and ultimately as HISD Trustee for District VIII from 1993 to 2003. In recognition of her lifelong commitment to education, …
Launch of Updated Digital Collection Featuring Puerto Rican Poet and Activist Delis Negrón
Arte Público Press’ US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) at the University of Houston proudly announces the launch of the Delis Negrón Digital Collection, a new addition to the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Digital Collections. This bilingual digital collection honors the life and work of Delis Negrón (1901-1956), a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, educator and civil rights advocate who lived and worked in Texas. Donated by Negrón’s family, the collection contains photographs, postcards, handwritten poetry, personal correspondence and clippings from historic Latino newspapers, such as La Prensa, El Jicote and The Laredo Times. Negrón was a prolific writer and a key editorial voice in US Latino civil rights activism, contributing to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) newsletter and participating in organizations such as the Gran Cadena Fraternal Filantrópica and Sociedad Fraternal Mexicoamericana. The project also includes family reflections, making it a model of collaborative, community-engaged scholarship. …
1918 Influenza Epidemic collection
The US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) at the University of Houston (UH) announces the release of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic digital archival collection. This collection includes articles from US Hispanic newspapers that highlight issues surrounding the flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the newspapers in the collection include El Mañana (McAllen, Texas), El Imparcial de Texas (Roma, Texas), and La Prensa (San Antonio, Texas). The collection covers themes such as public health, home remedies, faux pharmaceuticals, politics, racism and discrimination. Various students and interns contributed to this collection by researching, digitizing, and creating metadata: Maribel Bello, UH Recovery Research Fellow; Melissa Carrizales, SER Bank of America Summer Youth Internship Program intern; Julia Goodley, Whitman College intern; Yanina Hernández, UH Recovery Research Fellow; and Carolina López-Herrera, UH Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH) Program intern. The 1918 Influenza Epidemic collection is applicable to courses and research in public …
Predicting College Student Loan Repayment: The Texas Hinson-Hazlewood College now available on APPDigital
The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the digital publication of Predicting College Student Loan Repayment: The Texas Hinson-Hazlewood College, a dissertation submitted by Salvador Gómez for the Ph.D. degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1978. The text analyzes the evolution of financial aid to college students in Texas and especially the relationship between student indebtedness, ethnicity and academic dropout. It also critically examines notions such as “ethnicity” and “delinquency” and the various social and administrative factors that condition this phenomenon. This is an ideal text for researchers in different areas (from administration to psychology to economics) who seek to address the phenomenon of university indebtedness or the causes of dropping out of school after high school. This digital text will soon be complimented by a digital exhibit of Salvador Gómez’s scrapbook and an oral history interview with his daughter, Rosanna Moreno. This …
Society of American Archivists Foundation Awards Arte Público Press a Strategic Growth grant
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 …
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 …
La patria perdida now available on APPDigital
The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the digital publication of La patria perdida (1935) by the acclaimed Mexican journalist, Teodoro Torres (1888–1944) on APPDigital. This Spanish-language novel describes Torres’ first-hand experience as a Mexican immigrant to the United States as well as that of many immigrants in his community. The novel first appeared in the San Antonio newspaper, La Prensa, accompanied by engravings by the artist Fulgencio Corral. The digital version includes a scholarly introduction by Ethriam Cash Brammer translated into Spanish by Elías David Navarro. La patria perdida makes an excellent addition to US Latino, Mexican American, Ethnic, and American studies, history or literature courses. This digital novel offers a virtual option for content and assignments. Educators and students can create free accounts on APPDigital, which gives them access to highlighting, annotating and sharing capabilities. Educators can create a private reading group and share …
James L. Novarro Digital Collection
The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the release of the James L. Novarro digital collection. This digital collection includes a sampling of archival photographs, flyers, posters and news clippings from the James L. Novarro Collection. Reverend Novarro, a pastor of Houston’s Kashmere Baptist Temple and state chaplain of the Political Association of Spanish-speaking Organizations (PASO), was a civil rights activist, League of the United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) member, editor of the Spanish-language newspaper El Sol, and host of the first Spanish-language and longest-running radio program, La hora bautista. This project seeks to make Novarro’s contributions to the Houston and Latino communities visible to a larger audience. This collection is a useful teaching and research tool for educators, students, researchers and community members interested in Houston history, civil rights activism, religious studies and Latino studies. UH undergraduate student Alejandro Aguilar had the opportunity to work …
Hispanic Theater Digital Exhibit
HOUSTON, TX–The University of Houston’s US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) announces the release of the interactive Hispanic Theater Collection curated and created by Dr. Gabriela Baeza Ventura and Dr. Lorena Gauthereau. The digital collection centers the Hispanic community within US theater production (1789-2000) and highlights the role that Hispanic theater (actors, writers, producers, musicians, technicians, artists and many others) played in the creation of cultural and sociopolitical capital. Some of the items feature: Miguel Piñero, Miriam Colón, Susy Astol, Chata Noloesca, Don Lalo (Leonardo García Astol), Carpa Theater, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Teatro Campesino, among many others. This digital exhibit draws from the Nicolás Kanellos Theater Collection at UH’s Special Collections. This valuable digital exhibit is a unique and useful teaching and research tool for educators, students and community members interested in performing arts, visual art, art history and Latina/o culture. UH’s USLDH received funding from the American …
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